/3? 


Preface. 


6/|N  the  summer  of  1879  t^^  publishers  of  this  work  entered  into 
)|  negotiations  with  the  writer  for  the  preparation  of  a  work  on 
the  West;  it  was  to  be  an  octavo  vohime  of  about  five  hundred 
pages ;  and,  having  had  considerable  experience  in  geographical 
and  historical  works,  the  writer  felt  confident  of  its  completion  in  the 
early  spring  of  1880.  But  as  he  proceeded  with  his  work,  both  he 
and  his  publishers  felt  that  their  original  plan  was  too  circumscribed  for 
the  subject  before  them.  The  country  to  be  described  was  vast,  beyond  our 
ordinary  conceptions  of  vastness;  much  of  it  had  never  been  adequately  de- 
scribed, and  the  descriptions  hitherto  published  were  as  far  behind  the  existing 
facts  as  a  ten-year-old  almanac.  The  tide  of  immigration  had  doubled  and 
quadrupled  since  1876,  and  what  was  a  howling  wilderness,  with  only  a  half 
dozen  straggling  settlements,  five  years  before,  had  already  attained  the  popu- 
lation and  organization  of  a  State.  The  railways,  which  during  the  six  years 
of  financial  depression,  had  added  very  little  to  their  mileage  in  the  new  States 
and  Territories,  were  now  stretching  their  iron  fingers  across  the  continent, 
pioneers  instead  of  followers  of  settlement  and  civilization.  The  loaded  trains 
groaned  beneath  the  weight  of  the  superabundant  crops ;  over  all  the  hillsides 
the  cattle  roamed,  fat,  sleek  and  contented,  in  unnumbered  thousands ;  all  the 
plains  were  spangled  with  millions  of  white-fleeced  sheep.  Along  both  slopes 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  Texas  to  British  America,  in  the  summits  and 
passes  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Cascades,  as  well  as  in 
the  smaller  outlying  ranges  between,  and  even  on  the  hills  of  the  lower  Coast 
Range,  gold  and  silver,  quicksilver  and  platinum,  copper,  lead  and  zinc,  coal, 
salt  and  sulphur,  were  yielding  up  their  treasures;  and  every  day  was  adding 
largely  to  the  amount.  The  population,  which  was  pouring  into  this  vast 
empire,  was  composed  of  almost  every  people  under  the  sun;  and  while  the 
leaven  of  sturdy  law-abiding  citizens  from  the  Atlantic  States  was  large,  it  re- 
mained to  be  seen  whether  the  amalgamation  would  result  in  an  intelligent  and 
patriotic  citizenship;  whether  education,  moral  principle,  and  higher  aims 
than  mere  money-getting,  would  gain  the  ascendency. 

101G81 


^  PREFACE.     ; 

Then  the  year  iS3o' proved,  from  ahnost  its  beginning,  to  be  an  exceptional 
year,  especially  in  its  felarions  to  the  West.  Our  decennial  census  was  to  be 
taken,  and  it-  would  be  possible  by  the  close  of  the  year,  but  not  earlier,  to 
ascertain  whether  the  boasted  increase  of  these  Western  States  and  Territories 
was  justified  by  the  cold  and  careful  enumerations  of  the  census  supervisors. 
Six  hundred  thousand  emigrants  reached  our  shores  during  the  year,  and  more 
than  twice  that  number  of  our  own  citizens  migrated  to  the  West.  The  railway 
kings  were  enlisting  their  syndicates  and  making  their  combinations,  which 
have  resulted  in  a  twelvemonth  in  arrangements  for  the  speedy  completion  of 
four  new  trunk  routes  to  the  Pacific  on  our  own  territory,  and  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  on  our  northern  border.  Eleven  States  and  Territories,  heretofore 
either  in  part  or  wholly  inaccessible  by  rail,  are  now,  or  will  be  in  a  iitw 
months,  provided  with  railroad  transit  across  their  entire  breadth  or  length; 
and  the  year  on  which  we  have  entered  is  only  carrying  out  right  royally  the 
plans  and  projects  of  its  imperial  predecessor. 

It  was  evident  to  both  publishers  and  author  that  our  plans  required  extension 
and  enlargement,  and  so  we  went  from  ordinary  octavo  to  royal  octavo;  from 
500  to  700,  to  1000,  and  finally  to  over  1300  pages.  Resolved  to  represent 
what  had  never  previously  been  even  attempted,  and  what  for  lack  of  material 
could  not  have  been  attempted  with  success — the  present  condition  of  each 
of  the  States  and  Territories  which  go  to  make  up  "Our  Western  Em- 
pire " — no  pains  nor  expense  has  been  spared  to  gain  from  every  source  every 
fact  which  could  illustrate  their  topography,  geology  and  mineralogy,  climate, 
soil,  productions,  mineral  wealth,  pastoral  facilities,  population,  accumulated 
wealth,  education-  and  religion,  with  notices  of  the  Indian  tribes  found  in  their 
borders.  For  these  purposes,  every  book  and  pamphlet,  official  and  other, 
every  report,  railroad  publication,  mining  record,  every  newspaper  and  every 
telegraphic  report  affecting  any  of  these  States  or  Territories,  has  been  carefully 
scanned  to  the  number  of  more  than  three  thousand,  and  a  correspondence 
opened  and  maintained  with  many  hundreds  of  officials  and  others. 

The  result  is  before  the  public.  It  has  been  a  labor  of  love,  notwithstanding 
the  toil  it  has  required.  That  it  is  absolutely  free  from  error  is  impossible;  but 
the  great  care  which  has  been  taken  to  secure  accuracy  leads  to  the  hope  that 
there  are  no  errors  of  great  magnitude.  At  all  events,  it  could  not  have  been 
completed  with  as  great  a  measure  of  perfection  as  it  now  possesses,  a  day  earlier 
than  the  present. 

No  man  was  ever  blessed  with  more  kindly  and  thoughtful  friends  than  the 
writer.     Every  request  for  information  has  been  most  promptly  and  heartily 


.       PREFACE.  5 

met  by  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed ;  and  in  many  cases  voluntary  contribu- 
tions of  great  labor  and  value  have  been  added.  Two  most  valued  and  helpful 
correspondents  have  died  while  the  work  was  in  progress:  his  Excellency,  Wil- 
liam A.  Howard,  Governor  of  Dakota,  and  Hon.  Alfred  Gray,  Secretary  of  the 
Kansas  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  Of  the  living,  the  warm  and  hearty  thanks 
of  the  writer  are  due  to  his  Excellency,  Gen.  John  C.  Fremont,  Governor 
of  Arizona,  for  valuable  information  relative  to  that  Territory;  to  Hon.  W.  H. 
H.  Beadle,  of  Yankton,  Dakota,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  Da- ' 
kota,  for  much  information  and  valuable  memoranda  in  regard  to  Southeastern 
Dakota  and  the  Black  Hills;  to  J.  B.  Power,  Esq.,  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  for 
a  valuable  essay,  and  many  important  documents  in  regard  to  Montana  and 
Dakota;  to  H.  H.  Young,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  Minnesota  Board  of  Emigration, 
for  documents,  etc.,  relative  to  Minnesota;  to  Hon.  Andrew  McKinley,  of  St. 
Louis,  President  of  Missouri  State  Board  of  Immigration,  for  letters  and  valu- 
able documents;  to  his  Excellency,  Albinus  Nance,  Governor  of  Nebraska,  for 
many  documents;  to  his  Excellency,  J.  P.  St.  John,  Governor  of  Kansas,  and 
J.  K.  Hudson,  Esq.,  Mr.  Gray's  successor  as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture of  that  State,  for  documents;  to  Robert  E.  Strahorn,  Esq.,  of  Omaha,  for 
valuable  documents  and  descriptions;  to  A.  L.  Webber,  Esq.,  of  Hot  Springs, 
and  to  United  States  Senator  A.  H.  Garland,  for  aid  in  regard  to  Arkansas;  to 
A.  L.  Stokes,  Esq.,  of  Chicago,  for  valuable  documents  in  regard  to  Oregon; 
to  Edward  J.  Brockett,  of  Orange,  N.  J.,  for  many  valuable  historical  and  de- 
scriptive works;  to  Cliarles  C.  Savage,  Esq.,  of  Brooklyn,  for  valuable  docu- 
ments and  information  concerning  Colorado;  to  Gen.  N.  A.  Miles,  U.  S.  A., 
for  official  reports  of  the  exploration  of  the  Yellowstone  region ;  and  especially 
to  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  D.  D.,  of  Brooklyn,  for  his  invaluable  aid  in  regard 
to  Montana  and  the  Yellowstone  Park.  There  may  be  others  whose  aid  ought 
to  be  acknowledged,  but  whose  names  are  not  now  recalled.  If  so,  they  Avill 
please  accept  the  grateful  thanks  of  one  whose  memory  of  names  is  less  tena- 
cious than  of  loving  deeds. 

In  the  hope  that  this  book  may  contribute  to  the  honor  and  glory  of  our  be- 
loved country,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  the  writer  subscribes  himself  the 
public's  most  humble  servant.  L.  P.  B. 

Brooklyn,  February,  iS8i. 


Contents. 


Preface 3 

Table  of  Contents 7 

PART  I.— OUR   WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

What  it  Comprehends — The  West  beyond  the  Mississippi — Its  Area  and  Ex- 
tent—  Comparison  with  other  Empires — Climate  —  Mountains — Natural 
Phenomena — Soil — The  Alkaline,  Volcanic  and  "Bad  Lands" — Predomi- 
nance of  Arable  and  Pasture  Lands — Nutritious  Grasses  in  the  Grazing 
Lands 33 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Great  American  Desert  :  Where  is  it  ? — The  Hundredth  Meridian — "  En 
Perkins's"  Scare — The  Facts  in  Reply — Colonel  (Brevet  Brigadier-General) 
Hazen  on  the  Northern  Pacific — Governor  Howard's  Answer,  and  other 
Facts — Dakota — Wyoming  and  its  Agriculture — Montana — B.  R.  and  Mr.  Z. 
L.  White  on  its  Crops — The  small  modicum  of  Truth  in  these  "  Desert  " 
Stories — The  reported  "  Desert  "  beyond  the  Rockies — The  Utah  and  Ne- 
vada Desert — Testimony  of  Surveyors-General — The  Texan  Deserts  and 
Arizona — The  Great  American  Desert  a  Myth 37 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  whole  Region  Abounding  in  Mineral  Wealth — Production  of  Gold  and 
Silver,  other  Metals,  etc. — Forests — Grasses — Root  Crops — Fruits — Vini- 
culture      51 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Wild  Animals  and  Game — Beasts  of  Prey — Grizzly  and  other  Bears — Mr.  Mur- 
phy's Grizzly  Bear  Story — The  Cougar,  Puma,  or  Panther — The  Jaguar  and 
other  Felid/e — Lynxes — What  sort  of  an  Animal  a  Lynx  is — The  Marten 
and  Weasel  Tribe — The  Gray  Wolf — The  Coyote — Is  the  Prairie  Wolf  a 
Coyote? — Colonel  Dodge's  Opinion — Amphibia— The  Whale  Tribe — Birds  of 
Prey — Perchers  and  Song-Birds— Pigeons  and  Grouse — Waders  and  Swim- 
mers— Reptiles — Fishes — Mollusks  and  Crustaceans — Domestic  Animals..  . .     56 

CHAPTER  V. 

Population — The  Increase  since  1870 — Tables  Showing  the  estimated  Incre.\sein 
each  State  and  Territory — Notes  in  regard  to  each  State  and  Territory.     63 

(7) 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Nationalities  and  Races  Represented — The  Indians — Different  Tribes,  and 
THEIR  Characteristics — The  Moquis  of  Arizona — Note  concerning  them — 
Africans  and  Colored  Persons  generally — Chinese  and  Japanese — IIispano- 
Americans — Europeans  of  different  Nationalities — British,  British  Ameri- 
can, German,  Scandinavian,  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  etc. — Americans  born 
IN  the  States 66 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Characteristics  and  Peculiarities  of  the  Population — Humorous  Aspects  of  the 
Blending  of  different  Nations — The  New  Dialect^Specimens  of  it — The 
Propensity  to  Humorous  Exaggeration — Incidents,  Manners  and  Habits  of 
Ranch-owners  and  Ranchmen — Colonies  of  different  Nationalities  and 
Religions — Mennonites— Stundists — Mormons — Catholic  Emigration — Asso- 
ciations OF  Capitalists  for  Mining,  Herding,  Wool-growing,  or  Farming  Pur- 
poses— Other  Modes  of  Settlement 71 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Variety  of  Soils  and  Surface — Alkaline  Lands — The  Llano  Estacado — Mez- 
quite  Lands — The  Plains — The  Bad  Lands — River-bottom  Lands — Soils 
— The  Mulatto  Soils — The  Chocolate  Soils — Geography  and  Geognosy — 
Geology — Characteristics  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — Glacial  Erosion — 
Horse-shoe  Moraines — Volcanic  Remains  of  the  Yellowstone  Country — 
The  Geysers — Wonderful  Lava  Fields — Volcanic  Mounds — The  Vicinity 
of  Salt  Lake — Professor  Geikie's  Summary  of  the  Geology  of  the  Central 
Region— Mineralogy — Mineral  Wealth  of  the  West,  not  Surpassed  in  any 
other  part  of  the  Globe — W'ide  diffusion  of  Gold  and  Silver — Lead, 
Copper,  Zinc — Iron  found  Everywhere — Nickel — Rarer  Metals — Salt  in 
Brine  Springs,  Lakes,  Salt  Marshes,  and  Rock-Salt — Borax — Asphaltum 
and  Petroleum — Lignite— Coal — Building-Stonf^ — Colored  Rocks  and 
Clays — Precious  Stones  of  all  kinds — Porcelain  Clays — Baryta — Ochres 
— Mineral  Springs 81 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Climates — Varieties  of  Climate — Causes — Climate  of  North-West  Coast — 
Small  Range  of  Temperature  on  the  California  Coast — Extremes  of 
Heat  and  Cold  between  the  Coast  Range  and  Sierra  Nevada — Cold  in 
Northern  Dakota — Protracted  and  intense  PIeat  at  Fort  Yuma — The 
Soldier's  Test — Temperature  on  the  Plains — The  Rocky  Mountain  Cli- 
mate—Mot at  mid-day.  Cool  at  Night— Annual  Range  from  55°  to  65° — 
Health  fulness  of  this  Climate— Rainfall— Great  Variations— Compari- 
son of  different  Sections — Western  Oregon  and  Northern  California, 
123  TO  135  inches— San  Diego  and  Fort  Yuma,  3.80  to  2.00  inches — Gulf 
Coast  54  to  67  inches — Mississippi  River  to  97TH  Meridian  45  to  28 
inches— 97TH  TO  117TI1  Meridian  25  to  11.5  inches— Farther  West,  t,i  to 
42  inches — Causes  of  deficient  Rainfall — Two-thirds  of  Arable  Lands 
DO  not  require  Irrigation — One-third  do — Advantages  of  Irrigation — 
Crops  larger  and   more  uniform— Winds— Character  and  Effect  of  dif- 


CONTENTS.  9 

FERENT  Winds — The  Winds  from  the  North — Gulf  Winds — The  Hot  Winds 
FROM  Mexico — Possihility  of  their  mitigation  as  the  Country  becomes 
Settled 94 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  various  Processes  of  Mining — Placer  Mining — Gold  Discovery  in  Califor- 
nia— Marshall's  Specimens — Humphrey  makes  a  Rocker — P.  B.  Reading's 
Experiment — John  Bidwell's  Discovery — Intense  Excitement — The  Pan — 
The  Rocker — The  Ditch  and  the  "  Tom  " — The  Sluice — Hydraulic  Mining 
— Hydraulic  Mining  not  esthetic — Desolation  of  the  Regions  where  it 
has  been  practised — Lode  or  Quartz  Mining — True  Fissure  Veins — The 
"Country"  Rock — Chimneys,  Chutes,  or  Bonanzas — Pockets — Cement  De- 
posits— Contact  Lodes — What  is  meant  by  a  Contact  Lode — Carbonates  of 
Silver  as  rich  as  Sulphurets — Gold  combined  with  Sulphurets — Mining 
and  Reducing  Processes — Sinking  a  Shaft — Running  an  Adit — Cutting  a 
Winze — Stoping — Depth  of  Mines — Great  Heat  of  Deep  Mines — The  Water 
very  Hot,  154°  F.  or  more — Cost  of  Pumping  out  and  Ventilating  Mines— 
The  Reduction  of  Pyritous  and  other  Ores — Gold  with  Oxide  of  Iron — 
Cost  of  Reduction  of  Gold — Discoveries  of  Silver  Ores — Silver  widely 
DIFFUSED — Various  Conditions  and  Combinations  of  Silver  in  the  Ores — 
Modes  of  Reduction — The  best  Mining  Regions — Placer  Mining:  the  best 
Locations — Difficulties  of  Placer  Mining — Difficulties  of  Lode  or  Vein 
Mining — The  best  Mines  bought  up  by  Capitalists — The  best  Locations  for 
Experts .' loi, 

CHAPTER  XL  ^ 

Other  Metals  and  Mineral  Products — Quicksilver — Its  Existence  as  Cin>;at 
bar — Copper — Found  in  Various  Forms,  as  Malachite,  Red,  Blue,  Vellow,, 
AND  Vitreous  Carbonates  and  Oxides,  Copper  Glance,  Pyrites,  Native,  etc.,. 
Occurs  in  nearly  all  the  States  and  Territories — Lead  and  Zinc — Both 
Occur  either  as  Galena  (Sulphuret),  Carbonate  or  Oxide,  in  most  of  the 
States  and  Territories — Iron — Everywhere  and  in  all  Forms  in  the  Great- 
est Abundance — Can  Supply  the  World  with  Iron  and  Steel — Platinum — 
Found  Pure  and  in  Combination  with  Gold,  Iridium  and  Iridosmin  in  Cali- 
fornia, Oregon,  Colorado,  and  Arizona — Tin— Occurs  as  Cassiterite  or 
Oxide — Nickel— Found  in  Iron  Ores — Iridium  and  Osmium — Tellurium— Rare 
Metals  Found  in  Combination  with  Gold,  and  the  latter  also  with  Copper 
— Antimony — Arsenic — Manganese — The  three  Found  in  Various  Forms  in 
Combination  with  Silver,  Copper,  Lead,  Zinc,  and  Iron — Sulphur— Found  Na- 
tive AND  in  Various  Combinations  with  most  of  the  Metals — Extensive  Beds 
IN  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Yellowstone  Park,  etc. 
— Borax — In  California  and  Nevada — Soda — In  California,  Nevada,  and 
Utah— Salt — Coal — Four  Distinct  Coal  Fields:  Eastern,  Bituminous;  Sec- 
ond, Lignite-Cretaceous;  Third,  Lignite-Tertiary,  but  changed  by  Volcanic 
Action  TO  Anthracite;  Fourth,  Bituminous,  and  Farther  North,  Anthracite 
— True  Anthracite  Coal  also  in  Arizona — Asphaltum  and  Petroleum  in 
California,  Nevada,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  Montana— Mica — Alum — 
Kaolin— Wood  and  Charcoal  as  Fuel — Mineral  Springs 118 


lo  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Agriculture— Arable  Lands  East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — Minnesota  Farming 
Lands  and  Prodi'cts — Dakota  Tekkitdry  Farming  Lands — Montana  Farms — 
Iowa  Farms — Missouri  Farminc;  Lands — Nebraska  Farming  Lands — Kansas 
Farming— Arkansas  Farms — The  Indian  Territory  as  a  Farming  Region — 
Texas  Farming,  Grain,  Cotton,  etc. — Review  of  Farming  Lands  East  of  Rocky 
Mountains— Much  Poor  and  Indifferent  Farming — Revolution  in  Farming 
Produced  hy  Agricultural  ^L\cHINERY — Rix)T  Crops — Cotton — Sugar — Fruit 
Culture — Textile  Fibres  and  Tobacco — The  Rocky  Mountain  Region — Won- 
derful Results  of  Irrigation — Beyond  the  Rockies — From  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada TO  THE  Coast  Range — California — Viniculture  in  California — The 
Products  of  Oregon  and  Washington i ji 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Timber  and  Lumber — Reckless  Waste  of  the  Forf^t  Growths — Only  eight  States 
AND  Territories  have  Sufficient  Forests  for  their  own  Supply,  and  some  to 
Spare — Tree-Planting — The  Forest  Growths  in  Different  Sections — Cal- 
ifornia Forests — What  Trees  are  Planted — Cotton-Wood — Osage  Orange 
— Catalpa — Maple,  ETC. — The  Eucalyptus  Globulus  Should  be  Planted — 
Why? — Horticulture  and  Fruit-Culture — Floriculture — Wild  Flowers — 
Market-Gardening 147 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

New  Directions  in  which  Agricultural  Industry  may  be  Developed,  and  in 
which  it  is  already  Developing — Millet  and  other  Forage  Crops — Silk- 
Culture —  Rearing  the  Silk-worm — Stifling  the  Cocoons — Reeling — The 
Filature — Schappe  or  Spun-Silk — Cocoons  do  not  bear  Transportation  well 
— Advantages  of  Silk-Culture  in  the  West  —  The  Silkville  Experiment — 
Prices  of  Raw  Silk  and  of  Silk-worm  Eggs — Probability  of  a  Large  Demand 
for  Raw  Silk — Textile  Fibres — Flax  and  Hemp — Paper  Stock  :  Esparto 
Grass,  Tule,  Marsh-Mallow,  etc. — Ramie,  Jute,  Tampico — The  Nettle — Dye 
Stuffs— Cochineal — Oil-Producing  Plants — The  Olive — Cotton-Seed  Oil — 
Hemp-seed  and  Linseed  Oil — Oil  of  Sunflower  Seeds  and  other  Seeds — Se- 
samum  Indicum — Tar  Weed  (Madia  Sativa) — Pea-nut,  Ground-nut  or  Goober 
— Castor  Bean  (Ricinus  Com.munis  and  Sanguinarius) — Tea  and  Coffee  Culti- 
vation— Fruit  and  Nut-bearing  Trees  and  Shrubs — The  Olive — Oranges 
and  Lemons — Pomegranate — Fig — Banana,  Plantain,  Pineapple,  Guava  and 
other  Tropical  Fruits — Papaw — Nut-bearing  Trees  and  Shrubs — Introduc- 
tion of  Foreign  Nuts — English  Walnut — Italian  Chestnut  —  Almond  — 
Other  Fruit-bearing  Shrubs — Japanese  Persimmon,  Carob,  Jujube,  Mezquite, 
etc. — Trees  and  Skrubs  containing  Tannin — The  Sumacs — The  Wattles — 
The  Spir/Eas  or  IIaridhacks 152 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Stock-raising — Cattle-herding,  and  the  rearing  of  Horses  and  Mules — The 
Grazing  Lands — The  Stock-growing  Region,  par  excellence — Winter  Care  of 
Stock — Number  of  Cattle  in  the  West  in  1879 — The  Herdsmen  or  Cow-boys 
— Stock-raising  profitable  if  WELL   managed— Stock-raising  in  Texas — Cli- 


CONTENTS.  II 

MATic  Advantages — Pasturing  on  the  Great  Ranges,  or  on  one's  own  Land — 
Expense  of  rearing  Cattle  in  Texas — The  two  Extremes  in  Stock-raising  in 
Texas— Examples— Beginning  on  a  Small  Scale — Growth  of  a  Texas  Stock- 
RANCHE — Stock-raising  in  Kansas  and  Colorado — Joint-Stock  Management 
OF  A  Ranche — The  Colorado  Cattle  Company's  Estate  of  Hermosillo — 
Another  Colorado  Company — Statistics — The  Estimate  of  Mr.  A.  A.  Hayes, 
Jr. — The  Difference  of  Profit  between  "  Store  "  Cattle  and  "  Fat  "  Cattle 
— Mr.  Barclay's  Account — The  English  View  of  the  Matter — Stock-raising 
in  the  Northern  and  Northwestern  States  and  Territories — Shelter 
and  Food  for  Stock — Future  Advantages  for  Shipping  Choice  Stock  from 
these  States  and  Territories  to  Europe  —  Dairy- Farming — Stock-raising 
and  Dairy-Farming  in  California — Horse-Farming  and  Rearing  Mules — 
Camels 165 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Sheep- Farming  and  Wool-Growing — Number  of  Sheep  and  Annual  Increase  of 
Lambs  in  each  State  or  Territory — The  Great  Wool  States — Improving 
THE  Breed  —  Merinos — Cotswolds  —  Southdowns — Leicesters — Tastes  Dif- 
fer— Perils  of  the  Flocks  from  Cold,  Starvation,  and  Thirst — Winter 
Shelter  and  Winter  Food  Necessary  in  Kansas  and  farther  North — Dis- 
eases of  Sheep — The  Scab — The  Tick — Grub  in  the  Head — The  Pale  Disease 
— Paper  Skin — The  Foot-rot — The  Black-leg — Pleuro- Pneumonia,  etc. — The 
Sheep  that  Browse  and  the  Sheep  that  Crop  their  Food — Shrubs  and 
Plants  Poisonous  to  Sheep — Sheep-Farming — The  Shepherds — The  Sheep- 
.  Farmer  in  Colorado — The  Purchase  of  the  Sheep- Farm — Buying  the  Sheep 
— The  Account — Beginning  on  a  small  Scale:  the  Man  with  only  $1,000 — 
Not  Advisable  to  Marry,  or  bring  a  Family  to  a  Sheep- Farm  when  starting 
WITH  A  very  Small  Capital — Crossing  the  Breed  with  the  Big-Horn — The 
Angora  and  other  Goats— -The  Rocky  Mountain  Goat 180 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Employments  in  Cities,  Towns  and  Villages— "A  Man's  got  to  ha\'e  Sand  " — No 
Place  for  Men  easily  Discouraged — Energetic  and  Industrious  Men  can  do 
well— Horticulture,  Floriculture,  Arboricul-eure- —  How  to  Succeed  in 
these  Pursuits— Mercantile  Business— The  Road  to  Success  for  the  Trades- 
man—  Banking  —  The  Professions,  Clergymen,  Lawyers,  Physicians,  En- 
gineers, Artists,  Musicians,  and  Teachers  of  Music,  Vocal  and  Instrumental 
— The  Love  of  Music  Illustrated — The  Leadville  Miner  and  his  Piano — 
Teachers  and  Educators — Provisions  for  Education  in  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories— Artisans  of  all  Trades — Machinists,  Operatives,  and  Employes  in 
M.\nufacturing  Establishments— Employments  connected  with  Mining,  Re- 
ducing, Smelting  and  Refining  Metals— Farming,  Herding,  and  other  Em- 
ployes—Day-Laborers— How  to  Spell  "  Lynx  "— Facilitif,s  for  Manufactur- 
ing—Water-Power, Steam- Power— Woollen  Manufacture— Cotton  Manu- 
factures and  Cotton  Seed— Other  Textiles— Iron  and  Iron  Wares- 
Machinery — Manufactures  of  Wood,  etc 191 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Future,  the  Glorious  Future  of  this  Grand  Empire  of  the  Wf^t— The 
Causes  which  have  led  to  its  Growth— Bishop  Berkeley's  Prediction— The 


|2  CONTENTS. 

"Empire"  he  saw— The  Germ  of  the  Great  Republic — What  the  EAfpiRE  is, 

AND  WHAT  IT  IS  TO  BE — ItS  GrOWTH  AM)  FUTURE  CAPACITY — Thk  FUTURE  CLI- 
MATE— The  Future  Soil  and  Productiveness — Influence  of  Railroads  in  De- 
veloping this  Region — The  Gold  and  Silver  Mini.s  as  aiding  in  the  Devel- 
opment OF  the  Country — The  Future  of  the  Mines  of  the  Precious  Metals — 
The  Western  Slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  full  of  Gold  and  Silver — 
Results  OF  Increased  Production  OF  Gold  AND  Silver — Effect  of  Increased 
Production  OF  OTHER  Metals — No  Metal  hut  Tin  to  be  Imported— Mineral 
Earths  and  Elements  to  be  Developed — Coal — Petroleum— Metallic  and 
Mineral  Products  of  the  F'ar  West  in  iSSo — The  Production  of  a.  d.  1900 
—  Vegetable  Products — Wheat  —  Two  Thousand  Millions  of  Bushels  in 
igoo — Indian  Corn — Corn  Crop  of  1879 — Influences  affecting  the  F"uture  of 
this  Crop — Sorghum— Sorghum  Sugar — Its  Future. Production  and  Consump- 
tion— Oats — Barley — Rye — Buckwheat — Egyptian  Rice  Corn — Rice,  Note — 
Summing  up  of  Cereal  Products — Root  Crops — Potatoi-:s — Sweet  Potatoes — 
Other  Root  Crops — Difficulty  of  Determining  their  Amount — Orchard 
Products — Textiles— Cotton — The  Future  Demand  for  Cotton  —  Wool — 
Wool  Clip  in  a.  d.  1900— Silk — Probability  of  the  large  Production  of  Raw 
Silk  here — Other  Textiles — The  Hay  Crop — Dairy  Products — Tobacco — 
Sugar,  not  from  Sorghum — Hops — Oil-bearing  Plants  and  Seeds — Summary 
of  Vegetable  Products,  exclusive  of  Cereals — Fisheries  of  the  Pacific  and 
the  Gulf,  of  the  Lakes  and  Rivers  of  the  Interior — Fish-Culture,  Present 
and  Prospective — Live-Stock  in  iS8o  and  1900 — Forest  Products— Various 
W^AYS  IN  which  Wood  is  used  and  destroyed — Probable  Value  of  Forest 
Products  in  1900 — Manufactures — Future  of  Manufactures — Commerce — 
Internal  and  Interstate  Commerce — Its  indescribable  Extent — General 
Summary  —  Character  of  Future  Population — Little  Danger  of  War—; 
Indians —  Probable  Early  Extinction  of  Indian  Tribes — The  Colored 
Race— The  Mexicans,  Chinese  and  Japanese— Probability  of  a  large  Influx 
OF  Chinese  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  the  near  Future — European  Immigrants 
— Emigrants  from  the  Eastern  United  States — The  Character  of  its  Citi- 
zens THE  BEST  Guaranty  of  its  Future 206 


PART  II.— IMMIGRATION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Who  Should  Migrate  to  this  Western  Empire,  and  the  Reasons  Why— Desira- 
bleness OF  Accurate  Information— WiiAi- English  and  Irish  Farmers  are 
Saying — This  Book  thoroughly  Trustworthy,  and  written  with  no  Inter- 
est but  the  Immigrant's  to  Serve — Intentional  and  Unintentional  Misrep- 
resentation— Who  should  not  come— The  Land-Grant  Railway  Companies, 
AND  THE  Emigration  Societies — The  Hardships  to  which  the  Immigrant  was 
Subjected  Thirty  or  F'orty  Years  ago— The  comparative  Ease  and  Comfort 
OF  THE  Immigrant's  Lot  now— The  Immigrant  should  not  buy  his  Land  before 
seeing  IT — All  Lands  not  equally  Desirable— Railway  Pamphlets  and  Em- 
igration Society  Circulars  sometimes  Overstate  Advantages — The  Immigrant 
should  Examine  for  Himself — Age  beyond  which  Emigration  is  Undesirable 
— Other  Classes  who  ought  not  to  come— Invalids— Lazy  People— F'ickle 


CONTENTS.  13 

People — Those  who  have  no  Money — Amount  of  Capital  Necessary — This 

VARIES  WITH  the    OCCUPATION — WhAT  ARE  NECESSARY  EXPENSES ALTERNATIVES 

FOR  Men  who  have  only  ;^ioo  or  less,  and  a  Family — Single  Men  can  get 

ALONG,  though  NOT  WITHOUT  HARDSHIPS  AND  PRIVATIONS — WhY  SOME  EMIGRANTS 

ARE  Dissatisfied — "Our  Western  Empire"  preferred  to  other  Countries  by 
the  Emigrant — Why  ? 337 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Routes  by  which  "Our  Western  Empire"  is  Reached — What  the  Immigrant 

SHOULD  DO  on  REACHING    CASTLE    GARDEN — ThE  JoURNEY    AT    BEST  A    WEARISOME 

ONE — The  Northeastern  Region — Chicago  the  Point  of  Departure  for  this 
Region — Cautions  and  Advice  to  the  Immigrant  when  Travelling — The  Cen- 
tral Region — St.  Louis,  Omaha,  St.  Joseph,  Atchison,  or  preferably  Kansas 
City  the  Points  of  Departure  for  this  Region,  and  for  most  of  the  South- 
ern, Southwestern  and  Pacific  Regions  also — The  Southern  and  Southwest- 
ern States  and  Territories  also  reached  by  Steamers  on  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Gulf,  and  these  and  the  Pacific  States  by  Ocean  Steamers  from  New 
York — The  Southern  Region — The  Southwestern — The  Pacific  States  and 
Territories — Time  occupied  by  the  Emigrant  Trains  and  the  Steamers — 
Table  of  Destinations,  Routes,  Points  of  Departure  and  Fares  in  the  Autumn 
of  1879 248 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Selection  of  a  Farm — How  to  obtain  Land — Various  Ways  in  which  an  Im- 
migrant with  Capital  may  obtain  a  Farm  very  Reasonably — Advice  to  the 
Immigrant  who  has  but  little  Capital — In  what  States  and  Territories,  or 
PARTS  of  States,  are  there  Arable  Government  Lands  ? — How  to  obtain  Gov- 
ernment Lands — Prices  of  Arable  or  Farming  Lands — Purchase  at  Auction 
or  Private  Entry — Purchases  and  Locations  with  Bounty  or  Military  Land- 
Warrants — Locations  with  Agricultural  College  Scrip — Pre-emption — The 
Homestead  Sales — Laws  extending  the  Homestead  Privilege — Provisions 
FOR  the  Benefit  of  Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the  late  War,  their  Widows  and 
Minor  Orphan  Children — Homestead  Lands  Exempt  from  Liability  for  Debts 
Previously  Contracted— Fees  for  Homestead  Entries — Land- Warrants — 
The  Timber-Culture  Act — Terms  and  Mode  of  Purchase  of  Timber  and 
Stone  Lands —  The  Desert  Land  Act — Purchases  under  it — Grazing  Lands  : 
how  Secured 254 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Mining  and  Mineral  Lands — The  United  States  Laws  and  Regulations  of  the 
Land  Office  in  regard  to  them — Extent  of  Claim — Rights  of  Claimants  — 
Veins — How  Controlled — Tunneling — Requirements  of  Location  and  Labor 
— How  to  Secure  a  Patent  for  them — Provisions  for  Placer  Claims — Limita- 
tions and  Liens — Placer  and  Lode  Claims  Jointly — Fees  to  Surveyors — 
Proof  of  Claims — Veins  Crossing — Sites  for  Mills — Drainage,  Easements, 
etc. — Vested  Water-rights — Homesteads  —  Agricultural  Lands — General 
Provision — Coal  Lands — Who  can  Claim — Registering  Claims — Conflicting 
Claims — The  act  of  1874— The  Act  of  1875 — Rules  of  the  U.  S.  Land  Office 
— Effect  of  the  Act  of  1872 — Extent  of  Surface  Ground — Surface  Rights — 
The  Miner's  Laws  or  Rules — Interpretation  of  the  Statutes  by  the  Lano 
Office  —  General  Instructions  from    Surveyor-General— Placer  Claims — 


f4  CONTENTS. 

Mill  Sites— Deputy-Surveyor's  Fees— Proofs  of  Citizenship  of  Mining  Claim- 
ants—State, Territorial  and  Local  Rules  or  Laws— Nevada  Statutes— Vir- 
ginia District,  Nevada- Ref^e  River  District,  Nevada— Statutes  of  Orecon 

Quartz  Statute  of  Idaho— Statute  of  Arizona— Mining  Laws  of  Colorado 

Supplementary  Act  to  these  Laws  passed  in  1874— The  Colorado  Act  of 

i877_MiNiNG  Laws  of  New  Mexico 270 

CHAPTER  V. 

Other  Lands  in  some  of  the  States  more  Desirable  for  Emigrants  than  Govern- 
ment Lands— State  and  Territorial  Lands— Agricultural  College,  Uni- 
versity, AND  School  Lands— The  Quantity,  Prices,  and  Terms  of  Purchase 
—Other  State  Lands— Lands  Granted  to  Benevolent  Institutions— Desert 
AND  Swamp  Lands— Lands  held  Under  Mexican  Titles  in  California,  New 
Mfocico,  and  Arizona— Some  Danger  of  Conflict  of  Titles  in  thf^e — The 
Tfjcas  Land  System— Three  Modes  of  Securing  Homes  in  Texas  under  its 
Land  Laws,  VIZ. :  By  Settlement  under  the  Homestead  Donation  Law;  By 
Locating  a  Certificate;  or  by  Purchase  from  the  State  of  Common  School, 
University  or  Asylum  Lands— No  United  States  Government  Lands  in  Texas 
Railroad  Lands — Extent  of  these  in  the  different  States  and  Terri- 
tories—Range of  Prices— Methods  of  Selling  for  Cash— On  Short  Credit- 
On  Long  Credit— The  Discounts  for  Cash  Payments— Examples— Range  of 
Prices — The  Union  Pacific,  Central  Pacific,  Western  Pacific,  and  Southern 
Pacific  Lands— Their  Rules  for  Selling— Their  Terms  higher  and  more 
Vigorously  Enforced — Buying  an  Interest  in  a  Mine — This  does  not  Neces- 
sarily include  Ownership  of  the  Land  over  it — Buying  Partially  improved 
Farms — They  Should  not  be  Bought  at  too  High  a  Price 345 

• 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Farming  Life — Management  of  a  Farm  at  the  West — The  Best  Farming  Regions — 
What  Crops -are  Best — The  Immigrant  Farmer  should  decide  what  Crops  he 
WISHES  to  Cultivate,  beforehand — If  Small  Grains  and  Root  Crops,  he  should 
decide  between  Spring  Wheat  and  Winter  Wheat — Spring  Wheat  Best  Jn 
THE  Northern  Tier  of  States  and  Territories — Why? — Winter  Wheat  in 
the  Middle  Tier — Other  Crops — Indian  Corn — Sorghum — Oats — Root  Crops 
— The  Region  of  Moderate  or  Small  Rainfall — Necessity  of  Irrigation  on 
These — Its  Advantages — Crops  Certain — Requires  more  Capital  but  Gives 
BETTER  Results — Hints  to  Immigrant  Farmers — Deep  Plowing  Needed — Ro- 
tation of  Crops — Some  Manuring  an  Advantage — Agricultural  Machinery — 
The  Gang-Plow — Seed-Drill — Horse-Hoe — Cultivator — Reaper  and  Binder 
or  Harvester,  Mower,  Horse-rake,  etc.,  etc. — Should  keep  what  Stock  he 
CAN  Feed — Sowing  Grain  in  Drills,  instead  of  Broadcast — Too  much  Seed 
Sown  and  not  enough  Care  of  its  Quality — Hai.lett's  PEDiGRFJi  Wheat — 
The  Immigrant  in  the  South  or  Southwest — The  Best  Crops  for  him — Cot- 
ton IF  hechooses,  BUT  Vegetables,  Small  Fruits,  Sweet  Potatoes,  and  gener- 
ally Market-Garden  Produce,  more  Profitable  on  Account  of  n^  Eari.iness 
Often  Two  Crops  can  be  raised  in  a  Se.\son — Some  of  the  Cereals  and  In- 
dian Corn  do  well  in  Northern  Texas  and  Arkansas — Need  of  Fertilizers 
HERE— Their  Accessibility — Semi-Tropical  Fruits  most  Profitable  in  Ari- 
zona, Southern  New  Mexico,  and  Southern  California — How  Farming  can  be 
made  most  Profitable 363 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


15 


Western  Farming  Continued— What  Capital  is  Necessary  for  a  Comfortable 
Beginning  on  a  New  Farm  at  the  West — What  the  Railway  Men  say  $1,000 
WILL  DO — This  Sum  hardly  Sufficient  under  Homestead  or  Timber-Culture 
Acts,  without  Great  Privations  —  Fifteen  Hundred  Dollars  Better — A 
Larger  Amount  Needed  in  some  States  or  Territories  than  in  others — Less 
Money  Needed  in  Arkansas  or  Texas  than  Elsewhere,  but  the  Land  Less 
Productive — The  Disasters  and  Drawbacks  to  which  the  Western  Farmer 
IS  Liable  before  he  is  fairly  Established — Drought — Grasshoppers  or  Bee- 
tles, Gophers — Cattle  Diseases — Swine  Plague — Cyclones — Prairie  Fires  or 
Floods — The  Remedy  or  Preventive  to  be  found  in  varied  Locations — Varied 
Crops,  or  the  Addition  of  Stock-raising  to  his  other  Farming — Buying  a  Par- 
tially Improved  Farm — What  is  Bought — The  Price  varying  in  different 
Locations — Advice  to  those  who  are  unable  at  first  to  Buy  and  Stock  a 
Farm — Incidents  of  Farm- Life — Renting  Land  unadvisable — Great  Farms 
objectionable — Why? — The  Homestead  and  other  Exemptions  in  the  dif- 
ferent States 379 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Immigrant  as  a  Cattlf.-breeder  and  Stock-raiser — Methods  of  Stock-breed- 
ing IN  different  States  and  Territories — The  Texas  Cattle-Ranche — The 
Large  Ranche  and  the  Small  one — $15,000  to  $25,000  for  the  Former,  and 
$4,500  TO  $5,000  for  the  I>atter — The  Ranche  in  Colorado — Only  Large 
Ranches  Profitable  as  a  Rule — How  a  Man  with  a  Small  Capital  may 
eventually  have  a  Cattle-Ranche  of  his  Own — The  Herder's  Life  a  lonely 
one  and  not  without  its  Perils — Wyoming,  Montana,  California — "  The 
Bulls  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  " — Dangers  from  Grizzly  Bears,  Panthers, 
Jaguars — Dangers  of  the  Great  and  continued  Snow  Storms — Necessity  of 
A  Shelter  and  Fodder  for  the  Cattle  in  Winter — Joint-Stock  Cattle- 
Ranches  in  Montana — Cattle  easily  Fatted  there— In  California  the  ' 
Stock  choice  and  in  Demand,  both  for  Breeding  and  Dairy-farming — Cat- 
tle-breeding IN  New  Mexico,  Utah,  Arizona — In  Washington,  Oregon,  Ne- 
vada, and  Idaho — Minnesota,  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Missouri,  and  Ar- 
kansas as  Cattle-breeding  States — Lands  best  Adapted  to  this  Pursuit — 
Different  Methods  Advisable  in  Different  Sections — The  Cow-boys  or  Her- 
ders :  their  Care  of  their  Herds — Their  isolated,  half-savage  Life — Round- 
ing up — Branding — Selecting  the  Steers  and  Heifers  for  Market — The  Cap- 
ital Necessary  for  Success — Combining  Dairying  with  Cattle-breeding,  less 
Capital  required — Good  Management  Necessary — Becoming  Manager  of  a 
Joint-Stock  Cattle-Farm  in  Montana  or  Dakota — A  Fortune  acquired  in  a 
Few  Years  by  a  Shrewd  and  Skilful  Man — How  a  Poor  Man  can  acquire  a 
Cattle-Ranche  in  time — Statistics  of  the  Cost  of  a  Moderately  Large 
Ranche 390 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Sheep-farming  and  Wool-growing — The  Best  Regions  and  the  Best  Beeeds — The 
Most  Direct  Routes  thither — The  Methods  of  Sheep-farming  in  our  West- 
ern Empire — The  Texas  Sheep-farms — Large  Flocks  Preferred — Small  Ones 
LESS  Profitable — The  Experience  of  Texan  Sheep-farmers — Col.  James' 
Statement — The  Kansas  Policy  that  of  Small  Sheep-farms  with  other  Farm- 


|6  CONTENTS, 

INC.  Carried  on  with  it — Testimony  ok  Messrs.  McIntosh,  Uhl,  Bryan,  Hos- 

TETTER,  GrINNELL,  MaTHIES  AM)  WaDSWORTH — THE  VOUNG  COLORADO  ShEEP-FaR- 

MER — Capital  Reqi-irep.  in  different  Sections — The  Shepherds — Antagon- 
ism of  the  Herders  and  Shepherds — Improving  the  Breeds — Wintering  the 
Sheep — Water  in  Abundance  a  Necessity — Destruction  of  the  Herds  from 
Thirst — Snowing  Under — Fatal  Effects  of  a  Severe  Norther — The  Shep- 
herd's Life  more  Isolated  and  with  less  Excitement  than  that  of  the 
Herder  or  Cow-Boy — Its  Risks  and  Dangers — New  Mexico  the  best  Region 
for  Large  Sheep-farms,  and  Kansas  and  Nebraska  for  Small  ones — How  to 
Buy  and  Stock  a  Sheep-ranche — The  Amount  of  Capital  Necessary — The 
Cost  and  the  Profits — Mr.  Gray  on  the  different  Breeds  of  Sheep — Char- 
acter of  the  Varieties  most  Popular  in  the  West — Diseases  of  Sheep — Mr. 
F.  D.  CuRTis's  Essay  —  Parasites  —  Liver-rot — Pale  Disease — Hydatids — 
Worms  in  the  Head — Scah — Sheep-ticks — Footrot — Constipation — Colics 
— Diarrhcea  and  Scours — Inflammation  of  the  Lungs — Snuffles  and  Snoring 
— Poisons — Abortion  —  Black-leg  —  Paper-Skin  —  Lung- Worm  —  Stricana  — 
Sheep  healthier  in  the  North  than  in  the  South — The  Enemies  of  the 
Sheep — How  A  Poor  Man  can  become  a  Sheep-master 402 

CHAPTER  X. 

Other  Farm  Animals — Breeding  Swine — Swine  Husbandry  less  Popular  in  the 
Great  West  than  East  of  the  Mississippi — The  States  and  Territories  most 
largely  engaged  in  it — Southern  Swine  generally  of  Poorer  Breeds  than 
those  in  the  more  Northern  States — The  Best  Breeds — Berkshire,  Poland- 
China,  AND  Chester-White — Modes  of  Management — The  Margin  of  Profit 
IN  THE  Business — Diseases  to  which  Swine  are  Liable — The  Hog-Cholkra — 
Swine  Plague  or  Hog- Fever— Great  Destruction  of  Swine  caused  by  this 
Disease — The  Researches  of  Drs.  Detmers,  Law,  Voyles,  and  Salmon  into 
THE  Causes,  Character,  Symptoms,  and  Fatal  Results  of  this  Disease,  and 
•  the  Possibility  of  its  Prevention  or  Cure — Swine-farming  in  Kansas  and 
Iowa  —  Reports  of  MesjRS.  Coburn,  Linscott  Brothers,  Prindle,  Johnson, 
Sutton,  and  Keagy  on  Methods  and  Success  in  Swine-farming — Breeding  of 
Horses,  Asses,  and  Mules  for  the  Market — This  Pursuit  very  Profitable 
— The  Mustang,  the  Broncho  and  the  Burro — Dogs — The  Shepherd  Dog — 
Dogs  FOR  Hunting — The  Greyhound;  Different  Varieties — Poi^'ters,  Set- 
ters, Bull-Dogs,  Coach-Dogs,  Terriers  —  Mongrel  Hunting  Dogs— Indian 
Cur- Dogs — Crosses  between  Dogs  and  Wolves — Worthless  Dogs  very  De- 
structive of  Sheep — The  Raising  of  Poultry — Different  Breeds — The  Cross 
of  THE  common  Barn-yard  Fowl  with  the  Brahma,  Houdan,  Hamburg,  Black- 
Spanish  or  Plymouth  Rock  the  best— Bantams  good  Layers— Mr.  A.  P.  Ford's 
Directions  and  Statistics — Other  Fowls — Enemies  of  Fowls — Chicken-Chol- 
era— The  Croup 44° 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Special  Crops — Rice  Corn — Pearl  Millet — Other  Millets — Alfalfa — Hungarian 
Grass— Sweet  Potatoes— Pea-Nut  or  Ground-Nut  —  The  Sx'gar  Question 
once  more — Is  not  Corn  worth  more  than  Twenty  Cents  a  Bushel  to  Man- 
ufacture into  .Sugar?— The  Cultivation  of  Textiles — Flax,  Hemp,  Ramie, 
Jute,  Tampico,  Tule,  Nettle,  Esparto  Grass,  the  Brake  or  Swamp  Cane — 
Some  of  the  Cacti — Cultivation  of  Oil- Producing  Plants — The  Pea-Nut  or 


CONTENTS.  17 

Ground-Nut — Castor  Bean,  Olive,  Flax,  Rape,  Hemp  and  CotTon  Seed,  Tar 
Weed,  Sesame,  rEi'i'ERMiNT,  Spearmint,  Bergamot — Cultivation  uf  Nut- 
bearing  AND  Fruit-bearing  Trees  and  Shrubs — English  Walnut,  Black 
Walnut,  Hickory-Nut,  Common  Chestnut,  Italian  Chestnut,  Almond,  Fil- 
bert, Pecan,  IIazel-Nut,  Pawpaw,  Persimmon,  Japanese  Persimmon,  Pomegran- 
ate, Mandrake,  Apricot,  Medlar,  Orange,  Lemon,  Shaddock,  etc. — Ordinary 
Fruits,  Apples,  Pears,  Quinces,  Peaches,  Plums,  Cherries,  Prunes,  etc. — 
Small  Fruits,  Grapes,  Zante  Currants,  Currants,  Gooseberries,  Straw- 
berries, Raspberries,  Blackberries,  Dewberries,  Partridgeberries,  Whortle- 
berries— Market  Garden  Vegetables — Employment  for  Professional  Men, 
Artisans,  Tradesmen,  Florists,  Market-Gardeners,  Factory  Operatives, 
etc. — Importance  of  Sustaining  Schools  and  Churches 478 


PART  III.— THE  SEVERAL  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES 

DESCRIBED. 

C  H  A  P  T  E  R     I . 

ARIZOJ^A. 

Its  Location — Extent — Addition  to  its  Area  by  The  Gadsden  Treaty — Date  of 
Organization — Only  one-twelfth  of  its  Area  yet  Surveyed — Topography — ■ 
Mountains,  Rivers,  Lakes,  Canons  —  Remarkable  Character  of  these 
Canons — They  Drain  the  Mesas  of  their  Moisture — The  Canons  of  the 
Colorado — Their  Descent  by  Major  J.  W.  Powell  and  his  Companions  in. 
1869  and  187 1 — The  Grand  Ca55on  of  the  Colorado  one  of  the  Wonders  of 
the  World — Table- lands — General  Fremont's  thorough  Acquaintance  with 
Arizona — His  Proposition  to  Restore  theGre.\t  Inland  Sea  in  Southeastern 
California — A  Moister  Climate  Secured  to  Arizona  by  this  Measure — Soil, 
Climate,  Temperature  and  Rainfall — Yuma  the  Hottest  and  Driest  Place 
in  "  Our  Western  Empire" — Wonders  and  Peculiarities  of  Arizona — Miner- 
als and  Mines — Zo5logy — Adventures  with  Wild  Animals — The  Bite  of  the 
Skunk — Rabid  Wolves — Productions,  Mineral,  Animal,  Vegetable — Popu- 
lation— The  Indians — Their  large  Number — Different  Races — Some  of 
THEM  Industrious  and  Honest,  others  Thievish  and  Murderous — Nearly 
Extinct  Races — The  Extensive  Ruins  of  Ancient  Dwellings  Inii.vbited 
BY  Races  now  Nearly  or  Quite  Extinct — The  Casa  Grande — Other  Rihns 
—  The  Ancient  Province  of  Tusayan  —  The  Narratives  of  Colonel 
Powell  and  Professor  Newberry — Situation  of  the  Moquis  Villages  on 
Lofty  Mesas — Their  Dwellings  usually  Three  or  Four  Stories. High,  and 
Terraced  in  Front — The  Rear  Walls  Blank — The  Lower  Story  .\,  Granary 
— Windows  of  Selenite — The  Neatness  of  their  Apartments — Their  Mode 
OF  Life — Hospitality  —  Politeness  —  Occupations  —  Economy  —  Industry — 
Their  Bread  of  Different  Colors — Virgin  Hash — Ceramic  Art — Blankets 
— Other  Manufactures  of  Wool — Taste  in  Dres.s — Dressing  the  Hair — 
Salut.\tions  —  Sunrise  Worship — Theology — Gymnastic  Exercisf.s  —  Sacri- 
fices OF  Fruits  and  Seeds  Only — Language  Peculiar — Probably  of  Toltec 
Origin — White  Inhabitants — Present  Condition,  and  the  Advantagi^  and 
Facilities  it  Affords  to  Settlers — Letters  and  Communications  from 
Major-General  J.  C.  Fremont,  Governor  of  Arizona,  and.  Colonel  J.  W. 
2 


I«  COJVTENTS. 

Powell,  United  States  Army,  Explorer  of  the  Colorado,  etc. — Probable 
Future— Biographical  Sketch  of  Major-General  Fremont,  the  Present 
Governor  of  Arizona 4^2 

CHAPTER     II. 

ARKAJ^SAS.  f' 

Its  Situation,  Area,  Extent — Topography— Mountains,  Rivers,  Lakes,  Valleys- 
Navigable  Rivers  and  Railways— Soil — Climate — Rainfall — Minerals  and 
Mineral  and  Hot  Springs — Analysis  of  the  Hot  Springs — The  Village  of 
Hot  Springs — The  Inhabitants  of  the  Adjacent  Country — Vegetation — 
Woodland — Forest  Growths  and  their  Size — Fruits — Wild  and  Cultivated 
Grapes — Animals — Insect  Pests — Archaeology — Productions,  Mineral,  Vege- 
table AND  Animal — Crops — Live-stock — Manufactures — Commerce — Popula- 
tion—  Origin  of  Population  —  Education  —  Religious  Denominations  — 
Exemptions  —  Donated  Lands  —  Views  of  Hon.  Charles  S.  Keyser,  Hon. 
David  Walker,  W.  A.  Webber,  Esq.,  and  Hon.  A.  H.  Garland,  U.  S.  Senator, 
ON  the  History  and  Probable  Future  of  Arkansas 530 

CHAPTER     III. 
CALIFORJ^IA,     . 

Its  Situation— Topography — Mountains,  Valleys,  Lakes,  Rivers,  Harbors, 
Islands — Arable,  Grazing,  Timber  and  Worthless  Lands,  and  the  Probable 
Quantity  of  Each— Geology  and  Mineralogy — Gold  and  Silver  in  very 
MANY  Forms— Quicksilver,  Platinum,  Lead,  Copper,  Tin,  Arsenic,  Iron  in 
MANY  Forms,  Tellurium,  Graphite,  Borax,  Salt,  Soda,  Sulphur,  Gypsum, 
Barytes,  Antimony,  Ochre,  etc.,  among  the  Metals  and  Minerals  of  the 
State — Mines  and  Mining  Industry — Immense  Production  of  the  Precious 
Metals  in  the  State — Twenty-one  Counties  Produce  either  Gold  or  Silver 
OR  both — Increased  Production  in  1880— Soils  and  Vegetation— Red,  Adobe, 
Buff,  Sandy,  Tule,  Desert  and  Alkaline  Soils— The  Forest  Trees— The 
Sequoias,  Redwoods  and  other  Trees  Peculiar  to  California — Description 
OF  THE  Giant  Trees  by  Mr.  Whitehill— Zoology — Great  Variety  of  Animal 
Life — Beasts  of  Prey — Rodents  Destroying  Crops — Ground  Squirrels  and 
Gophers — Wonders — Professor  Whitney's  Description  of  the  Yosemite 
Valley — Other  Descriptions  of  the  Adjuncts  of  Yosemite — Cloud  Rest — "  I 
Salute  the  Grandest  View  in  the  World" — The  Tuolumne  Valley — The 
Eight  or  Nine  Groves  of  Giant  Sequoias — The  Calistoga  Geysers — Natural 
Bridges — Caves — Grottos — Bell-sounding  Rocks — Lakes,  Salt  and  Fresh — 
The  Death  Valley — Professor  E.  W.  Hilgard  on  Climates  of  the  State — 
Mean  Temperatures  and  Semi-annual  and  Annual  Rainfall  of  Nine  Locali- 
ties— Agricultural  Products — Cereals — Professor  Hilgard's  Account  of 
Wheat-growing — The  "  Giant-header,"  Thresher  and  Sacking-wagon — Dis- 
posing of  the  Straw — The  Other  Cereals — Beans — Potatoes — Other  Vege- 
tables— Hops — Pea-nuts — Other  Special  Crops — Market  Garden  Crops  and 
Small  Fruits — California  Fruit — Grapes  and  Wine — Forage  Crops — Alfalfa 
Grasses — Stock-breeding  and  Dairying — Butter — Eggs — Apiaculture — Silk 
Culture —  Manufactures — Railroads — Steamers — Commerce  and  Naviga- 
tion, Imports  and  Exports,  Banks,  etc. — California  as  a  Health  Resort — 
Population,  how  Classified — Education — Churches — Counties  and  Princi- 
pal Towns — History  and  Probable  Future  551 


CONTENTS.  19 

CHAPTER    IV. 

COLORADO. 

Situation,  Boundaries,  Area— Topography— Mountains— Six  Distinct  Ranges  be- 
sides MANY  Spurs  and  Isolated  Summits— Fifty-two  Peaks  over  13,000  Feet, 
and  Several  Hundred  10,000  Feet  or  more— Ten  Towns  or  Mines  over  10,000 
Feet  above  the  Sea,  and  Sixty-one  over  5,000  Feet — Mountains  Covered 
with  Pine,  Fir  and  Spruce  up  to  the  Timber  Line — Valleys,  Plains,  Parks- 
North,  Middle,  South,  San  Luis,  Estes,  Egeria,  Animas  and  Huerfano  Parks 
the  Largest,  and  Best  Known;  but  there  are  Hundreds  of  Smaller  Ones  of 
great  Beauty— Rivers— The  North  and  South  Platte,  the  Arkansas,  Rio 
Grande,  the  Grand,  Green,  San  Juan,  Tributaries  of  the  Rio  Colorado,  and 
their  Affluents— Lakes — Many  of  these  at  Great  Elevations,  as  the  Green 
Lakes,  Chicago  Lakes,  etc.— Canons— Canons  of  the  Arkansas,  of  the  Gun- 
nison, OF  the  Grand  and  the  Green  Rivers— Climate  and  Rainfall— Soil 
and  Vegetation— Arable  Lands— Nearly  16,000,000  Acres  of  these— A  Part 
Require  Irrigation— Great  Facilities  for  this— Crops  as  Affected  by  Irri- 
gation—Hon.  Mr.  Barclay's  Statement  about  it— What  an  Intelligent 
English  Agriculturist  and  Member  of  Parliament  thinks  of  Farming  in 
Colorado— Present  Forest  Area  of  Colorado— Geology,  Mineralogy— All 
the  Geologic  Formations  of  the  Continent  laid  bare  in  the  Canons  or  on 
the  Precipitous  Sides  of  the  Mountains— Coal— The  Lignite  of  the  Terti- 
ary, AND  the  Bituminous  and  Anthracite  of  the  Coal  Measures  Founf  at 
Various  Places  in  the  State— Wonders  Produced  by  Erosion— Mr.  Pang- 
born's  Descriptions— The  Fossils  of  Talbott  Hill— The  Coal  Mines  of 
Ca55on  City— The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas — The  Ancient  Ruins  in 
Southwestern  Colorado— Animals— Mines  and  Mining  Industry— Early 
Mining  History  of  the  State— Mining  Product  Prior  to  1880— The  same  by 
Counties— The  Regions  which  are  not  known  to  Possess  Mineral  Deposits 
—The  Extraordinary  Development  of  Mining  in  the  State  since  1875— 
Mining  Districts— Description  of  each  County  known  to  Possess  Min- 
eral .  Wealth  —  Its  Mines  and  their  Product  — Farming  — Extent  of 
Arable  Lands— Irrigation  Largely  Practised— Its  Advant.^ges- Rapid  In- 
crease OF  Farming  Products — Excellence  of  Colorado  Cereals— Dairy- 
farming— Raising  Horses  and  Mules— Wages  of  Farm-hands— Immense  Yield 
OF  Irrigated  Crops— High  Farming— Stock-raising— Hon.  Mr.  Barclay's 
Description  of  Stock-raising  in  the  State— Dairy-farming — Cattle  should 
be  Fatted  in  Colorado  and  Kansas— Mr.  Stratten's  Experience— Wool- 
growing— Sheep-farming  Profitable  in  Colorado— Its  Rapid  Increase — 
Growth  of  the  Live-stock  Interest  in  the  State — Railroads — Education — 
Commerce— Population— Cities,  Counties  and  Towns— Increase  since  1870— 
Counties — Churches — The  Future  of  Colorado 623 

CHAPTER    V. 

DAKOTA. 

Boundaries,  Area  and  Topography  of  Dakota— First  Settlements— Organization 
—Rivers— Lakes— Dakota  Divided  into  Four  Sections:  Northern,  Central, 
Southeastern  and  Black  Hills— Characteristics  of  each— The  Bad  Lands- 
Fossils  there— Governor   Howard's   Description  of  these  Sections— His 


90  CONTENTS. 

Address — His  Report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior — The  Surveyor- 
General's  Report— Northern  Dakota — The  Description  of  it  by  Hon. 
James  B.  Power — The  First  Considerahle  Attemtts  to  Cultivate  the  Red 
River  Lands  in  Dakota — Wheat  Culture  there  and  its  Success — Other 
Crops— The  Towns  of  Northern  Dakota— The  Climate  and  Rainfall — The 
Facilities  for  the  Transportation  ok  Crops  —  Beyond  the  Missoiri  — 
Charles  Carleton  Coffin's  Description  in  the  Chicago  Tribune— The  Cor 
respondent  of  the  Chicaco  Journal — Other  Testimony — Bishop  Teck, 
Messrs.  Reed  and  Pell — Central  Dakota — The  Account  of  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  Railway  Commission  —  Southeastern  Dakota  —  Rev. 
Edward  Ellis's  Letter — Hon.  W.  H.  H.  Beadle's  Description — His  Compe- 
tency as  a  Witness — Peculiarities  ok  the  Topography  of  Southeastern 
Dakota — Meteorology  of  Southeastern  Dakota — The  Black  Hills — Mr. 
ZiMRi  L.  White's  Description  of  this  Region— Climate  and  Meteorology  of 
the  Black  Hilis — Gold-mining  there — Four  Classes  of  Mines — Cheapness 
OF  Mining  and  Milling — .Vltitudes  in  the  Black  Hills — Population  ok 
Towns — Farming,  Grazing  and  Marki:t-(,ardenin(;  in  the  Black  Hills — 
Social  Life  and  Morals  there — Railroads  in  Dakota — Indian  Tribes  and 
Reservations — Population  ok  the  Territory  and  its  Character — Churches 
and  Religious  Teachings — The  Future  of  Dakota 721 

CHAPTER     VI. 

IDAHO   TERRITORY. 

Topography — Boundaries — Length  and  Breadth— Area — Latitude  and  Longi- 
tude— Distribution  of  Area — Arable  Lands — Grazing  Lands — Timber  Lands 
— Mining  Lands — Desert  Lands — Topography — Mountains — Valleys — Lakes 
— Rivers — Almost  Wholly  Drained  by  Affluents  of  the  Columbia — Climate 
— Meteorology  of  Boise  City — Geology  and  Mineralogy — The  Precious 
Metals — Gold  in  Impalpable  Powder  on  the  Snake  and  Salmon  Rivers — In 
the  Bear  River  Region — On  and  Near  Wood  River — In  the  Salmon  or  S.a.w- 
Tooth  Range  and  along  the  W^estern  Slope  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains 
— Silver  on  East  Fork  of  Salmon  River  and  along  Wood  River — Copper 
AT  Several  Points — Other  Metals  and  Minerals — Mineral  Springs — Natu- 
ral Wonders — Sulphur  Lake  and  Deposits — Salt  Springs — Ice  Cave — Soil 
and  Vegetable  Productions — Forest  Trees — Zoology — Mines  and  Mining — 
Production  of  Gold  and  Silver  since  1862 — Present  Falling  off — Great 
Mineral  Wealth— Stock-raising — Sheep-Farming — Indians — Only  4,175  in 
the  Territory— The  Culture  of  Arable  Lands — Obstacles  to  the  Progress 
OF  Growth  of  Idaho — The  Lack  of  Railroads  and  of  Wagon-roads — The 
Lack  of  Capital — Mormon  Influence  the  Greatest  Obstacle  of  all 778 

CHAPTER     VII. 

I         ; 

TEE  I^''DIAM  TERRITORY.  ^ 
Minute  Details  concerning  the  Indian  Territory  not  Necessary  at  the  present 

TIME  in  this  work — WlIY? — A  FEW  GENERAL  PoiNTS  IN  VIEW  OF  THE  ULTIMATE 
PoSSinillTY     OF    A     CHANGE,    WHICH     MAY     PERMIT     IMMI(;RATI0N — TOPOGRAPHY— 

Length  and  Breadth — Latitude  and  Longitude — Are.\ — Boundaries — Divis- 
ion INTO  Indian  Reservations  or  Nations — Areas  of  most  of  these — Tracts 
not  yet  allotted,  and  Indian  Bands  not  permanently  located — Number  of 
Indians  in  the  Territory  in  1878  —  Present  Number  —  The  Five  leading 


CONTENTS.  ar 

Tribes,  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  Choctaws,  Creeks  and  Seminoles— Their 
Progress  in  Civilization — The  Capitals  of  their  Respective  Nations — Their 
Farm  Products  in  1S79— Their  Live-Stock— Valuation  of  Real  and  Per- 
sonal Estate — Schools,  Churches,  Benevolent  Institutions — Newspapers — 
Post-Offices — The  Smaller  Tribes  and  Bands  less  Civilized — Surface  of 
THE  Country — Mountains,  Rivers,  Lakes — Climate — Meteorology  of  Forts 
Gibson  and  Sill — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Soil  and  Vegetation — Forests 
— Railroads — The  Character  of  the  Population — Rev.  Timothy  Hill's  Ac- 
count OF  THE  Territory — The  Indian  Title  to  the  Territory — History  of 
THE  Removal  of  the  Five  Tribes  and  other  Indians — Re-purchase  of  some 
of  their  Lands  by  the  Government — Efforts  to  drive  them  from  this  Ter- 
ritory— The  Outlook  for  the  Future — Possession  of  their  Lands  in  Sev- 
eralty their  only  hope — Indian  Annuity  Funds 797 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

IOWA,  vf         'f     A 

The  Situation  of  Iowa — Meaning  of  the  Name — Migration  of  the  Pau-hoo-chees 
thither  in  1690— Contemporaneously  Claimed  by  the  French  on  Account  of 
Father  Hennepin's  Discovery — Wars  of  the  Pau-hoo-chees,  or  Iowas,  with 
the  Sioux — French  Trading-Posts  on  the  River — Sale  of  the  Province  of 
Louisiana  to  the  Spanish  in  1763 — Retrocession  to  France  in  1800— Sale  to 
the  United  States  in  1803 — Settlement  of  Julian  Dubuque — The  Wars  of 
the  Iowas  and  Sioux — A  New  Enemy — The  Sacs  and  Foxes  Attack  them,  and^ 
Drive  them  across  the  Missouri,  about  1828 — Great  Reduction  in  Numbers 
OF  the  Iowas — White  Settlement  Commenced  in  1832 — Death  of  Black 
Hawk — The  Events  in  Civil  History  of  Iowa  to  its  Organization  as  a  State 
in  1846 — Topography  and  Extent  of  Iowa — Its  Surface — Rivers— Lakes — 
Prairie  and  Timber  Lands — Black  Walnut  Shipped  to  England — Geology 
and  Mineralogy — The  Drift,  Lofjs  and  Alluvium — Cretaceous  Rocks — Coal 
Measures — The  Character  of  Iowa  Coal — Comparison  with  European  and 
other  Coals — No  Gold  or  Silver  in  the  State — Lead,  Iron,  Copper  and 
Zinc— Lime — Building  Stone — Gypsum  Clays — Soil — Mineral  Paint— Spring 
and  Well-water — Natural  Curiosities — Climate,  General  Remarks — Pro- 
fessor Parvin's  Tables — The  Signal  Service  Statistics  of  the  River  Cities — 
Zoology — Soil  and  Agricultural  Productions — Iowa  an  Agricultural  State 
— Statistics  of  its  Crops — Spring  and  Winter  Wheat — Stock-raising — Dairy 
Farming — Population  of  Iowa  at  Different  Periods — Railroads  and  Steam- 
boat Lines — The  State  Easy  of  Access — Public  Lands — Railroad  Lands — 
State  Lands — Partially  Improved  Farms — Manufactures — Iowa  as  a  Home 
for  Immigrants — Education — Churches — Future  Prospects  of  the  State..  .,  814 

CHAPTER    IX. 

KANSAS.    '    '  '     .."i 

Kansas  Geooraphtcally  the  Central  State — Its  Boundaries — Latitude,  Longi- 
tude, Length,  Breadth  and  Area — Its  Surface,  Declination  and  Elevation 
AT  Various  Points — Rivers — ^Lakes— Hills — No  Mountains  in  the  State — 
Geology  and  Mineralogy — The  Geological  Formations — The  Quaternary, 
Tertiary,  Cretaceous  and  Carboniferous  and  Lower  Carboniferous  Systems 
Represented — Fossils — Gre^vt  Variety  of  these — Economic  Geology — Coal — 


»  CONTENTS. 

Salt — Lead  and  Zixc — Gypsum — Buii.dino-Stone,  etc.,  etc. — Gas  or  Burntno 
Wells — Soil  and  Vecet-vtion — Native  Trees — Trees  Planted  under  the 
Timber-Culture  Acts — Increase  of  Rainkall  Produced  hy  Breaking  up  the 
Soil — Evidence  of  this — Flowers — Zoology — Natural  Curiosities  and  Phe- 
nomena— The  Monument  Rocks — The  Pulpit  Rock — The  Rock  City — The 
Perforated  Rock — The  Fossil  Moss  Agates — The  Selenite  Beds — Climate 
and  Meteorology —  Meteorological  Statistics —  Rainfall — Agricultural 
Productions — Tables  of  Productions  of  1877,  1878,  1879 — Grains — Special 
Crops  —  Orchards  and  Vineyards — Apiacui.ture — Live-Stock  —  Pricf^  of 
Necessary  Merchandise — Boarding— Valuations  of  Real  and  Personal  Es- 
T.vrE — School  Statistics — No  Mines  or  Mining  except  Coal,  Lead  and  Zinc — 
Manufactures — Railroads — Lands  for  Lmmigrants — Population — Indians — 
Sources  fro.m  which  Population  is  Derived— Counties,  Cities  and  Towns — 
Area  and  Population  of  Counties  in  1879 — Schools  and  Education — 
Churches — Kansas  a  Home  for  Immigrants — Biographical  Notice  of  Hon. 
Alfred  Gray 854 

CHAPTER    X. 

LOVISIAJ^A. 

Louisiana  not  wholly  within  "Our  Western  Empire" — Its  Location — Its  Ex- 
tent AND  Area — Its  Surface  and  Topography — Rivers,  Lakes  and  Bayous — 
Geology  and  Mineralogy — Iron,  Salt,  Sulphur — Other  Minerals — Soil  and 
Vegetation — Forest  Trees — Zoology — The  Jaguar  or  American  Leopard,  or 
Tiger,  Alligators  and  Crocodiles — Climate — Malarial  Fevers  in  the 
Delta — The  Uplands  Healthy  but  Hot — Meteorology  of  New  Orleans  and 
Shreveport — Agricultural  Productions — Cotton,  Sugar,  Rice  and  Corn — 
The  Soil  Fertile,  but  the  Farming  Poor — Live-Stock — Manufacturing  and 
Mining  Industries — Commerce — Exports  and  Imports  of  1880 — The  great 
Facilities  enjoyed  by  the  State  for  Foreign  and  Coastwise  Commerce — 
Railroads  —  Finances  —  Population — History  as  bearing  on  Population — 
Mixed  Races  largely  Prevalent — The  State  not  greatly  increased  by 
RECENT  Immigration — Parishes  or  Counties — Principal  Towns — Education — 
Churches — Not  specially  attractive  to  Immigrants  at  Present 887 


CHAPTER     XI. 
MIKMESOTA.    ^  f /// 


Minnesota  the  Centre  of  North  America — Its  Situation,  Boundaries,  Dimen- 
sions AND  Area  —  Surface  of  the  Country — The  Three  Slopes  —  Rivers, 
Lakes,  etc. — The  Lake  State — Seven  Thousand  Lakes — Geology  and  Min- 
eralogy— Some  Gold  and  Silver,  more  Iron  and  Copper— Minnfjsota  an 
Agricultural  State — Soil  and  Vegetation — Rich  Soil — Forests — The  Big 
Woods — The  Prairie  Lands — Tree-planting  in  Minnesota— Fruits — 
Zoology — Climate— Its  Salubrity— Advance  of  the  Annual  Temperature  as 
the  Country  is  Settled — Peculiarities  of  the  Climate — Meteorology — 
Navigable  Rivers  and  Railways — More  than  3,000  Miles  of  Railroad  in  the 
State — Projected  Railways— Land  Grants — Agricultural  Products — The 
Crops  of  1878,  1879  and  1880 — Special  Crops — General  Le  Due's  Efforts  to 
Introduce  the  Amber  Cane — Statistics  of  Crops — Grazing  Lands — Live- 
Stock — Statistics  of  Livestock — Dairy  P'arming — Statistics  of  Butter  and 


CONTENTS.  23 

Cheese — Manufactures — Lumber  and  Fi.our,  the  Leading  Articles — Immense 
Quantities  of  both  Produced  —  Other  Manufactures — Valuation  and 
Wealth — Population — Statistics  of  Increase  in  Thirty  Years — Nation- 
alities— The  Indian  Population — Education — School  Fund — Public  Schools 
— Universities,  Normal  Schools,  etc. — Counties  and  Cities — Valuation — 
Population  of  Cities  and  Towns  at  Different  Periods — Religious  Denomi- 
nations— History — Conclusion 900 


CHAPTER    XII. 

MISSOURI. 

Missouri's  Situation — Boundaries  and  Extent  of  Latitude  and  Longitude — Face 
OF  the  Country — Mountains  and  Hills — Valleys — Rivers  and  Lakes — 
Geology  and  Mineralogy — Economic  Minerals — Lead — Zinc — Copper — Iron 
— Coal — Baryta — Cabinet  Minerals — Building  Materials — Mineral  Springs 
—  Zoology — Climate — Meteorology — Soil  and  Vegetation — Agricultural 
Products — Tables  of  Crops,  1878  and  1879 — Notes  on  the  Crops — Live-Stock 
— Tables,  1879,  1880 — Adaptation  of  Missouri  for  Grazing  and  Dairy-Farm- 
ing— Manufactures — Mining  Products — Railroads — Population — Notes  on 
Population — Counties  and  Cities — Table  of  Cities — St.  Louis — Kansas  City 
— Lands  for  Immigrants — Immigration  in  the  Past — Why  it  has  largely 
passed  cy  Missouri — The  State  now  a  Desirable  one  for  Immigrants — Edu- 
cational Advantages — Public  Schools — Normal  Schools — Universities- 
Colleges  and  Professional  Schools — Special  Institutions — Religious  De- 
nominations and  Churches — Historical  Data 927 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

MOJfTAJ^A,  V 

Situ.vtion  —  Boundaries— Extent  —  Mountains — Timber — Lakes — Rivers — Geol- 
ogy and  Mineralogy — Gold  in  Extensive  Placers  and  Lodes— Silver — 
Copper— Lead — Iron— Other  Minerals — Soil  and  Vegetation — Arable  Lands 
— Grazing  Lands — Timber  Lands — Mining  Lands — Desert  Lands —Zoology — 
Climate — Blizzards— The  "  Chinook  "  Wind— Meteorology  of  Fort  Keogh 
— Fort  Benton — Helena — Virginia  City — Mining— Enormous  Yield  of  the 
Placers— Gold  Lodes — Silver  Lodes — The  Stempi.e  District — Last  Chance 
Gulch,  now  Helena — Phillipsburg—Wickes— Butte — Peculiarities  of  the 
Butte  Mines — Other  Mines — Trapper  District — Mining  thus  far  almost  Ex- 
clusively IN  Western  Montana — Probabilities  of  Mines  in  Southern  and 
Southeastern  Montana— Agricultural  Productions — Testimony  of  Z.  L. 
White— of  Robert  E.  Strahorn — of  Thomson  P.  McElrath — Enormous 
Crops,  of  Excellent  Quality — Stock-Raising— Sheep-Farming— Breeding 
Horses  and  Mules — Gov.  Potts'  Experience — Manufactures— Objects  of 
Interest— The  Madison  River — The  Upper  Yellowstone  Valley — The 
Struggle  of  the  Waters  to  Force  a  Passage  Through- Other  Wonders- 
Railroads— 15est  Routes  for  Immigrants  at  Present — Indian  Reservations 
and  their  Population — Population  of  Montana- Counties  and  Assessment — 
Principal  Towns  of  Montana — Prices  of  Articles  of  General  Use — Average 
Wages — Education — Religious  Denominations — Conclusion 955 


24  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER     XIV. 

NEBRASKA.    -  "7  i  0 

Area  and  Extent — Boundaries — Comtarative  Area — Irs  Riverine  Boundaries — 
Surface  ok  the  Country — Sense  in  which  it  is  a  Prairie — Its  Gradual  Ele- 
vation TO  THE  Base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains— The  Nebraska  "Bad  Lands" 
— The  Rivers  of  Nebraska — The  Missouri  and  Niobrara — The  North  and 
South  Platte  and  their  Affluents — The  Loup  and  its  Forks — The  Rei'ubli- 
can  River — General  Direction  of  these  Rivers — Geology  and  Mineralogy 
— The  Lof^s  or  Drift — Alluvial  Deposits — The  Great  Prehistoric  Lake — 
Tertiary  Formation — Carboniferous  Strata — The  Coal  Measures — Lignite 
IN  THE  Tertiary — Not  much  Economic  Value  to  the  Coals  of  Nebraska — 
The  Peat  Beds  of  the  State — Soil  and  Vegetation — Fertility  of  the  Loess 
— Trees  of  the  State — Zoology — Climate  and  Meteorology — Table — Agri- 
cultural Productions — Crops  of  1877,  1878  and  1879 — Wild  and  Cultivated 
Fruits — Mr.  E.  A.  Curley  on  the  Wild  Fruits — Grazing — The  Livestock  of 
the  State  —  Manufacturing  Industry  —  Railroads  —  Population  —  Rapid 
Growth  of  the  State — Indians — Financial  Condition — Education — Lands 
FOR  Immigrants — Government,  School,  University  and  Railroad  Lands — 
Advice  to  Immigrants — Prices— Counties,  Cities  and  Towns — Rf.ligious  De- 
nominations— Historical  Data — Nebraska  as  a  Home  for  Immigrants 1004 

CHAPTER     XV. 

JS'EVADA.       -  V  X$  V 

Its  Boundaries,  Extent  and  Area — Its  Topography  and  Surface — Mountains, 
Lakes  and  Rivers — Its  Climate  and  Meteorology — Geology  and  Mineralogy 
— Minerals — Gold  and  Silver — Other  Metals  and  Minerals — Permanency 
of  its  Mines — Their  Great  Depth — Mining  Industry — The  Counties  Con- 
taining Mines  considered  in  Detail — The  Product  of  the  Precious  Metals 
in  Nevada  since  their  First  Discovery  there — The  Sutro  Tunnel— Its  Pur- 
pose and  Object — Its  First  Success  less  than  was  expected — Its  probable 
Future  Triumph — Zoology — Agricultural  Productions — Adaptation  of  con- 
siderable Sections  to  Grazing — Extent  of  Arable,  Grazing,  Timbered  and 
Mineral  Lands — Tables  of  Agricultural  Products  and  Live-Stock— Manu- 
facturing Industry — Railroads — Valuation-— Population — Indian  Reserva- 
tions— Counties  and  Cities — Religious  Denominations-i-Historical  Data — 
Conclusion 1033 

CHAPTER     XVI. 

J^EW   MEXICO. 

Topography — Boundaries  (enlarged  by  the  Gadsden  Treaty) — Extent  and  Area 
— Mountains — Rivers  and  Lakes — Climate — Variety  in  Temperature — Mr. 
Z.  L.  White  on  the  Summer  Climate  of  the  Territory — New  Mexico  as  a 
Health  Resort — Meteorology  and  Rainfall  of  various  Points  in  the  Ter- 
ritory— Geology  and  Mineralogy — Mineral  Wealth  of  the  Territory — 
Gold  and  Silver — Other  Metals  and  Minerals — Turquoisf: — Hot  Springs — 
Coal — Bituminous,  Lkjnite  and  True  Anthracite — Coal  found  in  New 
Mexico  of  the  Best  Quality  and  in  Inexhaustible  Quantities — Arable 
Lands — Tiikir  Quantity  and  Quality — Native  Agriculture — Grazing  Lands 
—New  Mexico  best  Adapt&d  to  Sheep-Farming — Number  of  Sheep — Crops  of 


CONTENTS.  /  25 

1879 — Mining  Industry — Governor  Wallace  on  the  Mining  Districts — The 
Gold  and  Silver  Production — Objects  of  Interest — The  Canons  and  Ter- 
rible Dark  Valleys  and  Caves  of  the  Territory — The  Seven  Cities  of 
Cibola — Evidences  of  Volcanic  Action — Buried  Cities — Abo  and  its  Ruins 
— The  Indian  Skeleton  Overwhelmed  by  Volcanic  Ashes — The  Vast  Crater 
— Rock  Cities — The  Pueblo  Pottery — How  it  was  and  is  Made — The  Zuni 
Blankets — Manufactures — -Railroads — Great  Development  of  Railways — 
Population — Table — Chief-Justice  Prince  on  the  Three  Civilizations  Found 
There — The  Indian  Tribes — The  Pueblos — The  Apaches — The  Navajoes — 
Counties  and  Principal  Towns — Education — Religion  and  Morals — Histori- 
cal Data — Conclusion 1056 

CHAPTER     XVII. 

OREGON.  ' 

Boundaries,  Area  and  Extent — F"ace  of  the  Country — Mountains,  Rivers,  Lakes 
— The  Valleys  of  Oregon — The  Willamette  Valley — Umpqua  Valley — Rogue 
River  Valley — The  Numerous  Valleys  of  Eastern  Oregon — The  Elevated 
Plains  of  Middle  and  Ceniral  Oregon — Mr.  Tolman's  Description  of  East- 
ern Oregon— Soil  and  Vegetation — Fertility  of  the  Soil — The  Great 
Wheat  Valleys  of  Eastern  Oregon — Forest  Growths — Great  Size  of  Forest 
Trees — Water  Supply — Climate  and  Rainfall  of  different  Sections — 
Meteorological  Table  of  Portland,  Roseburg,  Umatilla,  Astoria  and  Cor- 
VALLis — Geology  and  Mineral  Wealth — Fossils — Gold  and  Silver — Lead 
AND  Copper — Iron  and  Coal — Excellence  of  the  Coal — Zoology — Oregon 
Fishes — Agricultural  and  Pastoral  Products — Table  of  Crops  and  Live- 
stock— Fisheries — The  Salmon  Trade — Timber  and  Lumber  Production  and 
Exports — Wheat  and  Flour  Exports — Wool — Total  Exports — Manufac- 
tures— Labor — Wages — Price  of  Land  and  Facilities  for  Obtaining  it — 
Railroads  and  River  Navigation — Finances — Educational  Facilities — 
Higher  a'nd  Special  Education— Population — Table — Characteristics  of  the 
Population — Indian  Reservations  and  Tribal  Indians— Counties  and  Princi- 
pal Cities  and  Towns — Religious  Denominations — Historical  Data — The 
Title  of  the  United  States  to  Oregon 1091 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

TEXAS,    ^ 

Situation  and  Boundaries  of  Texas — Its  Area  and  Extent — Vastness  of  its 
Area — Comparisons  with  other  States  and  Countries — Face  of  the  Country 
■ — Mountains  in  the  Northwest — Isolated  Summits  and  Ridges  Elsewhere — 
Elevations  ok  Various  Points — Rivers,  Bays  and  Estuaries  in  their  Order 
from  East  to  West — Texas  Rivers  not  Navigable — Geographical  Divisions 
OF  the  State  and  their  Characteristics — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Min- 
erals— Forests  and  Vegetation — Zoology — Climate — Meteorological  Table 
giving  the  Temperature,  Rainfall,  etc.,  at  Eight  Points  in  the  State — 
Mining  and  Manufacturing  Industries — Agricultural  Productions — Tables 
of  Agricultural  Products  and  Live-Stock — Not  all  the  Arable  Lands  of 
Texas  of  the  First  Quality — The  Live-Stock  of  the  State  Commands  Lower 
Prices  than  that  of  States  and  Territories  farther  North — Why  ? — Rail- 


26  V  CONTENTS. 

ROADS  AND  NAVIGATSI.E  WATF.RS — POPULATION — TaBLK  OF  POPULATION — STATISTICS 
— NaTIVITIF-S   OF  THE   POPULATION — FkOM  WHENCE   THE   EMIGRATION — COUNTIES 

and  their  finances  and  valuation — principal  cities  and  towns — education 
— Public  Schools — Contradictory  Statistics — Lack  of  Interest  in  them — 
Universities,  Colleges  and  Professional  Schools — Institutions  for  Blind 
AND  Deaf  Mutes — Lands  for  Immigrants — Religious  Denominations — His- 
torical Data — Early  Settlements  in  Texas — Its  Revolt  and  Independence 
of  Mexico — The  REPunLic — Annexation  to  United  States — Progress — Seces- 
sion— Reconstruction — Present  Constitution — Conclusion 1 120 

CHAPTER     XIX. 

VTAE   TERRITORY.  <f  2 

Utah  a  Peculiar  Territory— Its  Location,  Boundaries,  Area  and  Extent — 
Forests  and  Vegetation — Altitude  of  its  Mountains  and  Valleys — Zoology 
— Geology — Mineralogy — Topography  and  General  Features — The  Great 
Salt  Lake  Basin — Cache,  San  Pete  and  -Sevier  Valleys — The  Colorado 
Basin,  East  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains — Climate — Meteorology  of  Salt 
Lake    City   and    Camp    Douglas — Notes    on   the    Temperature,    Rainfall, 

ETC.,  OF  OTHER  PARTS  OF  THE  TERRITORY ADVANTAGES  OF  UtAH  AS  A  SANI- 
TARY Resort — Diseases  for  which  its  Climate  is  Beneficial — Opinion  of 
Eminent  Army  Surgeons  on  the  Subject — Soil  and  Agriculture — Irrigation 

VERY  generally  REQUIRED — IMMENSE    CROPS  WHERE  IT  IS  PRACTISED — NON-IRRI- 

gable  Lands  sometimes  Productive  with  Deep  Plowing — Timber — Yield  of 
Cereal  and  other  Products — Fruit-Culture — Stock-Farming — Sheep-Farm- 
ing— Evils  of  Migratory  Herds — Gov.  Emery's  Complaints  of  California 
Flocks — Mines  and  Mining  Products — Wide  Distribution  of  Gold,  Silver, 
Lead,  Copper,  Iron,  Coal,  Sulphur,  Soda,  Salt  and  Borax — The  Mines  of 
the  Precious  Metals  in  the  Salt  Lake  Basin  very  Rich  and  easily  ac- 
cessible— Railroads — Objects  of  Interest — The  "Temple  of  Music"  on  the 
Colorado — Temples  on  the  Rio  Virgen — The  American  Fork  Canon — It  is 
called  the  "  Yosemite"  of  Utah — The  Great  Salt  Lake  Mineral  and  Hot 
Springs — Finances — Population-Table — The  Population  of  Utah  peculiar — 
Its  Early  Settlement  by  the  Mormons — Motives  which  led  to  their  Migra- 
tion— MoRMONisM  a  Religious  Oligarchy — Its  Despotic  Rule— Its  Crimes — 
Polygamy  its  Corner-Stone — Its  Defiance  of  the  Government — Its  Propa- 
gandism — Religious  Denominations — Education — Moral  and  Social  Con- 
dition— Counties  and  Principal  Towns — Historical  Data 1 154 

CHAPTER     XX. 

/ 

washijYGtom  territory. 

Situation  of  Washington  Territory — Boundaries — The  Boundary  Line  at  the 
Northwest  and  North — Its  Area — Length  and  Breadth — Comparative  Size 
— Topography  and  Divisions — Western  Washington — The  Puget  Sound 
Basin — What  Puget  Sound  Includes — The  Beauty,  Value  and  Importance  of 
nils  Great  Inland  Sea — The  Lowlands  and  the  Mountain  Slopes  of  West- 
ern Washington — Rivers  and  Harbors  of  Western  Washington — Eastern 
Washington — Its  Rivers — Its  Lakes — The  Great  Plains  of  the  Columbia — 
River  Valleys  —  Geology —  Mineralogy — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology 
OF  Western  Washington — Governor  Ferry's  Remarks  on  the  Mildness  of 


CONTENTS.  27 

THE  Climate,  and  the  Reasons  for  it — The  Climate  of  Eastern  Washington 
— The  Chinook  Wind — Soil,  Vegetation  and  Agricultural  Productions — 
The  Alluvial  Farming  Lands — Table  Lands — Forest  Growths — Agricultu- 
ral Products — Timuer  and  Lumber — Soil  and  Productions  of  Eastern 
Washington — The  Yakima  County — Remarkably  Fat  Cattle — From  Whence 
they  come — The  Wonderful  Fertility  of  the  Soil — The  Mountain  Slopes 
AND  Mountain  Tops  as  Rich  as  the  Valleys — The  Immense  Yield  of  Wheat 
— Thirty-five  to  Fifty  Bushels  to  the  Acre — Exports — Population-Table — 
Indian  Tribes  and  their  Reservations — Partial  Civilization  of  the  Indians 
— Their  Industry — Education — Counties  and  Principal  Towns — Table  of 
Population  and  Valuation  of  Counties — Chief  Towns — Religious  Denomina- 
tions AND  Public  Morals — Historical  Data — The  American  Title  to  Wash- 
ington and  Oregon — The  Arbitration  in  regard  to  the  Islands  in  the  Gulf 
OF  Georgia — The  Early  Settlers — Indian  War  in  1855 — Conclusion — Wash- 
ington Territory  Desirable  for  Immigrants — The  Best  Routes  thither — 
The  Early  Completion  of  the  Northern  Pacific  probable 1189 

CHAPTER     XXI. 

WYOMIJs'G   TERRITORY.  ^     '' 

Situation  —  Boundaries  —  Length  and  Breadth  —  Form — Area— Topography — 
Mountains — Elevation  of  Various  Points — Rivers,  Lakes,  etc. — Remarkable 
Character  of  its  Drainage — Its  Waters  Discharged  into  the  Pacific  by  the 
Columbia  River,  into  the  Gulf  of  California  by  the  Colorado,  into  the 
Salt  Lake  Basin  by  the  Bear  River,  into  the  Upper  Missouri  by  the  Madi- 
son AND  Gallatin,  into  the  Middle  Missouri  by  the  Yellowstone  and  Big 
Cheyenne,  into  the  Lower  Missouri  by  the  Niobrara  and  Platte,  and  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  all  these — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Coal — Petro- 
leum— Gold  and  Silver — Other  Metals — Mining  of  Precious  Metals  not 
much  Developed — Marble  and  other  Mineral  Products — Forests,  Soil  and 
Vegetation — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology  of  Cheyenne — Agricultural 
Productions  and  StockRaising — Manufactures  and  Mining — Mining  Pro- 
ducts— Railways,  Existing  and  Projected — Population  and  its  Distribution 
— Education — Religious  Denominations — Counties — Area — Population  in 
18S0,  AND  Valuation  in  1877 — Principal  Towns — Objects  of  Interest — The 
Yellowstone  National  Park  made  a  Separate  Chapter — Historical  Notes 
— Early  Spanish  Occupation  of  Wyoming — Discovery  of  Arastras  and  Span- 
ish Buildings — Father  de  Smf.t — Captain  Bridger — His  Occupation  running 
back  to  a  time  "When  Laramie  Peak  hadn't  begun  to  Grow" — Organization 
of  the  Territory — Indian  Conflicts — The  Custer  Massacre — Advantages 
of  Wyoming  for  certain  Classes  of  Immigrants — Prospects  in  the  Near 
Future 1213 

CHAPTER     XXII. 

THE  YELLOWSTONE  J^ATIOJ^AL  F.IRIC. 

Situation — Boundaries  and  Area — Its  Recent  Discovery  and  Exploration — The 
Act  of  Congress  setting  it  apart  as  a  National  Park — The  Park  drained 
INTO  THE  Pacific  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — Its  Volcanic  Character — Not  of 
much  Value  as  an  Agricultural  Region — Inaccessible   except  from  the 


28  CONTENTS. 

North  and  West — Eastern  Part  not  fully  Explored — No  Mineral  Wealth 
YET  Discovered  except  in  the  Northeast  Corner — The  Approach  to  the 
I'ARK  at  the  North — The  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone,  outside  the  Park — 
Cinnahar  Mountain — "The  Devil's  Slide" — Entrance  to  the  Park — Kapid 
Review  of  the  Ohjects  to  be  Visited — Sepulchre  Mountain — Canon  of  (Jar- 
diner's  River — Mammoth  Hot  Springs — Towner  Creek  and  Falls — The 
Columns  and  Towers  of  Tower  Creek  Canon — Mount  Washburn — The 
Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone — Yellowstone  Lake — The  Lakes  of  the 
Southern  Tour,  Heart,  Lewis  and  Shoshone — The  Cross  Cut  which  avoids 
these — The  Upper  and  Lower  Geyser  Basins  of  the  Fire  Hole  or  Upper 
Madison  River — The  Geyser  Basins  of  Gibbon's  Fork — The  Wonders  of 
Beaver  Lake  and  the  Obsidian  Cliffs — Return  to  Mammoth  Hot  Springs — 
Time  in  which  the  Trip  can  be  made — The  Wonders  in  Detail — ^L\MMOTH 
Hot  Springs — Mr.  Strahorn's  Description — The  Route  to  Tower  Creek 
Falls  and  Canon — Hon.  N.  P.  Langford  and  Lieutenant  Doane's  Eulogy 
OF  THEM — The  Ascent  to  Mount  Washburn — Rev.  Dr.  Hoyt's  Eloquent  Pic- 
ture OF  THE  View  from  its  Summit — The  Descent  from  Mount  Washburn — 
The  Old  and  the  New  Trail — The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone — Irs 
Bed  Inaccessible  at  most  Points — The  Upper  and  Lower  Falls  of  the  Y'el- 
lowstone — The  Latter  at  the  Head  of  the  Grand  Canon — Dr.  Hoyt's 
Eloquent  Description  of  the  Falls  and  the  Canon — The  Trail  to  Yellow- 
stone Lake — The  Lake  Itself — Its  Shape  Compared  to  the  Human  Hand — 
Professor  Raymond's  Criticism  of  the  Comparison — The  Elevation  of  the 
Lake — Professor  Hayden's  Statement  only  Correct  if  applied  to  Large 
Lakes  —  Height  of  Colorado  Lakes  —  The  Yellowstone  River  Flows 
TiiRoiT.n  THE  Lake — The  Lake  not  its  Source — Affluents  of  the  Lake — 
Mineral  and  Hot  Springs  on  its  Banks — Its  Waters  generally  very  Pure 
and  Sweet — The  Trout  Infested  with  Worms — Beauty  of  the  Lake — Mar- 
shall's Description — Strahorn's  Poetical  Picture — Professor  Raymond's 
Eulogy — Rev.  Dr.  Hoyt's  Pen  Portraiture  of  it — Moving  Forward — The 
Upper  and  Lower  Geyser  Basins— Explanations  in  regard  to  Geysers — 
Those  of  Iceland  the  only  others  of  Note  in  the  World — Character  of 
THE  Geyser  Eruption — Old  and  Recent  Geysers — The  Upper  Geyser  Basin — 
Rev.  Edwin  Stanley's  "  Parade  of  the  Geysers  " — The  Geysers  not  all  in 
Action  at  once — Lieutenant  Barlow  on  the  Fan  and  Well  Geysers — The 
Grotto  —  Mr.  Norton's  Description  —  Lieutenant  Doane  on  the  Grand 
Geyser — Professor  Raymond  on  the  Lower  Geyser  Basin — The  Laugs  or 
Extinct  Geysers — Geyserdom  not  Paradise — Dr.  Hoyt's  Description  of  the 
Desolation — The  Geysers  and  Hot  Springs  of  Gibbon's  Fork — Beaver  Lake 
— The  Obsidian  Cliffs— Mountains  of  Glass — Review  of  the  whole— Accessi- 
liii.iTY  OF  the  Park— Its  Future  Attractions— Its  Quiet  and  Beautiful 
Valleys  and  Glades — Distances  within  the  Park 1227 

CHAPTER     XXIII. 

ALASKA. 

Relation  of  Alaska  to  Our  Western  Empire— Another  Kamschatka— Absurdity 
OF  the  Stories  told  of  its  Present  or  Prospective  Productiveness — Its 
Furs,  Fisheries  and  'Ii.mbkr  sijmewiiat  Y^aluable — Peculiar  Form  of  the 
Territory — The   Bull's    Head  with   two   Long    Horns— Its  Three   Divi- 


CONTENTS. 


29 


SIGNS,  Sitka,  Yukon  and  the  Islands — Area — Population — Topography — 
Mountains — Rivers — The  Limits  and  Area  of  each  Division — Geology — Vol- 
canoes AND  Glaciers — Mineralogy — Coal — Metals — Minerals — Gold  and 
Silver — Recent  Discoveries — Zoology — The  Divisions  in  Detail — The  Sit- 
KAN  Division — Its  Fur  Trade,  Fisheries  and  Timber — Its  Agricultural  Pro- 
ductions conI'Tned  to  a  few  Vegetables — 2.  The  Yukon  District  of  litile 
Value,  except  for  its  Fur  Trade,  Whale  and  other  Fisheries  on  the  Coast 
— 3.  The  Island  District — Some  Arable  Land  on  the  Larger  Islands,  and 
A  possibility  of  Future  Dairy-farms  there,  though  at  too  great  Cost  for 
much  Profit — The  Capture  of  the  Fur  Seal  on  the  Pribyloff  Islands  the 
Principal  Industry,  though  Fisheries  may  Increase — Detailed  Account  of 
the  Fisheries — The  Population,  Nationalities  and  Character — The  Natives 
— KoLosHiAN  Tribes — Kenaian  Tribes — The  Aleuts — The  Eskimo — Prin- 
cipal Towns  and  Villages — Meteorology  of  Fort  St.  Michael's  and  Una- 
LASHKA — Objects  of  Interest  to  the  Tourist — Historical  Notes — Can  it  be 
Commended  to  Immigrants  ? 1 266 


PART  IV.— THE   LANDS    OUTSIDE    OF   "OUR 
WESTERN    EMPIRE." 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE  JVORTHWESTERM  PROVINCES  OF  THE  BOMmTOX  OF 

CAjYADA. 

I.  British  Columbia — Boundaries-^Area — Islands — Soil  of  Islands  and  Coast — 
Soil  and  Surface  of  the  Interior — Mountains — Rivers— Geology  and  Min- 
eralogy'— Coal — Gold,  Silver,  etc. — Fisheries — Timber — Fur-Trade — Popu- 
lation— Indians — Chief  Towns — II.  The  Northwest  Territories — E.xtent 
— Recent  Division  —  Lakes — Rivers  —  Mountains — Soil — Climate  Warmer 
than  Manitoba — Wild  Animals  and  Game  Plenty — Rivers  and  Lakes 
Stocked  with  Fish — Population— Indians — Religion — III.  Keewatin — The 
New  Territory — Not  much  known  of  it — IV.  Manitoba — Its  Territory  too 
Small  —  No  Good  Reason  for  this  — Its  Boundaries  —  Its  Rivers  —  The 
Province  Nearly  a  Dead  Level — Climate — Rainfall — Meteorology  of 
Fort  Garry — Agriculture — Conflicting  Accounts — Report  of  an  "  English 
Farmer" — Reply  of  "  a  Canadian"— Climate  very  Severe  in  Winter— Mr, 
Vernon  Smith's  Description  of  the  Rivers  and  Lakes  and  their  Future 
Usefulness  —  Earl  Dufferin's  Description  —  Mr.  Vernon  Smith  on  the 
Crops — Later  St.\tistics  not  Available — Transportation — The  Canadian 
Pacific — Its  Present  Condition  and  Prospects — Religion,  Education,  etc. — 
Principal  Towns— Historical  Notes— The  Red  River  Settlement— Pe.mbina 
— AssiNiBoiA— Riei.'s  Revolution— The  Rapid  Growth  of  the  Province  since 
IT  became  A  Part  of  the  Dominion 1282 


30  CONTENTS. 

C  H  AFTER     II. 

HOMES  FOR  IMMIGRAJ^TS  OJf  THE  ATLAKTIC  SLOPE. 

Why  many  Immigrants  do  not  like  to  go  to  the  West — Views  of  many  of 
OUR  OWN  People  on  the  Subject — Are  there  not  Homes  for  these  on  the 
Atlantic  Slope? — Advantages  of  the  East — Wisconsin  and  Michigan — 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  —  Tennessee — Maine,  New  Hampshire  and 
Vermont — Massachusetts  and  Connecticut — Northern  New  York— Long 
Island — Advantages  of  New  System  of  Ensilage  here  and  in  New  Jersey — 
New  Jersey — The  Southern  Counties — West  Virginia — North  Carolina — 
East  Tennessee — Northern  Georgia — Florida — Conclusion 1303 


OUR  WESTERN  EMPIRE; 


OR, 


The  New  West  Beyond  the  Mississippi. 


PARTI. 

OUR  V/ESTERN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  ■  I. 

What  it  Comprehends — The  West  bevoxd  the  Mississippi — Its  Area  and 
Extent  —  Comparison  with  other  Empires  —  Climate — Moui:ta]ns — 
Natural  Phenomena — Soil — The  Alkaline,  Volcanic  and  "  Bad  Lands  " 
— Predominance  of  Arable  and  Pasture  Lands — Nutritious  Grasses  in 
the  Grazing  Lands. 

"  Our  Western  Empire"  is  of  greater  extent  than  any  other 
Empire  of  Christendom  except  Russia  and  Brazil,  and  in 
population,  enterprise,  and  advantages  for  future  growth  is  the 
peer  of  any ;  but  it  has  no  monarch,  hereditary  or  elective,  to 
rule  its  wide  domain.  It  forms  a  large  part — more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  Great  Republic  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
over  all  its  vast  extent,  an  intelligent  and  industrious,  moral  and 
capable  people  rule  themselves.  Their  chief  magistrates,  their 
governors  and  executive  officers,  are  men  of  the  people,  selected 
by  the  people,  for  short  terms  of  service,  and  replaced  by  others, 
when  those  terms  expire. 

What,  then,  do  we  understand  "Our  Western  Empire"  to 
comprehend?  All  of  that  portion  of  the  United  States  lying 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  including  the  new  Territory  of  Alaska. 
Its  northern  boundaries  are  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  Behring's 
Sea  and  Straits  west  of  the  140th  meridian;  and  east  of  that, 
British  America;  its  western  limit  the  Pacific  Ocean;  its  southern, 
Mexico  and  the  Mexican  Gulf;  its  eastern,  the  Mississippi  river 
3  {33^ 


34  067?    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

from  its  mouth  to  the  Canada  line,  and  the  west  line  of  British 
America,  above  the  fifty-fourth  parallel.  It  has  an  area  of 
2,671,884  square  miles,  of  which  577.390  or  about  one-fifth, 
belongs  to  Alaska.  It  extends  over  42°  of  latitude,  and  in  its 
farthest  western  boundary,  "by  Ounalaska's  lonely  shore,"  over 
103°  of  longitude. 

Leaving  Alaska  out  of  the  question,  as  a  mere  dependency, 
the  remainder  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  comprises  24°  of  latitude 
and  36°  of  longitude,  having  a  breadth  of  nearly  2,000  miles 
from  east  to  west,  and  a  length  from  north  to  south  of  1,700 
miles,  with  an  area  of  2,094494  square  miles.  'The  whole  of 
Europe  except  Russia,  including  the  great  German  Empire,  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire-,  the  Republic  of  France,  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  Kingdoms  of  Turkey, 
Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  Sweden,  Norway  and  Denmark,  and  the 
minor  States  and  principalities,  have  in  all  only  an  area  of 
1,678,791  square  miles,  about  four-fifths  of  "Our  Western 
Empire  "  exclusive  of  Alaska,  or  including  it,  less  than  three-fifths. 
Its  population  is  of  course  much  less  than  that  of  the  larger 
European  States,  though  somewhat  greater  than  that  of  the 
Brazilian  Empire,  and  increasing  at  a  rate  never  equalled  in  the 
world's  history. 

No  empire  in  the  world  has  a  greater  diversity  of  climate  ; 
from  the  more  than  six  months'  winter  of  the  northern  border, 
and  the  mountainous  regions,  on  some  of  which  rest  eternal  snows, 
to  the  tropical  heats  of  Arizona  and  Southern  Texas,  there  is  the 
greatestpossiblediversityof  moistureanddrought,of  heatand  cold, 
of  moderate,  equable  and  health-giving  temperature,  and  of  rapid 
change,  and  fickle,  inconstant  skies.  Like  other  large  empires,  it 
has  great  diversities  of  surface.  Three  ranges  of  lofty  mountains 
traverse  it  from  north  to  south  with  their  numerous  oudying 
spurs,  their  broad  plateaux  and  table-lands  rising  to  a  height  ot 
6,000  to  9,000  feet,  their  mesas  or  isolated  flat-topped  mountain 
summits,  their  deep  and  terrible  canons,  and  their  long  valleys, 
sometimes  narrow  and  precipitous,  sometimes  broad  seas  of  ver- 
dure and  flowers.  These  are :  the  Rocky  Mountains,  appropri- 
ately named  "the  backbone  of  the  Continent,"  and  occupying  a 


THE    WEST  BEYOXD    THE   MISSISSIPPI.  25 

position  about  midway  between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean  ;  west  of  these,  and  parallel  with  them,  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  or  Snowy  Range,  whose  peaks  tower  up  into  heights 
corresponding  with  those  of  the  Alps  ;  and  still  farther  west,  and 
looking  out  upon  the  Pacific,  the  Coast  Range,  generally  of  lower 
altitude,  but  containing  some  lofty  summits,  whose  snow-clad 
tops  are  the  landmarks  of  the  coast.  Between  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  the  Sierra  Nevada,  is  the  great  Utah  or  Salt  Lake 
Basin,  a  vast  depressed  tract,  none  of  whose  streams  flow  out- 
ward, and  some  of  whose  lakes  are  salt  and  bitter.  It  has  also 
its  volcanic  regions,  and  areas  of  erosion,  where  Dame  Nature  has 
played  most  fantastic  tricks,  now  rearing  lofty  statues,  monu- 
ments, castles,  cathedrals,  gateways,  now  scooping  out  vast  series 
of  basins  of  mineral  waters  either  hot  or  cold,  such  as  put  all. 
artificial  baths  to  shame  ;  anon  sending  at  intervals  its  geyser- 
fountains  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  into  the  air ;  or  filling  the 
quaking  and  trembling  earth  with  jets  of  hot  steam,  reeking  with 
sulphurous  odors.  At  some  points,  after  a  fearful  descent  into 
some  apparently  dark  and  gloomy  ravine  or  cailon,  all  the  hills 
or  mountains  around  one  seem  to  have  put  on  their  holiday 
attire ;  one  has  donned  for  its  bridal  veil  a  beautiful  and  semi- 
transparent  waterfall,  whose  height  is  so  great  that  the  water 
seems  pulverized  into  glittering  dust  ere  it  reaches  the  valley ; 
another,  with  a  greater  supply  of  water,  forms  four  or  five  gigantic 
cascades,  each  higher  than  Niagara,  in  its  downward  career; 
while  still  another,  in  a  rift  between  the  mountain  summits,  forms 
a  stream  of  moderate  size  in  a  perpendicular  fall,  a  thousand  feet 
or  more,  sheer  down  into  the  valley.  Broad  lakes,  some  of  them 
salt  and  some  fresh,  wkh  many  outlets  or  with  none,  arc  found 
on  mountain  tops  or  in  the  centre  of  wide  valleys;  while,  as  we 
have  said,  one  vast  basin  has  its  own  system  of  lakes  and  rivers 
which  find  no  way  of  reaching  the  sea. 

Like  other  empires,  not  all  the  land  has  a  rich  and  fertile  soil. 
There  are  mountains,  where  the  rocks  are  cold,  bleak,  bare  and 
precipitous  ;  there  are  canons  and  ravines,  whose  nearly  perpen- 
dicular walls,  from  3,000  to  6,000  feet  in  height,  only  let  in  the 
sunlight  at  midday,  and  their   clayey  and  rocky  sides,  of  parti- 


36  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

colored  hues,  afford  no  hold  for  weed,  vine,  shrub  or  tree.  There 
are  plains,  plateaux  and  mesas  covered  with  alkaline  powder,  and 
having  as  their  only  vegetation  the  gray,  lichen-hued  sage-brush; 
plains  on  which  the  gentle  rain  and  soft  falling  dew  seldom  or  never 
descends — yet  these  monotonous  and  apparently  barren  plains, 
under  the  influence  of  irrigation,  yield  most  abundant  crops,  and 
even  the  despised  sage-brush  furnishes  a  delicious  pasturage  for 
cattle.  There  are  also  considerable  tracts  where,  in  former  times, 
the  eroding  influences  of  mountain  streams  have  cut  the  deep 
strata  of  clay  into  the  most  fantastic  forms — lands  so  utterly 
barren,  that  no  toil  could  extract  from  them  the  least  vestige  of 
a  crop — the  "  Bad  Lands  "  of  the  Canadian  trappers  ;  and  there 
are  also  some  stretches  of  volcanic  lands,  for  one  of  which  the 
foul  and  mephitic  vapors,  and  the  earthquake  shocks,  have 
prompted  the  expressive  name  of  Death  Valley. 

But  while  these  extraordinary  displays  of  the  power  of  natural 
forces  render  this  Great  West  a  true  Wonderland,  they  really 
comprise  but  a  small  proportion  of  its  surface,  and  no  region  of 
equal  extent  has  a  larger  proportion  of  available  and  productive 
lands.  The  quantity  of  arable  soil  is  immense.  The  wheat 
fields  of  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Northern  and  Southeastern  Dakota, 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  the  lands  suited  to  the  growth  of  Indian 
corn  in  these  States  and  Territories,  and  in  Missouri,  Arkansas 
and  the  Indian  Territory,  and  in  portions  of  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico,  the  cotton  lands  of  Texas,  Arkansas  and  New  Mexico, 
and,  on  the  Pacific  slope,  the  wheat  and  barley  fields  and  the 
vineyards  and  orchards  of  California,  the  wheat  and  corn  fields 
of  Oregon  and  Washington,  are  beyond  all  comparison  for  ex- 
cellence, on  this  continent  or  any  other. 

In  the  way  of  grazing  lands,  no  other  country  can  compare 
with  them.  There  are  not  only  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hiiis 
or  plains,  but  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  cattle  on  each 
vast  plain  or  mountain  slope.  The  States  and  Territories  of 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah,  North- 
western Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  Oregon,  Washington  and  Cali- 
fornia, can  furnish,  within  a  few  years,  all  the  beef  and  mutton 
needed   to   feed  the   rest  of  the  world.     The  grasses   here  are 


THE    GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT:    WHERE  IS   IT?  37 

more  nutritious  and  fattening,  and  give  to  the  flesh  of  the  cattle 
a  more  gamey  flavor  than  those  of  any  other  known  country;  and 
even  those  lands  which  were  at  first  reckoned  as  portions  of  the 
Great  American  Desert,  lands  given  over  to  alkaline  deposits 
and  sage-brush,  and  on  which  there  was  but  very  little  rainfall, 
now  prove  admirably  adapted  to  pasturage,  and,  either  with  or 
without  irrigation,  most  bounteous  in  their  production  of  grain 
and  root  crops.  And  in  this  connection  we  may  well  raise  the 
question  which  we  next  discuss. 


CHAPTER   II. 

The  Great  American  Desert  :  Where  is  it  ? — The  Hundredth  Meridian 
— "  Eli  Perkins's  "  Scare — The  Facts  in  Reply — Colonel  (Brevet  Brig- 
adier-General) Hazen  on  the  Northern  Pacific — Governor  Howard's 
Answer,  and  other  Facts — Dakota — Wyoming  and  its  Agriculture — 
Montana — B.  R.  and  Mr.  Z.  L.  White  on  its  Crops — The  small  Modicum 
OF    Truth    in    these    "Desert"    Stories — The   reported    "Desert" 

BEYOND     the     RoCKIES ThE    UtAH    AND    NEVADA    DeSERT TESTIMONY   OF 

Surveyors-General — The   Texan     Desert    and   Arizona — The    Great 
American  Desert  a  Myth. 

Thirty  or  forty  years  ago  all  our  maps  had  a  wide  space,  and 
some  of  them  two  or  three  wide  spaces,  inscribed,  "Great  Amer- 
ican Desert."  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  present  States  of  Kansas, 
Nebraska  and  Colorado,  and  Western  Minnesota  ;  the  Territories 
of  Wyoming,  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Idaho,  Western  Texas, 
and  after  we  had  conquered  "  a  piece  "  from  Mexico,  Arizona, 
most  of  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  Nevada,  were  included  in  this 
comprehensive  designation.  By  and  by  silver,  and  some  gold, 
were  found  in  Nevada,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pike's  Peak, 
in  what  is  now  Colorado ;  but  though  the  existence  of  the  pre- 
cious metals  there  could  not  be  denied,  yet  the  terrors  of  the 
desert  to  be  passed  through  (terrors  of  whose  reality  the  wagon- 
trail  marked  at  almost  every  step  by  skeletons  of  catde,  and  too 
often,  alas  !  by  the  bones  of  emigrants,  gave  most  ghasdy  proof) 
were  such  that  only  the  most  stout-hearted  could  brave  them. 

After  some  years  the  tide  of  emigration,   which  at  first  had 


23  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

been  confined  to  the  eastern  counties  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
and  had  not  reached  the  western  counties  of  Iowa,  and  still  less 
those  of  Minnesota,  began  to  rise  and  overflow  the  adjacent 
counties  and  districts.  The  Union  Pacific,  the  Northern  Pacific, 
the  Kansas  Pacific,  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe 
Railways  had  plunged  into  this  desert,  and  being  all  land  grant 
roads,  had  made  the  discovery  that  these  lands  were  not  really  a 
desert,  but  were  capable  of  yielding  excellent  crops,  and  of  fur- 
nishing superior  pasturage  to  cattle  and  sheep.  The  line  of 
settlement  has  advanced  with  each  year  till  now  It  has  reached 
the  loist  meridian  west  from  Greenwich,  in  Kansas,  Nebraska 
and  Dakota,  and  overleaping  all  barriers  has  extended  to  the 
foothills  and  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Colorado, 
Wyoming  and  Montana,  and  with  moderate  irrigation  has  pro- 
duced from  these  supposed  desert-lands  the  most  astonishing 
crops,  and  has  furnished,  as  we  have  already  said,  pasturage  so 
rich  and  abundant,  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  catde  and  sheep, 
that  their  flesh  is  more  highly  prized  than  any  other  in  the 
•market. 

Yet  there  have  not  been  wantlnp-  those  who  from  one  motive 
or  another,  have  sought  to  depreciate  these  lands,  and  have 
declared,  in  the  face  of  the  most  conclusive  evidence,  that  the 
whole  reeion  west  of  the  looth  meridian  was  a  barren  desert, 
Incapable  of  producing  crops  or  furnishing  pasturage  sufficient 
for  the  subsistence  of  men  or  animals,  and  that  It  would  remain 
so  until  God  changed  the  physical  laws  which  govern  the  distri- 
bution of  clouds,  and  rain,  levelled  the  mountains,  and  made  the 
climate  like  that  of  the  East,  It  is  very  easy  to  theorize  on  these 
matters,  and  to  demonstrate  that  because,  according  to  certain 
premises,  a  certain  result  should  follow,  therefore  it  will  inevitably 
follow;  but  he  is  not  a  wise  man  who  neglects  to  test  the  truth 
of  his  theories  by  facts. 

The  two  regions,  which,  within  the  past  decade,  have  been  per- 
slstendy  denounced  by  these  pseudo-scientific  theorists  as  pordons 
of  the  Great  American  Desert,  rainless,  treeless,  barren  and 
incapable  of  ever  being  inhabited,  are  the  regions  lying  near  the 
lOOth  meridian  west  from  Greenwich  and  westward  indefinitely, 


THE    GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT:    WHERE    IS   JTi'  ^Q 

though  some  of  these  pessimists  admitted  that  there  might  be 
some  fertile  valleys  among  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  and  second, 
the  region  from  about  the  lo'jth.  meridian  westward  to  the  114th. 
The  first  tract  includes  Western  Texas,  at  least  two-thirds  of  the 
hidian  Territory,  the  western  third  of  Kansas,  almost  half  of 
Nebraska,  Eastern  New  Mexico,  more  than  half  of  Colorado, 
nearly  all  of  Wyoming,  more  than  half  of  Dakota,  and  the 
whole  of  Montana.  In  regard  to  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Colo- 
rado, as  late  as  the  winter  or  early  spring  of  1879,  Mr.  Landon, 
a  popular  lecturer,  better  known  to  the  public  under  his  110m  de 
phwie  of  Eli  Perkins,  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Encpurcr,  and 
soon  after  in  the  New  York  Sun,  the  following  article : 

LET   EMIGRAJ^TS    WESTWARD   LOOK  OUT! 

An  awful  trap  is  being  set  for  credulous  emigrants.  Thousands  of  these 
emigrants  are  settling  west  of  the  rain  belt,  and  they  don't  know  it.  They  are 
going  out  too  far  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Sanla  Ix",  the  Kansas  Pacific, 
the  Union  Pacific,  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroads. 

'•  Where  is  the  drought  line?"  asks  the  reader. 

"  Draw  a  line  from  Austin,  Texas,  to  Bismarck,  Minnesota,  on  the  Northern 
Pacific,  and  all  west  of  that  line  is  the  drought  country.  Five  years  out  of  eight, 
crops  will  entirely  fail  west  of  this  line.  Last  year  was  an  exception  to  the  rule, 
and  this  is  why  so  many  emigrants  are  venturing  too  far  West  this  year.  The 
land-sharks  are  deceiving  them,  and  are  pushing  a  vast  army  of  emigrants  into 
a  famine  region." 

"  What  makes  this  region  west  of  the  looth  parallel  a  desert  region  ?  " 

"  Because  it  rains  just  as  much  water  as  there  is  water  evaporated  each  year. 
If  it  rained  more  water  than  is  evaporated,  it  would  run  down  into  the  ocean, 
and  the  land  would  soon  be  covered  with  water.  Rains  run  to  the  ocean  in 
rivers,  and  the  air  evaporates  the  water  of  the  ocean  and  carries  it  inland. 
Clouds  form  rainfalls,  and  back  goes  the  water  on  to  the  earth,  then  into  the 
ocean  again.  Now,  before  the  air  from  the  Gulf  or  ocean  reaches  Bismarck, 
or  the  middle  oi  Nebraska  or  Kansas,  this  wet  air  which  started  from  the  ocean 
becomes  dry.  There  is  no  water  in  it;  the  water  has  all  fallen  out  of  it  in 
rain,  and  it  has  run  back  to  tlie  sea." 

"  But  wliy  is  San  Antonio  subject  to  drouglit  when  il  is  so  close  to  the  Gulf?  " 

"Because  the  air  of  San  Antonio,  on  the  Slaked  Plains  in  Texas,  and  in 
Arizona,  comes  up  through  Mexico.  It  is  dry  before  it  starts.  It  docs  not 
come  from  the  Gulf.  Mexico  is  hot.  A  perpetual  current  of  hot,  dry  air  blows 
over  Mexico  and  fans  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  Colorado  with  atmos- 
phere as  dry  as  wind  from  the  Desert  of  Sahara.     This  dry-air  current,  blowing 


40  OUR     WESTERX   EMPIRE. 

up  from  Mexico  and  Arizona,  strikes  the  high  mountains  in  Colorado.  Here, 
in  the  centre  of  the  continent,  within  seventy-five  miles  of  Pike's  Peak,  is  the 
source  of  the  Red,  Colorado,  Rio  Grande,  Arkansas  and  Missouri  rivers.  This 
is  the  backbone  of  North  America.  The  high,  cold  peaks  condense  any  mois- 
ture that  there  may  be  in  the  air  coming  up  from  the  south,  and  make  it  into 
snow.  Then  this  cold,  dry  air  passes  on  up  the  centre  of  the  continent,  making 
a  perpetual  desert.  It  ])revents  any  damj)  air  from  coming  east  of  the  looth 
parallel.  \\'hcn  we  reach  the  Northern  Pacific  and  Manitoba  another  current 
of  wind,  a  damp  current,  blows  from  the  Pacific  Ocean.  There  is  no  desert 
there,  where  the  Pacific  wind  heads  off  the  wind  from  Mexico.  Now,  I  say, 
thousands  of  innocent  emigrants  have  taken  up  farms  during  the  last  year  west 
of  the  rain  parallel.  Of  course  they  will  be  ruined,  and  you  will  see  them 
coming  back  broken-hearted  and  discouraged." 

"Will  it  always  be  a  desert  west  of  the  loolh  parallel?" 

"Yes,  until  the  Almighty  changes  the  course  of  the  winds,  takes  down  the 
mountain-peaks,  and  stops  the  clouds  from  raining  all  tlieir  water  out  in  the 
East  before  they  get  to  the  desert." 

Eli  Perkins. 

We  will  not  stop  here  to  notice  the  deplorable  ignorance 
manifest  in,  almost  every  line  of  this  article  of  Eli  Perkins, 
ignorance  which  would  cause  any  intelligent  school-boy  of  twelve 
years  old  to  blush  with  shanie,  such  as  persistently  speaking  of 
meridians  of  longitude  as  parallels ;  locating  Bismarck  in 
Minnesota,  mistaking  the  longitude  of  the  places  of  which  he 
speaks,  and  contradicting  himself  by  saying  in  one  sentence  that 
the  air  which  reaches  Bismarck  is  dry,  and  there  is  no  rain  in  it, 
and  in  the  next  that  "  when  we  reach  the  Northern  Pacific  and 
Manitoba,  another  current  of  wind,  a  damp  current,  blows  from 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  There  is  no  desert  there,  where  the  Pacific 
wind  heads  off  the  wind  from  Mexico."  Yet  Bismarck  is  on  that 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  and  just  south  of  Manitoba.  It  would 
be  as  well  for  "  Eli  Perkins"  to  cfo  to  school  for  a  few  months  before 
he  attempts  to  write  for  the  papers.  Now  please  note  the  follow- 
ing facts.  In  Kansas,  the  rainfall  at  Fort  Wallace,  ninety  miles 
west  of  the  looth  meridian,  averaged  yearly  in  1871,  1872, 
1873,  and  1874,  13.47  inches;  in  1875,  1876,  1877,  and  1878, 
15.05  inches;  an  average  gain  of  1.58  inches  yearly.  In  1879, 
it  was  15.30  inches  in  the  first  three-quarters  of  the  year,  and 
would  undoubtedly  reach  18  inches  or  more  in  the  full  year.    This 


THE    GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT:    WHERE   IS  IT?  ai 

can  hardly  be  called  a  rainless  region.  As  to  the  crops  in  Kansas, 
this  region  west  of  the  looth  meridian  has  only  been  settled 
from  three  to  eight  years,  and  in  that  time  there  has  been  but 
one  failure  of  the  crops,  and  that  not  from  drought,  but  from 
grasshoppers.  The  average  yield  of  wheat  in  these  counties 
was  from  nineteen  to  twenty-four  bushels  to  the  acce,  and  of 
corn  forty  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  dairy  products  were  much 
beyond  the  consumption. 

Colorado  is  between  the  I02d  and  the  109th  meridians,  and  so, 
according  to  Mr.  Landon,  entirely  in  the  desert;  yet  its  rainfall 
for  1876,  1877  ^"*^  ^^l'^^  average  15.78  inches,  and  was  much 
more  than  that  in  1879,  and  in  the  lower  and  more  arable  lands 
ranged  from  nineteen  to  twenty-one  inches.  Owing  to  its  vast 
mining  wealth,  but  a  very  small  portion  of  its  surface  has  yet 
been  culdvated ;  but  in  1878,  66,691  acres  yielded  1,310,000 
bushels  of  excellent  wheat,  an  average  of  19.6  bushels  to  the 
acre,  while  the  southern  counties,  which  are  the  driest,  yielded 
22.6  bushels  to  the  acre.  In  the  same  year,  there  were  raised 
750,000  bushels  of  other  cereals,  450,000  bushels  of  potatoes  and 
50,000  tons  of  hay.  The  agricultural  products  of  the  State  were 
valued  at  ^3,515,000,  aside  from  its  live-stock,  which  was  nearly 
five  times  as  much.  So  far  from  beino^  "ruined  and  comino-.back 
broken-hearted  and  discouraged,"  the  agriculturists  of  Kansas 
and  Colorado,  west  of  the  looth  meridian,  in  1879  broke  up 
twice  as  much  ground  as  the  previous  year  and  planted  it  in  full 
faith  of  more  abundant  crops  than  the  previous  year,  and  were 
not  disappointed. 

"  Eli  Perkins  "  seems  to  be  a  little  in  doubt  whether  the  Great 
American  Desert  reaches  as  far  north  as  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road. He  thinks  there  may  be  some  Pacific  moisture  there,  though 
how  it  manages  to  come  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  without  having 
all  its  moisture  squeezed  or  frozen  out  of  it,  he  does  not 
explain.  But  another  of  these  scientific  theorists  entertains  no 
doubts  that  the  whole  course  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad, 
from  Minnesota  westward  throuQ-h  Dakota  and  Montana,  and 
probably  Idaho,  and  for  fifty  miles  each  side  of  that  railway,  is  a 
perfectly  barren  desert  and  must  ever  remain  so.     He  denounces 


4- 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


(or  did  in  1S74)  the  projectors  and  managers  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,  as  a  company  of  swindlers,  who  were  under- 
taking- to  pahn  off  these  worthless  lands  on  unsuspecting 
emiorants.  -\  thousand  acres  of  these  lands  would  not,  he 
thinks,  )icld  a  support  for  a  single  famil)-.  This  voluble 
denouncer  of  a  great  public  enterprise  was  Colonel  \V.  B.  Hazen, 
U.S.A.,  Brevet  Brigadier-General,  stationed  for  three  years  at  Fort 
Buford,  in  Northwestern  Dakota,  and  his  only  knowledge  of  the 
lands  of  this  region,  which  he  proclaimed  to  be  a  portion  of  the 
Great  American  Desert,  was  derived  from  three  or  four  journeys 
up  and  down  the  Missouri  river,  in  a  steamboat.  Colonel  Hazen 
has  undoubtedly  heard  of  the  "  Bad  Lands  of  Dakota,"  and 
might  possibly  have  seen  a  portion  of  them,  as  they  are  near  the 
]Missoun,  at  one  part  of  its  course,  but  he  was  not  warranted  in 
concludinof  that  the  whole  of  these  ereat  territories  was  of  the 
same  description.  "The  Bad  Lands,"  lands  where  the  mountain 
streams  have  eaten  their  way  through  beds  of  clay  and  have 
cut  them  into  most  fantastic  forms,  are  undoubtedly  barren,  and 
will  probably  produce  nothing  except  minerals  and  fossils ;  but 
they  are  of  very  moderate  extent.  Colonel  Wm.  H.  H.  Beadle,  . 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  Dakota,  and  late  Private 
Secretary  to  Governor  Howard,  a  man  who  has  explored  very 
thoroughly  all  parts  of  Dakota,  says  that  "  the  Bad  Lands  "  in 
Dakota  do  not  exceed  75,000  acres  of  barren  land  (only  about 
three  townships),  the  rest  being  either  arable  or  good  grazing 
lands.  Governor  Howard,  of  Dakota,  has  well  said  in  his  report 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  September,  1879: 

It  is  but  a  short  time  since  vast  herds  of  buffalo  roamed  undisturbed 
over  these  prairies  ;  now  farms  stocked  with  cattle  and  sheep  everywhere  abound. 
It  is  not  long  since  we  were  taught  in  our  Eastern  homes  and  in  our  schools, 
and  learned  from  our  geographies  the  story  of  the  Bad  Lands,  the  "Great 
American  Desert,"  and  were  left  to  believe  that  Dakota  for  barrenness  was  only 
equalled  by  the  Desert  of  Sahara,  and  that  its  chilling  blasts  were  equal  to  the 
cold  of  Greenland  ;  but  since  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  Dakota  has  a  soil 
exceedingly  rich,  has  more  arable  and  less  waste  land  in  proportion  to  its  size 
than  any  State  or  Territory  in  the  whole  Union,  and  since  millions  of 
bushels  of  grain  are  already  waiting  transportation  to  the  markets  of  the  world, 
capital,  proverbially  timid,  is  stretching  out  its  arms,  and,  with  hooks  of  steel, 
is  drawing  to  itself  the  carrying  trade  of  an  empire. 


THE    GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT:     WHERE    IS   IT? 


43 


In  Northeastern  Dakota  alone  in  1S79  there  were  375,972 
acres  of  land  under  cultivation,  of  which  266,618  acres  were 
devoted  to  wheat,  and  yielded  5,332,360  bushels  of  the  best 
o-rade  of  wheat,  an  avera^re  of  22  bushels  to  the  acre,  thoucjh 
40  bushels  were  often  produced.  Corn  yielded  75  bushels  and 
upwards  to  the  acre,  and  oats  from  60  to  75  bushels,  while  from 
300  to  600  bushels  of  potatoes,  and  corresponding  amounts  of 
other  root  crops  rewarded  the  farmer's  toil.  Southeastern 
Dakota  is  equally  prolific  in  its  crops ;  and  even  in  the  Black 
Hills,  which  were  supposed  to  possess  no  agricultural  value,  and 
were  only  prized  for  their  mineral  wealth,  the  husbandman's  toil 
is  rewarded  by  the  most  abundant  returns.  Wyoming,  though 
largely  a  grazing  Territory,  has  yet  much  arable  land,  and  though 
this  bugbear  of  a  Great  American  Desert  has  in  the  past  greatly 
hindered  the  settlement  of  this  large  and  valuable  Territory, 
which  is  destined  to  be  in  the  not  distant  future  one  of  the  richest 
of  all  the  Western  States  and  Territories,  settlers  are  beginning 
to  discover  that  some  of  the  best  lands  on  the  continent  are  to 
be  found  in  its  valleys  and  along  its  mountain  slopes.  The 
crops,  on  these  apparently  barren  lands,  when  fertilized  by  one 
or  two  irrigations  annually,  or  even  without  them,  by  deep  plow- 
ing, are  almost  incredible.  Even  the  most  unpromising  of  these 
lands  are  found  by  the  stock-raisers  to  furnish  the  most  nutri- 
tious pasturage.  "The  raising  of  cattle  on  an  extensive  scale  is 
beconiing  important  and  profitable  in  Wyoming,"  says  the  Land 
Office  Report  for  1878. 

In  regard  to  Montana  we  shall  have  more  to  say  when  we 
come  to  speak  of  its  productions  and  climate  as  a  separate 
Territory.  The  following  item,  however,  is  conclusive  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  not  a  desert  afjriculturallv.  The  Land  Office  estim.ates 
the  arable  lands  of  the  Territory  at  about  6,500,000  acres,  and 
the  grazing  lands  at  nearly  three  times  that  amount. 

The  crop  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Dullcthi  sends  the 
followino- from  Chicaeo,  Nov.  27th:  "The  United  States  consul 
at  Winnepeg  has  lately  published  a  letter  in  the  St.  Paul  Pioneer 
Press  with  reference  to  the  wheat-producing  belt  of  the  '  Far 
West.'     The  article  is  full  of  interestina- facts.     He  savs :  'The 


44  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

most  favored  of  all  the  territorial  orofanizations  is  Montana.'  I 
have  to-day  received  the  following-  '  crop  note '  from  my  corre- 
spondent there,  which  I  send  you  intact: 

'"BozEMAN,  Gallatin  county,  Montana,  Nov.  6,  1S79. 
''  'Grain  in  this  county  nearly  all  threshed.  A  larger*  acreage  of  wheat  and 
oats  than  ever  before ;  yield  rather  more  than  average.  One  field  of  spring 
wheat  averaged  fifty-three  bushels  per  acre ;  thirty  acres  in  Jefferson  valley 
averaged  fifty-nine  bushels.  Fifty-five  acres  winter  wheat  averaged  fifty-six 
bushels;  six  and  a  quarter  acres  of  the  same  averaged  sixty-nine  bushels.  The 
wheat  crop  of  the  county — winter  and  spring — will  average  at  least  thirty-eight 
bushels  per  acre.  Many  crops  are  nearly  or  quite  as  good  as  those  mentioned. 
Many  crops  of  oats  turned  out  sixty  to  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre.  In  one 
field  1,030  bushels  were  threshed  from  nine  acres.  The  oat  crop  of  the  county 
will  average  fully  fifty  bushels  per  acre.  A  very  small  area  was  sown  in  barley 
last  spring ;  will  average  about  forty-five  bushels.  Quality  of  all  kinds  of  grain 
good.  B.  R. 


D     »  " 


jMr.  Zimri  L.  White,  the  accomplished,  careful  and  conscien- 
tious correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribitiic,  whom  no  one 
will  accuse  of  the  least  tendency  to  overstatement,  says  of  Mon- 
tana farming,  after  spending  nearly  two  months  there  in  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1879: 

"The  average  yield  of  wheat  In  Montana  is  at  least  twenty- 
five  bushels  to  an  acre.  Other  writers  have  placed  it  at  from 
thirty  to  forty  bushels,  and  fifty  bushels  is  by  no  means  an  un- 
common crop  ;  but  taking  the  whole  country  together,  I  doubt 
if  the  farmer  can  depend  upon  much  more  than  twenty-five. 
This  is  ten  bushels,  or  66  per  cent,  more,  than  what  is  considered 
a  good  crop  in  the  great  grain  States  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
The  wheat  of  Montana  is  also  of  a  very  excellent  quality.  An 
analysis  of  samples  of  Montana  wheat,  made  at  the  Agricultural 
Department  in  Washington,  shows  18  percent,  more  nitrogeneous 
or  flesh-producing  matter  than  Minnesota  wheat,  and  that  bulk 
for  bulk  it  weighed  about  6  per  cent.  more.  I  have  before  me  a 
sample  of  spring  wheat  of  the  crop  of  1878,  raised  by  Mr.  Reeves 
in  the  Prickly  Pear  valley,  that  averages  to  weigh  sixty-four  pounds 
to  a  measured  bushel.  Some  of  the  crops  of  wheat  that  have 
been  raised  in  Montana  have  been  almost  fabulous.  Forty,  fifty, 
and   even  sixty  bushels    to  an   acre  are   not   uncommon  crops. 


THE    GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT:    WHERE    IS   IT?  45 

Several  years  ago  the  State  Fair  Association  offered  a  premium 
for  the  best  acre  of  wheat  raised  that  season,  and  the  award 
was  made  to  Mr.  Raymond,  of  the  Prickly  Pear  valley,  who  had 
102  measured  bushels  on  a  sinfjle  acre.  The  committee  who 
made  the  award  were  prominent  citizens  of  Montana,  and  one 
of  them  has  told  me  that  the  same  year  a  farmer  in  the  Gallatin 
valley  raised  an  equally  large  average  crop  on  a  forty-acre  lot, 
but  as  he  could  not  show  that  he  had  more  than  102  bushels  on 
any  single  acre,  the  committee  decided  that  he  was  not  entitled 
to  the  premium. 

"  I  have  seen  in  August  this  year  many  fields  of  wheat,  both 
standing-  and  in  the  shock,  in  the  country  around  Helena,  and 
I  have  not  seen  one  that  appeared  to  have  less  than  thirty 
bushels  to  an  acre.  In  many  fields  the  shocks  of  grain  stood 
almost  as  thick  as  the  sheaves  in  the  fields  of  the  Mississippi 
valley. 

"  Oats  and  barley  grow  as  well  as  wlieat.  The  average  yield 
of  oats  to  the  acre  is  considerably  greater  than  that  of  wheat, 
and  the  weight  per  bushel  is  much  above  the  standard,  Mr. 
Reeves  gave  me  a  sample  of  oats  from  his  farm  which  he  said 
would  average  to  weigh  forty-six  pounds  to  a  bushel.  General 
Brisbin  says  that  Mr.  Burton  raised  a  field  of  oats  which  aver- 
aged 1 01  bushels  to  an  acre,  and  a  field  of  barley  on  which  there 
were  1 1 3  bushels  to  an  acre. 

"The  soil  of  Montana  seems  to  be  especially  fitted  for  the  pro- 
duction of  large  crops  of  garden  vegetables.  The  best  market 
garden  I  ever  saw,  if  abundant  yield  is  a  criterion,  is  that  of  Mr. 
Dorrington  in  the  Prickly  Pear  valley.  He  sold  ;^2,ooo  worth 
of  strawberries,  and  his  root  crops,  such  as  turnips,  onions,  beets, 
parsnips,  etc.,  seemed  literally  to  fill  the  ground.  He  expected 
to  take  ten  tons  of  onions  from  a  small  patch  of  ground,  and 
would  receive  five  cents  a  pound  for  them  in  Helena.  The  fol- 
lowing table  compiled  by  General  Brisbin  shows  what  the  pro- 
duct of  the  gardens  cultivated  by  troops  at  Fort  Ellis  was,  in 
1877: 


46 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Company 

and 
Regiment. 

O 

II 

"A 

7^ 

5 
3 

26x4 

t/)     IT 

^1 

^0 

S     3 

J2  „; 

(A 

0  «; 

tn    W 

« -2 

►-    rt 

3,6ooi 

2,500! 

3'30oi 

2,300; 

800 

12,500 

F,  2d  Cavalry 

G,  "         "      

H,  "         "      

L,  "         "      

G,  7t]i  Infantry... 

Totals 

1,100 

550 

1,200 
700 

3,86s 

90 

60 

130 

50 
6 

336 

60 
60 

35 

150 
40 

785 

60 

35 

40 

25 
12 

50 

15 

40 

105 

10 

20 

25 
20 

75 

3 
3 

172 

"The  value  of  the  several  articles  if  bought  at  the  fort  would 
have  been:  Potatoes,  $3,865;  onions,  $2,352;  turnips,  $85; 
carrots,  $206.40;  beets,  $315;  parsnips,  $225;  salsify,  $9.40; 
cabbage,  $125.  Total,  $7,182.80.  The  garden  crops  at  Fort 
Ellis  in  other  years  have  been  fully  one-third  greater  for  the 
same  amount  of  ground. 

"As  a  rule  the  farms  of  Montana  have  to  be  irrigated,  and  in 
most  of  the  valleys  there  is  an  abundance  of  water  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  cost  of  constructing  good  canals  for  the  irrigation  of 
1 60  acres  of  land  is  of  course  considerable,  but  when  once  coni- 
pleted  the  expense  of  keeping  them  in  order  is  very  small,  while 
the  ability  of  the  farmer  to  regulate  absolutely  the  amount  of 
moisture  which  his  crop  shall  liave  more  than  compensates  for 
all  the  extra  labor  and  expense  which  irrigation  makes  neces- 
sary. 

The  facts  in  regard  to  this  reo^ion  between  the  looth  and  io7th 
meridians  seem  to  be  (not  reckoning  too  closely  the  exact  line  of 
either  meridian)  that  there  are  some  tracts,  of  very  moderate 
extent  in  them,  which  are  neither  arable  nor  grazing  lands — such 
as  the  "  bad  lands  "  of  Dakota,  and  a  small  district  of  Nebraska 
and  Wyoming,  and  portions  of  the  Yellowstone  Park  and  its 
vicinity;  such,  too,  as  some  of  the  mountain  regions  in  Colorado, 
Wyoming  and  Montana,  where  there  are  frightful  perpendicular 
precipices,  from  1,000  to  5,000  feet  in  depth,  the  results  of  up- 
heaval,  volcanic  action  or  erosion,  but  these  constitute  only  com- 
paratively small  and  isolated  tracts  of  a  belt,  350  to  400  miles  in 
widdi,  and  1,700  miles  in  length.     For  the  rest,  at  least  one-fifth 


THE    GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT:    WHERE    IS   IT?  aj 

is  arable,  either  with  or  without  irrigation,  and  yields  enormous 
crops;  three-fifths  are  the  best  grazing  lands  to  be  found  any- 
where, and  one-fifth  is  good  and  serviceable  timber,  much  of  it 
of  large  size.  Can  anything  better  be  said  of  any  land  the  sun 
shines  on?  The  proportion  of  lands  susceptible  of  improve- 
ment is  larger  than  that  of  Great  Britain  or  Germany,  and  very 
nearly  equal  to  that  of  France  ;  and  the  arable  lands  are  richer 
and  more  productive  without  manures,  than  those  of  these  coun- 
tries with  them. 

But  what  of  the  second  region,  where  the  maps  still  keep  up 
the  inscription,  "  Great  American  Desert  ?  "  Stretching  westward 
from  the  loSth  meridian  in  Texae,  Arizona  and  Colorado,  the 
line  trends  still  farther  west,  as  it  proceeds  north,  and  occupies 
most  of  the  Great  Valley  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Sierra  Nevada  or  Cascade  range,  and  includes  Western  Texas, 
the  whole  of  Arizona,  Nevv^  Mexico,  Western  Colorado  and 
Wyoming,  all  of  Utah  and  m.ost  of  Nevada,  Idaho,  and  Eastern 
Oregon  and  Washington  Territory.  The  most  ardent  believers 
in  a  "Great  American  Desert"  do  not  now,  whatever  they  may 
have  done  in  the  past,  venture  to  pronounce  all  of  this  territory 
a  desert,  for  there  are  too  many  evidences  that  considerable  por- 
tions of  the  region  are  remarkably  fertile  ;  yet,  taken  as  a  whole, 
it  is  far  less  susceptible  of  immediate  cultivation  than  the  first 
region  already  described.  It  includes  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin, 
with  its  peculiar  volcanic  formations,  the  great  table  lands  of 
Western  Texas,  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  and  the  equally  ele- 
vated plateaux  of  Idaho,  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  the  deep 
and  terrible  canons  of  the  Colorado  and  its  tributaries.  Nearly 
all  this  region  is  rich  in  minerals,  and  would  eventually  be  occu- 
pied, were  it  an  arid  desert,  throughout  its  whole  extent;  but 
there  is  a  large  quantity  of  arable  land,  capable  with  irrigation, 
which  in  most  sections  is  practicable,  of  yielding  immense  crops; 
there  are  many  millions  of  acres  of  grazing  lands  where  all  the 
flocks  and  herds  of  the  continent  could  find  good  pasturage,  and 
there  are  extensive  forests,  some  of  them  of  stinted  growth, 
but  others  of  gigantic  pines,  cedars,  firs  and  tulip  trees.  Mingled 
with  these  are   districts  where  all   culture   is   impossible,  where 


48  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Nature  has  indulged  in  her  wildest  freaks,  and  where  all  tlie 
forces  of  the  volcano,  the  earthquake,  and  the  erosive  and  de- 
structive power  of  glacier,  river,  lake,  and  mountain  torrent, 
have  combined  to  make  ruins  grander  and  more  impressive,  than 
those  of  all  the  wars  which  have  taken  place,  since  our  planet 
was  inhabited  by  man. 

Yet  these  desolations  are  not  sufficiently  extensive  in  any  one 
section  to  make  a  very  large  desert,  certainly  not  a  "  Great 
American  Desert."  One  of  the  districts  which  the  map-makers 
of  the  present  year  are  most  persistently  designating  as  the 
"  Great  American  Desert "  is  the  western  half  of  Utah,  and  the 
eastern  half  of  Nevada.  Yet  of  this  very  region,  a  writer  of 
undoubted  authority  says,  in  the  autumn  of  1879: 

"The  farmers  here  have  developed  something  new  in  agricul- 
ture— new  in  this  rccjion  at  least.  There  are  here  and  elsewhere 
vast  tracts  of  '  desert  lands,'  or  lands  which  are  so  high  above 
the  stream  that  they  can  never  be  irrigated.  Several  years  ago 
wheat  was  sown  upon  small  patches  of  this  seemingly  arid  and 
valueless  soil.  A  tolerably  fair  crop  was  raised  without  artificial 
moisture  or  unusual  rain,- and  now  broad  areas  of  this  kind  of 
land  are  being  put  under  cultivation  annually,  producing  as  high 
as  twenty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  These  are  really  warm 
alluvial  soils  formed  by  the  crumbling  of  mountain  ranges." 

The  pamphlet  issued  by  the  Utah  Board  of  Trade  in  1879, 
while  commending  the  general  fertility  of  the  Territory  under 
irrigation,  which  is  generally  practised,  and  in  some  sections 
without  it,  says  very  frankly,  of  the  region  lying  west  of  Great 
Salt  Lake  in  that  Territory : 

"The  western  third  of  the  Territory  from  end  to  end  is  an 
alternation  of  mountain,  desert,  sink  and  lake,  with  few  oases  cf 
arable  or  ofrazino-  lands.  Great  Salt  Lake  covers  "an  area  of 
3,000  to  4,000  square  miles,  and  the  desert  west  of  it  a  stiil 
larger  area.  Rush  valley  has  mining  and  agricultural  settle- 
ments, but  much  more  pastoral  than  arable  land,  and  so  has 
Skull  valley  to  the  westward.  But  from  these  south  to  the  rim 
of  the  basin  are  only  occasional  habitable  spots,  and  they  are  due 
to  springs. 


THE    GREAT  AMEKJCAX  DKSEKT:    WHERE    JS   IT?  aq 

Concerning  the  other  States  and  Territories  impHcated  in  this 
charge  of  being  desert  lands,  we  offer  the  following  as  the  latest 
and  most  credible  testimony.  The  Surveyor-General  of  Idaho 
says:  "There  are  immense  tracts  of  sage-brush  lands — the  so- 
called  '  desert  lands' — that  only  await  irrigating  canals,  to  make 
them  as  productive  as  most  lands  in  the  Western  States,  yielding 
their  forty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  as  our  people  have  often 
demonstrated  by  actual  experiment."  The  Surveyor-General 
of  Utah  says  :  "  Notwithstanding  the  opinion  of  many  who  deem 
our  lands  'arid,  desert,  and  worthless,'  these  same  lands  under 
proper  tillage  produce  forty  to  fifty  bushels  of  wheat,  seventy  to 
eighty  bushels  of  oats  and  barley,  from  two  hundred  to  four 
hundred  bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre,  and  fruits  and  vegetables 
equal  to  any  other  State  or  Territory  in  quantity  and  quality." 

The  Surveyor-General  of  Nevada  says :  "In  our  sage-brush 
lands,  alfalfa,  the  cereals  and  all  vegetables,  flourish  in  profusion 
where  water  can  be  obtained,  and  the  State  is  swiftly  becoming 
one  of  the  oreat  stock-raisino-  States  of  the  Union." 

The  Surveyor-General  of  New  Mexico  says:  "There  is  a 
much  larger  portion  of  New  Mexico  adapted  to  agriculture,  than 
is  generally  supposed  by  those  who  have  seen  but  little  of  the 
seasons,  and  what  the  capabilities  of  the  soil  are.  The  valleys 
of  the  San  Juan,  Rio  Grande,  Gila,  Pecos,  Red  river,  Dry 
Cimmaron  and  others,  streams  with  their  hundreds  of  tributaries, 
afford  an  immense  area  of  arable  land,  the  real  extent  of  which 
is  yet  only  partially  known.  Near  the  foot  of  the  various  mountain 
ranges  there  is  sufficient  rainfall  to  render  Irrigation  unnecessary 
in  many  localities,  even  were  it  practicable ;  and  fine  crops  of 
corn,  wheat,  oats  and  vegetables  are  raised,  while  the  mountain 
sides  and  plains,  covered  at  all  seasons  with  the*  nutritious 
Sframma  o-rass,  afford  an  admirable  ranee  for  stock." 

Of  Northwestern  Texas,  an  able  Texan  writer,  who  has  spent 
years  there,  after  speaking  of  the  prevalent  notions  that  it  is  a 
dry  country  adapted  to  nothing  but  grazing,  and  perhaps  ver\' 
poorly  for  that ;  that  it  is  too  rugged  for  culture,  even  if  the  soil 
was  of  good  quality,  which  they  believe  is  not  the  fact,  and  that 
the  herders  are  ruffians  and  brigands,  says:  "Nothing  could  be 
4 


^o  OCR     U'ESTEKA'    EMPIRE. 

further  from  tlie  truth  than  these  notions.  While  It  is  true  that 
this  vast  territory  which  Ave  are  describinof  is  mainly  a  Qr-razino- 
country,  it  is  also  true  that  it  abounds  in  fertile  valleys,  and  rich 
locations  of  larire  extent,  which  are  as  well  watered  and  fertile  as 
any  in  the  nation.  Its  rivers  are  without  exception  formed  from 
springs ;  they  are  as  clear  as  any  crystal,  and  furnish  water 
power  that  is  almost  limitless." 

Arizona  alone  remains  of  the  possible  deserts  of  this  western 
region  ;  yet  the  Surveyor-General  of  this  Territory  tells  us  that 
the  vallc)'s  of  its  rivers  and  streams  are  irrigable,  and  that  when 
irrigated  they  yield  immense  crops ;  while  the  hills  and  plains 
furnish  abundant  and  nutritious  pasturage,  and  stock-raising  is  a 
profitable  pursuit ;  that  the  Territory  furnishes  more  grain,  flour, 
bacon,  lard,  butter,  cattle,  mules  and  horses  than  are  needed  for 
home  consumption,  and  that  considerable  quantities  of  all  are  ex- 
ported.    Fruits  are  comparatively  plenty  and  cheap. 

Still  more  conclusive  on  this  point  is  the  testimony  of  Major- 
General  J.  C.  Fremont,  the  present  Governor  of  Arizona,  From 
actual  investigation  and  a  comparison  of  its  present  condition 
with  what  it  was  when  he  visited  it  thirty  years  ago,  he  declares 
tliat  most  of  Arizona  is  varable,  that  its  rainfall  ranges  from 
fifteen  inches  to  twenty-four  inches  (this  too  was  written  when 
the  rainfall  had  been  much  less  than  usual  for  five  years  ;  in  a 
letter  to  the  writer  about  Christmas,  1879,  he  stated  that  they 
were  then  in  the  midst  of  an  unprecedented  rain  storm  which 
had  lasted  for  nearly  two  weeks,  had  raised  the  rivers  to  a  great 
height  and  had  flooded  much  of  the  country),  that  the  crops 
of  wheat  even  when  raised  by  the  Indians  were  very  heavy,  the 
Maricopas  sending  at  one  time  in  August,  1879,  200  tons  of  wheat 
of  the  best  quality  to  San  Francisco,  where  it  brought  ,5-- -2  the 
hundred  pounds,  and  that  most  of  the  Indian  tribes  were 
subsisting  by  agriculture.  This  surely  cannot  be  a  wholly  desert 
land. 

But  while  it  is  almost  mathematically  proved  that  the  "Great 
American  Desert"  is  a  myth,  receding  from  us  as  wc  try  to 
approach  it,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  here,  as  in  other  empires, 
there  arc  some  desert  lands,  treeless,  though  not  nuite  rainless; 


MINERAL    AND    VEGETABLE   PRODUCTS.  ^Y 

often  Incapable  of  cultivation,  though  they  may  be  rich  in  fossils 
or  in  the  precious  metals ;  and  that  in  these  deserts  may  be 
found  some  of  the  most  wonderful  phenomena  on  the  globe. 


CHAPTER   III. 


The  whole  Region  Adounding  in  Mineral  Wealth — Production  of  Gold 
AND  Silver,  other  Metals,  etc. — Forests  —  Grasses — Root  Crops — 
Fruits — Viniculture. 

Most  of  these  States  and  Territories  abound  in  mineral 
wealth.  All  the  Territories  and  all  the  States  except  Minnesota, 
Nebraska  and  Kansas  have  either  gold  or  silver  mines  or  both, 
and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  even  these  will  prove  to  be 
exceptions,  though  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  may;  for  agricultural 
products  furnish  a  surer  and  better  avenue  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  entire  population,  than  the  richest  mines  of  the  precious 
metals.  The  golden  grain  of  these  States  is  ar  better  possession 
than  the  gold  mines  of  California  or  Colorado,  or  the  silver  of 
Nevada  or  Montana. 

Yet  we  would  not  underrate  the  vast  mineral  wealth  of  this 
Western  Empire.  It  is  possible,  though  not  at  all  certain,  that 
some  of  the  Peruvian  mines  or  those  of  Mexico  may  have  more 
extensive  deposits  of  gold  or  silver  than  are  already  opened,  or 
are  yet  to  be  discovered  in  the  Great  West;  but  the  production 
of  none  of  them  has  been  as  great,  in  so  short  a  period,  as  that 
of  our  mines,  and  we  have  just  arrived  at  a  stage  of  progress, 
when  our  production  may  be  almost  indefinitely  increased. 
During  the  first  ten  years  after  the  discovery  of  gold  and  silver 
in  California,  and  the  West,  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  with  accuracy 
the  production  of  the  precious  metals  there ;  but  Professor  Rossiter 
W.  Raymond,  who  has  devoted  much  time  and  study  to  the 
problem,  names,  as  the  result  of  his  incjuiries,  a  sum  total  of  gold 
and  silver  which,  by  adding  the  production  of  187S  and  1S79,  gives 
an  aggregate  for  the   Great  West  for  the   thirty  years  ending 


C2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

June  30, 1879,  of  $1,947,055,834,  almost  two  billionsofthe  precious 
metals.  By  a  singular  coincidence  these  are  very  nearly  the 
amount  of  the  product  of  the  ten  principal  items  of  our  agriculture 
for  the  year  1879.  That  product  was  $1,904,480,659.  The 
completion  of  the  Sutro  tunnel  in  Nevada,  which  will  make  deep 
mining  practicable,  in  those  hitherto  productive  lodes,  and  the 
discoveries  of  carbonate  ores  of  silver  and  chlorides  or  horn 
silver  in  Utah,  in  the  San  Juan  and  Gunnison  districts  and  else- 
where, on  the  western  slopesof  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Colorado, 
the  new  and  extensive  deposits  of  both  gold  and  silver  in  the 
Black  Hills,  in  Utah  and  in  Montana,  and  the  increasing  annual 
production  of  bullion,  warrant  the  belief  that  we  are  just  enter- 
ing upon  a  new  era  in  the  production  of  the  precious  metals, 
which  will  far  exceed  that  of  the  combined  production  of  the 
Pacific  States  and  Australia,  twenty-five  years  ago. 

But  our  mineral  productions  in  our  Western  Empire  are  by 
no  means  confined  to  o-old  and  silver.  Quicksilver,  which  is  an 
absolute  necessity  for  gold  mining  the  world  over,  is  more 
abundant  in  California,  Nevada  and  Arizona  than  anywhere  else 
in  the  world,. and  though,  in  the  past,  tedious  litigation  has  pre- 
vented the  mines  from  yielding  their  full  product,  yet  not  only 
has  the  large  demand  for  our  own  mines  been  supplied,  but  we 
have  exported  millions  of  fiasks  to  other  countries.  Nickel, 
platinum,  and  in  vast  quantities,  copper,  lead,  iron  and  zinc,  are 
among  the  products  of  this  young  empire  ;  and  coal  of  all  quali- 
ties is  scattered  in  localities  where  it  is  most  needed. 

Portions  of  this  Western  Empire  are  lacking  in  forest  growths. 
The  vast  prairies  and  plains  east  of  tlie  Rocky  Mountains  had 
been  so  often  burned  over  by  the  Indians,  either  carelessly  or 
to  promote  the  growth  of  the  grasses,  on  which  the  buffalo,  their 
principal  game,  fed,  that  though  in  times  long  ago  they  w^ere 
covered  wnth  heavy  forests,  they  seemed  to  have  lost  their  ability 
to  sustain  any  large  amount  of  timljer.  Only  near  the  banks  of 
streams  was  there  any  considerable  growth  of  trees,  and  these, 
in  some  sections,  only  the  comparatively  worthless  cotton  wood. 
But  this  deficiency  will  soon  pass  away.  Encouraged  by  the 
Timber  culture  act  of  Congress,  and  by  the  desire  to  produce 


MINERAL  AND    VEGETABLE   PRODUCTS.  5^ 


trees  instead  of  sendinof  o-feat  distances  for  lumber,  millions  of 
trees  have  been  planted,  largely  of  the  rapidly  growing  kinds,  as 
the  ailantus,  locust,  Osage  orange,  etc. ;  and  even  on  the  alkaline 
plains  they  are  growing  and  thriving,  and  have  already  increased 
to  a  sensible  extent  the  amount  of  the  scanty  rainfall.  But  only 
a  portion  of  the  region  lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains  can  be  called  treeless.  In  Minnesota,  Dakota, 
Montana,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  parts  of  Texas  and  the  Indian 
Territory,  there  are  vast  tracts  of  heavy  timber,  and  the  lumber 
exported  from  some  of  these  States  forms  a  very  considerable 
portion  of  their  productive  wealth.  West  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains there  is  generally  no  lack  of  forests,  especially  on  the 
mountain  slopes ;  Utah,  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  are,  however, 
but  sparingly  supplied  with  timber,  and  much  of  the  land  suffers 
from  drought  except  where  irrigation  is  possible.  On  the  Pacific 
slope,  portions  of  California  and  Nevada,  all  of  Western  Oregon 
and  Washino^ton  are  remarkable  for  the  o-ioantic  height  and  bulk 
of  their  forest  trees.  The  Redwoods  and  Sequoias,  which  range 
from  300  to  475  feet  in  height,  are  not  the  only  giants  of  these 
forests ;  several  species  of  pine  and  fir  and  some  of  the  cedars 
tower  from  250  to  350  feet  in  height  on  the  lower  hills  of  the 
Coast  range,  in  California,  Oregon  and  Washington.  In  Eastern 
Washington  and  Oregon  there  are  extensive,  elevated  plains, 
without  much  timber,  which  are  very  cold  in  winter  and  intensely 
hot  in  summer.  In  Wyoming  and  Colorado  the  mountains  are 
generally  clothed  with  forests,  up  to  a  point  somewhat  below 
the  snow  line  ;  but  the  plains,  plateaux  and  foothills  are  very 
often  devoid  of  trees,  except  along  the  water-courses,  or  where 
they  have  been  planted  by  man. 

Over  much  of  this  vast  territory,  nearly  all  of  it  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  alkaline  plains  east  of  that  range, 
there  is  little  or  nothino^  which  can  be  called  sod;  the  lone, 
dry  summers  would  destroy  it  if  it  existed.  But  the  buffalo 
and  gramma  grasses,  more  nutritious  than  our  cultivated  grasses, 
are  adapted  to  the  summer  drought,  and  furnish  all  the  year 
round  a  most  delicious  pasturage  for  cattle.  The  bunch  grass, 
and    the    white   sage-brush    (after  frost),  are  eagerly  cropped. 


r^  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Wherever,  as  in  California,  Nevada,  and  portions  of  New 
Mexico,  die  cultivation  of  grasses  for  feeding  catde  has  been 
found  desirable,  the  Alfalfa  grass,  a  species  of  South  American 
lucerne,  which  yields  two  or  three  enormous  crops  a  year,  and 
is  admirably  adapted  to  this  climate,  furnishes  at  small  expense 
a  succulent  and  nutritious  food  for  cattle  and  sheep.  There 
are  also  other  forage  erasses,  most  of  them  native  to  the  coast, 
which  amply  supply  the  absence  of  our  sod-making  grasses  in 
the  Atlantic  States. 

In  the  season  of  melting  snows,  and  moderate  rains,  these 
desolate  and  dreary  plains  are  resplendent  with  flowers  of  every 
hue,  and  many  of  them  redolent  of  the  sweetest  perfumes. 

The  root  crops  of  this  entire  region  are  remarkable  alike 
for  their  abundance,  the  great  size  they  attain,  and  their  ex- 
cellent quality.  In  the  deep,  rich,  and  easily  penetrated  soil  of 
all  these  States  and- Territories  root  crops  seem  to  run  riot, 
and  grow  without  stint.  The  common  potato,  the  sweet  potato 
and  the  yam,  yield  from  400  to  600  bushels  to  the  acre,  and 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  profitable  crops  which  can  be  raised. 
Turnips,  both  yellow  and  white,  carrots,  beets,  etc.,  yield  fabulous 
quantities  of  such  gigantic  size  that  they  are  hardly  recognizable. 
The  whole  melon  tribe,  including  the  pumpkin,  squash,  and 
cucumber,  as  well  as  the  watermelon,  muskmelon,  cantelope, 
and  citron-melon  exhibit  their  greatest  fertility  and  most  abun- 
dant productiveness  in  the  most  arid  and  desert-looking  of  these 
lands.  Arizona,  Southern  California,  the  southern  part  of  New 
Mexico,  and  Western  Texas,  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  these 
creeping  vines  and  their  cooling  fruits. 

This  Great  West  is  destined  to  be  the  garden  of  the  world, 
in  its  cultivation  and  conservation  of  edible  fruits  and  their 
products.  Its  great  variety  of  climates  and  temperatures,  and 
the  elevation  of  its  arable  lands,  even  in  semi-tropical  regions, 
permits,  and  will  continue  to  permit  and  demand,  the  produc- 
tion of  the  greatest  variety  of  choice  fruits  to  be  found  in  any 
one  region  on  the  earth's  surface.  In  the  northern  portion,  the 
apples,  pears,  quinces,  plums,  cherries,  and  small  fruits  of  Min- 
nesota,   Dakota,     Montana,    Idaho,    Washington,    Oregon    and 


MINERAL    AXD     VEGETABLE    PRODUCTS.  55 

Northern  California  are  unsurpassed  either  in  size  or  flavor  by 
those  of  any  other  part  of  the  world.  It  has  been  asserted  that 
the  laroer  fruits  of  California,  as  well  as  its  vegetables,  though 
of  great  size,  lack  the  succulency  and  fine  flavor  of  those  raised 
in  the  Eastern  States,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
this  is  true.  Fruits  carried  to  orreat  distances  from  their  native 
soil,  and  kept  for  months  or  years,  do  lose  something  of  their 
flavor,  as  is  well  known ;  but  eaten  where  they  are  grown,  they 
are  unsurpassed  in  excellence.  The  belt  below  this,  consisting 
of  the  States  of  Iowa,  Missouri,  Southern  Dakota,  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  Wyoming,  Northern  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada  and 
Central  California,  adds  to  this  list  the  peach,  the  apricot,  and, 
above  all,  the  grape.  Already  California  is  more  largely  en- 
gaged in  the  culture  of  the  vine  than  any  other  country  in  the 
world.  Every  known  species  and  variety  which  possesses  merit 
is  grown  there,  and  though  her  great  vineyards  are  so  young, 
she  is  only  second  to  France  in  the  amount  of  her  wine  produc- 
tion. Nowhere  can  finer  "raisins  of  the  sun  "  be  produced  than 
there.  Her  peaches  are  excellent,  but  not  so  miuch  attention 
has  been  given  to  their  culture,  as  in  other  regions. 

The  whole  belt  of  States  and  Territories  we  have  named  are 
capable  of  a  like  developmxent  in  viniculture  with  California. 
Their  grapes  may  have  a  slightly  different  flavor,  and  the  wines 
produced  from  them  may  be  as  distinguishable,  by  the  cultivated 
taste  of  the  connoisseur,  as  those  of  Tokay  and  Xeres  or 
Rheims ;  but  they  will  be  in  as  great  demand  as  the  wines  of 
the  Californian  vintage. 

Farther  south,  in  Arkansas,  the  Indian  Territory,  Texas, 
Arizona,  Southern  New  Mexico,  Southern  Utah  and  Nevada, 
and  Southern  California,  sub-tropical  fruits  abound — the  orange, 
lemon,  lime,  fig,  olive,  pomegranate,  banana,  guava,  Madeira  nut, 
pecan,  and  the  finest  and  most  luscious  varieties  of  the  peach, 
are  some  of  the  treasures  which  Dame  Nature  lays  up  for  her 
children  in  the  sunny  South.  There  are  also  many  native  fruits 
and  nuts,  less  widely  known,  but  not  less  delicious  or  grateful  to 
the  taste,  than  those  we  have  named,  to  be  found  in  the  forests 
of  the  Great  West. 


56 


OUR    WESTERX   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Wild  Animals  and  Game — Beasts  of  Prey — Grizzly  and  other  Bears — 
Mr.  Murphy's  Grizzly  Bear  Story — The  Cougar,  Puma,  or  Panther — 
The  Jaguar  and  other  Felid/E — Lynxes — The  Marten  and  Weasel  Tribe 
— The  Gray  Wolf — The  Coyote — Amphibia — The  Whale  Tripe — Birds 
OF  Prey — Perchers  and  Song  Birds — Pigeons  and  Grouse — Waders  and 
Swimmers — Reptiles — Fishes —  Mollusks  and  Crustaceans — Domestic 
Animals. 

Many  of  the  wild  animals  of  our  Western  Empire  are  peculiar 
to  that  reeion.  The  Bison  or  Anierican  buffalo,  whose  ranq;e 
extended  originally  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Appala- 
chians, has  for  these  many  years  past  been  only  found  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  as  settlement  and  civilization  advanced  west- 
ward he  has  been  driven  back  to  the  j^lains  and  foothills  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  a  tract  of  not  more  than  three  hundred  miles 
in  width,  and  perhaps  twelve  hundred  in  length  from  north  to 
south,  and  even  this  was  encroached  upon  every  year  by  the  new 
towns  springing  up  all  along  the  line.  Since  the  advent  of 
railroads,  crossing  these  plains,  the  number  of  bison  has  rapidly 
diminished.  Many  thousands  were  shot  from  the  cars  for  fun, 
and  left  to  die  on  the  plains  ;  hunters  destroyed  tens  of  thousands 
for  mere  sport.  More  than  as  many  more  were  slaughtered  for 
the  hams  and  tongues,  and  the  Indians  killed  from  one  to  two 
millions  annually  for  the  flesh,  and  the  robes  or  skins.  It  is  es- 
timated that  within  the  past  ten  years,  not  less  than  twenty  mil- 
lions of  these  noble  animals  have  been  slain,  and  that  hardly 
more  than  300,000  remain.  The  bison  is  not  found  west  of  the 
Rocky    Mountains.^''     The    mpose,   though    plentiful    in    British 


*  Colonel  Richard  J.  Dodge,  United  States  Army,  a  famous  hunter,  speaks  of  another  species. 
or  at  least  a  well-marked  variety  of  the  buffalo,  known  to  hunters  as  the  mountain  or  wootl 
buffalo,  or  "the  bison."  It  has  shorter  but  stouter  legs  than  the  common  buffalo,  is  very  shy, 
and  by  no  means  jilentiful  even  in  its  chosen  haunts,  and  inhabits  only  the  deepest,  darkest 
defiles  and  canons,  or  the  craggy  and  almost  precipitous  sides  of  mountains,  from  which  it  will 
not  depart,  while  its  congener  prefers  the  plains.  Except  in  one  instance,  no  sportsman  has 
bagged  more  than  one,  but  its  existence  is  well  vouched  for,  though,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  it 
has  never  been  described  by  any  other  writer. 


ROCKY    MOUNTAIN   GOAT,    ELK,    REP    DEER,    BLACK    BEAR,    FOX,    MOOSE,    WOLF,    PANTHER,   GRIZZLY 
BEAR,    COYOTE,    I'RAIRIK    DOG,    WILD   CAT,     BUFFALO,    WILD    HORSE. 


ZOOLOGY    OF    OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE.  ey 

Columbia  and  Alaska,  is  only  found  in  the  region  in  the  northern 
part  of  Washington  Territory,  in  Northern  Idaho,  and  Montana. 

The  Elk,  the  next  larQ^est  of  the  oame  animals  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  has  nearly  the  same  range  as  the  Buffalo, 
though  it  usually  seeks  the  vicinity  of  the  river  valleys.  It  is  less 
abundant  than  the  bison,  but  has  only  partially  escaped  the  indis- 
criminate slauo;hter  to  which  those  unfortunate  animals  have  been 
subjected.  They  are  often  found  in  large  numbers  (three  or  four 
thousand  it  is  said)  in  the  great  parks  of  Colorado,  and  in  Mon- 
tana. 

There  are  three  species  of  deer,  the  black-tailed,  white-tailed, 
and  mule  deer;  and  at  least  one  species  of  antelope,  a  graceful, 
beautiful  creature.  West  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  there  is  a 
representative  of  the  Ibex  family  in  the  Bighorn  or  mountain 
sheep,  and  one  of  the  goat  family — the  wild  Rocky  Mountain 
goat,  which  may,  perhaps,  be  allied  to  the  goat  antelopes  of  the 
Himalaya  Mountains.  Of  smaller  four-footed  game  and  rodents, 
there  are  six  or  eight  species  of  hare  and  rabbits,  one  bearing 
the  name  of  the  Jackass  rabbit,  from  the  enormous  length  of  its 
ears ;  the  beaver,  musk  rat  and  mammoth  mole ;  squirrels  of* 
ten  species,  five  of  gophers  or  prairie  dogs,  the  yellow-haired 
porcupine,  four  species  of  kangaroo  mice,  the  usual  variety  of 
moles,  rats,  mice  and  dormice. 

Of  beasts  of  prey  there  are  a  considerable  number,  and  some 
of  them  formidable  in  size  and  strength.  There  are  probably 
two  species,  and  possibly  three,  of  bears  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains:  the  black,  the  cinnamon,  and  a  smaller  brown  one, 
known  as  the  Mexican  bear.*  The  bear  is  omnivorous  in  his 
diet;  ants,  grubs,  mice,  moles,  squirrels,  rabbits,  eggs,  berries, 
grapes  and  fruit,  all  seem  alike  to  him,  but  if  he  has  a  special 
vanity,  it  is  for  honey.  He  does  not  attack  man  unless  in  ex- 
treme hunger,  or  in  protecting  the  cubs;  but  if  attacked  makes 
a  very  stubborn  fight,  especially  at  close  quarters.  His  claws 
are  very  sharp  and  strong.  Beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  the 
formidable  and  somewhat  ferocious  grizzly  bear,  the  largest 
American  plantigrade,  except  possibly  the  Arctic  or  white  bear, 

*  Some  practical  zoologists  contend  that  these  are  not  difierent  species  but  simply  varieties. 


58  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

is  added  to  die  number.  The  black,  brown,  and  cinnamon  bears 
usually  avoid  a  conllict  with  man  unless  attacked,  when  they 
fight  fiercely.  It  is  said  that  among  the  miners  of  Western 
Colorado,  a  class  of  men  not  lacking  in  courage  or  pluck,  when 
some  new-comer,  ambitious  to  show  his  prowess,  proposes  to  go 
out  and  hunt  the  bears,  which  are  very  numerous  tliere,  the 
shrewd  old  miner,  who  is  well  versed  in  bear  nature,  will  reply : 
"Guess  not;  I  haven't  lost  any  bear."  The  grizzly  bear,  espe- 
cially if  hungT)-,  is  not  wont  to  wait  for  a  provocation  to  a  fight, 
and  he  possesses  so  thick  a  hide  and  so  much  vitality,  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  disable  or  kill  him  by  even  two  or  three  well- 
aimed  shots.  When  wounded  his  rage  is  fearful,  and  his  long 
and  strong  claws  enable  him  to  make  very  short  work  of  an 
antac'onist  who  comes  within  reach  of  them.* 

O 

The  cougar,  puma  or  panther,  sometimes  called  the  American 
lion,  is  another  very  formidable  animal ;  somewhat  smaller  than 
the  African  lion  or  the  Bengal  tiger.  It  has  as  much  ferocity  and 
almost  as  much  strength  as  either.     It  is,  however,  cowardly  like 

I  *  Mr.  J.  M.  Murphy,  in  his  "  Sporting  Adventures  in  the  Far  West,"  devotes  one  chapter  to 
the  grizzly  bear,  and  relates  some  very  humorous  stories  of  experiences  in  hunting  it.  P'ormid- 
able  and  ferocious  as  it  is,  the  grizzly  is  terrified  by  the  human  voice,  when  loud  yells  and  cries 
arc  uttered,  and  will  run  away  at  once.  Mr.  Murphy  says  that  a  certain  judge  of  San  Francisco, 
who,  while  a  good  hunter  and  a  capital  humorist,  was  of  somewhat  intemperate  habits,  had  en- 
gaged with  a  few  friends  to  go  out  for  a  week's  shooting  among  the  grouse  and  quail,  and  was 
asked  to  be  ready  to  join  the  party  at  a  very  early  hour  in  the  morning,  so  that  a  camping  place 
could  be  reached  in  the  afternoon.  The  night  before  starting  he  attended  a  ball  and  became  so 
much  intoxicated  that  on  his  way  home  he  fell  down  several  times  in  the  mire,  much  to  the 
detriment  of  his  evening  dress  and  opera  hat.  Just  after  reaching  home  the  carriage  came  to 
take  him  to  the  rendezvous,  and  he  insisted  on  going  in  the  plight  he  was  in.  After  some  re- 
monstrance he  was  taken  as  he  was,  and  the  party  travelled  to  the  mountains  about  forty  miles 
distant,  pitched  camp  and,  building  a  fire,  prepared  for  supper.  A  Spaniard  approached  them 
and  said  that  there  was  a  gri/.zly  a  few  rods  off  in  the  bushes.  The  judge,  who  was  dozing  near 
the  fire,  roused  up  at  once  and  said  that  he  would  go  and  bring  it  into  the  camp.  His  com- 
panions laughed  at  him  and  chaffed  him,  but  his  temper  was  roused,  and  seizing  an  empty  shot- 
gun, he  said  be  would  prove  his  assertion,  and  strode  off  into  the  shrubbery.  In  about  twenty 
minutes  there  was  a  great  commotion  in  the  bushes,  and  all  the  party  seized  their  guns  and  pre- 
pared for  some  unknown  danger.  In  another  minute  the  bushes  parted  and  out  came  the  judge 
without  a  hat,  and  running  with  such  speed  as  to  cause  his  hair  and  coat-tails  to  stand  out  at 
right  angles  to  his  body.  As  he  approached,  he  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice:  "  Clear  the 
track ;  here  we  come,  the  bear  and  me,  confound  our  souls."  They  did  clear  the  track,  and  the 
judge  rushed  through  the  fire  and  did  not  stop  till  he  had  run  a  good  half  mile  to  the  rear. 
Mis  companions  stopped  the  bear  and  caused  it  to  retreat  by  a  few  yells  and  shots,  but  the  fool- 
hardy judge  was  the  butt  of  many  a  joke  on  his  race  with  the  bear. 


> 


X 

> 


-.TM'    ) 


ZOOLOGY    OF    OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE.  ^Cj 

all  its  tribe,  and  seldom  or  never  attacks  man  except  when  very 
hungry  or  in  defence  of  its  young.  When  attacked  it  is  a  for- 
midable animal,  its  strong  claws  and  great  muscular  power 
giving  it  great  advantage.  It  is,  when  full-grown,  about  four 
feet  eight  inches  in  length,  exclusive  of  its  tail,  and  weighs  150 
or  160  pounds.  It  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  forests,  and  rarely 
goes  any  great  distance  from  them.  The  jaguar  or  American 
tiger  is  also  found  in  Texas,  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Southern 
California.  It  is  a  larger  and  perhaps  fiercer  animal  than  the 
cougar,  but  is  nowhere  abundant  and  is  not  found  at  all  north 
of  the  thirty-ninth  parallel.  A  smaller,  but  equally  fierce  and 
perhaps  equally  cowardly  member  of  the  feline  family,  is  the 
catamount,  ocelot,  or  tiger-cat,"'^'  while  the  wild  cat,  with  its  short 
blunt  tail,  and  the  lynx,  of  which  there  are  three  species — the 
Canada  lynx,  the  bay  lynx  or  red  cat,  and  the  banded  lynx — com- 
plete the  wild  felines  of  the  region.  Of  the  marten  tribe  and  its 
congeners  there  are  many  genera  and  species.  The  marten 
proper  or  American  sable,  the  fitch  marten,  stone  marten,  wol- 
verine or  fisher,  two  species  of  skunk,  the  mink,  the  yellow'- 
cheeked  weasel,  the  otter  and  sea  otter,  the  badger,  raccoon ; 
five  species  of  fox,  the  raccoon  fox  or  mountain  cat.  Next  in 
order  come  the  wolves.  The  American  large  gray,  dusky  or 
black  wolf  (all  these  distinctions  of  color  being  found  in  the 
same  species)  is  a  far  less  ferocious  animal  than  his  European 
congener ;  he  is  cowardly,  and  when  attacked  by  clogs  or  men 
always  tries  to  find  safety  in  flight.  There  are  not  more  than 
one  or  two  instances  known  where  these  wolves  have  attacked 
a  man,  and  then  it  was  only  when  they  were  frantic  with  hunger, 
when  a  large  pack  of  them  were  together,  and  w^hen  the  man 
was  carrying  some  game.  They  are  great  thieves,  and  will 
carry  off  lambs  or  sheep,  pigs,  calves  or  )'oung  colts,"  and  when 
hunger  has  made  them  desperate,  they  will  hunt  antelopes,  deer 
and  even  the  buffalo.  Their  bite  is  very  sharp,  and  they  always 
endeavor  to  hamstring  their  prey,  if  it  is  a  large  animal.     They 

are  so  destructive  to  sheep  and  young  cattle  that  great  numbers 

_ J , , 

*  This  name  is  also  given  by  some  to  tlie   Canada  lynx,  but  improperly,  as  all   the  lynxes 
differ  in  structure  from  the  true  cats. 


(3o  OUR     WESTERLY   EMPIRE. 

of  them  are  killed  by  poison,  usually  by  strychnine.  There  are 
a  class  of  men  in  the  West  known  as  "Wolfers"  uho  make  a 
special  business  of  killing  wolves,  and  selling  their  pelts,  which 
are  valuable.  This  is  a  profitable  business,  but  those  who 
engage  in  it  undergo  great  privations  and  hardships,  and  they 
very  often  spend  their  hard-won  gains  in  miserable  debauchery. 

The  coyote  or  barking  wolf  is  an  intermediate  link  between 
the  gray  wolf  and  the  fox,  and  maintains  about  the  same  posi- 
tion in  this  country  which  the  hyenas  do  in  the  East.  He  is  a 
thief,  and  a  mean,  cowardly,  vile-smelling  thief,  but  he  subserves 
one  useful  purpose — he  is  an  indefatigable  scavenger,  though  a 
very  dirty  and  cruel  one.  He  will  dig  up  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
and  feast  upon  them,  and  every  animal  that  is  wounded  or  sick 
falls  a  prey  to  him.  If  nothing  better  can  be  found  he  will  prey 
upon  chickens,  rats,  mice,  moles,  or  any  other  of  the  small 
rodents.  A  pack  of  coyotes  have  been  known  to  attack  a 
w^ounded  buck  and  strip  every  bone  clean  in  ten  minutes.  They 
are  often  covered  with  sores  from  feasting  on  dead  bodies. 
Colonel  Dodge  insists  that  the  prairie  wolf  is  not  the  genuine 
coyote,  and  that  the  coyote  is  a  meaner  animal  found  only  in  Texas. 

The  cetacea  of  the  Pacific  coast  include  the  right  and  Califor- 
nia gray  whale,  the  hump-back  and  fin-back,  two  beaked  whales, 
the  sperm  whale,  black  fish,  walrus,  and  three  species  of  porpoise. 
The  amphibia  are  the  sea  elephant,  three  or  four  sea  lions,  two 
species  each  of  seal  and  sea  otter. 

The  birds  of  this  vast  territory  number  more  than  500  species 
already  described,  and  many  more  discovered  but  not  yet  fully 
described.  There  are  twenty-five  species  of  climbers,  nearly 
two-thirds  of  them  wood-peckers ;  more  than  forty  species  of 
birds  of  prey,  including  six  of  the  eagle  family,  twenty  hawks, 
buzzard  hawks  and  falcons  ;  twelve  or  thirteen  species  of  owls; 
the  king  of  the  vultures,  as  large  as  the  condor  and  the 
lammergeier;  and  the  turkey-vulture  or  turkey-buzzard,  so 
common  in  the  South. 

Of  the  perchers,  fiy-catchers,  and  grain-pluckers,  most  of  them 
song  birds,  there  are  nearly  200  species;  in  the  first  group  are 
included  crows,  ravens,  magpies,  jays,  jackdaws  and  king-fishers  ; 


^  Or     i  ■■!- 

f   UNIVERSITY 

V 


EAGLE,    Vri.rUKE,    HAWK,    PHEASANT,    PIARMUJAN,    CALlMiRNlA    I'ARTRIUC.E.    I'RAIRIE    HEN,    TURKEY, 

FLAMINGO,    CRANE,    IBIS,   SWAN,   GOOSE.   DUCKS. 


ZOOLOGY    OF    OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE.  6 1 

in  the  second  and  third  groups,  fly-catchers,  several  species  of 
humming-birds,  swallows,  wax-wings,  shrikes,  tanagers,  robins 
and  thrushes,  wrens,  chickadees,  grosbeaks,  finches,  linnets, 
orioles,  larks  and  sparrows. 

The  pigeon  family  have  five  or  six  representatives,  including 
the  California  and  the  band-tailed  pigeon,  the  ring,  the  turtle  and 
the  ground  doves.  There  are  probably  two  species  of  pheasant. 
The  grouse  family  are  numerous,  and  include  blue  grouse,  ruffed 
grouse,  the  sage  hen,  which  feeds  upon  the  sage-brush  of  the 
alkaline  lands  and  whose  flesh  though  tender  is  very  bitter;  the 
prairie  hen,  at  least  five  species  of  quail,  two  of  partridges,  and 
three  or  four  species  of  ptarmigan.  There  are  more  than  sixty 
species  of  waders,  including  cranes,  herons,  bitterns,  ibises,  flam- 
ingoes, plover,  kill-deer,  avocets,  English  snipe,  jack-snipe,  sand- 
pipers, curlews,  rails,  rice-birds,  etc.,  etc.  The  swimmers  are  still 
more  numerous,  over  one  hundred  species  having  been  described, 
including  many  species  of  geese,  which  frequent  the  lakes  and 
broader  streams,  brants,  teal  of  at  least  a  dozen  species,  as  many 
of  ducks,  the  canvas-back  being  found  in  great  numbers  in  his 
best  estate,  scooters,  coots,  sheldrakes,  mergansers,  pelicans,  cor- 
morants, albatrosses,  fulmars,  petrels,  gulls,  terns,  loons,  dippers, 
auks,  sea-pigeons,  and  murres. 

The  reptiles  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  its  rivers  and  lakes,  differ 
from  those  of  the  States  and  Territories  whose  waters  drain  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  the  former  there  are  no  true  saurian s 
(alligators  or  crocodiles),  except  in  the  Colorado  and  its 
affluents;  in  the  latter  the  alligator  and  probably  the  crocodile  are 
found  in  great  numbers  below  the  thirty-fifth  parallel.  The 
Pacific  States  and  Territories  have  five  species  of  rattlesnake, 
and  no  other  venomous  snake  unless  possibly  a  viper ;  while  the 
latter  have  as  many  species  of  the  rattlesnake,  and  at  least  three 
other  venomous  snakes,  and  possibly  more.  There  are  about 
thirty  species  of  harmless  snakes,  five  of  tortoises,  seven  or 
eight  land  turtles,  terrapins,  etc.;  about  forty  species  of  lizards, 
and  nearly  fifty  frogs,  toads,  horned  toads,  salamanders,  pro- 
teuses,  etc.,  etc. 

There  are  more  than  five  hundred  species  offish,  most  of  them 


62  O^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

edible  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  and  the  Gulf,  and  in  the  thou- 
sands of  fresh  and  salt  lakes,  and  the  numerous  rivers  of  this 
vast  region.  Among-  these  are  ten  species  of  the  Salmonldae, 
native  to  the  Pacific  coast,  besides  several  others  now  naturalized; 
the  taking,  packing  and  canning  of  the  salmon  forms  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  rapidly  increasing  industries  of  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory ;  the  rivers  and  lakes  swarm  with  trout. 
Seven  or  eight  species  of  the  cod  family,  about  twenty  species  of 
eels,  ten  of  mackerel,  and  two  of  the  bonita  or  Spanish  mackerel, 
numerous  species  of  the  perch  family  and  its  congeners,  the 
blue-hsh,  eight  or  nine  species  of  bass,  the  lake  white-fish  (intro- 
duced) ;  three  species  of  tautog;  one,  the  red-fish,  a  most  delicious 
table  fish ;  about  twenty  species  of  flat-fish  and  flounders  ;  twelve 
species  of  shad,  herring,  anchovies,  etc.;  nearly  thirty  of  the  carp 
tribe,  weak-fish,  balloon-fish ;  and  over  forty  of  the  cartilaginous 
fishes,  sharks,  rays,  sun-fish,  sturgeons,  etc.,  etc.  There  are 
seventy-five  species  of  mollusks,  including  a  great  variety  of 
clams,  quahaugs,  oysters,  mussels,  scollops,  and  fresh-water 
unlonldas,  whelks,  limpets,  sea-snails,  cuttle-fish,  polypi,  octopi, 
squids,  nautili,  etc. 

Of  crustaceans,  there  are  about  twenty  species,  including  lob- 
sters, crabs,  hard  and  soft  shell,  king  crabs,  star-fish,  fresh-water 
lobsters,  shrimps,  prawns,  crawfish,  etc. 

No  country  in  the  world  has  a  larger  proportion  of  excellent 
pasturage  land.  While  much  of  this  is  as  yet  unoccupied  by 
herdsmen,  the  amount  of  live-stock  is  increasing  at  an  exceed- 
ingly rapid  rate.  The  estimates  of  the  Agricultural  Department 
at  Washington,  which,  on  live-stock,  especially  in  the  West,  are 
generally  considerably  below  the  truth,  gave,  in  December,  1878, 
3,807,500  horses,  more  than  one-third  of  all  In  the  United  States; 
630,300  mules,  about  the  same  proportion  of  the  whole ;  3,650,- 
000  milch  cows,  about  one-third  of  the  whole  number  in  the 
Union;  11,588,000  other  cattle,  or  more  than  one-half  of  the 
whole;  19,000,000  sheep,  or  one-half  of  the  whole  ;  and  12,000,- 
000  swine,  or  almost  two-fifths  of  the  whole.  The  number  in 
December,  1879,  not  yet  reported,  must  be  at  least  twenty  per 
cent,  in  advance  of  these  figures. 


INCREASE    OF  POPULATION.  63 


CHAPTER    V. 

Population— The  Increase  since  1870— Table  Showing  the  Estimated 
Increase  in  each  State  and  Territory — Notes  in  regard  to  each  State 
AND  Territory. 

This  whole  region  Is  new  to  settlement,  except  the  States  of 
Missouri  and  Arkansas;  the  former  was  admitted  into  the  Union 
in  March,  iS2T,and  the  latter  June  15th,  1836.  Nine  of  the 
other  States  or  Territories  have  been  organized  with  their 
present  boundaries  over  thirty-five  years,  and  several  of  the 
States  and  all  the  Territories  are  less  than  thirty  years  old. 
According  to  the  census  of  1870,  there  were  in  the  whole  region 
west  of  the  Mississippi  6,877,069  inhabitants,  besides  nearly 
300,000  tribal  or  wild  Indians.  The  growth  of  population  since 
that  time  has  been  almost  Incredibly  rapid.  In  order  to  show 
how  rapid  has  been  the  growth  of  this  region  w^e  present  here- 
with the  results  of  the  census  taken  In  June,  1880 — the  official 
figures  w^here  it  was  possible  to  obtain  them,  and  the  approxi- 
mations in  round  numbers,  where  it  w^as  not.  We  have  added 
to  these  the  number  of  Indians  on  reservations,  In  every  State  or 
Territory  where  there  were  large  reservations,  taking  our  figures 
from  the  latest  report  of  the  Indian  Office  In  1879.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  present  population  aggregates  1 1,421,274,  an  In- 
crease of  4,544,205,  or  about  67.5  per  cent.,  within  the  last  ten 
years.  The  great  States  regard  an  increase  often  or  eleven  per 
cent,  in  the  populadon  in  ten  years  as  a  remarkably  rapid  growth, 
and  only  one  or  two  of  them  attain  that;  but  here  has  been  an 
increase  of  more  than  six  times  their  best  growth  In  the  same 
time;  while  fully  three-fourths  of  this  advance  has  been  achieved 
during  the  last  four  or  five  years. 

The  following  table  shows  the  extraordinary  growth  of  some 
of  these  States  and  Territories;  and  we  explain  below  the  causes 
which  have  induced  this  exceptional  grow'th. 


64 


OUR    IVESTERN-  EMPIRE. 


Slate 

State 

or 

Population 

Population 

or 

Popul  alien 

ro]ni]ation 

Territory. 

ii>7o. 
484,471 

iSSo. 

8*2,564 

Territory. 

1S70. 

1S80. 

Arkansas     . 

Texas  ( g) 

818,579 

1,597-509 

California  . 

560,247 

864,686 

Arizona  {h) 

9,658 

40,441 

Colorado  (a) 

39,864 

194,649 

Dakota  (/) 

14,181 

135, iSo 

Iowa  (/^)     . 

1,194,020 

1,624,463 

Idaho     . 

14,999 

32,611 

Kansas  {c) 

364,399 

995,966 

Montana(y) 

20,595 

39,157 

Min'sota  (d) 

439,706 

780,807 

Indian  Ter. 

69,000 

75,000 

Missouri     . 

1,721,295 

2,168,804 

New  Mex.(/C' 

91,874 

118,430 

Nebraska  (<?) 

122,293 

452,432 

Utah  (/) 

86,786 

143,907 

Nevada   .    . 

42,491 

62,265 

Washington 

23,955 

75,120 

Oregon  (/) 
Louisiana 

90,923 
726,915 

174,767 
940,263 

Wyoming 
Totals      . 

9,118 

20,788 
11.339,809 

6,877,069 

(a)  Colorado  owes  its  rapid  growth  in  the  last  decade  to  its  superb  climate, 
to  its  great  advantages  as  a  herding  region,  and  above  all  to  the  extraordinary 
discoveries  of  rich  ores  of  silver  and  gold  on  both  the  eastern  and  western  slopes 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  San  Juan  district,  in  Leadville  and  vicinity,  at 
Silverton,  Ouray,  Gunnison,  and  many  other  points  of  Western  Colorado. 

(/;)  Iowa  is  essentially  a  prairie  State,  with  a  rich  and  fertile  soil,  and  being 
gridironed  by  railroads,  most  of  them  having  land-grants,  and  its  advantages 
diligently  made  known,  it  has  made  large  additions  to  its  population. 

(r)  Kansas  owes  its  almost  miraculous  growth  to  its  favorable  location,  to  its 
excellent  farming  lands,  and  especially  to  the  great  enterprise  and  energy,  with 
which  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railroad  has  opened  to  settlement 
and  to  markets,  the  whole  upper  Arkansas  valley,  one  of  the  finest  farming  and 
grazing  regions  on  the  continent. 

(^/)  Minnesota  owes  much  of  its  growth  to  its  fine  climate,  its  rich  wheat 
lands,  especially  those  of  the  valley  of  the  Red  river  of  the  Nortli,  and  to  the 
great  enterprise  of  both  her  farmers  and  manufacturers,  by  which  her  wheat  and 
flour  have  become  known  all  over  the  world,  as  the  finest  produced  anywhere. 

(^e)  Nebraska  has  made  a  great  advance  within  ten  years,  almost  quadrupling 
her  population,  mainly  through  her  excellent  situation,  her  fine,  arable  lands, 
and  the  great  efforts  made  by  the  Union  Pacific  and  other  land  endowed  roads, 
to  make  her  advantages  known. 

(/)  Oregon  has  been  largely  built  up  by  emigration  called  thither  by  her 
extensive  salmon  fisheries,  her  immense  lumber  business,  the  great  fertility  and 
productiveness  of  her  soil,  and  her  rich  and  valuable  mines.  Her  facilities  for 
water  communication  have  been  of  great  advantage  in  bringing  her  products  to 
market ;  but  as  yet  railways  have  not  aided  largely  in  developing  her  territory. 

{g)  Texas  has  received  large  additions  to  its  population  from  several  causes : 
its  fine  cotton  and  sugar  lands  have  attracted  very  many  settlers  from  the 
Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  of  the  South,  as  well  as  from  the  Mississippi  valley,  who 
hoped  to  better  their  condition  by  the  change;  her  vast   ranges  for  cattle,  and 


INCREASE    OF    POPULATION.  5- 

the  double  demand  for  cattle  for  the  ranges  of  the  New  Northwest,  and  for 
beef  for  the  English  and  French  markets,  have  drawn  great  numbers  of  ranch- 
men, herdmen,  cattle-buyers,  etc.,  to  the  State.  There  has  been  also  a  large 
immigration  of  English  farmers  and  laborers,  and  of  the  best  class  of  Germans 
to  the  State  ;  and  the  extension  of  several  of  the  railroad  lines  has  induced  a 
considerable  influx  of  people  from  Missouri,  Illinois,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

iji)  Arizona  has  not  grown  so  rapidly  as  some  of  the  other  Territories,  for, 
until  recently,  she  has  had  difficulties  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  her  arid  soil, 
most  of  which  can  only  be  cultivated  successfully  by  irrigation,  was  still  arid 
for  want  of  the  means  to  build  irrigating  canals,  or  bore  artesian  wells ;  her 
mines,  which  were  and  are  exceedingly  rich,  were  almost  inaccessible,  for  want 
of  railroad  and  wagon  road  facilities.  These  difficulties  are  now  in  course  of 
removal,  the  Southern  Pacific  having  reached  Tucson,  the  former  capital,  and 
the  Territory  is  responding  most  heartily  to  the  new  impulse  it  has  received 
within  the  past  two  years.  The  Indians,  under  the  efficient  management  of 
Governor  Fremont,  are  friendly  and  peaceful,  and  heavy  and  continued  rains 
have  changed  the  face  of  nature.  Its  mines  are  richer,  and  its  lands  more  fertile 
than  they  have  been  thought  to  be. 

(/)  Dakota  has  made  the  most  extraordinary  growth  of  any  State  or  Territory 
in  the  entire  West,  and  this  has  been  due  to  several  causes,  operating  in  different 
sections,  at  nearly  the  same  time.  Southeastern  Dakota  has  been  the  portion 
of  the  Territory  best  known,  and  its  fertile  lands  have  attracted  emigrants  from; 
Europe,  as  well  as  from  the  Eastern  States.  The  Mennonites  established  a  large 
colony  here,  and  the  Catholics  are  now  purchasing  lands  for  the  same  purpose. 
This  section  lying  north  and  east  of  the  Missouri  river,  and  in  the  lower  valley 
of  the  Dakota  or  James  river,  is  very  accessible,  both  by  the  Missouri  and  Dakota 
rivers,  and  by  three  railroad  lines  which  penetrate  this  region.  Northeastern 
Dakota  owes  its  rapid  growth  almost  entirely  to  two  railways,  and  the  enter- 
prise with  which  they  have  advertised  their  lands;  the  Northern  Pacific,  which 
in  the  face  of  the  greatest  difficulties  has  opened  a  line  nearly  across  the  Terri- 
tory, above  the  46th  parallel,  and  has  brought  into  market  some  of  the  finest 
and  most  productive  lands  in  the  Northwest;  and  the  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis 
and  Manitoba  road,  and  its  branches,  which  have  opened  to  settlement  the 
whole  valley  of  the  Red  river  of  the  North,  which  sent  to  market  in  187S, 
5,600,000  bushels  of  the  finest  spring  wheat.  The  Black  Hills  Region,  in 
Southwestern  Dakota,  was  first  brought  into  notice  by  the  discovery  there  of  im- 
mense deposits  of  gold  and  silver.  Much  of  the  region  around  is  barren,  but 
the  mines  are  exceedingly  rich,  and  the  population  is  rapidly  increasing. 

(7)  Montana  has  as  yet  no  railroads,  except  the  extension  of  the  Utah 
Northern,  but  soon  will  have  ;  the  Northern  Pacific  crossing  the  Territory 
about  midway,  and  the  Utah  and  Northern  penetrating  it  from  the  south,  even- 
tually to  meet  the  Northern  Pacific.  The  latter  road  has  recently  reached 
Helena,  the  capital.  The  Missouri  river  is  navigable  for  most  of  its. course  in 
the  Territory^  as  is  the  Yellowstone,  though  partially  obstructed  by  rapids. 
5 


55  OCR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

But  Montana  has  many  fertile  and  very  rich  valleys,  excellent  pasture  lands, 
and  some  of  the  best  gold  and  silver  mines  in  the  whole  Northwest.  Its  popu- 
lation will  greatly  increase  in  the  next  decade. 

(/)  Utah  has  grown  rapidly  in  spite  of  great  obstacles,  and  mainly  by  emi- 
gration of  two  kinds:  of  Mormons  from  Europe,  and  of  "  Gentiles,"  /.  c,  Non- 
Mormons,  from  the  Eastern  States,  drawn  thither  by  its  exceedingly  rich  mines. 
The  ores  of  the  Territory  in  all  directions  seem  to  yield  greater  quantities  of 
gold  and  silver  than  almost  any  others  which  have  been  opened  ;  and  with 
greater  facilities  of  access  they  must  at  no  distant  date  pour  a  volume  of  gold 
and  silver  into  the  markets  of  the  world  which  will  make  great  changes  in  the 
prices  of  other  commodities. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


The  Nationalities  and  Races  Represented — The  Indians — Different 
Trices,  and  their  Characteristics — The  Moqlts  of  Arizona — Note 
concerning  them — Africans  and  Colored  Persons  generallv — Chinese 
AND  Japanese — Hispano-Americans — Europeans  of  dhferent  Nation- 
alities— British,  British  American,  German,  Scandinavian,  French, 
Italian,  Spanish,  etc. — Americans  born  in  the  States. 

Includin'G  the  Indians  in  the  Indian  Territory,  the  Pueblos  in 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  the  Indians  employed  on  ranches 
in  California,  Nevada,  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  the  tribal 
Indians  on  the  plains  and  elsewhere,  there  are  probably  not  less 
than  300,000  Indians  of  all  races  in  the  Great  West. 

These  Indians  are  of  many  tribes,  and  their  languages,  habits 
and  modes  of  life  differ  materially.  A  comparatively  small 
number  evidently  belong  to  two  of  the  races  which  preceded 
the  North  American  Indian  on  this  continent.  The  Pueblos  of 
New  Mexico,  who  are  also  found  in  small  numbers  in  Arizona, 
have  their  name  from  their  practice  of  living  in  towns  or  villages, 
pueblo  being  the  Mexican  name  for  a  town  or  village.  They 
live  in  adobe  houses,  cultivate  the  soil,  and  though  in  secret 
idolaters,  are  outwardly  obedient  to  the  priests,  and  devout 
Catholics.  They  are  a  quiet,  patient,  good-tempered  race,  evidently 
Aztec,  and  having  no  other  affinity  with  the  American  Indians 
tlian  their  color,  and  Iialr.     There  are  several  villages  in  Arizona, 


THE   RACES  AXD   XATJOXS  OF   THE    GREAT   WEST.  g? 

New  Mexico  and  Colorado,  of  the  cliff-dwellers,  or  Moquis,  a 
still  earlier  race,  of  which  they  seem  to  be  the  only  survivors. 
Their  dwellings  are  hewn  in  the  perpendicular  rocks  of  some 
mesa  or  butte,  or  crown  its  height,  and  are  only  accessible  by 
ladders  or  rude  rock  stairways.  Their  catde  and  sheep  occupy 
usually  only  the  top  of  the  mesa,  and  here  were  constructed  also 
large  reservoirs  for  water,  which  they  use  for  themselves  and 
their  cattle.  They  are  engaged  in  manufactures  as  well  as  in 
agriculture,  and  their  blankets,  their  cordage,  their  bread  manu- 
factured in  thin  sheets  from  the  blue  corn  which  they  cultivate, 
their  ornaments,  etc.,  are  very  curious.  They  are  as  much 
advanced  in  civilization  as  the  Peruvians  of  South  America,  and 
possibly  belong  to  the  same  race.'"'' 

In  the  Indian  Territory,  the  tribes  removed  thither  from 
Georgia,  Alabamaand  Mississippi, in  1S32  and  1833,  the  Cherokees, 
Choctaws,  Creeks,  Chickasaws  and  Seminoles,  have  farms  and 
good  dwellings,  and  show  no  disposition  to  lead  a  nomadic  life. 
Of  the  other  fifteen  or  sixteen  tribes  or  fractions  of  tribes,  now 
occupying  portions  of  the  Territory,  some  are  becoming  ac- 
customed to  the  herdsman's  life  and  seem  contented  ;    others  do 


*  Very  few  of  our  explorers  or  tourists  have  visited  these  singular  and  interesting  people  in 
their  roc!<y  fastnesses.  Among  the  few  are  Prof.  J.  S.  Newberry,  now  of  the  Columbia  College 
School  of  Mines,  and  an  eminent  scientist,  Colonel  J.  W.  Powell,  the  pioneer  explorer  of  the 
Rio  Colorado,  and  General  J.  C.  Fremont.  They  are  certainly  a  much  more  intelligent  and 
highly  civilized  people  than  any  of  the  Indian  tribes  now  existing  on  this  continent,  and  in  all 
probability  are  the  remnants  of  a  race  which  preceded  the  Aztecs,  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico 
when  that  country  was  first  discovered.  Their  cliff  dwellings  exhibit  remarkable  architectural 
skill,  and  their  religious  ceremonies,  of  which  Colonel  Powell  has  given  a  most  interesting 
account  in  Scribner's  Monthly,  while  very  singular,  indicate  their  origin  from  one  of  the  primitive 
races  of  Northwestern  Asia.  They  are  generally  regarded  as  fire-worshippers,  but  like  the 
Parsees,  their  worship  seems  to  have  been  symbolical,  and  to  have  regarded  fire  and  the  sun,  the 
great  source  of  fire,  as  only  the  symbols  of  the  creating  and  vivifying  power  which  pervades  all 
nature.  Their  manufactures  were  rude,  but  the  products  were  of  great  excellence.  We  have 
ourselves  seen  a  blanket,  which  Prof.  Newberry  obtained  from  them,  woven  from  the  wool  or 
curly  hair  of  their  sheep  or  goats,  and  into  which  when  suspended  by  its  four  corners,  three 
pailsful  of  water  were  emptied,  and  after  nearly  a  half-hour  the  under  surface  was  not  moist  in 
the  slightest  degree.  Their  ornaments  of  gold,  silver  and  copper  displayed  a  high  degree  of 
artistic  skill.  Their  bread,  made  from  the  maize  of  different  colors,  red,  blue,  yellow,  white,  etc., 
which  they  cultivate,  pounded  into  meal  in  a  mortar  and  made  into  a  thin  paste,  when  baked  was 
no  thicker  than  writing  paper,  each  sheet  being  about  fourteen  by  eighteen  inches,  and  folded  so 
that  the  pile  of  edible  sheets  resembled  a  ream  of  blue  or  colored  paper.  In  these  villages  four  or  five 
languages  are  spoken,  none  of  them  bearing  any  known  relation  to  those  of  the  other  Indians. 


58  OUR    WESTERX   EMPIRE. 

not  take  kindly  to  even  partial  civilization,  and  are  restless  and 
uneasy.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Comanches,  the  few 
Apaches  who  are  in  the  Territory,  and  some  of  the  later  comers, 
as  the  Cheyennes,  Arapahoes  and  Poncas.  The  nomadic  Indians, 
thouo-h  of  many  tribes  and  languages,  yet  belong  for  the  most 
part  to  four  or  five  groups.  The  largest,  most  numerous,  and 
most  warlike  of  these  are  the  Dakotas  or  Sioux,  and  the 
Shoshones,  Snake  Indians  or  Utes.  In  the  former  group  are 
included  not  only  the  Unkapapas,  Tetons,  Crows,  etc.,  but  the 
Winnebagoes,  Assiniboins,  Omahas,  Poncas,  loways,  Otoes, 
lAIandans  and  Minitaris.  Their  hundng  grounds  extended  from 
the  Canadian  linethrouq-h  Western  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana, 
Western  Iowa,  Nebraska,  and  Kansas,  and  part  of  Wyoming, 
into  Northern  Colorado.  Some  tribes  of  this  group  have  been 
almost  constandy  hostile  to  the  whites,  and  have  more  than  once 
perpetrated  terrible  massacres.  The  horrible  scenes  in  Minne- 
sota in  1862-3  were  the  work  of  the  Crows,  one  of  the  tribes 
of  this  group.  The  butchery  of  Custer's  gallant  force  was  also 
perpetrated  by  bands  of  this  group.  Sitting  Bull  is  the  chief 
of  one  of  the  Sioux  tribes.  They  have  been  very  often  at  war 
with  the  Utes. 

The  Shoshones,  or  Snake  Indians,  ver}^  possibly  outnumber 
the  Sioux.  They  include  not  only  the  Shoshones  proper,  in 
Oregon  and  Washington  Territories,  but  the  Bannacks,  Wihinasht, 
Comanches,  Kizht  and  Netela,  the  Modocs,  and  the  various 
tribes  of  Utes,  the  Pah  Utes,  Pi-utes,  White  River  Utes, 
Uintahs,  Uncompahgre  Utes,  etc,  Ouray  is  a  chief  of  the 
Uncompahgre  Utes,  and  Douglas  of  the  White  River  Utes. 
These  tribes  are  found  in  Oregon,  Washington,  Idaho,  Western 
Montana,  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and 
some  of  them  in  Northern  Texas.  Among  the  smaller  groups 
are  the  Sahaptin  or  Nez  Perces,  under  which  name  are  included 
also  the  Walla  Wallas,  Yakimas,  Pelouse  and  Klikitats  of 
Washington  and  Oregon  ;  the  Selish  or  P^at-heads,  under  which 
name  are  included  the  Pend  d' Oreilles,  the  Coeur  d'Alenes, 
Spokanes,  Piskous,  Nesk'wally,  Chehallish,  Cowlitz  and  Killa- 
mooks  or  Tillamooks  of  Idaho,  Oregon  and  Washington  ;  the 


THE   RACES  AND   NATIONS    OF   THE    GREAT    WEST.  gg 

Yumas  include  the  Coco-Maricopas,  Cuclians,  Mohavcs, 
Hualapais  and  Yavapais,  and  the  Diegueilos  of  Arizona ;  the 
Pimas  include  the  Pima  Apaches,  the  Coyote  Apaches,  and 
other  Apache  tribes,  as  well  as  the  Pimas  proper  of  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico. 

The  number  of  "  colored  persons  of  African  descent  "  is  not  far 
from  700,000,  there  having  been  a  considerable  exodus  of 
negroes  from  Mississippi,  Tennessee  and  other  Southern  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  into  Texas,  Arkansas,  Kansas,  and 
Nebraska  since  the  census  of  1870,  and  especially  in  1S78,  1879 
and  1880. 

The  number  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  now  in  all  these  States 
and  Territories  does  not  exceed  100,000  and  perhaps  not  75,000. 
It  is  more  difficult  to  determine  the  number  of  persons  of 
Hispano-American  parentage,  whether  of  the  whole  or  half- 
blood,  since,  in  Texas,  California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Nevada 
and  perhaps  also  in  Colorado,  a  considerable  number  were  of 
such  parentage,  yet  born  in  those  States  and  Territories,  before 
they  came  into  possession  of  the  United  States.  As  nearly  as 
we  can  estimate,  these  Hispano-Americans,  whether  born  in  our 
new  States  and  Territories  or  in  Mexico,  must  number  somewhat 
more  than  100,000.  Of  about  equal  number  are  the  emigrants 
born  in  British  America,  who  are  mostly  Canadian  French,  and 
in  the  Northwest,  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  trappers  and 
hunters  often  of  mixed  blood,  from  the  Northwest  and  Hudson's 
Bay  Companies. 

The  immigrants  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  who  num- 
bered, in  1870,  in  this  region  346,364,  must  now  exceed  a  mil- 
lion, for  Utah  has  received  thence  large  numbers  of  Mormon 
converts ;  while  Texas,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Minnesota, 
and  Iowa  have  had  large  accessions  of  British  farmers,  artisans, 
and  laborers,  and  Colorado,  Arizona,  Nevada,  California,  Mon- 
tana, Oregon,  Wyoming,  and  the  Black  Hills  region,  have  been 
largely  aided  in  the  development  of  their  great  mining  interests, 
not  merely  by  British  capital,  but  by  British  labor. 

In  the  last  decade,  also,  the  German  population 'of  this  region 
has  increased  from  310,645   in  1870  to  nearly  or  quite  a  million 


jQ  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

In  1880,  for  in  farm  work,  In  mechanical  and  In  mining  pursuits, 
the  German  has  never  failed  to  keep  pace  with  the  tollers  of 
other  races.  German  capital,  too,  has  been  liberally  invested  in 
the  best  mines. 

In  1S70,  the  Scandinavians  in  this  region  numbered  121,578; 
but  they  were  only  the  vanguard  of  a  more  abundant  Immigration, 
which  has  made  the  Norse  tongue  familiar  as  English,  through- 
out Minnesota,  much  of  Iowa,  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  and 
portions  of  Wyoming  and  Montana.  There  are  certainly  400,000, 
and  perhaps  more,  Scandinavians  and  children  of  Scandinavian 
parents  in  the  Northwest.  For  the  rest,  there  are  25,000  or 
more  Mennonltes  and  other  Russian  Protestants  froni  Russia, 
10,000  or  12,000  Italians,  half  that  number  of  Hungarians,  over 
20,000  Bohemians  (Czechs),  nearly  as  many  Austrians  (Ger- 
mans), 35,000  or  40,000  French,  25,000  Swiss,  10,000  or  12,000 
Hollanders,  5,000  Belgians,  about  the  same  number  of  Portu- 
guese, 1,000  Spaniards,  about  the  same  number  of  West  Indians, 
and  nearly  as  many  from  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific,  and  from 
W^estern  South  America. 

Asia  and  Africa  and  Australia  contribute  their  several  quotas, 
small  ones,  it  is  true,  to  make  up  the  mixed  multitude,  from  all 
lands,  who  have  flocked  hither  within  the  past  thirty  years. 

Probably  somewhat  more  than  one-half  of  the  whole  number 
were  born  In  the  United  States,  and  of  white  American  parent- 
age. Except  In  the  older  States  of  this  Western  Empire,  Mis- 
souri, Arkansas,  Texas,  Iowa,  and  California,  and  in  a  smaller 
degree,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  and  Oregon  ;  very  few  of  these  citi- 
zens who  have  attained  adult  afje,  are  native  to  this  region,  and 
"to  the  manor  born."  Every  State  of  the  Union  has  contributed 
its  quota,  the  majority  in  the  Northern  and  Central  States  and 
Territories  havinof  come  from  New  Enijland  and  the  Northern 
States,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Michigan, 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  ;  while  the  emigrants  to  Texas, 
Arkansas,  the  Indian  Territory,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Southern 
Colorado,  and  Utah,  and  Southern  California,  are  very  largely 
from  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  States,  though  Southern 
Illinois  has  contributed  a  considerable  share  of  the  recent  emi- 
grants to  Texas. 


SOCIAL     CHARACTEKISTICS    OF    THE    PEOPLE.  y^ 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Characteristics  and  Peculiarities  of  the  Population — Humorous  Aspects 
OF  THE"  Blending  of  Different  Nations — The  New  Dialect — Specimens 
OF  it — The  Propensity  to  Humorous  Exaggeration — Incidents,  Man- 
ners AND  Habits  of  Ranch-Owners  and  Ranchmen — Colonies  of  Dif- 
ferent Nationalities  and  Religions — Mennonites — Stundists — Mor- 
mons— Catholic  Emigration — Associations  of  Capitalists  for  Mining, 
Herding,  Wool-growing,  or  Farming  Purposes — Other  Modes  of 
Settlement. 

No  such  experiment  in  the  blending  of  the  different  races  of 
men  into  one  homogeneous  nation,  has  ever  been  attempted,  on 
a  scale  so  grand  and  extensive,  as  that  now  in  progress  in  our 
Western  Empire.  Will  it  prove  a  success?  Here  we  find  the 
New  Englander,  intelligent  and  often  scholarly,  but  almost 
always  shrewd,  sharp,  and  enterprising,  cheek  by  jowl  with  the 
tall,  lank,  bilious-looking  Southern,  less  enterprising,  perhaps,  yet 
equally  sharp  in  his  way,  with  a  dogged  energy,  and  often  an 
irritable  temper.  The  quick,  nervous,  impulsive,  but  capable 
New  Yorker  has  for  a  partner  a  dreamy  and  apparently  stolid 
German,  who  is,  nevertheless,  fully  awake  to  business  matters. 
The  quiet  but  acquisitive  Pennsylvanian  is  linked  with  a  wild, 
blundering,  impulsive,  and  jovial  Irishman.  Sprigs  of  British 
aristocracy  and  British  snobs  are  found  in  all  callings,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  and  the  mercurial  Frenchman,  the  proud 
and  haughty  Spaniard,  the  dark-browed  Italian,  and  the  versa- 
tile Russian,  are  all  found  occupying,  in  apparent  harmony,  the 
same  sod-house  or  dug-out.  The  Israelite  is  everywhere,  and  at 
all  times  ready  to  turn  an  honest  penny.  Far  from  dealing 
always  in  old  clothes  "  shust  as  goot  as  new,"  he  is  a  banker, 
a  mine  owner,  a  capitalist,  or  a  landed  proprietor.  In  the 
mining  regions,  especially,  this  commingling  of  different  nation- 
alities has  led  almost  to  a  new  nationality,  certainly  to  a  new  dia- 
lect, at  first  almost  unintelligible  to  the  new-comer,  but  ver)- 
speedily  acquired  by  a  few  weeks'  residence.  Every  man  has  his 
title,  generally  applied  with  considerable  shrewdness  and  apj^ropri- 


-2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ateness,  but,  except  in  rare  instances,  retained  as  long  as  he  re- 
mains in  the  region.  Very  few  rank  as  low  as  "Captain"  or 
"  Major,"  though  the  latter  has  some  currency ;  but  "  Colonel"  or 
"Commodore"  are  the  most  usual  titles,  while  in  a  few  instances, 
where  neither  the  military  nor  naval  appellation  seems  appropriate, 
a  man  is  recognized  as  "Jedge"  (Judge).  "John  Phoenix"  (the 
late  Lieutenant  G.  H.  Derby)  gives  a  laughable  illustration  of  this 
practice,  almost  thirty  years  ago,  in  California,  where  he  relates, 
that  going  on  board  ship,  for  the  long  return  voyage  round  the 
Horn,  and  being  very  much  depressed  from  the  fact  that  he  had  no 
friends  to  accompany  him  to  the  ship,  and  wish  him  ''boii  voyage^' 
as  all  the  rest  seemed  to  have,  he  at  last,  just  as  the  ship  was 
moving  off,  lifted  his  hat  in  desperation  and  called  out  to  some 
make-believe  friend  in  the  crowd  on  shore,  "  Good-bye,  Colonel." 
In  an  instant,  he  said,  hundreds  of  hats  were  in  the  air,  and  the 
shout  rang  out  in  reply  from  hundreds  of  tliroats :  "Good-bye, 
Colonel."  But  the  slang  expressions  of  this  mining  dialect  are 
too  numerous  to  be  recorded.  New-comers  are  "Tender-feet;" 
a  dead  man  has  "  passed  in  his  checks ; "  one  who  has  been 
killed  in  a  brawl  or  street-fight  "  died  with  his  boots  on."  A 
man  who  is  both  liberal  and  just,  "pans  out  well ;"  one  who  has 
excited  the  displeasure  of  his  "  pards "  (associates  or  fellow- 
workers)  is  "off  color."  If  a  man  shows  pluck  or  grit  under 
adverse  circumstances  he  "has  orot  sand."  Earth  or  o^ravel 
containing  considerable  free  gold  is  subjected  to  the  "  panning" 
•process,  with  good  results.  A  vein  of  gold  or  silver,  yielding 
largely  at  first  but  gradually  becoming  smaller  as  the  rocky 
walls  come  closer  together,  is  said  to  "  peter  out,"  and  a  man  of 
large  pretensions,  but  of  gradually  diminishing  performance,  has 
the  same  epithet  applied  to  him.  A  ravine  is  a  "gulch  ;"  a  pool 
of  water  at  the  bottom  of  a  mine,  a  "  sumph." 

Bad  whiskey  is  "  tarantula  juice  ;  "  prospectors  who  are  igno- 
rant of  their  business  and  disposed  to  grumble  are  '^ grubcr- 
gi'ubbcrs ;'"  and  when  they  make  a  precarious  livelihood  from 
what  game  they  can  kill  with  old  squirrel  rifles,  they  are  said  to 
"live  on  snaps''  the  snaps  of  the  rifles  which  did  not  bring  down 
any  game.     A   new-comer  speaks  of  the  large-hearteclness  of 


SOCIAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE    PEOPLE.  ^^ 

some  of  the  miners  he  has  met,  and  the  reply  is:  "Yes,  there's  a 
crood  many  of  them  bi^-hearted  fellers  in  this  country.  You  see 
them  small-souled  cusses  takes  too  much  irrigation  to  bring  'cm 
out.  They've  just  got  to  git  up  and  git."  The  word  "  irrigate," 
which  in  this  expression  has  manifest  reference  to  the  results  of 
irrio-ation  in  producing  immense  crops  on  the  arid  lands,  has  also 
another  signification  in  the  West.  "  Stranger,"  said  a  rough- 
looking  miner  to  a  clerical-looking  gentleman,  in  one  of  the  Con- 
cord coaches,  "do  you  irrigate?"  producing  at  the  same  time  a 
bottle.  "  If  you  mean  to  ask  whether  I  drink,  sir,  I  do  not,"  was 
the  dignified  reply.  "  Stranger,  have  you  any  objection  to  our 
irrigating?"  was  the  next  question.  "No,  sir,"  was  the  reply. 
After  the  irrigation  had  been  completed,  the  miner,  who  after- 
ward turned  out  to  be  a  large  mine-owner,  propounded  a  second 
question.  "Stranger,  do  you  fumigate?"  "If  you  mean  to  ask 
do  I  smoke,  sir,  I  do  not."  "Well,  stranger,  do  you  object  to 
our  fumigating?"  "No,  sir;  certainly  not,"  was  the  prompt 
reply.  It  should  be  added  to  this  story  that  at  their  journey's 
end,  when  the  clergyman,  a  day  or  two  later,  called  for  his  hotel 
bill,  he  was  told  that  it  had  been  paid  by  the  miner,  who  had 
thus  manifested  his  respect  for  his  manly  refusal  to  indulge  in 
drinkincf  or  smokincr. 

This  minine  and  herdina-  dialect  seems  to  be  a  conolomerate 
in  which  many  Spanish  and  Mexican  words  are  mingled  with 
Indian  terms,  Chinese  "  pigeon-talk,"  Chinook,  Eastern  and 
Southern  Americanisms,  and  perhaps  mining  terms  and  phrases 
from  Great  Britain  and  the  continent.  It  is  astonishing  that  a 
dialect,  so  utterly  void  of  rules  or  system,  can  be  acquired  so 
rapidly.  In  one-tenth  the  time  required  for  the  acquisition  of 
any  regular  well-organized  language,  any  one  will  acquire  this 
outrageous  dialect  and  become  thoroughly  proficient  in  it. 

The  herdsmen  and  shepherds,  and  in  many  cases  their  em- 
ployers also,  are  as  rough  as  the  miners  in  their  language  and 
dress.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  among  these  rough,  unkempt 
and  mud-bespattered  men,  graduates  from  our  Eastern  universi- 
ties and  colleges,  men  who  have  enjoyed  all  the  amenities  of  the 
most  refined  society,  but  who,  discarding-  all   conventionalities, 


-.  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

have  chosen  to  hve  thus  roughly  and  uncouthly.  In  some  in- 
stances sons  of  Englisli  peers,  themselves  graduates  from  Oxford 
or  Cambridge,  have  followed  the  san^ie  course.  A  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Tribune  relates  that  he  found  in  Leadville,  in 
a  building,  half  tent  and  half  shanty,  occupied  by  a  miner  and 
his  family,  a  Steinway  grand  piano,  perfecdy  in  tune,  a  choice 
and  well-selected  library,  and  both  in  charge  of  a  lady  as  refined 
and  accomplished  as  could  be  met  with  in  the  best  circles  in  our 
great  cities,  and  these  luxuries  of  civilization  had  been  brought 
thither  when  the  freight  by  ox  or  mule-team  from  the  nearest 
railroad  station,  then  eighty  or  a  hundred  miles  away,  was  fifty 
cents  a  pound. 

Among  all  classes  the  American  fondness  for  humorous  exag- 
o-eradon  crops  out.  A  miner  will  tell  a  stranger,  with  a  per- 
fecdyserious  face,  that  a  mine  of  very  small  promise  has  "millions 
in  it,"  and  perhaps  in  the  next  breath,  examining  a  choice  speci- 
men of  ore,  he  will  throw  it  from  him  contemptuously,  declaring 
that  it  won't  yield  more  than  no  per  cent,  of  pure  silver.  He 
will  describe  to  another,  with  a  face  beaming  with  pity,  "  how 
discouraged  the  miners  were,  because  they  had  to  dig  through 
four  feet  of  solid  silver  before  they  could  get  at  the  gold  ;  "  or 
when  the  large  yield  of  silver  is  spoken  of,  he  will  say :  "  Pshaw! 
that  is  of  no  account;  there  is  a  man  down  in  Iowa  that  has  in- 
vented a  process  for  making  silver  for  fifty  dollars  a  ton  ;  so  that 
is  no  good."  This  same  tendency  to  exaggeration  is  sometimes 
acquired  by  our  English  cousins  after  a  short  residence  here. 
"Haven't  you  any  larger  happles  than  those  here?"  inquired  a 
cockney  tourist  of  a  market  woman  in  Washington  market,  New 
York,  pointing  to  a  huge  watermelon.  "  Can't  you  do  hany  better 
than  that?"  "  Happies !"  retorted  the  market  woman,  herself 
of  English  birth.  "  Hanybody  would  know  you  was  Hinglish. 
Them  hain't  happles  ;  them's  huckleberries  !  " 

The  farmers  are  not  as  rouoh  or  rude  in  their  mode  of  life  as 
the  herdsmen,  shepherds  or  miners;  though  at  first,  on  the  fron- 
tier, the  luxuries  of  society,  w^hether  in  habitation,  equipment, 
dress,  or  table  fare,  are  neglected,  and  only  the  necessaries  of 
life  are  sought. 


COLONIES  AND   LARGE   ESTATES.  75 

Yet  it  is  the  testimony  of  ladies  of  the  highest  cliaracter  who 
have  penetrated  into  these  mining  hamlets,  or  the  sheep  or  cattle 
ranches,  that  nowhere  in  the  wide  world  have  they  been  treated 
with  more  courtesy,  deference  and  respect,  than  among  these 
apparently  rough  men.  Miss  Isabella  L.  Bird,  an  English  lady 
of  high  social  position  and  adventurous  spirit,  whose  "A  Lady's 
Life  in  the  Rocky  Mountains "  is  a  most  charming  record  of 
actual  adventures  in  Colorado,  found  that  even  a  noted  outlaw 
and  brigand,  known  as  "Rocky  Mountain  Jim,"  manifested  in 
his  conduct  toward  women,  the  intelligence,  chivalry  and  refine- 
ment of  a  o^entleman. 

In  almost  all  the  States  and  Territories  of  this  western  region 
there  are  numerous  colonies,  where  a  body  of  settlers,  bound 
together  by  the  ties  of  common  race  or  nationalit)^  community 
of  religious  faith,  the  desire  of  prosecuting  a  common  avocation 
or  pursuit,  or,  in  some  instances,  from  mere  neighborhood,  or 
general  similarity  of  views,  or  from  being  natives  of  the  same 
State  at  the  East,  have  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  common,  and 
founded  a  colony,  or  settling  on  adjacent  lands  by  mutual  agree- 
ment, have  become  helpful  to  each  other,  and  thus  enjoyed  the 
advantages  of  a  colony  without  the  difficulties  incidental  to  a 
colonial  organization.  Many  of  these  colonies  have  proved  very 
successful,  a  few  as  conspicuously  unsuccessful.  Four  or  five 
adopted  at  first  the  principle  of  a  community  of  lands,  and  per- 
haps of  goods,  but  all  or  nearly  all  have  subsequently  abandoned 
it.  In  the  regions  where  irrigation  is  required,  some  of  the 
colonies  made  their  canals  and  ditches  the  property  of  the  whole 
colony,  and  each  individual  who  used  the  wate-r  paid  a  water- 
rate  ;  others  had  them  constructed  by  a  company,  and  those  who 
used  the  water  paid  toll.  Of  the  colonies  on  a  secular,  and 
partly,  perhaps,  on  a  political  basis,  the  most  successful  have 
been  the  colony  of  Greeley,  in  Colorado,  founded  by  the  lamented 
Meeker,  and  its  almost  as  prosperous  neighbors,  Longmont  and 
Evans.  In  Minnesota  there  have  been  many  Scandinavian 
colonies  founded,  Swedish,  Norwegian,  and  Danish,  and  these 
often  so  near  each  other  as  to  make  considerable  tracts  Scan- 
dinavian in  character,  and  for  a  time  in  speech.     These  colonies 


«6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

have  gradually  extended  into  Northeastern  Dakota.  The  Norse 
element  is  an  excellent  one  in  our  country,  for  the  Scandinavians 
are  a  hardy,  frugal,  industrious,  and  thrifty  people.  In  Iowa, 
Southern  Minnesota  and  Southeastern  Dakota,  as  well  as  in 
Nebraska,  there  are  many  German  colonies,  generally  of  an  ex- 
cellent character.  In  Southeastern  and  Northeastern  Dakota, 
as  well  as  in  Manitoba,  and  still  more  in  Kansas,  the  Mennonites, 
a  relio-ious  denomination  already  known  in  the  Atlantic  States, 
Russian  by  birth,  but  of  German  origin,  have  settled  in  large 
colonies,  and  form  a  valuable  addition  to  our  farming  popula- 
tion.* In  Dakota,  and  perhaps  also  in  Kansas,  they  have  been 
accompanied  by  other  religionists  of  somewhat  similar  views, 
but  of  Sclavonic  or  Russian  origin.  These  call  themselves  simply 
"Christians,"  but  are  known  to  the  Russian  government  as  either 
Molokani  or  Stundisti.  These  have  settled  on  lands  adjacent  to 
the  Mennonites.  In  some  of  these  States  and  Territories  there 
are  also  colonies  of  Bohemians  (Czechs),  of  Moravians,  and  we 
believe  also  of  Tyrolese  and  Swiss.  In  Southeastern  Dakota, 
Nebraska  and  Kansas  there  are  also  many  colonies  of  English 
and  Scotch,  mostly  farmers,  though  some  are  artisans.  Kansas 
has  one,  and  perhaps  more  than  one,  French  colony,  where  silk 
culture  and  the  manufacture  of  silk  has  been  carried  on,  though, 
while  awaiting  the  growth  of  the  mulberry,  and  sufficient  work  for 
their  filature,  they  have  turned  the  silk  mill  into  a  cheese  factory. 
There  are  also  French  and  Hungarian  colonists  engaged  in  vini- 
culture in  California.  A  considerable  colony  of  Japanese  came 
to  California  some  years  since  to  engage  in  the  culture  of  tea, 
and  perhaps  some  other  Japanese  products,  but  we  have  no  recent 
intellis^ence  of  their  success. 

In  Colorado,  New^  Mexico,  Arizona,  Nevada   and  Utah   there 


*Mr.  II.  J.  Van  Dyke,  Jr.,  writing  of  these  Mennonites  in  their  Manitoba  settlement,  sayi 
that  an  innkeeper  at  Winnipeg  stoutly  insisted  that  they  were  "  no  good."  On  being  asked  his 
reason  for  such  a  declaration,  he  still  persisted  that  they  were  of  no  account.  "Are  they  not 
industrious?"  "  Ye-es."  "Are  they  not  thrifty ?  "  "  Ve-es."  "  Don't  they  pay  for  what  they 
buy  promptly?  "  "Ye-es.  But  I'll  tell  you,  when  they  conic  here,  if  any  of  them  want  to 
drink,  every  man  pays  for  his  own  liquor.  They  never  treat  the  crowd.  I  don't  think  they  arc 
of  much  account."  The  innkeeper's  reason  would  seem  to  be  decidedly  creditable  to  the 
Mennonites. 


COLONIES  AND   LARGE   ESTATES.  77 

are  many  associations  for  mining  purposes,  composed  entirely 
of  English  or  Scotch  capitalists,  employing  almost  exclusively 
British  miners,  and  having  their  principal  'offices  in  London.  In 
Colorado,  Wyoming,  Montana,  and  Texas,  there  are  also  British 
associations  engaged  in  the  stock  business.  In  Utah,  where 
almost  three-fourths  of  the  population  are  Mormons,  and  most 
of  them  believe  in  polygamy,  while  several  thousands  of  them 
actually  practice  it,  the  Mormon  immigration  is  almost  wholly 
from  Great  Britain,  though  a  small  number  come  from  the  Scan- 
dinavian countries.  As  most  of  these  immigrants  are  practical 
polygamists,  our  Government  has  recently  sought  to  restrain 
the  influx  of  such  open  violators  of  our  laws.  In  New  Mexico 
the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants,  certainly  nine-tenths,  includ- 
ing both  the  original  inhabitants  and  the  immigrants,  are  nom- 
inally or  really  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The 
policy  of  our  Government  is,  and  has  always  been,  opposed  to 
the  entire  control  of  a  State  or  Territory  by  one  sect  or  denom- 
ination alone,  inasmuch  as  perfect  freedom  of  conscience,  except 
where  it  violates  the  rights  of  others,  -is  the  cardinal  principle  of 
our  national  Constitution.  Where  one  sect  is  larcrelv  dominant 
in  a  State  or  Territory,  the  rights  of  the  minority  are  almost 
invariably  invaded.  In  Utah  this  predominance  involves  also 
the  practice  of  polygamy,  which  is  an  added  violation  of  our 
national  laws;  and  in  New  Mexico  the  school  moneys  derived 
from  the  sale  of  school  lands  have  been  misdirected  by  the  Jesuits 
and  other  religious  orders,  who  have  the  entire  control  of  educa- 
tion there,  not  only  to  the  payment  of  teachers  of  theology  in 
Roman  Catholic  seminaries,  but  to  the  payment  of  the  board  of 
students  of  theology. 

So  far  as  colonies  of  Roman  Catholics  are  concerned,  they  are 
perfectly  right  and  proper,  and  very  considerable  settlements 
have  been  organized  under  the  auspices  of  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops, in  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Texas  a«nd  Oregon,  and  perhaps 
in  some  other  States  and  Territories.  No  objection  is  made  to 
the  organization  of  Mormon  colonies,  provided  they  obey  the 
laws  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Mormons  have  planted  large 
colonies  in   Idaho,  and  smaller  ones   in  Colorado  and  Arizona. 


'^S  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

In  a  few  instances  colonies  of  American  Protestant  denominations 
have  settled  in  a  single  township,  and  have  done  well.  There 
are  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  Methodist  and  possibly  Baptist 
colonies  of  this  sort.  Generally,  however,  our  American  colonists 
prefer  a  diversity  of  religious  beliefs  in  their  settlements. 

Recently,  two  methods  of  settlement  and  improvement  of 
lands  have  been  adopted.  They  are  both  of  doubtful  expediency, 
so  far  as  the  future  of  the  States  and  Territories  is  concerned, 
though  "of  great  present  profit  and  success  In  the  development 
of  new  regions.  The  first  method  has  been  largely  practised  in 
California,  and  Is  cominij  Into  voq;ue  in  the  newer  States  and 
Territories.  A  capitalist,  usually,  though  not  always,  a  practical 
farmer,  stock-raiser  or  mining  operator,  or  sometimes  an  association 
of  capitalists,  acting  by  their  superintendent  or  general  manager, 
purchases  a  large  tract  of  land,  often  many  thousands  of  acres, 
adapted  to  his  purpose,  whether  of  raising  grain,  wine-making, 
stock  or  wool-growing,  or  mining,  erects  the  necessary  buildings, 
and  procures  the  best  and  latest  machinery  for  his  purpose,  and 
hires  his  laborers,  who  may  be  the  poorer  classes  of  foreigners, 
Mexicans,  Indians,  or  Chinese,  and  works  his  estate  exclusively, 
or  almost  exclusively,  with  such  labor,  his  machinery  or  steam- 
driven  agricultural  Implements  supplying  the  place  of  very  large 
numbers  of  laborers.  If  he  is  a  farmer,  and  In  the  smooth 
prairie  lands,  he  breaks  up  the  soil  with  his  gangs  of  steam- 
plows,  or  an  army  of  plowing  machines  each  drawn  by  four 
iiorses  or  mules;  sows  his  wheat  or  other  grains  with  steam  or 
four-horse  drills;  Irrigates  his  lands,  If  irrigation  is  necessary,  by 
water  raised  from  an  artesian  well,  by  steam  or  wind-power;  reaps, 
gathers  and  binds  or  more  expeditiously  still,  clips  off  the  heads 
of  the  grain  and  deposits  them  in  an  accompanying  wagon  by 
bushels,  whence  they- are  transferred  by  a  chute  to  the  threshing- 
machine,  which  threshes,  winnows,  separatesvand  sacks  the  grain 
with  lltde  human  intervention.  When  the  market  is  at  its 
highest  point,  he  sends  to  it  his  hundred  thousand  or  two 
hundred  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  his  oats,  barley,  and  corn  in 
nearly  equal  amounts,  and  employing  cheap  labor,  his  net  profits 
on   a   single    year's    crops    may  be   reckoned  by   the  hundred 


THE   EVIL    OF  LARGE   LAXDED   ESTATES.  yg 

thousand  dollars,  though  his  cultivation  may  be  less  thorough, 
and  the  yield  per  acre  smaller,  than  on  smaller  and  more  carefully 
tilled  farms.  All  this  is  very  well  for  the  capitalist,  and  equally 
well  for  the  exporter  of  grain  ;  but  it  is  not  so  well  for  the  State 
or  Territory,  nor  for  its  permanent  and  successful  development. 
These  large  estates  prevent  the  formation  of  villages  and  towns, 
and  the  establishment  of  primary  and  grammar  schools ;  encourage 
absenteeism,  and  tend  to  the  establishment  of  a  privileged  and 
oligarchical  class;'  and  in  the  not  distant  future,  when  the  public 
lands  and  the  railroad  lands  are  all  sold,  will  bring  about  a  con- 
dition of  things  such  as  now  exists  in  Great  Britain,  and  sooner 
than  there,  because  the  cultivation  is  more  superficial  and  the 
land,  skinned  for  present  crops,  will  soon  lose  its  fertility.  It 
is  a  significant  fact  in  this  connection,  that  on  the  great  "Dalrymple 
farm  "  In  Northern  Dakota,  with  its  more  than  30,000  acres  in 
grain,  the  yield  per  acre  is  much  less  than  that  of  adjacent  small 
farms,  and  that  the  yield  per  acre  diminishes  with  each  successive 
crop,  though  the  land  is  the  best  in  the  Red  River  valley. 

The  great  cattle  and  sheep  ranches  are  in  some  respects  still 
more  objectionable,  inasmuch  as  the  herdsman's  life  has  a  strong 
tendency  towards  a  condition  of  semi-civilization.  The  owner 
of  these  immense  flocks  and  herds  may  be,  indeed,  like  the 
Oriental  patriarchs,  a  man  of  culture  and  refinement,  a  poet  or 
historian,  a  king  among  men,  and  may  surround  his  children 
with  all  the  luxuries  of  civilization  ;  but  his  herdsmen  or  shep- 
herds, without  opportunities  of  education,  and  far  from  civilizing 
influences,  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  become  mere  boors  and 
hinds.  In  the  wasteful  methods  of  stock-raising  in  these  regions, 
it  is  estimated  that  it  requires  fifty  acres  of  the  mountain 
pasturage  to  feed  a  single  steer,  and  where  the  herd  amounts,  as 
it  not  unfrequendy  does,  to  4,000  or  5,000  head,  it  may  require  a 
whole  county  to  furnish  them  with  sufficient  pasture.  This 
isolated  life  inevitably  leads  to  results,  directly  opposed  to  the 
whole  genius  of  our  institutions.  In  the  sale  of  the  public  lands, 
the  policy  of  the  government  has  been,  to  have  the  holdings 
small,  and  the  setders  within  such  neighborhood  to  each  other, 
that  schools,  churches,  and  villages,  could  be  maintained;  this 


So  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

has  been,  to  some  extent,  also  the  policy  of  the  land-grant  rail- 
roads, though  those  holding  large  grants  have  too  often  departed 
from  it;  but  the  pressure  to  sell  large  quantities  of  grazing 
lands,  and  in  some  instances  farming  lands  also,  has  been  so 
great,  that  the  government  officers  and  the  railroad  officials  have 
too  often  yielded  to  it.  In  Texas,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Nevada, 
and  California,  the  old  Spanish  and  Mexican  land-laws  have 
prevailed,  under  which  a  square  league  of  land  was  about  the 
smallest  parcel  put  upon  the  market,  and  from  six  to  thirty  leagues 
not  an  uncommon  purchase.  California  is  already  suffering  from 
these  immense  estates. 

Another  plan  now  prevailing  to  some  extent,  especially  among 
the  English  middle  classes,  people  of  fixed  ijicomes  which 
terminate  with  their  lives,  is  perhaps  less  objectionable  though 
tending  in  the  same  direction.  These  people,  younger  sons  of 
the  nobility  or  gentry,  retired  army  or  navy  ofiicers,  clergymen 
or  their  families,  civil  servants,  etc.,  come  to  the  western  country 
and  purchase  one  or  two  quarter  sections  or  more,  have  them 
broken  up,  and  perhaps  a  log-house  or  sod-house  built,  and  let 
them,  the  first  year  for  half  the  crop,  and  In  the  years  that  follow 
for  $1.25  to  $1.50  per  acre.  If  their  means  are  sufficient,  they 
repeat  this  process,  every  year,  till  they  have  2,500  or  3,000 
acres  leased  in  this  way,  and  this  gives  them  a  comfortable 
annual  income.  This  is  less  objectionable  than  the  purchase  of 
large  tracts,  because  these  quarter  sections  need  not  be  con- 
tiguous, and  there  will  thus  be  an  opportunity  for  sufficiently 
close  settlement  to  permit  the  establishment  of  good  schools  and' 
villages ;  and  these  land-holders  may  sell  their  improved  farms, 
at  prices  which  will  permit  them  to  make  still  larger  investments  ; 
but  there  is  a  strong  tendency,  in  the  process,  toward  the  for- 
mation of  a  landed  aristocracy. 


1^ 


SOILS,    GEOLOGY  AND   MIXERALOGY.  gi 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Variety  of  Soils  and  Surface — Geography  and  Geognosy — Soils — Geology 
— Characteristics  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — Volcanic  Remains  of  the 
Yellowstone  Country — The  Geysers — The  Vicinity  of  Salt  Lake — 
Professor  Geikie's  Summary  of  the  Geology  of  the  Central  Region — 
Mineralogy. 

The  variety  of  soils  in  this  vast  region  is  almost  infinite,  and 
in  this  chapter  we  can  only  glance  at  the  principal  causes  which 
lead  to  such  diversity.  There  are  nearly  2,000  miles  of  coast, 
washed  by  the  ocean  and  gulf  on  the  Pacific  and  in  Texas,  upon 
all  of  which  has  been  cast  by  the  waves,  sand  and  alluvium  to  a 
greater  or  less  breadth,  for  thousands  of  years.  The  very  heavy 
rains  on  the  west  coast  and  the  western  slope  of  the  Coast 
range,  aided  during  the  glacial  epoch  by  the  movements  of  the 
huge  glaciers,  the  largest  by  far  which  ever  existed  on  our  earth, 
disintegrated  the  rocks,  and  washed  down  upon  the  foot-hills, 
their  constituents,  varying  according  to  the  nature  of  the  rocks,, 
and  varying  also  in  the  fineness  of  their  comminution,  in  propor- 
tion as  they  were  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  ground  by  the  slow 
but  irresistible  motion  of  the  glaciers.  The  same  causes  pro- 
duced similar  effects,  in  the  early  periods,  on  both  the  eastern  and 
western  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  great  but  now  elevated  valley  between  those  two  mountain 
chains,  as  well  as  the  greater  part  of  the  plains  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  were  for  ages  the  bed  of  immense  lakes  or 
inland  seas,  while  the  southern  portion  of  California  and  Nevada 
connecting  with  the  Pacific,  through  the  Tejon  pass,  which  was 
then  another  strait  of  Gibraltar,  formed  an  American  Mediterra- 
nean, where  there  is  now  only  a  desert.  The  upheaval  of  the 
bottoms  of  all  these  salt  or  fresh  lakes,  led  to  their  drainage,  by 
the  Colorado  and  its  affluents,  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Arkansas,  the 
Yellowstone,  the  Missouri  and  the  Snake  rivers.  Most  of  these 
rivers,  and  pre-eminently  the  Colorado  and  its  tributaries,  cut 
their  way  through  the  soft  and  disintegrating  rocks  which  formed 

6 


82  OUR     WESTER X   EMPIRE. 

their  beds,  to  such  a  depth  as  to  make  their  channels  deep 
canons,  sometimes  from  3,000  to  6,000  feet  below  the  surface  of 
the  plateau,  through  which  they  had  their  course.  The  pla- 
teaux were  thus  robbed  of  all  their  rainfall,  and  in  the  course  of 
time,  became  dry  and  largely  uninhabitable,  and  what  was  once 
a  populous  region,  with  its  large  and  strong  cities,  was  changed 
into  an  arid  and  desert  land. 

In  some  portions  of  these  elevated  plains  thus  drained  of  their 
moisture,  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  covered,  especially  during  a 
long,  dry  season,  with  alkaline  salts,  sulphate  of  soda  and  potassa, 
sulphate  of  magnesia,  common  salt,  and  occasionally  biborate  of 
soda,  the  borax  of  commerce.  On  these  lands,  in  their  natural 
condition,  there  grows  only  the  despised  sage-brush.  In  the 
rare  instances  where  springs  are  found,  the  water  is  apt  to  be 
brackish. 

Yet  these  alkaline  lands,  when  broken  up  by  deep  plowing 
and  well  irrigated,  yield  most  astonishing  crops,  and  continue 
to  do  so  year  after  year,  while,  by  cultivation,  the  rainfall  is  in- 
creased, and  the  barren  land  becomes  as  the  garden  of  Eden. 

Where  irrigation  is  impossible,  and  the  amount  of  alkali  is  ex- 
cessive, these  lands  are  yet  of  some  value  for  grazing,  and  the 
white  sage-brush,  once  regarded  as  the  most  worthless  of  all 
shrubs,  is  found  to  yield  a  nutritious  pasturage  for  cattle,  after  the 
frost  has  touched  it. 

Farther  south,  on  what  is  known  as  the  Llano  Estacado  or 
"  staked  plain  "  of  Northwestern  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  that  re- 
markable product  of  a  dry  country,  the  mezquite  tree,  is  found  in 
abundance,  and  its  large  and  long  roots  (nine-tenths  of  its  woody 
fibre  being  below  the  surface),  its  trunk,  its  leaves,  its  bark,  and 
its  gum  are  all  valuable.  Where  these  lands  are  broken  up  and 
plowed  deeply,  the  roots  of  the  mezquite  aid  in  bringing  up  the 
moisture  from  below,  and  the  rainfall  increases  from  year  to  year. 
Eventually  all  these  alkaline  lands,  or  nearly  all,  will  be  brought 
under  cultivation,  and  will  prove,  either  with  or  without  irrigation, 
some  of  the  most  productive  and  valuable  lands  of  the  West. 

The  soil  of  "the  plains,"  under  which  general  term  is  included 
the  territory  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and   especially  west 


SOILS,    GEOLOGY  AND   MINERALOGY.  83 

of  the  Missouri  river,  and  extending  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is, 
with  some  exceptions,  very  rich  and  permanently  productive. 
The  region  lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers  is 
not  properly  a  plain  or  plateau,  for  there  are  considerable 
ranges  of  mountains  though  of  no  great  elevation.  In  some 
parts  of  it,  as  in  Minnesota,  Iowa,  and  Eastern  Dakota,  the 
prairies  or  gradually  rising  plateaux  predominate. 

But  the  "  plains  "  proper  include  Southern  Dakota,  below  the 
Black  Hills,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Eastern  Colorado,  Wyoming 
Territory,  and  most  of  Texas.  There  are  some  "  Bad  Lands," 
though  only  a  few  small  tracts  in  this  region ;  but  the  greater  part  of 
it  is  an  alluvium  of  extraordinary  depth,  ranging  from  five  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  in  some  cases  two  hundred  feet.  For 
aofes  this  recrion  was  the  bed  of  vast  fresh  water  lakes,  and  re- 
ceived  from  the  streams  rushing  down  from  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
vast  quantities  of  loess,  the  debris  of  the  decomposed  rocks. 
Gradually  it  was  upheaved,  and  the  bed  of  the  lakes  became 
marshes,  their  waters  being  drained  off  through  the  Missouri  and 
its  afiluents,  the  Platte,  the  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers,  and  the 
Rio  Grande.  The  process  of  slow  upheaval  still  continuing, 
these  marshes,  which  had  been  continually  enriched  by  the  silt 
from  the  overflow  of  the  rivers,  and  by  the  decay  of  vegetation 
for  thousands  of  years,  became  dry  land,  and  land  of  unexam- 
pled fertility.  The  fires  kindled  in  their  grass  and  forests  by 
roaming  Indian  tribes,  prevented  the  growth  of  forest  trees, 
over  large  tracts  of  this  region,  and  so  diminished  the  rainfall ; 
while  the  countless  herds  of  buffalo  in  their  headlong  tramps 
southward,  beat  the  soil  down  into  a  solid  and  impenetrable 
crust,  which  permitted  the  rainfall  to  run  off  without  soaking  the 
earth.  Without  breaking  up  this  solid  crust,  successful  cultiva- 
tion was  impossible.  With  it,  the  crops  were  so  bountiful  as  to 
astonish  the  most  sanguine. 

Texas,  having  a  more  varied  surface,  has  also  a  greater  variety 
of  soils  than  any  other  of  the  States  or  Territories,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  California.  The  coast  soil  is  a  sandy,  grayish 
loam,  well  adapted  to  cotton  and  rice,  and,  where  darker  and 
richer,   the  best  sugar  land  in  the   United  States,     The    river 


3^  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

bottom  lands  are  black,  rich  and  sticky  at  times,  and  form  the 
best  cotton  land  in  the  State.  Sometimes  small  tracts  lack  either 
the  phosphates,  or  sulphates,  or  both ;  and  crops  will  not  grow 
on  them.  These  are  known  as  "poison  soils."  A  dark,  gray 
soil,  in  the  timber  lands,  is  found  excellent  for  all  kinds  of  fruits; 
this  is  sometimes  called  the  mulatto  soil.  The  deep  red  soils, 
containing  some  oxides  of  iron,  are  also  well  adapted  to  fruit,  and 
to  grains  generally.  The  chocolate  soils  of  Western  Texas  are, 
perhaps,  the  finest  in  the  State,  producing  cotton,  corn  and  semi- 
tropical  fruits.  The  sandy  and  dryer  soils  of  the  north,  even  on 
the  lands  adjacent  to  the  Staked  Plains,  yield,  with  deep  plowing, 
very  large  crops  of  wheat.  Wheat  is  also  a  good  crop  on  the 
red  soil. 

There  are,  of  course,  barren  soils  in  these  States  and  Terri- 
tories, though  many  of  those  which  are  so  regarded  need  only 
irrigation  and  deep  plowing  to  make  them  abundantly  productive. 

The  details  of  the  a-eoloQ-ical  structure  of  this  vast  regrion,  if 
they  were  attainable,  would  fill  many  volumes,  for  we  have  every 
form  of  cosmic  and  geologic  action  represented  here  which  has 
taken  place  in  any  part  of  our  globe — among  which  we  may  name 
the  tertiary  and  alluvial  and  diluvial  deposits  which  have  been 
made  on  its  2,000  miles  and  more  of  coast  line  during  their  alter- 
nate elevations  and  depressions;  the  upheaval  of  the  loft)''  moun- 
tain ridges  from  the  broad  and  level  plains  ;  the  effects  of  former 
extensive  volcanic  action,  and  its  remaining,  though  compara- 
tively enfeebled,  activity  at  various  points.  Then,  too,  there  arc 
the  great  phenomena  of  glacial  action,  on  a.  scale  much  vaster 
than  that  of  any  existing  glaciers  ;  the  huge  horse-shoe-shaped 
moraines,  in  some  cases  filling  up  valleys,  in  others  producing 
large  lakes;  the  erosions  produced  from  the  ice  streams  of  these 
glaciers,  and  from  the  mountain  floods,  and  the  broken  barriers 
of  some  great  lakes ;  the  depressions  produced  by  earthquake 
convulsions,  and  the  exposure  of  horizontal  strata  of  great  thick- 
ness of  the  Cretaceous  and  Carboniferous  formations,  where  the 
sharp  plough  of  the  glacier  had  cut  its  way,  or  the  force  of  the 
mountain  torrents,  of  great  volume,  had  worn  their  deep  canons 
throuQrh  them. 


GEOLOGY  AND    MINERALOGY.  85 

The  grand  outlines  of  its  geologic  structure  which  we  have 
thus  formulated  show  conclusively  that,  if  the  science  of  geology- 
had  had  its  birth  in  this  great  empire  of  the  West  instead  of  the 
comparatively  limited  formations  of  Western  Europe,  we  should 
have  had  a  system,  which  would  have  required  fewer  additions 
and  accommodations,  to  fit  it  to  represent  the  geological  structure 
of  all  the  continents,  and  many  of  the  questions,  which  even 
now  vex  the  souls  of  scientists,  would  have  received  their  final 
solution. 

Considerable  portions  of  this  vast  region  have  never  been 
explored  geologically,  except  by  a  very  superficial  reconnoissance 
at  distant  points ;  among  these  are  Texas  and  most  of  California, 
Washington  Territory  and  much  of  Utah,  Nevada,  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico.  The  first  three  seem  to  have  eeoloorical  features 
peculiar  to  themselves,  to  which  we  may  allude  more  fully  when 
speaking  of  them  individually.  The  geological  structure  of  the 
more  central  States  and  Territories,  and  the  effects  of  glacial 
action  upon  them,  are  very  admirably  summarized  in  a  recent 
lecture  of  Professor  Archibald  Geikie,  the  eminent  Scottish 
geologist,  who  visited  them  in  1879,  portions  of  which  we  quote: 

"He  had,"  he  said,  "three  objects  in  the  expedition-^(i)  To 
study  the  effects  of  atmospheric  agencies  and  of  erosion  gen- 
erally upon  the  surface  of  the  land;  and  there  was  no  region 
where  those  lessons  could  be  learned  with  more  powerful  im- 
pressiveness  than  in  those  great  plateaux  and  table-lands.  (2) 
To  study  the  relation  which  the  structure  of  the  rocks  under- 
neath bore  to  the  form  of  the  surface.  In  this  country  and  in 
Europe  generally  one  was  continually  brought  face  to  face  with 
evidence  of  dislocations,  profusion  of  igneous  rocks,  faults  and 
so  on,  which  greatly  complicated  the  geological  structure,  and 
made  it  sometimes  by  no  means  easy  to  tell  how  far  the  pres- 
ent irregularities  of  the  surface  were  due  to  unequal  waste 
of  surface,  and  how  far  to  the  direct  effects  of  underground 
causes.  The  western  reolons  of  America  wliich  retained  to  this 
day  for  thousands  of  square  miles  the  horizontality  which  they 
had  originally,  presented  wonderful  facilities  for  the  discussion 
of  this  subject.      (3)   To  watch  with  his  own   eyes  some  of  the 


35  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

last  phases  of  volcanic  action.  He  had  been  familiar  with  these 
as  displayed  in  Italy  and  in  the  Lipari  Isles ;  but  he  was  anxious 
to  see  some  of  those  marvellous  evidences  of  the  gradual  wearing 
and  decay  of  a  vast  volcanic  area  which  were  so  well  seen  in  the 
famous  recjion  of  the  Yellowstone." 

The  Professor  went  on  to  give  a  brief  account  of  his  journey, 
mentioning  that  in  crossing  the  prairies  toward  the  Rocky 
Mountains  he  noted,  in  the  few  secdons  that  occurred,  soft,  gray 
clays  and  marls,  evidently  cretaceous,  and  sometimes  tertiary 
rocks.  Getting  down  at  some  of  the  stations,  and  looking  at 
the  ant-hills  and  burrows  of  the  prairie-dog,  he  found  that  the 
surface  of  the  prairie  was  veneered  with  a  diin  coating  of  pink- 
ish, fine-grained  sand,  sometimes  approaching  to  gravel,  its 
color  being  due  to  the  presence  of  a  great  many  small  pieces  of 
fresh  felspar.  It  was  clear  that  this  mineral,  as  well  as  the  quartz 
and  fragments  of  topaz  which  he  saw,  did  not  belong  to  the 
strata  in  which  they  lay.  In  going  west  the  grains  of  sand  began 
to  get  coarser,  and  assume  the  form  of  distinct  pebbles,  till, 
when  he  reached  the  mountains,  these  became  huge  blocks  and 
boulders,  evidently  derived  from  the  hills  in  their  neighborhood. 
After  submitting  that  the  phrase  "  Rocky  Mountains  "  was  a  very 
unfortunate  one,  as  applied  to  the  great  number  of  independent 
ridges  comparable  to  waves,  that  covered  this  part  of  America, 
the  Professor  said  that  he  halted  for  a  little  while  on  the  flanks 
of  the  first  ereat  mountain  ranores — those  that  formed  the 
colossal  bulwarks  of  Colorado.  As  seen  from  the  prairies,  they 
form  a  very  picturesque  line  of  peaks.  They  had  been  pushed 
as  a  great  wedge  through  the  rocks  forming  the  prairies,  and 
had  carried  those  rocks  up  with  them.  Crystalline  masses 
formed  the  central  core  and  crest  of  the  range,  and  this  feature 
was  combined  with  some  very  interesting  facts  connected  with 
the  surface  erosion  of  the  district.  He  found  then  where  all  the 
pink  felspar  and  gravel  had  come  from ;  it  had  been  borne  down 
from  this  region,  where  great  masses  of  pink  granite,  gray  gneiss 
and  odier  crystalline  rocks  formed  the  core  of  the  mountains. 
He  found  that  the  mountains  themselves  had  been  covered  with 
glaciers,  which  had  gone  out  into  the  plains  and  shed  their  huge 


GEOLOGY  AND    MINERALOGY.  g? 

horseshoe-shaped  moraines,  where  now  everythlngr  was  parched 
and  barren.  Having  crossed  the  watershed  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  he  struck  westward  into  the  Uintah,  one  of  the  few 
ranges  in  that  region  that  had  an  east  and  west  direction.  The 
central  portion  of  this  range  consisted,  not  of  crystalHne  rocks 
wedged  through  the  older  rocks,  but  of  carboniferous  rocks  that 
had  been  uprais-ed  as  a  great  fiat  dome,  and  had  been  above 
water  for  a  very  long  time.  This  carboniferous  centre  was  par- 
ticularly interesting  from  the  fact  of  its  presenting  the  strata 
perfectly  horizontal.  They  could  be  seen,  terrace  after  terrace, 
for  miles,  and  it  could  be  noted  whether  or  not  they  had  been 
cut  through,  by  faults,  to  what  extent  they  had  been  twisted,  and 
to  what  extent  eroded  by  atmospheric  influences.  Getting  on 
the  tops  of  these  great  mountains,  he  could  see  that  the  strata 
were  almost  entirely  horizontal  for  miles,  and  that  the  valleys 
had  been  trenched  out  of  them,  not  by  means  of  faults  at  all,  but 
actually  by  erosion  of  the  surface.  He  found  also  that  the 
numerous  lakes  were  true  remains  of  erosion,  that  they  had  not 
been  formed  by  any  subterranean  movements,  but  actually 
gouged  out  by  the  ice  that  once  covered  those  mountains. 
Striking  into  one  of  the  valleys,  he  found  beautiful  horseshoe 
moraines.  These  had  gone  across  the  valley  and  formed  a  suc- 
cession of  lakes  ;  while  the  beavers  had  made  a  great  many  more 
lakes  in  places  not  reached  by  the  moraines.  In  most  of  those 
valleys  there  were  hundreds  of  acres  of  bog-land,  entirely  due  to 
the  damming  of  the  waters  by  the  beavers.  The  plains  in  the  . 
neighborhood  of  the  Uintah  Mountains,  were  called  "Bad  Lands," 
because  they  were  crumbling  down  under  the  action  of  the 
weather,  and  nothing  would  grow  upon  them.  A  skeleton  found 
in  a  hill  of  that  district  was  brought  to  Professor  Marsh,  and 
turned  out  to  be  the  bones  of  an  extinct  and  undescribed  reptile. 
From  the  Uintah  Mountains  Professor  Geikie  found  his  way 
north  into  the  Yellowstone  country,  and  examined  tlie  fading 
traces  of  volcanic  action.  The  volcanoes  seemed  in  that  region 
to  have  confined  themselves  very  much  to  the  valleys.  The 
heights  on  either  hand  consisted  of  crystalline  rocks;  the  bottom 
of  the   valley  had   been   literally  deluged   with   sheets   of  lava. 


38  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

These  were  examined  with  considerable  care.  In  the  course  of 
the  examination,  huge  mounds  of  gravel  and  stones  were  met 
with,  which,  at  the  first  glance,  were  evidendy  moraines.  The 
first  was  marked  by  a  huge  block  of  rock,  an  erradc  of  coarse 
eranite  different  from  the  rocks  round  about.  Such  blocks  he 
found  to  increase  in  number  as  he  went  up  the  valley;  and  on 
entering  the  second  caiion,  or  gorge,  he  found  the  sides  exqui- 
sitely glaciated.  It  was  clear,  therefore,  that  not  only  was  this 
second  canon  old ;  it  was  older  than  the  glacial  period ;  it  sup- 
plied a  channel  for  the  glacier  that  ground  its  way  out  from  those 
mountains.  Endeavoring  to  estimate  the  minimum  thickness  of 
the  ice,  he  traced  striae  up  to  i,ooo  feet,  and  they  evidently  went 
higher  than  that.  But  in  going  farther  up  the  valley,  he  found 
that  the  erratic  blocks  of  granite  and  gneiss  dropped  by  the 
glacier  as  it  melted  went  far  above  the  i,ooo-feet  limit;  he  got 
them  on  the  shoulder  of  one  of  the  great  hills  overlooking  the 
valley  i,6oo  or  1,700  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  valley;  the 
ice,  therefore,  must  have  been  1,600  or  1,700  feet  thick.  It  thus 
appeared  that  not  only  did  those  mountains  possess  glaciers,  but 
some  of  these  were  of  such  thickness  as  to  deserve  the  name  of 
ice-sheets,  coverino-  the  whole  surroundino-  re2:ion.  As  to  the 
volcanic  phenomena  of  the  district,  he  saw  evidence  of  a  long 
series  of  eruptions,  one  after  another,  separated  by  prolonged 
intervals,  during  which  the  river  was  at  work  cutting  out  the 
older  lavas,  the  newer  lavas  filling  up  the  hollows  eroded  by  the 
river.  In  the  grand  carion  of  the  Yellowstone,  he  saw  the  most 
marvellous  piece  of  mineral  color  anywhere  .to  be  seen  in  the 
world.  It  was  cut  out  of  tufts  of  lavas,  showing  sulphur  yellow, 
green,  vermilion,  crimson,  and  orange  tints,  so  marvellous  that 
it  was  impossible  to  transfer  them  to  paper. 

Leaving  the  Yellowstone  Valley,  he  struck  southwestward 
into  the  famous  geyser  regions,  where  a  number  of  geysers  had 
been  made  known  of  late  years  more  wonderful  than  those  of 
Iceland.  He  tried  hard  here  to  get  a  pool  to  wash  in,  but  could 
find  nothing  below  212°,  and  the  only  chance  of  getting  a  bath 
was  to  o-et  into  some  hole  where  the  water  had  had  time  to  cool 


t> 


after  flowinof  out  of  the   hot  crater.     The   whole  o^round  was 


GEOLOGY  AND    MINERALOGY.  go 

honeycombed  with  holes,  every  one  of  which  was  filled  widi 
gurgling-,  boiling  water.  Some  went  off  with  wonderful  regu- 
larity, others  were  more  capricious  ;  and  the  chief  geyser,  which 
threw  up  an  enormous  body  of  water  and  steam,  was  very  un- 
certain in  its  movements.  In  one  part  of  the  district  he  came 
upon  a  marvellous  mud  spring,  the  centre  of  it  boiling  like  a 
great  porridge-pot  full  of  white  and  very  pasty  porridge.  Steam 
rose  through  this,  and,  after  forming  great  bubbles,  burst,  the 
mud  thrown  out  formincj  a  sort  of  rim  round  the  crater.  After 
describing  a  meeting  with  Indians  on  their  way  to  a  great  coun- 
cil, the  Professor  said  his  road  after  that  lay  across  what  he 
supposed  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful  lava  fields  in  the  world 
— hundreds  and  thousands  of  square  miles  of  country — a  sort 
of  rough  plain — having  been  absolutely  deluged  with  lava.  How 
this  lava  was  poured  out  he  at  present  could  hardly  tell ;  it 
seemed  to  have  risen  through  long  fissures,  and  spread  out  so 
as  to  fill  a  vast  area.  Here  and  there  alone  the  marcrin  of  it 
were  distinct  volcanic  mounds,  apparently  formed  during  later 
stages  of  its  volcanic  history. 

Coming  at  length  to  the  Salt  Lake  territory,  one  of  the  first 
ofeolomcal  features  that  struck  him  was  the  evidence  of  the 
former  vast  expansion  of  the  Salt  Lake.  He  found  traces  of  a 
terrace  well  marked  along  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  about 
i,ooo  feet  above  the  present  level,  and  so  succeeded  in  discover- 
ing what  was  the  relation  between  the  extended  lake,  which  must 
have  been  a  great  many  times  larger  than  the  present  one,  and 
i,ooo  feet  deeper,  and  the  glaciers  which  at  one  time  covered  the 
Wahsatch  and  the  Yellowstone  Mountains.  Strikinor  into  some 
of  the  canons  descendino-  from  the  Wahsatch  into  the  Salt  Lake 
basin,  he  found  evidence  of  wonderful  glaciation.  The  rocks 
were  smoothed  and  polished  and  striated  by  the  glaciers  that 
had  come  down  from  the  heights,  and  these  glaciers  had  carried 
with  them  great  quantities  of  moraine  matter.  Huge  mounds  of 
rubbish  blocked  up  the  valleys  here  and  there,  and  these  mounds 
came  down  to  the  level  of  the  hlorhest  terrace.  That  was  to  sav, 
that,  when  the  Salt  Lake  extended  far  beyond  its  present  area, 
and  was  over  i,ooo  feet  deeper  than  now,  the  glaciers  from  the 


go  Oi'K    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Wahsatch  Mountains  came  down  to  its  edge  and  shed  their 
bergs  over  its  waters.  On  his  return  journey  the  Professor  re- 
sumed the  examination  of  the  prairies.  Coming  out  of  the 
Colorado  Mountains,  he  noted,  in  connection  with  the  gravel 
formerly  observed,  great  quantities  of  a  peculiar  gray  clay. 
This  clay  was  inter-stratified  with  the  gravel,  and  here  and  there 
contained  a  small  lacustrine,  or  terrestrial  shell.  It  was,  there- 
fore, a  fresh-water  deposit,  a  deposit  swept  by  the  waters  coming 
down  from  the  mountains  over  the  prairie ;  and  marked  an  inter- 
val in  the  period  during  which  the  gravel  and  sand  were  being 
thrown  down.  Pie  traced  the  Qfravel  mounds  over  an  extensive 
tract,  and  he  found  the  gravel  had  been  deposited  irregularly, 
just  as  would  have  been  the  case  from  the  action  of  water 
escaping  from  the  melting  ends  of  the  ice.  A  great  current 
would  traverse  the  plain  in  one  direction ;  then  the  ice  mass 
would  send  water  in  another,  so  that  the  whole  prairie  must 
have  been  flooded  with  water  derived  from  the  meltinor  ends  of 
the  vast  sheets  of  ice.  It  was  those  excessive  floods  that 
brou2:ht  down  the  (jravel  and  sand ;  and  durina-  that  time  there 
were  intervals  when  nothing  but  the  finest  mud  was  coming 
down,  just  as  was  seen  in  the  valleys  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube. 
It  seems  to  be  demonstrated  by  the  discoveries  of  the  past 
few  years  that  no  equal  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  contains 
so  larcre  an  amount  of  available  mineral  wealth  as  this  Western 
Empire.  In  only  three  of  the  twenty  States  and  Territories 
which  are  comprised  within  it,  viz.,  Louisiana,  Kansas,  and 
Nebraska,  has  there  been  wanting  gold  or  silver  ores,  and  it  is 
as  yet  uncertain  whether  two  of  these  may  not  yield  silver  in 
paying  quantities.  All  the  others  contain  both  metals,  usually 
in  large  quantities,  and  some  of  them  have,  in  addition,  large 
mines  of  quicksilver,  and  smaller  but  profitable  ones  of  platinum. 
The  so-called  baser  but  really  more  useful  metals,  copper,  zinc, 
lead,  and  iron,  are  found  in  every  known  form  and  in  the  great- 
est profusion.  Lead  is  the  most  usual  basis  or  matrix  of  the 
silver  mines,  either  in  the  form  of  galena,  or  of  carbonate,  and 
sometimes  of  carburet,  etc. ;  but  copper  and  zinc  are  not  un- 
frequently   found    in    combination   with  both  gold    and    silver. 


MINER  A  LOGY.  q  I 

Both  copper  and  zinc  are  also  found,  uncombined  widi  eidier 
gold  or  silver,  and  of  such  purity  as  to  be  profitably  mined  in 
many  localities. 

Iron  ores  are  found  abundantly  in  every  State  and  Territory, 
and  every  known  ore  is  found  in  some  districts,  and  frequently 
several  different  ores,  as  the  magnetic,  the  haematite,  or  the 
specular  ores,  in  close  proximity  to  each  other,  and  all  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  coal  beds.  The  railroad  iron  and  steel  of 
the  future  will  be  made  from  native  ores  in  close  neighborhood 
to  the  tracks  where  it  is  needed.  But  it  is  not  alone  for  railroad 
iron  or  steel  rails,  that  these  vast  iron  deposits  can  be  utilized. 
The  iron  of  Utah,  of  California,  of  Montana,  of  Colorado,  Texas, 
Missouri  and  Arizona  is  not  surpassed  by  any  in  the  world  ;  and 
when  the  time  shall  come,  if  It  ever  does,  when  the  long  conflict 
between  heavy  guns  and  armored  ships  shall  be  decided,  our 
furnaces  in  this  Western  Empire  will  furnish  the  iron  and  our 
foundries  the  iron  and  steel  plates  or  the  guns  which  are  to 
shatter  them,  of  a  quality  which  has  never  been  equalled.  For 
all  building  purposes,  and  for  suspension  bridges,  for  hardware, 
cutlery,  tubing,  gas,  water,  and  sewer  pipes ;  for  stoves,  ranges, 
furnaces,  and  heaters,  and  every  other  use,  to  which  the  best 
qualities  of  iron  and  steel  are  capable  of  being  applied,  the  iron 
ores  of  the  Great  West  will  be  found  sufficient  to  supjDly  the 
needs  of  a  world. 

Nickel,  now  coming  so  rapidly  into  use  for  so  many  purposes, 
is  an  incidental  product  of  many  of  the  iron  mines,  and  can  be 
largely  produced.  As  yet  we  are  importing  all  or  nearly  all  the 
tin  we  use,  but  the  tin  deposits  in  California,  and  in  several  of 
the  other  States  and  Territories,  when  once  developed  by  capi- 
tal and  skill,  may  prove  as  profitable  as  those  of  Cornwall  or  the 
Straits  of  Banca. 

Of  the  rarer  metals,  which  possess  but  a  limited  economical 
value,  most  are  found  as  abundantly  in  the  Great  West  as  any- 
where. Osmium  and  iridium,  two  of  the  hardest  of  known 
metals,  used  in  the  gold-pen  manufacture,  as  well  as  in  other 
cases  where  hard  and  infusible  points  are  required,  are  found 
only  on  the  Pacific  coast;   many  of  the  exceedingly  rare  metals 


p2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

known  only  to  cnemlsts,  are  obtained  from  earths  or  mineral 
waters  found  here,  while  arsenic,  antimony,  bismuth,  cerium, 
etc.,  etc.,  are  found  in  connection  with  the  ores  of  other  metals. 

The  elementary  bases  of  the  mineral  earths  and  salts  are  more 
easily  separated  here  than  elsewhere  ;  and  the  mineral  springs 
a '"id  volcanic  geysers  and  fountains  of  the  Yellowstone,  of  many 
places  in  California  and  Nevada,  of  Colorado,  Arizona  and 
Texas,  yield  not  only  all  the  salts  of  soda,  potassa  and  lime,  but 
their  elementary  bases  also.  Borax  (biborate  of  soda)  is  found 
as  a  crust  over  shallow  lakes  in  California  and  Nevada ;  car- 
bonate of  soda,  very  pure  in  the  so-called  alkaline  lands  ;  nitrates 
of  soda  and  potassa,  in  commercial  quantities,  at  various  points  ; 
sulphate  of  lime  (the  commercial  plaster  of  Paris)  comes  to 
light  not  only  in  its  ordinary  condition  of  gypsum,  of  great  value 
as  a  fertilizer,  but  in  its  rarer  and  more  beautiful  forms  of  sele- 
nite,  alabaster,  etc.  Salt  is  found  in  every  shape,  from  the  rock- 
salt,  hewn  out  in  great  cubical  blocks,  to  the  brine  springs  of 
varying  density,  and  the  salt  basins  around  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
and  along  the  shores  and  bays  of  the  Pacific.  The  manufacture 
of  salt  on  a  large  scale  is  one  of  the  most  profitable  enterprises 
which  could  be  undertaken.  The  market  is  unlimited,  and  the 
prices  would  be  remunerative.  Most  of  the  mineral  salts  and 
acids  might  be  manufactured  also  on  the  large  scale  at  many 
points. 

Asphaltum  and  petroleum  are  found  In  large  quantities  in 
California,  Utah,  Wyoming  and  in  the  volcanic  region  around  the 
headwaters  of  the  Yellowstone ;  and  both  are  likely  to  be  exten- 
sively utilized  in  the  near  future.  Coal  occurs  abundantly  and 
of  all  qualities  at  numerous  points  in  this  region.  Lignite  (the 
coal  formation  of  the  tertiary)  is  mined  in  Kansas,  Colorado, 
Wyoming,  and  perhaps  farther  west.  It  is  of  very  good  quality, 
and  is  used  on  the  railroad  locomotives,  in  manufactories  and 
dwellings  to  some  extent.  There  is  also  a  bituminous  coal  of 
very  good  quality,  but  not  a  coking  coal,  in  Kansas,  Wyoming 
(where  the  coal-beds  are  very  extensive),  in  Colorado,  and  in  Utah 
and  New  Mexico.  The  coal-beds  in  Utah,  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona   are  extensive,  and   of  extraordinary  thickness.      The 


MINERALOGY.  g^ 

coal  is  of  excellent  quality,  and  some  of  it  anthracite  and  semi- 
anthracite.  There  are  extensive  coal-beds  also  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  those  of  Washington  Territory,  and  the  islands  off  the 
coast,  are  anthracite  of  the  very  best  quality.  Coal  is  also  found, 
and  of  good  quality,  in  Texas  and  Arkansas,  but  the  reliance  for 
fuel  there  is  yet  mostly  on  wood.  Marls  and  peats  are  found  in 
many  of  the  States  and  Territories,  and,  like  the  gypsum,  may 
yet  come  into  demand  for  replacing  some  of  the  elements  of 
vegetation,  which  have  been  drawn  from  the  rich  soil  by  the  too 
frequent  sowing  of  the  same  crop.  At  present,  however,  the 
soil  seems  absolutely  inexhaustible,  and  with  a  proper  rotation  of 
crops  and  constant  deep  ploughing  it  probably  is  so. 

There  are  found  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
the  Cascade  Mountains,  the  Coast  Range,  and  the  numerous 
cross  ranges  and  lateral  spurs — such  as  the  Uintah,  the  Wah- 
satch,  the  Bitter  Root,  Wind  river.  Sweet  Water  or  Laramie 
ranges,  and  at  the  entrance  or  exit  of  the  canons  of  the  Col- 
orado,  building-stones  of  the  greatest  variety,  granite,  sienite, 
marbles,  of  all  hues  and  qualities,  limestones,  slates  and  sand- 
stones of  every  shade.  Many  of  the  marbles  are  very  beautiful 
and  exquisitely  veined ;  others  of  the  purest  and  most  brilliant 
white,  suitable  for  statuary  and  ornamental  purposes. 

In  the  Yellowstone  Lake  region,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  and  in  the  sides  of  the  canons  of  the  Yellowstone, 
Snake,  Columbia,  Colorado,  and  other  large  rivers,  the  stratified 
clays  exhibit  such  an  infinity  of  shades  of  \\vi  most  brilHant 
colors  as  to  baffle  the  skill  of  the  most  accomplished  artist,  and 
throw  him  into  the  depths  of  despair  at  his  inability  to  reproduce 
them. 

What  are  known  as  the  "  Bad  Lands  "  in  Dakota,  Nebraska, 
Wyoming,  and  Montana  abound  in  fossils,  and  recent  explora- 
tions show  that  there  are  deposited  here  in  the  successive  strata, 
eroded  by  water  and  ice,  the  material  from  which  can  be  traced 
the  history  of  families  of  animals  in  their  various  stages  ot  ad- 
vance or  degradation,  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  any  other 
explored  region  of  the  earth's  surface.  Vastly  greater  discov- 
eries undoubtedly  remain  to  be  made,  and  it  is  perhaps  sate  to 


Q.  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

predict,  that  these  wild  and  utterly  desolate  lands  will  3'et  yield, 
to  the  scientific  explorer,  a  complete  history  of  the  mammals  and 
reptiles  which  lived  on  the  earth  in  the  carboniferous  and  cre- 
taceous periods. 

In  that  class  of  minerals  known  as  precious  stones  there  is 
hardly  anything  lacking  except  the  diamond,  and  it  is  certainly 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  even  that  may  yet  be  found. 
What  are  known  as  California  diamonds,  though  possessing 
many  characteristics  of  the  true  gem,  are  probably  only  very 
fine  specimens  of  crystals  of  quartz  or  silica.  But  the  other 
valuable  gems,  as  emeralds,  probably  also  ruble  j  and  topazes, 
precious  beryls,  chrysolite,  amethyst,  gold-stones,  tourmalines, 
jades,  the  beautiful  copper  ore  known  as  malachite,  agates  and 
carnelians  of  great  beauty,  jet,  etc,  etc.,  are  sufficiendy  plentiful, 
in  one  part  of  the  country  or  another. 

Porcelain  clays,  ochres,  barytes,  and  other  minerals  and  earths 
of  economic  use  are  found  in  most  of  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories. Mineral  springs,  and  waters  of  every  variety  and  every 
degree  of  temperature,  from  boiling  to  freezing,  are  found 
everywhere  in  the  mountains,  and  not  a  few  in  the  plains.  Col- 
orado, Montana,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Utah,  California,  Arizona,  Texas 
and  Arkansas  abound  in  these  healinof  waters.  In  Colorado 
there  are  hundreds  of  them  already  claiming  patronage,  each 
with  some  peculiar  merit.  In  the  Yellowstone  Park  and  its 
vicinity  most  of  the  springs  are  too  hot  for  bathing ;  but  when 
partially  cooled,  possess  remarkable  hygienic  virtues. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


Climates — Variety  of  Climate — Causes — Rainfall — Comparison  of  differ- 
ent Sections — Causes  of  deficient  Rainfall — Winds — Character  and 
Effect  of  different  Winds — The  Hot  Winds  from  Mexico. 

In  a  region  extending  1,700  miles  from  north  to  south,  and 
1,800  from  east  to  west,  there  would  be  a  considerable  range  of 
climatic  conditions,  even  if  the  whole  tract  were  nearly  a  dead 


VARIATIONS   OF  CLIMATE.  pC 

level ;  but  when  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  It  is  traversed  by 
mountain  chains,  many  of  whose  summits  have  an  elevation  of 
13,000  to  14,000  feet,  and  the  average  height  of  its  plateaux  and 
valleys  ranges  from  4,000  to  8.500  feet;  when  on  the  more 
northern  summits,  snow  lies  throughout  the  year;  and  when  the 
temperature  of  at  least  the  western  half  is  modified  by  the 
breezes  and  moisture  from  the  Pacific,  by  the  influences  of  the 
Pacific  gulf  stream, .  and  by  the  climatic  law  that  the  Western 
coast  of  a  continent  has  always  a  milder  and  higher  temperature 
than  the  East  coast;  when,  also,  the  temperature  of  the  South- 
west is  elevated  by  the  hot  and  dry  winds  which  come  from 
tropical  Mexico ;  and  the  cyclones  formed  in  the  Caribbean  sea 
and  the  Mexican  eulf  contribute  their  share  to  the  disturbance 
of  atmospheric  conditions,  there  would  seem  to  be  causes  enough 
to  account  for  the  extraordinary  diversities  of  climate  which 
prevail  in  this  Western  Empire. 

The  climate  on  the  northwestern  coast  in  Washino-ton  Ter- 
ritory  ana  Oregon  is  temperate,  and  the  range  comparatively 
small.  The  mercury  seldom  rises  above  90°  F.,  in  many  seasons 
not  reaching  that  figure,  and  rarely  falls  below  10°  or  12°.  In 
some  seasons  the  lowest  point  reached  is  18°  or  20°.  The 
averao^e  annual  rangfe  is  from  70°  to  80°.  The  ranee  on  the 
California  coast,  at  Los  Angeles,  San  Diego,  etc.,  is  still  smaller, 
in  some  years  not  exceeding  55°  or  60°.  In  San  Francisco  the 
range  is  not  over  50°  or  53° — between  39°  and  90°  or  92°.  These 
equable  climates  are  very  favorable  to  the  health  of  invalids,  es- 
pecially to  ^uch  as  are  suffering  from  pulmonary  diseases.  East 
of  the  Coast  range,  and  in  a  still  greater  degree,  east  of  the  Cas- 
cades or  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  we  find 
greater  extremes  of  cold,  and  in  some  instances  of  heat  also. 
The  plains  of  Eastern  Washington  and  Oregon  have  extreme 
heat  in  summer,  rising  sometimes  to  or  above  100°  F.,  and  cold 
equally  extreme  in  winter,  falling  to — 30°  or  even  lower  in  winten 
making  the  annual  range  not  less  than  130°  F.  But  probably 
Pembina,  in  Dakota,  just  on  the  British  line,  49°  north  latitude, 
is  the  coldest  inhabited  place  in  all  this  Western  Empire,  and  as 
the  summer  heat  is  intense,  though  for  a  brief  period  only,  its 


96 


OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


annual  range  Is  the  greatest.  The  spirit  thermometer  often 
marks  — 50°  in  the  winter,  and  in  the  winter  of  1879-S0  it  is  re- 
ported to  have  fallen  to  — 60°.  As  it  attains  94°  in  the  summer, 
this  gives  a  range  of  154°.  The  remainder  of  Dakota  and  Min- 
nesota is  not  subject  to  such  extreme  changes,  though  the  valley 
of  the  Red  river  of  the  North  seems  to  be  the  gateway  through 
which  the  biting  cold  from  the  Arctic  regions  finds  its  way  south- 
ward. The  interior  valleys  of  California  are  much  hotter  in  sum- 
mer than  the  coast,  and  the  winter  temperature  is  somewhat 
lower.  Their  range  is  from  76°  to  83°.  In  portions  of  New 
Mexico  the  climate  is  more  equable,  the  mercury  rarely  rising  in 
Santa  Fe  above  90°,  though  for  one  or  two  days  in  December  it 
may  drop  to  zero.  But  the  hottest  portions  of  this  whole  region 
are  unquestionably  Southern  Arizona  and  Southern  Texas. 
At  Yuma,  Maricopa  Wells,  Tucson,  Phoenix,  Wickenberg and  other 
towns  of  Southern  Arizona,  and  at  Rio  Grande  City,  Laredo, 
Corsicana  and  other  towns  of  Southern  Texas  (Galveston  ex- 
cepted, in  consequence  of  its  island  climate),  the  summer  heat 
during  June,  July,  August  and  September  reaches  117°,  and  oc- 
casionally even  more,  and  rises  above  100°  usually  for  three- 
fourths  of  the  days  of  those  months.  Some  years  ago  a  company 
of  soldiers  were  stationed  at  a  fort  in  one  of  the  interior  valleys 
of  California.  The  weather  was  fearfully  hot,  the  mercury  at 
over  110°  in  the  shade,  and  the  men  were  grumbling  as  only 
soldiei;s  can  grumble  at  the  heat.  After  a  time  one  old  soldier, 
bronzed  by  the  tropical  heats,  said  :  "  Boys,  stop  grumbling ;  this 
weather  is  not  to  be  compared  with  what  we  had  at  Fort  Yuma." 
"Were  you  ever  at  Fort  Yuma?"  asked  the  soldiers.  "Yes,  I 
was  there  three  years,"  said  the  veteran.  "Well,  how  hot  was 
it  there?  How  hioh  did  the  thermometer  g"et?"  "I  don't  know 
anything  about  your  thermometers,"  answered  the  soldier  ;  "  but  I 
can  tell  you  this:  when  I  had  been  there  about  two  years,  two 
of  our  fellows  died,  and  they  were  pretty  hard  fellows,  too. 
Well,  the  second  night  after  they  died  they  came  back  after  their 
blankets,  and  they  hadn't  wanted  them  jonce  in  all  the  while  they 
had  been  in  Yuma." 

In  the  region  known  as  the  plains,  which  embraces  the  greater 


VARIATIONS    OF   CLIMATE. 


97 


part  of  ^Minnesota,  Iowa,  Western  Missouri,   Nebraska,  Kansas, 
Southeastern  Dakota,  Eastern  Wyoming  and  Eastern  Colorado, 
part  of  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory,  and  Northern  Texas, 
the  cHmate  is  generally  warm  in  summer,  though  the  heat  is  not 
intense.     The  spring  opens  earlier  as   we   proceed   southward, 
and  the  autumn   is  later.     There  are  strono-  winds  and  some- 
times  cyclones,  but,  except  in  Minnesota  and  Iowa,  the  snow  does 
not  cover  the  ground  for  any  long  period,  and  cattle  and  sheep 
require  little  or  no  shelter  or  winter  feeding.     Prudent  herdsmen 
and  sheep-masters  make  provision   for  fifty  or  sixty  days  shelter 
of  their  herds  or  flocks,  and  for  feeding  them  during  that  time  ;  but 
in  at  least  two  seasons  out  of  three,  the  food  and  shelter  are 
not  needed,  or  for  a  few  days  only.     This  does  not  apply  to  the 
two  States  named  above,  where  the  winter  generally  lasts  for  a'; 
least  four  or  five  months.     There  is,  moreover,  a  very  consider- 
able difference  in  the  climate  of  these  plains,  resulting  from  their 
increasing  elevation  as  we  proceed  w^estward.     Though  they  are 
called  plains  and  prairies,  they  are  really  plateaux,  rising  grad- 
ually from  the  Mississippi  or  Missouri  river  to  the  eastern   slope 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.    Theirelevadon  on  the  eastern  border  of 
the  plateau  is  from  600  to  800  feet  above  the  sea.    At  the  western 
boundary  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  it  is  over  5,000  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  at  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Eastern 
Colorado  between  6,000  and  7,000  feet.     Indeed,  so  gradual  is 
the  ascent,  and  so  nearly  of  the  same  height  with  the  passes  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  (that  over  which  the  Union  Pacific  crosses 
being  only  about  8,700  feet  above  the  sea)  diat  passengers  on 
that  road  often  inquire,  when  they  will  begin  to  ascend  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  after  they  have  crossed  this  pass,  or,  as  the  western 
people  say,  "  the  divide."     On  these  more  elevated  lands  the  sun 
may  be  hot  at  mid-day  in  summer,  but  the  nights,  and  evening, 
and  morning,  are  always  cool  and  refreshing.     The  annual  range 
of  the  thermometer  is  only  from  fifty-five  to  sixty  degrees,  and 
catde,  and  sheep,  except,  perhaps,  once  in  eight  or  ten  years,  can 
browse  throughout  the  endre  winter  without  shelter.     The  ab- 
sence of  trees  in  the  western   portion  of  this  plateau  also  modi- 
fies this  climate  to  some  extent,  making  the  summer's  heat  more 

7 


qS  our   western  empire. 

intense,  and  the  cold,  wintry  winds  more  searching,  and  far- 
reachino-  in  their  effect.  The  changes  now  o-oinc^  on,  all  alonq- 
this  region,  as  the  result  of  breaking  up  the  hard  beaten  soil,  and 
planting  trees  in  great  numbers,  will  not  be  without  their  effect 
in  modifying  the  temperature ;  and  by  the  interposition  of 
masses  of  timber,  breaking  the  fury  of  the  winds. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  apart  from  such  diseases  as  may 
be  induced  or  aggravated  by  a  rarefied  atmosphere,  this  elevated 
region  is  more  healthful  than  any  other  on  our  continent.  There 
are  enoueh  who  die  from  natural  or  unnatural  causes,  but  the 
dry,  pure,  invigorating  atmosphere  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  pla- 
teaux is  eminently  conducive  to  healtli,  especially  to  those  who 
are  suffering  from  pulmonary  diseases.  Still  to  reap  the  full 
benefit  of  this  climate,  the  health-seeker  must  stay  there.  A 
return  to  the  East  after  one,  or  two,  or  even  four  years  almost 
inevitably  brings  back  the  disease,  and  causes  it  to  prove  fatal. 

We  have  elsewhere  discussed  the  rainfall  of  most  portions  of 
this  vast  Western  Empire.  It  is  even  more  varied  in  quantity, 
in  different  districts,  than  is  the  climate  in  temperature.  The 
Northwest  coast,  in  Washington,  Oregon,  and  the  extreme  north- 
ern portion  of  California,  have,  at  some  points,  a  more  copious 
rainfall  than  any  other  portion  of  the  United  States,  though  nearly 
approached  by  some  points  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  In  two  or 
three  places  in  the  States  and  Territory  named,  the  annual  pre- 
cipitation ranges  from  123  to  135  inches,  and  once  or  twice  has 
exceeded  even  the  latter  figure :  ten  or  eleven  feet  of  rainfall. 
At  San  Diego  on  the  same  coast,  but  nearly  1,000  miles  farther 
south,  the  rainfall  in  1876-77  was  but  ^y.Zo  inches;  and  at  Fort 
Yuma,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado,  in  1877-78,  but  2.00  inches. 
These  are  the  extremes.  On  the  Gulf  coast  in  Texas,  the  pre- 
cipitation is  large,  ranging  from  fifty-four  to  sixty-seven  inches.  In 
the  interior  the  amount  varies  with  the  loncritude.  From  the  Mis- 
sissippi  river  to  about  the  97th  degree  of  west  longitude  it  ranges 
from  fort)'-five  inches  to  twenty-eight  inches,  diminishing  as  we 
proceed  westward.  From  this  meridian  to  about  1 1  7,  it  ranges 
from  twenty-five  inches  to  twelve  inches,  or  perhaps  1 1.5  in  some 
seasons.       Farther    west    it    rises    to    thirty-three    inches,    and 


COMPARATIVE   RAINFALL.  qq 

between  the  Cascades  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  attains  at  some 
points  to  forty-two  inches.  Of  course  there  are  variations  from 
north  to  south  as  weh  as  from  east  to  west ;  variations  produced 
also  by  the  presence  or  absence  of  extensive  forests,  by  the  com- 
pactness of  the  soli,  owing  to  its  having  been  for  hundreds  of 
years  trodden  under  the  hoofs  of  milhons  of  bisons,  or  its  porous- 
ness from  thoroucrh  cuhivation.     The  electrical  condition  of  the 

o 

atmosphere  has  also  much  to  do  with  the  amount  of  precipitation. 
In  general  it  may  be  said  that  fully  two-thirds  of  the  arable  lands 
of  the  Great  West  have  a  sufficient  amount  of  precipitation  to 
raise  any  desired  crops,  with  deep  plowing,  and  the  other  third, 
while  requiring  moderate  and  in  some  cases  very  thorough  irri- 
gation to  produce  the  largest  crops,  are  so  situated  as  to  be  able  at 
moderate  expense  to  obtain  all  the  water  needed  for  this  purpose, 
and  under  its  influence  yield  such  abundant  crops  as  to  pay,  in 
one  or  at  the  utmost  two  years,  the  cost  of  the  ditches.  Indeed 
the  proprietors  of  the  irrigated  lands  look  down  with  a  half-con- 
temptuous pity  upon  the  poor  farmers  who  are  dependent  upon 
the  rainfall  alone  for  their  crops.  "  Poor  fellows,"  they  say, 
•'  when  they  sow  their  grain  or  plant  their  crops,  they  can  never 
tell  what  will  befall  them:  they  may  have  too  much  rain,  and 
their  crops  will  be  drowned  out,  or  rot  in  the  earth,  or  they  may 
not  have  enough,  and  their  fields  will  be  burned  by  the  fiery 
breath  of  the  sun  ;  they  can  never  tell  whether  they  can  raise  a 
crop  or  not.  With  us,  now,  the  whole  matter  can  be  determined 
with  mathematical  exactness.  W^e  know  just  how  much  water  is 
needed  to  bring  the  land  to  its  highest  productiveness,  and  we 
give  it  just  that  much  and  no  more.  If  we  have  rains  we  irrigate 
less;  if  the  season  is  dry,  we  turn  on  more  water,  and  we  have 
a  good  crop  every  year."  As  the  vacillating  judge  said  :  "  There 
is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  this  question." 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  high  winds  which  prevail  over 
some  portions  of  this  vast  region  ;  but  the  investigations  of  the 
Signal  Service  officers  have  in  a  great  degree  systematized  our 
knowledge  on  this  subject.  On  the  Pacific  coast,  and  as  far  east- 
ward as  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  or  Cascade  Mountains, 
and  possibly  for  a  part  of  the  distance,  where  they  obtain  access 


jQQ  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

through  transverse  valleys  to  the  western  slope  of  the  ROcky 
Mountains,  the  west  winds  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  laden  with 
moisture,  sweep  across  the  mountains  and  valleys,  depositing 
much  of  their  water  as  snow  upon  the  mountains.  These  are 
cool  but  not  cold  winds.  From  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  ice-clad 
waters  of  the  north  comes  down,  especially  in  winter,  a  cold, 
piercing  wind,  through  the  broad  valley  of  the  Red  river  of  the 
North,  producing  intense  cold  and  often  snows  on  the  plains,  and 
spending  much  of  its  fury  on  the  Mississippi  valley  and  States 
farther  east.  This  is  perhaps  the  source  of  the  Texas  Northers, 
though  the  severity  of  the  cold  has  been  much  diminished  before 
it  reaches  the  Gulf  coast.  East  winds  are  not  prevalent  in  any 
part  of  this  region,  and  when  they  do  occur  have  no  special 
character  or  significance.  A  south  wind  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  is  much  more  frequent,  and  is  generally  a  moist  and 
grateful  wind  ;  sometimes  in  the  summer  it  may  bring  with  it 
electrical  phenomena,  and  be  the  herald  of  destructive  cyclones. 
The  southwest  wind  which  sweeps  across  Arizona,  Western 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Southern  Utah,  and  Nevada,  affecting 
also  at  times  Western  Colorado  and  Wyoming,  is  from  Mexico, 
and  has  been  heated  in  its  passage  across  the  semi-tropical  lands 
of  Mexico  and  Central  America  till  it  blows  a  hot  blast  over 
these  lands  which  intensifies  the  summer's  heat,  though  it  may 
make  the  autumn  and  winter  milder.  As  the  country  becomes 
setded  and  cultivated,  this  hot  wind  will  lose  something  of  its 
intensity,  and  become  rather  an  agreeable  adjuvant  in  mitigating 
the  cold  of  the  wintry  months. 


MINING   PROCESSES  FOR    GOLD  AND   SILVER.  jqj 


CHAPTER   X. 

The  various  Processes  of  Mining — Placer  Mining — Gold  Discovery  in 
California — The  Pan — The  Rocker — The  Ditch  and  the  "Tom" — 
The  Sluice — Hydraulic  Mining — Hydraulic  Mining  not  ^esthetic — 
Lode  or  Quartz  Mining — True  Fissure  Veins — The  "Country"  Rock 
— Chimneys,  Chimes,  or  Bonanzas — Pockets — Contact  Lodes — Gold 
combined  with  Sulphurets — Storing — Depth  of  Mines — The  Reduction 
OF  Pyritous  Ores — Gold  ^VITH  Oxide  of  Iron — Cost  of  Reduction  of  Gold 
— Discoveries  of  Silver  Ores — Silver  widely  diffused — Modes  of 
Reduction — The  best  Mining  Regions — Placer  Mining:  the  best 
Locations — Difficulties  of  Placer  Mining — Difficulties  of  Lode  or 
Vein  Mining — The  best  Mines  bought  up  by  Capitalists — The  best 
Locations  for  Experts. 

We  confine  our  attention  for  the  present  to  mining  for  gold 
and  silver,  including,  however,  the  ores  of  lead  and  copper 
and  perhaps  iron,  with  which  they  are  found  combined  or  com- 
mingled. Gold  mining  is  of  two  kinds,  and  each  kind  has  its 
several  processes.  These  two  kinds  are  Placer  vi\\x\\x\^,  and  Lode 
mining.  Silver  is  always  found  only  in  lodes,  but  these  are  of 
various  forms  or  combinations.  Placers  are  deposits  of  gold 
nearly  in  a  pure  state,  which  at  some  time,  remote  or  recent,  have 
been  washed  out  of  the  veins  or  lodes  into  which  they  were 
injected  by  some  convulsion  of  nature,  by  the  long  continued 
action  of  running  water,  and  deposited  with  gravel  or  clay  on 
the  bed  rock  of  the  stream  which  bore  them  down  its  current. 
The  beds  of  most  of  the  streams  flowing  from  the  mountains, 
especially  if  they  have  cut  deep  channels  in  the  rocks  in  any 
portion  of  their  course,  were  found  to  contain  these  placers,  of 
greater  or  less  value;  but  the  placers  which  are  found  in  the 
beds  of  ancient  streams,  which  by  upheaval  or  change  of  course 
have  ceased  to  flow,  and  are  perhaps  now  many  hundred  feet 
below  the  surface,  are  usually  more  productive  than  those  of 
more  recent  origin.  The  placer  gold  is  free  gold  ;  that  is,  it  is 
uncombined  with  any  other  mineral,  and  may  exist  as  a  powder, 
as  scales,  or  as  little  pellets  or  nuggets  of  considerable  size.  \\\ 
California,  as  everywhere  else,  it  was  the  flrst  gold  discovered, 
and  there,  by  accident. 


I02  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  Story  of  this  discovery  has  been  often  related ;  but  the 
staternent  made  by  the  late  Hon.  ].  Ross  Browne  in  1867,  when 
he  was  United  States  Mining  Commissioner,  is  believed  to  be  the 
only  one  which  gives  the  facts  as  they  were.     Mr.  Browne  says: 

"It  was  on  the  19th  day  of  January,  1848,  ten  days  before  the 
treaty  of  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  was  signed,  and  three  months 
before  the  ratified  copies  were  exchanged,  that  James  W.  Marshall, 
while  engaged  in  digging  a  race  for  a  saw-mill  at  Coloma,  about 
thirty-five  miles  eastward  from  Sutter's  Fort,  found  some  pieces 
of  yellow  metal,  which  he  and  the  half-dozen  men  working 
with  him  at  the  mill  supposed  to  be  gold.  He  felt  confident  that 
he  had  made  a  discovery  of  great  importance,  but  he  knew 
nothing  of  either  chemistry  or  gold  mining,  so  he  could  not 
prove  the  nature  of  the  metal  or  tell  how  to  obtain  it  In  paying 
quantities.  Every  morning  he  went  down  to  the  race  to  look 
for  the  bits  of  the  metal;  but  the  other  men  at  the  mill  thought 
Marshall  was  very  wild  in  his  ideas,  and  they  continued  their 
labors  in  building  the  mill,  and  In  sowing  wheat,  and  planting 
vegetables.  The  swift  current  of  the  mill-race  washed  away  a 
considerable  body  of  earthy  matter,  leaving  the  coarse  particles 
of  gold  behind,  so  Marshall's  collection  of  specimens  continued 
to  accumulate,  and  his  associates  beo^an  to  think  there  mlcrht  be 
somethlnof  In  his  Qrold  mine  after  all.  About  the  middle  of 
February,  a  Mr.  Bennett,  one  of  the  party  employed  at  the  mill, 
went  to  San  Francisco  for  the  purpose  of  learning  whether  this 
metal  was  precious,  and  there  he  was  introduced  to  Isaac 
Humphrey,  who  had  washed  for  gold  In  Georgia.  The 
experienced  miner  saw  at  a  glance  that  he  had  the  true  stuff 
before  him,  and  after  a  few  inquiries  he  was  satisfied  that  the 
diggings  must  be  rich.  He  made  immediate  preparation  to  go 
to  the  mill,  and  tried  to  persuade  some  of  his  friends  to  go  with 
him,  but  they  thought  it  would  be  only  a  waste  of  time  and 
money,  so  he  went  with  Bennett  for  his  sole  companion. 

"He  arrived  at  Coloma  on  the  7th  of  March,  and  found  the 
work  at  the  mill  going  on  as  if  no  gold  existed  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  next  day  he  took  a  pan  and  spade  and  washed  some 
of  the   dirt   from   the   bottom  of  the  mill-race  In  places   where 


GOLD  DISCOVERY  IN  CALIFORNIA.  lO" 

Marshall  had  found  his  specimens,  and  in  a  few  hours  Humphrey 
declared  that  these  mines  were  far  richer  than  any  in  Georgia. 

"  He  now  made  a  rocker,  and  went  to  work  washinor  trold 
industriously,  and  every  day  yielded  him  an  ounce  or  two  of 
metal.  The  men  at  the  mill  made  rockers  for  themselves,  and 
all  were  soon  busy  in  search  of  the  yellow  metal. 

"  Everything  else  was  abandoned  ;  the  rumor  of  the  discovery 
spread  slowly.  In  the  middle  of  March,  Pearson  B.  Reading, 
the  owner  of  a  large  ranch  at  the  head  of  the  Sacramento  valley, 
happened  to  visit  Sutter's  Fort,  and  hearing  of  the  mining  at 
Coloma,  he  went  thither  to  see  it.  He  said  that  if  similarity  of 
formation  could  be  taken  as  proof,  there  must  be  gold  mines 
near  his  ranch,  so  after  observing  the  method  of  washing,  he 
posted  off,  and  in  a  few  weeks  he  was  at  work  on  the  bars  of 
Clear  creek,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  northwestward  from 
Coloma.  A  few  days  after  Reading  had  left,  John  Bidwell, 
since  representative  of  the  northern  district  of  the  State  in  the 
lower  house  of  Congress,  came  to  Coloma,  and  the  result  of  his 
visit  was  that  in  less  than  a  month  he  had  a  party  of  Indians 
from  his  ranch  washing  gold  on  the  bars  of  Feather  river,  seventy- 
five  miles  northwestward  from  Coloma.  Thus  the  mines  were 
opened  at  far  distant  points." 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1848,  the  only  paper  published  in  San 
Francisco  said:  "The  whole  country,  from  San  Francisco  to 
Los  Ano-eles,  and  from  the  sea-shore  to  the  base  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  resounds  with  the  sordid  cry  of  gold !  gold!  gold! 
while  the  field  is  left  half  planted,  the  house  half  built,  and  every- 
thing neglected  but  the  manufacture  of  picks  and  shovels,  and 
the  means  of  transportation  to  the  spot  where  one  man  obtained 
^1^128  worth  of  the  real  stuff"  in  one  day's  washing;  and  the 
average  for  all  concerned  is  ^20  per  diem." 

"  The  towns  and  farms  were  deserted,  or  left  to  the  care  of 
women  and  children,  while  rancheros,  wood-choppers,  mechanics, 
vaqueros,  and  soldiers  and  sailors,  who  had  deserted  or  obtained 
leave  of  absence,  devoted  all  their  energies  to  washing  the 
auriferous  gravel  of  the  Sacramento  basin.  Never  satisfied, 
however   much   they   might   be   making,   they    were   continually 


IQ4  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

looking  for  new  placers  which  might  yield  them  twice  or  thrice 
as  much  as  they  had  made  before.  Thus  the  area  of  their  labors 
gradually  extended,  and  at  the  end  of  1S48  miners  were  at  work 
in  every  large  stream  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
from  the  Feather  to  the  Tuolumne  river,  a  distance  of  150  miles, 
and  also  at  Reading's  diggings,  in  the  northwestern  corner  of 
the  Sacramento  valley." 

For  the  first  two  years  the  miners  who  made  these  discoveries 
depended  for  their  profits  mainly  on  the  pan  and  the  rocker. 
The  placer  miner's  pan  was  made  of  sheet-iron  or  tinned  iron, 
with  a  flat  bottom  about  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  sides  six  inches 
high,  inclining  outwards  at  an  angle  of  forty  or  fifty  degrees. 
The  gold  was  found,  as  it  usually  is,  in  a  tough  clay  which 
enveloped  gravel  and  large  pebbles  as  well  as  sand.  This  clay 
must  be  thoroughly  dissolved  or  reduced  to  the  condition  of 
fluid  mud  ;  and  so  the  miner  filled  his  pan  with  it,  went  to  tlie 
bank  of  the  river  or  stream,  squatted  down  there,  put  his  pan 
under  water,  and  shook  it  horizontally,  so  as  to  get  the  mass 
thoroughly  soaked  ;  then  picked  out  the  larger  stones  with  one 
hand  and  mashed  up  the  largest  and  toughest  lumps  of  clay,  and 
again  shook  his  pan  under  water,  and  when  all  the  dirt  seemed 
to  be  dissolved  so  that  the  gold  could  be  carried  to  the  bottom 
by  its  weight,  he  tilted  up  the  pan  a  little  to  let  the  thin  mud  and 
light  sand  run  out,  repeating  this  process  till  all  was  washed  out 
except  the  metal  which  remained  at  the  bottom. 

After  a  time  this  process  was  found  too  slow,  and  the  rocker 
took  its  place.  This  was  constructed  somewhat  like  a  child's 
cradle,  but  the  upper  end  was  considerably  higher  than  the 
lower,  and  contained  a  large  riddle  or  colander  of  sheet-Iron 
punched  with  holes  on  the  bottom  ;  underneath  tlie  floor  of  the 
rocker  was  provided  with  cleats  or  riffles,  extending  nearly 
across,  to  catch  the  gold.  The  miner  filled  his  riddle  with  pa)-- 
dirt  and  rocked  the  rocker  with  one  hand  while  he  poured  water 
upon  the  dirt  and  riddle  with  the  other.  The  water  and  the 
motion  dissolved  the  clay  and  carried  It  down  to  the  lloor  of  the 
rocker,  where  tlie  cleats  cauglit  the  gold,  while  the  mud  and 
water  ran  off.  The  riddle  could  be  taken  off  to  throw  out  the 
larger  stones. 


THE   ROCKER,    THE    TOM  AND     THE   SLUICE.  jq- 

Soon  the  rocker  was  abandoned  because  It  could  not  work 
fast  enouorh,  and  ditches  were  duor  and  flumes  constructed  to 
brine  the  water  from  a  sufficient  height  to  do  the  washinir-out 
of  the  clay  and  gravel  without  so  much  manual  labor  and  with 
more  abundant  production ;  some  of  these  flumes  were  very 
large  and  many  miles  in  extent,  and  erected  at  an  immense  cost. 
With  the  ditches  came  in  first  the  "Tom,"  which  had  previously 
been  used  in  Georgia:  a  trough  twelve  fefet  long,  eight  inches 
deep,  fifteen  inches  wide  at  the  head  and  thirty  at  the  foot ;  a 
riddle  of  sheet-iron,  punched  with  holes  half  an  inch  in  diameter, 
formed  the  bottom  of  the  "Tom"  at  the  lower  end,  so  placed 
that  all  the  water  and  the  mud  should  fall  through  the  holes  of 
the  riddle,  and  none  pass  over  the  sides  or  end.  The  water  fell 
into  a  flat  box  with  cleats  on  the  bottom,  giving  passage  at  alter- 
nate ends  to  the  mud  and  water,  while  the  gold  was  caught  on 
the  cleats  or  riffles.  A  stream  of  water  ran  constantly  through 
the  "Tom,"  into  the  head  of  which  the  pay-dirt  was  thrown  by 
several  men,  while  one  threw  out  the  stones  too  large  to  pass 
the  riddle  and  threw  back  to  the  head  the  lumps  of  clay  which 
had  reached  the  foot  without  beine  dissolved. 

The  "Tom"  was  succeeded  by  "the  Sluice,"  a  board-trough 
from  a  hundred  to  five  thousand  feet  long,  having  a  descent  of 
one  foot  in  twenty,  and  with  riffles  at  the  lower  end  to  catch  the 
gold.  Twenty  men  or  more  could  throw  in  the  pay-dirt  at  the 
upper  end,  and  the  water  in  its  long  and  rapid  course  would  tear 
the  lumps  to  pieces,  and  before  reaching  the  end  deposit  the  gold 
on  the  riffles,  from  which  it  is  taken  four  or  five  times  a  day. 
Where  the  gold  was  in  fine  powder  or  scales,  quicksilver  was 
placed  on  the  rifiles  to  form  an  instantaneous  amalgam,  and  thus 
very  much  of  the  gold  was  saved.  This  sluice  was  unquestion- 
ably the  most  efficient  and  successful  of  all  the  contrivances  in 
aid  of  placer-mining ;  but  there  was  now  a  new  difficulty,  or  a 
series  of  them,  to  be  overcome.  The  placers  in  the  river  and 
creek-beds  and  near  the  surface  of  gravel-beds,  were  beginning 
to  give  out ;  in  many  places,  too,  these  placer-deposits  had  been 
traced  up  to  the  lodes  or  veins  in  the  rocks  which  had  been 
worn  down  by  the  water  of  the  stream,  and  which  had  thus  fur- 


jq5  our   western  empire. 

nished  the  placer-deposits.  It  was  discovered,  also,  that  there 
were,  in  many  places,  extensive  deposits  of  gold-bearing  gravel, 
hills  of  considerable  height  and  length,  which  had,  untold  ages 
before,  been  the  beds  of  rivers,  but  had  been  upheaved,  and 
were  now  rich  placers,  if  they  could  be  broken  down  and  the 
pay-dirt  run  through  the  sluices.  To  do  this  by  hand  labor  was 
too  costly  and  wearisome.  Even  now,  in  the  best  sluices  con- 
nected with  good  ditches,  the  labor  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  men 
in  a  fair  placer-deposit,  was  not  sufficient  to  supply  the  sluice 
with  pay-dirt,  and  much  of  the  costly  water  ran  to  waste. 

The  remedy  for  these  difficulties  was  found  in  "hydraulic  min- 
ino-."  The  sluice  was  enlarged,  and  its  upper  portion  expanded 
so  as  to  take  in  a  width  of  perhaps  a  hundred  feet  of  the  adjacent 
hill,  which  had  previously  been  found  to  contain  gold ;  water  was 
supplied  to  it  from  a  ditch  usually  with  a  considerable  head,  and 
standing  at  a  convenient  distance,  say  200  feet  or  more,  from 
the  face  of  the  hill,  a  strong  miner  directed  upon  it  a  stream  of 
water  from  a  hose-pipe  or  nozzle  having  a  diameter  of  three  to 
six  inches,  and  a  head  of  two  or  three  hundred  feet.  The  effect 
of  this  continuous  stream  of  water  coming  with  such  force  must 
be  seen  to  be  appreciated ;  wherever  it  struck  it  tore  away 
earth,  gravel  and  boulders ;  if  the  pipe  was  directed  on  a  point 
some  distance  below  the  surface  of  the  hill,  the  crust  above  it 
soon  fell,  and  one,  two  or  three  hundred  cubic  yards  of  earth 
were  washed  into  the  sluice  in  a  single  day.  Bars  were  placed 
across  the  sluice  to  arrest  and  turn  off  the  larger  stones  and 
boulders,  and  four  or  five  men  could  accomplish  more  and  gain 
larger  returns  than  four  or  five  hundred  by  the  old  processes. 

This  process  of  washing  down  the  hills  has  been  continued,  and 
is  still  in  progress  in  many  portions  of  the  gold-bearing  regions 
of  the  Great  V/est.  Sometimes  the  clay  which  binds  together 
the  gold-bearing  gravel  and  sand  is  too  tough  and  compact  to 
be  broken  down  even  by  the  force  of  the  hydraulic  stream ;  then 
the  miner  tunnels  the  hill  at  its  base  and  introduces  an  immense 
charge  of  gunpowder,  giant-powder,  gun-cotton,  dynamite  or 
nitro-glycerine,  which,  when  exploded,  breaks  up  the  tough  clay 
and  renders  the  hitherto  difficult  task  of  the  hydraulic  pipe  easy 


A   SECriON    OK    A    MINK — HVOKAl'MC    MIMNC. 


^:-:.^' 


HYDRAULIC  MIXING.  jq^ 

and  swift.  By  this  process  of  hydraulic  mining  the  gold  produc- 
tion has  been  largely  maintained  at  nearly  its  old  standard,  and 
millions  of  dollars  worth  of  gold  bullion  have  been  put  upon  the 
market.  The  ordinary  placer  mining  is  nearly  at  an  end,  except 
at  some  of  the  newer  points.  It  is  still  conducted,  to  some  ex- 
tent, in  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  in  portions  of  Wyoming,  and  in 
the  Black  Hills;  but  hydraulic  mining  is  now  practised  wherever 
the  ancient  deposits  of  gold  in  gravel  can  be  found,  and  water 
with  a  sufficient  head  can  be  obtained. 

Hydraulic,  or  even  sluice  mining  is  not  an  aesthetic  pursuit; 
the  regions  where  it  is  practised  may  be,  before  the  miner's  ad- 
vent, like  the  garden  of  the  Lord  for  beauty;  but  after  his  work 
is  completed,  they  bear  no  resemblance  to  anything,  except  the 
chaos  which  greeted  the  eye  of  the  seer  at  the  dawn  of  the 
Mosaic  record  of  the  rehabilitation  of  the  earth  for  the  use  of 
man, — "w^ithout  form  and  void  " — ''Tohu  e  bohu' — "the  line  of 
confusion  and  the  stones  of  emptiness,"  It  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive of  anything  more  desolate,  more  utterly  forbidding,  than  a 
region  which  has  been  subjected  to  this  hydraulic  mining  treat- 
ment ;  boulders  of  all  sizes  are  scattered  over  the  surfS.ce,  and 
around  them  coarse  gravel,  incapable  of  sustaining  vegetation  ; 
the  streams  are  filled  up  with  a  fine  clay,  and  very  possibly  over- 
flow their  banks,  producing  dreary  marshes,  and  the  whole  vista 
is  one  of  extreme  desolation  and  ruin. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  tracing  up  of  the  gold  deposits 
of  the  placers  to  the  lodes  or  veins  from  which  they  had  been 
washed  out;  let  us  now  turn  to  these  veins  or  lodes,  and  ascer- 
tain what  were  the  processes  by  which  the  precious  metal  was 
extracted  from  them,  or,  in  other  words,  how  lode,  or,  as  it  is 
often  called,  quartz  mining  is  conducted. 

And,  first,  of  the  vein  or  lode.  Where  this  contains  gold  (and 
it  is  of  gold  mining  we  are  now  speaking),  it  is  almost  always 
a  vein  of  quartz,  and  usually  of  the  milky  opaque  kind,  scarcely 
showing  any  signs  of  crystallization.  It  is  often  found  in  slate, 
sometimes  in  porphyritic  rock.  The  quartz  is  sometimes  very 
hard,  sometimes  soft  and  crumbling;  it  may  show  the  gold,  if  that 
is  in  particles  of  considerable  size,  but  where  it  is  in  fine  grains, 


I08  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

it  frequently  does  not  show  it  at  all.  The  gold  is  very  irreg- 
ularly distributed  in  the  quartz,  some  portions  being  largely 
charged  with  it,  while  again,  for  long  distances,  the  quartz  vein 
is  entirely  barren  of  gold.  Sometimes  the  vein  contains  rounded 
pebbles,  or,  as  Eastern  men  would  say ,  cobble-stones,  of  large 
size,  of  very  hard  quartz,  containing  no  gold,  but  bridging  or 
plugging  the  vein.  These  are  generally  surrounded  by  soft, 
sometimes  crumbling,  quartz,  which  usually  contains  some  gold. 
They  are  called  by  the  miners  "  boulder  veins."  Sometimes  the 
course  of  the  vein  is  blocked  by  a  mass  of  porphyry  or  hard 
slate,  which  completely  stops  the  miner's  progress  until  it  is  cut 
through,  and  it  may  extend  for  several  feet  or  yards.  This  is 
called  by  the  miners  a  "horse." 

A  true  fissure  vein  is  one  which  is  formed  by  the  filling  up  of 
a  crack  or  fissure  in  the  harder  rocks  (occasioned  by  earthquake, 
upheaval,  or  in  some  other  way)  with  conglomerate,  quartz  and 
other  matters,  into  which  gold,  either  free  or  in  combination  with 
other  metals  or  minerals,  has  been  injected  at  intervals,  in  a  iluid 
state.  The  width  of  the  vein  is  the  width  of  the  crack  or  fissure; 
its  length,  the  length  to  which  the  fissure  extends  within  a  mod- 
erate distance  of  the  surface ;  its  depth  may  be  limited  by  the 
depth  of  the  stratum  in  which  it  occurs,  but  more  generally  ex- 
tends far  lower  than  any  mining  excavations  can  reach.  The 
fissures  and  the  veins  are  found  at  all  conceivable  angles  or  dips. 
Rarely  they  are  found  nearly  horizontal,  but  this  though  at  first 
a  seeming  advantage,  is  hardly  a  real  one,  inasmuch  as  from 
the  nearly  level  character  of  the  land  adjacent  there  will  be  great 
difficulty  eventually  in  freeing  the  lower  levels  of  the  mine  from 
the  water  which  accumulates.  Often  the  dip  of  the  fissure  and 
the  strata  adjacent  is  at  an  angle  of  twenty,  thirty,  forty,  or  fifty 
degrees  with  the  surface;  sometimes  it  is  even  perpendicular; 
and  where  the  anor-le  is  considerable  and  the  vein  or  lode  is  first 
discovered  on  a  hillside  or  near  its  summit,  a  tunnel  run  at  a 
much  lower  level,  so  as  to  strike  the  vein,  affords  the  best  means 
of  draining  it. 

Not  only  does  the  fissure  dip  at  very  various  angles,  but  it 
may  penetrate  the  harder  rocks  at  any  angle  varying  from  the 


TRUE   FISSURE    VEINS    OR    lODES.  lOo 

perpendicular,  so  that  the  entire  vein  may  enter  the  rocks  in  a 
slanting  direction,  and  the  walls  of  slate  or  porphyry  which  en- 
close the  vein,  and  are  called  in  miners'  parlance  "  country  rock," 
may  slope  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  or  be  even  nearly 
horizontal  in  position,  while  they  have  at  the  same  time  the 
downward  trend  of  the  rocky  stratum  to  which  they  belong. 

The  true  fissure  vein  may  have,  and  the  best  veins  often  do 
have,  chimneys,  chutes,  bonanzas,  or  branch  fissures,  generally 
connecting  with  the  main  vein  or  lode  on  its  upper  side,  at  an 
angle  of  from  thirty  to  forty-five  degrees,  which  may  be  richer 
in  gold  than  the  main  vein.  These  chutes  or  chimneys  often 
extend  downward  into  the  true  or  main  vein,  and  are  thought  to 
determine  in  part  its  value.  The  mining  geologists  think  that 
they  were  deposited  much  as  soot  is  in  a  chimney,  the  gold  being 
in  a  fluid  or  gaseous  condition  at  the  time. 

Gold  as  well  as  silver  is  sometimes  found  in  considerable 
quantities  in  pockets,  or  small  cavities  in  the  rocks,  and  these, 
which  are  sometimes  of  moderate  extent,  may  yield  a  fortune  to 
one  or  two  men  ;  but  these  pockets  are  seldom  connected  with 
a  true  fissure  vein,  and  when  once  exhausted,  are  not  of  any 
value,  even  as  indications  of  the  presence  of  fissure  veins  or 
lodes  in  the  vicinity. 

It  was  supposed  previous  to  1877,  that  the  experience  of  cen- 
turies in  mining  for  gold  and  silver  had  developed  all  the  modes 
in  which  the  precious  metals  or  their  ores,  were  deposited  in  the 
earth,  to  be  brought  out  for  the  use  of  man.  The  placer  mines, 
and  the  veins  or  lodes,  the  true  fissure  veins,  as  they  were  called, 
were  reckoned  the  only  methods  by  which,  in  the  processes  of 
nature,  large  quantities  of  these  metals  or  ores  were  deposited. 
There  might  be,  indeed,  pockets  and  chimneys  of  nearly  pure 
metal,  which,  w^hen  the  miner  stumbled  upon  them,  would  add 
greatly  to  his  profits  so  long  as  they  lasted  ;  but  these  were  only 
incidents  or  accidents,  not  to  be  taken  into  account  in  scientific 
mining.  It  was  reserved  for  the  opening  of  mines  of  silver  and 
gold  at  Leadville,  and  subsequently  at  other  points  in  the  San 
Juan  and  Gunnison  districts,  and  probably  also  in  Utah,  to  bring 
to  light  two  discoveries  which  are  of  the  greatest  importance  to 


jIO  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

miners  and  holders  of  mining  property.  The  first  and  most 
obvious  one  was  that  silver,  and  to  some  extent  also  gold,  in 
combination  with  lead,  existed  in  large  quantities  and  very  rich 
ores,  in  other  forms  than  the  argentiferous  galena  or  sulphuret, 
and  that  sulphur  was  not  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  silver 
and  gold  ores,  whether  in  combination  with  lead,  zinc,  copper,  or 
iron.  The  caTboiiatcs  of  lead,  etc.,  have  proved  the  most  produc- 
tive of  combinations.  The  second  discovery  was  still  more 
important,  and  is  only  just  beginning  to  be  understood :  it  is, 
that  the  deposits  of  ore  need  not  be  in  fissure  veins,  or  lodes,  in 
placer's,  in  pockets,  or  in  chimneys ;  but  that  there  is  another 
form,  perhaps  as  productive,  and  certainly  more  easily  worked 
— that  of  "  contact  lodes,''  by  which  are  meant  deposits  of  silver 
ore,  spread  with  a  considerable  thickness  over  the  surface  of  a 
stratum  of  rock,  and  following  it  in  all  its  sinuosities  and  its  dip 
over  a  ereat  extent.  Unlike  the  fissure  veins,  these  are  not  of 
great  depth,  though  sometimes  they  occur  in  two  or  three  layers 
with  the  strata  of  sandstone  or  limestone  between.  These  con- 
tact lodes  generally  occur  in  cavernous  limestone  or  sandstone. 

As  we  have  already  intimated,  gold  is  found  in  the  lodes, 
either  free — i.  e.,  pure  or  nearly  so,  or  combined  with  sulphurets 
of  iron,  copper,  lead  or  zinc,  in  the  form  of  pyrites.  Its  treat- 
ment after  it  comes  from  the  mine  differs  somewhat  in  the  two 
cases.  The  amount  of  gold  in  the  quartz  is  often  very  small — 
smaller  one  hundred  feet  below  the  surface  than  near  the  surface; 
but,  except  in  the  barren  portions  of  the  vein,  not  diminishing  or 
increasing  very  greatly  in  the  lowest  levels  which  have  been 
reached  (and  some  of  these  exceed  3,000  feet,  or  three-fifths  of  a 
mile).  Quartz  or  ore  which  will  assay  twenty-three  or  four  dol- 
lars per  ton,  and  which  yields  after  being  put  through  the  stamp 
batteries  and  the  amalgamating  process  eighteen  dollars  per  ton, 
is  regarded  as  very  good.  Not  over  one-fourth  of  the  gold  mines 
exceed  this,  and  very  many  fall  below  it,  and  are  yet  worked  at 
a  moderate  profit. 

The  mining  and  reducing  processes  are  these  :  A  lode  or  vein 
having  been  traced  out  which  bears  evidence  of  being  a  true  fis- 
sure vein,  and  the  claim  (1,500  feet  in  length,  and  300  in  width, 


MINING  AND   REDUCING   PROCESSES.  m 

being  the  general  extent  of  a  single  claim)  being  duly  entered,  the 
mine-owner  begins  operations  by  sinking  a  shaft  in  the  line  of 
the  vein  to  ascertain  its  quality,  and,  when  the  shaft  is  down  fifty 
or  a  hundred  feet,  running  an  adit  or  level  along  the  course  of 
the  vein  to  ascertain  its  quality  at  that  depth  ;  sometimes  a  winze 
is  cut, — two  adits  at  different  levels  cutting  across  the  vein  or 
veins  at  levels  fifty  feet  apart,  and  connected  with  each  other  at 
their  further  extremity  by  a  shaft  which  does  not  rise  to  the  sur- 
face. Sometimes,  if  the  shaft  is  on  the  top  or  side  of  a  hill,  a 
tunnel  is  run  to  It  from  the  base  of  the  hill  for  the  purposes  of 
drainage,  ventilation  and  the  more  easy  transportation  of  the  ore. 
If  on  the  examination  of  the  quartz,  or  ore  taken  from  the  vein 
at  this  depth,  the  promise  of  success  is  good,  additional  capital 
is  enlisted,  and  the  shaft  is  constructed  to  a  greater  depth,  levels 
or  adits  run  at  different  levels  and  of  considerable  length,  rails 
put  down  on  the  levels,  steam-hoisting  machinery  set  up  at 
the  mouth  of  the  shaft,  pumping  machinery  put  in  to  relieve 
the  mine  of  the  accumulation  of  water  (which  is  often  very  hot — 
as  high  as  154°  F.  in  some  of  the  Nevada  mines),  and  stoping, 
either  overhand  or  underhand,  commenced,  especially  if  the  vein 
or  veins  dip  at  an  angle  of  40°  or  50°.  Stoping  is  the  break- 
ing out  with  a  pickaxe  the  quartz  of  the  vein,  and  letting  it  fall 
on  the  level  ready  to  be  hoisted  by  the  machinery.  If  the  miner 
stands  at  his  work  and  brings  down  the  quartz  from  the  vein  at 
the  level  of  his  breast  or  above,  it  is  called  "overhand  stoping;" 
if  he  picks  it  from  about  his  feet  or  below  and  stoops,  sits  or 
crouches  at  his  work,  and  the  masses  thus  broken  out  fall  to 
the  level  below,  it  is  "  underhand  stoping." 

This  mining,  if  profitable,  may  be  extended  to  as  great  a  depth 
as  may  be  desired,  the  only  checks  upon  it  being,  the  great  exr 
pense  of  the  pumping  apparatus  at  considerable  depths,  and  the 
difificulty  of  freeing  the  mine  from  water;  the  more  than  torrid 
temperature  in  the  deep  mines,  and  the  time  and  expense  of 
hoisting  the  ores  from  such  great  depths.  By  a  tunnel  like  the 
Sutro  tunnel,  the  water  can  be  carried  off  at  moderate  expense, 
the  heat  gready  mitigated  by  free  ventilation,  and  the  ores 
hoisted  and  brought  to  the  surface  at  a  much  lower  cost ;  but 
such  tunnels  are  exceedingly  expensive. 


112  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  ore  broken  out  and  hoisted  to  the  surface  is  now  ready 
for  reduction.  If  the  masses  are  of  large  size  they  are  at  first 
put  through  the  rock-breaker,  which  reduces  them  to  the  size  of 
a  goose-egg ;  they  are  next  conducted  to  the  stamp-batteries  or 
stamp-mill,  where  they  are  fed  into  the  stamping-machine,  a 
cyhndrical  machine,  whose  walls  are  of  hardened  chilled  iron,  its 
floor  or  mortar  of  the  hardest  steel,  and  a  solid  mass  of  chilled 
iron  faced  with  hard  steel,  of  cylindrical  form,  descends  with  a 
twisting  motion  upon  the  quartz,  grinding  and  crushing  it  to 
powder — the  inner  surface  of  the  cylinder  is  coated  generally 
with  quicksilver,  and  the  powdered  quartz  mingled  with  water  In 
the  stamping-machine,  flows  out  upon  amalgamated  copper 
plates,  which  have  a  sufficient  extent  to  catch  the  larger  part  of 
the  gold  particles.  The  stamping-machine  is  cleaned  out  at 
frequent  intervals,  and  the  plates  have  their  coating  of  amalgam 
removed,  the  superfluous  quicksilver  is  squeezed  out  through 
buckskin,  and  the  remainder  expelled  by  heat,  the  sublimed 
quicksilver  being  recovered  for  future  use.  The  gold  remains  a 
spongy  mass,  but  is  melted  and  cast  in  the  form  of  an  ingot. 

This  Is  the  Improved  process  of  to-day,  the  result  of  twenty- 
five  years  of  experiment  and  invention.  By  this  process  about 
seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  gold  is  saved,  whereas  with  the 
ruder  processes  of  the  arastra  and  the  earlier  stamp-mills,  only 
from  sixteen  to  forty  per  cent,  of  the  gold  was  secured;  and  the 
working  over  of  the  tailings  of  the  arastras  and  of  the  long 
Toms,  and  early  sluices,  by  Chinese  miners,  yielded  them  a  very 
profitable  harvest  of  gold.  A  new  process  has  recently  been 
devised,  which,  bringing  galvanic  action  to  bear  upon  the  masses 
of  ore  of  the  size  of  a  goose-egg,  reduces  them  to  a  state  of  dis- 
integration, rendering  the  stamp-mills  unnecessary  and  causing 
the  lumps  to  crumble  upon  mere  pressure,  sets  the  entire  gold  in 
the  ore  free  instantly,  and  thus  dispensing  with  much  costly  ma- 
chinery, at  the  same  time  greatly  increases  the  gold  production. 

If,  as  was  largely  the  case  in  Colorado  and  to  some  extent  In 
some  of  the  other  States  and  Territories,  the  gold  was  combined 
with  the  sulphurets,  and  came  from  the  mine  as  pyrites,  it  was, 
either  before  or  after  being  put  Into  the  rock-breaker,  roasted  to 


MINING  AND   REDUCING   PROCESSES.  x\X 

expel  the  sulphur,  which  prevented  amalgamation.  This  is  now 
done  at  some  mills  in  the  open  air,  at  others  in  furnaces.  When 
roasted  it  is  reduced  to  powder  under  water  in  the  stamp-mills, 
amalgamated  in  the  mortars,  passed  over  the  amalgamated  cop- 
per plates,  and  beyond  these  made  to  flow  over  rough,  thick, 
hairy,  woollen  blankets,  which  catch  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  gold  which  is  saved  by  repeated  washings  ;  the  stream  of 
water,  still  thick  with  the  powdered  quartz,  falls  into  tanks  called 
huddling  tanks,  where  it  settles,  and  from  the  lower  portion  of 
the  huddled  tailings,  a  dollar  or  two  more  of  gold  is  extracted. 
By  a  process  invented  by  T.  A,  Edison,  the  electrician,  these 
huddled  tailings  are  made  to  yield  up  a  large  and  profitable 
residue  of  the  sjold  hitherto  wasted. 

In  the  Black  Hills,  Dakota,  the  gold  is  largely  combined  or 
encrusted  with  oxide  of  iron,  and  requires  a  somewhat  different 
treatment,  to  free  it  from  the  iron,  which  prevents  the  gold  from 
amalgamating,  and  requires  the  patient  labor  of  the  Chinese  to 
extract  that  which  remains  in  the  tailings.  This  oxide  of  iron,  in 
the  placer  deposits,  coats  over  the  gold  and  gravel  and  forms  a 
dense  and  firm  cement,  sometimes  of  great  extent,  which  cannot 
be  washed  out  in  the  sluice-boxes,  but  requires  to  be  put  through 
the  stamp  batteries  like  the  quartz  from  the  lodes.  The  gold 
mines  of  the  Black  Hills  are  so  situated,  far  up  on  the  hills,  that 
the  ore  can  be  carried  directly  into  the  stamp-mills  by  chutes, 
and  hence,  though  the  gold  ores  are  of  low  grade,  averaging  not 
more  than  ^lo  or  ^12  per  ton,  the  cost  of  reduction  Is  so  small, 
ranging  from  $1.80  to  $4.50  per  ton,  that  the  profit  on  these 
uniform  low  erade  ores  is  better  than  is  obtained  on  ores  of 
higher  grade,  which  cost  more  for  reduction. 

Where  the  ores  contain  gold  and  silver  In  combination  with 
copper,  lead,  or  zinc,  and  sulphur,  a  more  active,  expensive  and 
protracted  treatment  is  necessary;  but  this  belongs  rather  to  sil- 
ver than  cfold-mlnlnQT.  Where  the  raw  amalgamation  and  wet 
crushing  process  described  above  is  all  that  is  necessary,  gold 
can  be  reduced  from  the  quartz  for  from  ;p3  to  ^5  per  ton,  and 
thus,  unless  the  transportation  is  too  expensive,  it  is  possible  to 
reduce  low  grade  ores,  those  containing  from  ^15  to  -^20  of  gold 


114 


OUR     WESTERN  EM  TIRE. 


to  the  ton,  and  maKC  a  fair  profit  on  the  business.  The  plant  or 
first  cost  of  a  stamp-mill  of  five,  ten,  or  even  twenty  stamps  is 
not  now  so  ereat,  as  to  deter  the  owners  of  a  cfood  mine  from 
setting-  it  up  ;  or  if  it  is  the  property  of  parties  who  are  not 
miners  but  who  understand  their  business,  two  or  three  mines 
of  moderate  size  can  keep  it  constantly  employed.  By  this  pro- 
cess, while  from  seventy  to  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  gold  is 
saved,  much,  generally  all,  of  the  silver  is  lost,  and  the  whole  of 
the  copper,  lead  and  zinc. 

Silver  was  first  discovered,  in  any  considerable  quantity,  in  these 
States  and  Territories,  in  Nevada  in  1S57  by  the  Grosh  brothers  ; 
but  owing  to  its  being  largely  combined  with  gold,  and  the 
death  of  the  discoverers  soon  after,  the  discovery  was  not 
prosecuted  at  first  very  vigorously.  In  June,  1859,  the  first 
great  discovery  of  silver  was  made  on  a  part  of  what  is  now  known 
as  the  Comstock  lode,  the  grounds  of  the  Ophir  Mining  Company. 
Peter  O'Reilly  and  Patrick  McLaughlin  were  the  discoverers, 
but  as  the  land  was  claimed  by  Kirby  and  others,  they  employed 
Henry  Comstock  to  purchase  the  land.  Comstock  negotiated 
at  the  same  time  one  or  two  other  claims,  and  finally  purchased 
the  whole  tract,  to  which  he  gave  his  name,  but  appreciated  its 
value  so  little,  that  he  sold  it  for  a  few  thousand  dollars,  and 
regarded  himself  as  havino-  made  an  excellent  baro-ain.    P>om  that 

o  *->  «-> 

Comstock  lode  or  vein,  more  than  three  hundred  millions  of 
dollars  have  been  taken  since  that  time — a  period  of  twenty 
years. 

Silver  is  found  in  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  different  systems  of 
rocks  forming  the  crust  of  the  earth,  from  Azoic  to  Tertiary.  Like 
the  gold  and  gold  ores,  it  is  found  only  in  veins,  though  these  are 
sometimes  of  great  width,  the  Comstock  lode  varying  from 
twenty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.*  The  depth  of  these  veins, 
like  those  of  the  gold,  has  never  been  ascertained,  but  it  is  known 
in  some  cases  to  exceed  2,650  feet.  The  ores  contain  the  silver 
in  various  conditions  and  combinations.     In  Nevada,  it  is  com- 

*  Since  tlic  partial  failure  of  these  veins,  and  the  discovery  of  contact  lodes  at  Leadville,  the 
idea  is  gaining  ground  that  a  jmrt  of  the  de])osits  of  the  Comstock,  and  especially  those  veins 
a  hundred  and  iifty  feet  wide,  may  be  conlaci  lodes. 


SILVER   MINING  AND   REDUCTION.  Ijr 

bined  with  a  certain  proportion  of  gold,  and  is  found  as  a 
sulphuret  of  silver  and  lead  (argentiferous  galena),  a  sulphuret 
of  silver  and  copper  (copper  pyrites),  of  zinc,  and  combined 
with  sulphurets  of  iron,  antimony,  tellurium  and  other  base 
metals ;  as  native  or  virgin  silver  ;  as  chloride  of  silver  or  horn 
silver;  as  a  richly  argentiferous  carbonate  of  lead,  copper,  zinc 
or  iron,  and  in  yet  other  combinations,  which  can  only  be  reduced 
by  long  and  tedious  labor  and  at  great  expense. 

A  large  propordon  of  the  silver  from  the  mines  on  the  Com- 
stock  lode  can  be  reduced  by  the  dry  stamping  and  amalgamating 
process.  These  are  those  in  which  the  percentage  of  lead  is 
small  and  that  of  gold  large.  In  these  cases  the  lead  is  lost,  but 
the  reduction  costs  only  from  four  to  five  dollars  a  ton.  Ores 
containing  more  lead,  or  copper,  zinc,  etc.,  are  variously  treated 
by  roasting,  smelting,  treating  with  copper,  iron,  or  "  lead  riches," 
mixing  with  salt  to  change  the  sulphurets  into  chlorides, 
chlorodizing,  leaching,  melting  in  a  reverbatory  furnace,  etc. 
The  ores  of  Colorado  are  partly  sulphurets  and  partly  carbonates, 
and  in  some  of  them  there  is  a  lars^e  amount  of  native  silver. 
The  Utah  ores  are  very  largely  chlorides  or  chlorides  and 
sulphurets,  with  some  "horn"  or  native  silver;  some  of  the 
California  ores  of  more  recent  discovery  are  carbonates.  Those 
of  Montana  are  mostly  sulphurets,  but  mingled  with  such  a 
variety  of  base  metals  and  in  such  a  condition  that  the  reduction 
is  effected  with  great  difficulty.  Indeed  until  the  recent 
establishment  of  the  Alta  Montana  mill  and  works  at  Wickes, 
most  of  the  ores  from  the  Montana  mines  have  been  only  con- 
centrated, and  sent  out  of  the  Territory  for  reduction.  The 
Alta  mill  concentrates,  and  employs  seven  or  eight  different 
processes  of  reduction,  all  of  them  expensive  and  requiring 
costly  and  complicated  machinery.  Ores  are  reduced  by  these 
processes  at  a  cost  of  from  $15.75  to  $50,  so  that  low  grade  ores 
do  not  pay  for  mining,  if  they  contain  much  of  the  base  metals. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  occupy  our  pages  with  minute  description 
of  these  various  processes,  or  the  machinery  constructed  for 
them.  They  can  only  be  worked  by  experts,  and  the  great 
competidon  for  business  in  the  numerous  reduction  estabHsh- 
ments  secures  the  miner  a^jainst  exorbitant  prices. 


I  l6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  which  are  absolutely  the  best  mining  regions. 
There  are  advantages  and  disadvantages  about  them  all,  to  the 
practical  miner  or  the  resident  mine-owner.  In  those  mines 
which  have  been  established  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  years,  like 
many  of  those  in  California  and  Nevada,  the  shares  are  high 
priced,  if  the  mines  continue  to  be  valuable  ;  the  depth  of  the 
mines  is  so  great,  and  the  danger  of  the  accumulation  of  water 
so  constant,  that  the  expenses  are  enormous,  and  large  as  the 
dividends  are,  the  assessments  made  on  the  shares  for  improve- 
ments nearly  equal,  and  in  some  cases  exceed  all  the  declared 
profits.  There  are,  indeed,  all  the  appliances  of  civilization,  and 
the  miner  or  mine-owner  is  not  subjected  to  the  hardships  and 
privations,  from  which  those  suffer  who  attempt  to  open  mines 
in  a  new  country.  Placer  mining  is  best  adapted  to  the  young 
and  enterprising  miner  who  has  little  or  no  capital.  He  needs 
at  the  outset  only  his  tin  or  iron  pan,  his  pick  and  shovel  and 
perhaps  a  little  quicksilver,  and  his  haversack  of  provisions — 
yes,  besides  these  he  needs  sufficient  knowledge  of  mining  to 
know  where  he  will  be  likely  to  find  a  place  with  a  moderately 
rapid  stream  of  water  at  hand,  and  when  found,  to  determine 
whether  it  will  pay  for  working,  or  whether  its  best  pay  streaks 
have  already  been  worked  over.  Even  if  his  gains  are  but 
moderate  at  first,  they  will  increase  under  favoring  circumstances, 
till  he  can  substitute  the  "Tom"  for  his  pan,  and  the  slufce  for 
the  "Tom,"  and  employing  help  can  increase  his  income  rapidly. 
But  placer  mining  is,  in  its  nature,  very  uncertain.  The  miner 
may  come  upon  barren  spots  where  there  is  no  pay-dirt,  and  his 
little  hoard  is  fast  becoming  exhausted  ;  or,  which  is  worse,  he 
may  come  to  the  end  of  the  placer,  or,  as  in  the  Black  Hills,  may 
find  it  a  hard  lava-like  mass,  agglutinated  and  firmly  cemented 
together  by  the  oxide  of  iron,  which  he  caimot  wash  away  nor 
pulverize,  and  hence,  like  the  tramp,  he  is  obliged  to  move  on. 
Meantime  his  life  is  of  the  hardest  and  rou^^^hest,  his  dwellino-  is 
either  a  dug-out  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  or  a  sod-hut,  reared  and 
roofed  by  his  own  unskilful  hands;  his  food  is  hard,  coarse,  and 
badly  cooked,  for  he  cooks  it  himself,  as  best  he  can ;  he  is  much 
of  the  time  in  wet  clothing,  in  his  work  of  washing  the  gold; 


THE   MINER'S   CHANCES   OF  SUCCESS.  nj 

without  society,  without  books,  without  a  Sabbath  or  any  reh- 
gious  privileges.  After  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  the  placer  gives 
out,  and  he  must  fmd  another.  What  he  has  saved  of  his  gains 
he  has,  but  there  is  no  right,  no  claim,  to  be  disposed  of;  he  can 
only  pull  up  stakes,  and  begin  again.  For  placer  mining  the 
Black  Hills,  Western  Colorado,  Montana,  and  perhaps  some  por- 
tions of  Wyoming,  and  Idaho,  Oregon,  and  Washington  Terri- 
tory, offer  the  best  locations. 

For  lode  or  vein  mining  more  capital  is  needed  for  success ; 
and  a  practical  knowledge  of  mining  is  almost  indispensable.  It 
makes  little  difference  whether  the  miner  seeks  a  eold  or  silver 
lode ;  he  must  be  sure  of  these  four  things :  that  he  is  not  on 
land  already  claimed  by  anybody ;  that  any  apparent  vein  he 
may  discover  is  a  true  fissure-vein,  and  not  a  placer-deposit,  nor 
a  mere  pocket ;  that  the  dip  of  the  vein  is  such  as  to  permit 
its  successful  working ;  and  that  the  ores  are  of  a  sufficiently 
high  grade  to  pay  the  costs  of  reduction  and  leave  a  small  mar- 
gin of  profit.  Here  again  the  privations  in  the  mode  of  living 
come  in,  and  unless  the  miner  has  considerable  capital,  he  is  lia- 
ble to  see  his  money  and  his  hard  toil  both  go  for  little  or  noth- 
ing, and  the  great  rewards  for  which  he  hoped,  pass  into  the 
pockets  of  some  one  who  has  more  money  but  less  brains  than 
himself;  when  he  has  reached  the  end  of  his  means,  and  is 
obliged  to  sell  at  any  price  which  the  avarice  of  the  buyer  will 
prompt  him  to  give. 

If  he  can  hold  out  and  hold  on,  and  enlist  sufficient  capital  to 
assist  in  the  full  development  of  his  mine,  there  is  a  fortune 
before  him,  but  in  all  the  mininof  reofions  there  are  not  two  dozen 
well-developed  mines,  of  which  the  original  discoverers  are  still 
proprietors.  Most  of  these  mines  have  from  ^150,000  to 
^5,000,000  or  more  invested,  and  even  these  gigantic  capitals  do 
not  always  yield  a  profit.  In  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  and 
even  in  the  newer  mines  of  Colorado,  Montana,  and  the  Black 
Hills,  capitalists  stand  ready  to  gobble  up  any  promising  mines, 
paying  always  the  lowest  prices  at  which  they  can  be  bought, 
but  developing  them  as  speedily  as  possible,  by  a  lavish  expen- 
diture for  machinery  and  appliances,  and  by  sinking  lower  levels 


Il8  OUR    WESTER xV   EMPIRE. 

in  the  mines.  In  Nevada  the  bonanza  kings  own  all  the  best 
mines,  and  work  them  together  or  separately.  In  Colorado  a 
group  of  millionnaires,  or  rather,  as  "Josh  Billings"  would  put  it, 
ten-millionnaires,  have  obtained  control  of  all  the  richest  mines 
around  Leadville ;  in  the  Black  Hills  one  gigantic  California  firm 
own  all  the  valuable  mines  on  the  great  Belt  near  Deadwood, 
and  stand  ready  to  purchase  any  other  promising  mine.  In 
Utah  and  Montana  Eastern  capitalists  control  the  largest  mines. 

For  the  skilful  mining  engineer,  or  the  intelligent  practical 
miner,  if  he  prefers  gold  mining,  the  Black  Hills,  Colorado,  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona  offer  the  best  fields,  and  perhaps  Oregon 
and  Washington  Territory  furnish  some  good  opportunities  for 
industrious  and  skilful  men.  For  silver  mining,  Colorado,  possi- 
bly Nevada,  Arizona,  Utah,  Montana,  New  Mexico,  and  perhaps 
Idaho.  Texas  may  yet  develop  some  good  mines  of  gold  and 
silver,  but  there  is  thus  far  nothing  specially  attractive  there. 
California  is  not  opening  many  new  mines,  and  the  old  ones 
have  little  need  of  new-comers. 

To  capitalists  desirous  of  investing  in  mining  enterprises,  we 
have  no  advice  to  offer.  They  have  generally  their  own  ideas 
about  such  investments:  if  these  ideas  are  correct,  they  will  be 
successful ;  if  not,  so  much  the  worse  for  them. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


Other  Metals  and  Mineral  Products — Quicksilver — Copper — Lead  and 
Zinc — Iron — Platinum — Tin — Nickel — Iridium  and  Osmium — Tellurium 
— Antimony  —  Arsenic — Manganese  —  Sulphur  —  Borax — Soda — Salt — 
Coal — Wood  and  Charcoal  as  Fuel — Mineral  Springs. 

Mercury  or  quicksilver  is  found  rarely  in  its  native  or 
metallic  state,  but  generally  as  cinnabar  or  sulphide  of  mercury, 
abundantly  at  many  points  in  the  Coast  Range  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  but  is  only  mined  and  reduced  to  any  considerable  extent 
in  California,  where  the  New  Almaden  and  the  New  Idria  mines 
will  probably  exceed  the  great  Spanish  mines  from  which  they 


OIHER   METALS  AND   MIXER ALS.  j  Iq 

take  their  names.  Several  other  mines  in  the  vicinity  of  these 
are  in  operation,  and  whenever  there  is  an  increased  demand  for 
the  metal,  will  prove  profitable ;  but  now  that  the  long  litigation 
which  closed  the  two  principal  mines  for  a  number  of  years  is 
settled,  their  production  will  greatly  increase.  The  opening  of 
so  many  new  gold  mines,  and  the  great  extent  to  which  hydrau- 
lic mining  is  now  carried,  insures  a  prompt  market  at  paying 
prices,  for  all  the  quicksilver  which  these  mines  can  produce,  for 
thus  far  the  reduction  of  gold  without  quicksilver  has  been  found 
impossible.  There  are  large  deposits  of  cinnabar,  apparently 
inexhaustible,  in  Washoe  and  Nye  counties,  Nevada,  in  Utah, 
and  alleged  discoveries  of  it  have  been  made  in  Oregon  and  in 
Arizona. 

Coppej'. — The  ores  of  this  metal,  and  the  native  metal 
Itself,  though  not  in  large  masses  as  in  the  Lake  Superior  region, 
are  found  in  nearly  every  State  and  Territory  of  the  Great  West. 
It  is  found  in  all  forms;  without  admixture  with  other  metals,  as 
malachite,  the  beautiful  green  carbonate  of  copper,  the  red,  blue, 
gray,  yellow,  and  vitreous  carbonates  and  oxides,  as  copper-glance, 
tetrahedrite,  and  in  every  other  known  form  of  crystallizadon  ;  as 
copper  pyrites  in  combination  with  gold,  and  in  various  propor- 
tions, in  combination  with  silver,  both  in  the  carbonates  and 
sulphides. 

There  are  hundreds  of  copper  mines  in  California,  the  metal 
occurring  in  some  form  in  nearly  every  county  in  the  State. 
Some  of  these  have  proved  unprofitable,  owing  to  mismanage- 
ment, distance  from  market,  and  difficulty  or  impossibility  of 
their  reduction  near  home.  Recently  improved  methods  of 
smeltino-  have  been  introduced  in  California  and  other  States, 
and  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  ship  the  ores  to  Baltimore  or  to 
Swansea,  Wales,  to  be  reduced. 

Arizona  is  very  rich  in  copper  ores,  and  they  can  be  very 
easily  worked.  They  yield  from  thirty-six  to  sixty  per  cent,  or 
more  of  pure  copper.  Some  of  them  are  already  sending  large 
quantities  of  block-copper  to  San  Francisco.  Nevada  has  an 
abundance  of  copper,  but  it  is  mostly  in  combination  with  the 
silver.      The  copper  veins  of  Northern   California  extend  into 


120  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Southwestern  Oregon,  and  are  even  richer  there  than  in  Califor- 
nia. Copper  has  also  been  discovered  in  Eastern  Oregon. 
Washington  Territory  has  its  full  share  of  copper,  though  its 
mines  are  as  yet  undeveloped. 

Both  Idaho  and  Montana  are  rich  in  copper,  both  in  combina- 
tion with  silver  and  alone.  Montana  parts  her  copper  from  the 
silver  in  some  of  her  smelting-works  and  ships  it  to  the  East. 

So  far  as  yet  discovered,  the  copper  in  Dakota,  at  the  Black 
Hills,  is  mostly  combined  with  gold  and  silver,  but  deposits  of 
it,  not  thus  alloyed,  may  yet  be  discovered.  In  Minnesota  the 
(Treat  copper  field  is  around  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior ;  the 
copper  deposits  of  the  Ontonagon  district  in  Northern  Michi- 
o-an,  dipping  under  the  lake,  and  reappearing  on  the  Western 
shore. 

Proceeding  southward,  Iowa  has  some  copper,  but  not  de- 
veloped. Missouri,  large  beds  of  it,  formerly  worked  exten- 
sively, but  now  of  such  low  grade  as  not  to  be  profitably  exploited; 
Nebraska  only  a  small  deposit  in  the  southeast ;  while  Kansas, 
which  abounds  in  lead  and  zinc,  has  not  yet  developed  any  cop- 
per. Wyoming  is  abundantly  supplied  with  most  of  the  ores  of 
copper.  In  Colorado,  from  ^90,000  to  %\  20,000  value  of  copper, 
parted  from  silver  and  gold,  is  sent  to  market  every  year.  There 
are  also  mines  of  copper  alone.  But  New  Mexico,  while  all  her 
mines  of  gold,  silver  and  lead  are  rich,  excels  all  the  other 
States  and  Territories  of  the  West  in  the  wealth  of  her  copper 
mines,  which  are  now  in  a  fair  way  to  be  developed  on  a  large 
scale.  Arkansas  has  large  deposits  of  copper  ore  among  her 
other  mineral  wealth;  it  is  found,  though  not  developed,  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  and  Texas  can  furnish  a  supply,  not  only 
for  all  the  copper-heads,  but  for  all  the  copper-bottoms  of  the 
world. 

Lead  is  as  widely  diffused  as  copper  ;  perhaps  even  more  ex- 
tensively. Wherever  silver  is  found,  lead  is  almost  invariably 
present,  either  as  sulphuret  (galena),  carbonate,  or  oxide.  And 
where  silver  is  absent,  or  present  only  in  infinitesimal  proportions, 
as  in  Kansas,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  and  Missouri,  and  in  some  of  the 
mines  of  Wyoming,  Dakota  and  Montana,  the  lead  puts  in  its 


LEAD,   ZINC,    IRON,    STEEL.  I2i 

appearance,  as  sufficient  of  Itself,  without  the  more  costly  metal. 
The  quantities  of  It  parted  from  silver  are  enormous,  the  supply 
from  two  districts  of  Nevada  alone  being  nearly  sufficient  for 
the  American  market,  and  that  of  Colorado  nearly  a  million  of 
dollars  annually.  The  other  great  mining  regions  add  to  this 
vast  total,  and  Kansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  other  States  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  aid  In  rolling  up  an  Immense  aggregate.  For- 
tunately the  demand  for  lead  Is  great  and  constant,  not  limited 
to  the  arts  of  war  and  the  slaughter  of  game,  but  extending 
also  to  many  of  the  arts  of  peace,  being  used  in  rolls,  sheets, 
and  piping  and  tubing,  furnishing  the  basis  of  nearly  all  of  our 
paints,  and  of  many  of  our  drugs. 

Zinc  is  not  quite  so  widely  distributed,  but  is  often  found  in 
combination  with  silver  and  lead.  It  is  also  found  by  itself,  or 
with  lead  in  the  form  of  sulphuret  (Blende),  silicate  (calamine), 
or  carbonate  (Smithsonlte).  It  is  mined  and  reduced  quite 
largely  in  Kansas,  and  to  some  extent  in  Missouri  and  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  resources  of  our  Western  Empire,  for  the  production  of 
Iron  and  Steel,  have  no  parallel  on  the  globe.  No  one  of  the 
States  and  Territories  composing  It  lacks  deposits  of  Iron  ore, 
in  some  of  its  many  and  varied  forms ;  and  In  many  of  them  it 
Is  found  of  such  excellent  quality,  and  In  such  immediate  prox- 
imity to  coal-beds,  and  the  necessary  fluxes,  that  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction is  reduced  to  the  lowest  minimum.  The  great  railways 
which  traverse  the  continent  can  have  their  Iron  and  steel  rails 
manufactured  within  500  feet  of  their  tracks,  and  of  such  quality 
as  cannot  be  obtained  at  any  price  abroad.  The  mountains  of 
iron  ore  yielding  from  fifty  to  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  pure  metal, 
which  are  found  In  Missouri,  Utah,  Oregon,  California,  Wyoming, 
Texas  and  Montana,  only  needed  the  present  demand  for  iron 
and  steel  to  stimulate  their  development,  and  In  a  short  time 
there  will  be  enough  iron  and  steel,  of  the  best  quality,  produced 
in  these  States  and  Territories,  to  supply  not  only  all  the  iron 
and  steel  rails  (and  it  Is  estimated  that  nearly  2,000,000  tons  of 
these  will  be  needed  the  present  year),  but  all  the  machinery  for 
mining,  milling,  manufacturing  and  agricultural  purposes,  all  the 


122  OCR    JTEST/iRX   EMPIRE. 

iron  and  steel  for  steamers  and  ships,  \vhether  for  commerce  or 
naval  purposes,  all  the  steel  guns,  all  the  bridges,  all  the  build- 
ino-s,  all  the  hardware,  car-wheels,  cutlery,  and  all  of  both  metals 
that  is  needed  for  any  other  purpose  under  the  sun,  not  only 
within  the  limits  of  our  Western  Empire,  but  all  the  world  over. 
Duty  or  no  duty,  neither  England  nor  any  other  nation  of 
Europe  can  compete  with  furnaces,  where  the  ore,  fluxes  and 
coal  can  be  thrown  directly  into  the  furnace  through  chutes, 
without  handling,  and  the  prime  cost  of  all  the  material  and 
its  conversion  into  steel,  need  not  exceed  from  ^lo  to  <^I2 
per  ton,  while  the  product  is  of  'the  very  best  quality.  But  the 
first  cost  of  the  establishment  of  these  furnaces,  and  the  rolling- 
mills,  machine-shops,  foundries,  etc.,  etc.,  is  very  large,  and  re- 
quires, and  will  require,  the  investment  of  many  millions  of 
capital,  though,  once  under  way,  the  returns  will  be  enormous, 
and  the  rapid  growth  of  these  establishments  will  be  gigantic. 
European  capitalists  are  already  transferring  their  furnaces 
and  workmen  to  this  country  in  large  numbers,  and  they  are 
wise  in  doing  so.  Within  the  next  five  years  there  will  be  a 
demand  for  the  services  of  every  skilled  worker  in  iron  and  steel 
who  may  land  in  this  country,  and  at  good  wages. 

The  consumption  of  iron  and  steel,  of  our  own  production, 
and  imported  from  abroad  in  1879,  was  4,410,000  tons,  of 
w^hich  510,000  tons  were  imported;  we  are  perfectly  safe  in 
predicting  that,  in  1S89,  it  will  exceed  12,000,000  tons,  and  all 
of  it  will  be  raised  from  our  own  mines,  and  smelted  in  our  own 
furnaces. 

Platimnn  is  found  pure,  and  in  combination  with  gold,  iridium 
and  iridosmin  on  the  coast  of  California  and  Oregon,  and  in 
some  of  the  gold  mines  of  Colorado  and  Arizona  and  perhaps  else- 
where. The  quantity  is  not  large,  indeed  it  is  a  rare  metal 
everywhere,  the  Russian  mines,  which  furnish  from  4,200  to 
5,000  pounds  annually,  producing  about  four-fifths  of  the  whole 
amount  yielded  by  all  countries.  The  whole  quantity  produced 
in  the  United  States  does  not  probably  exceed  450  or  500 
pounds.  Mr.  Edison,  the  inventor,  in  1879  desired  to  use  pla- 
tinum wires  for    holdincr   the   carbons  for   his    divided    electric 

O 


PLATINUM,    TIN,   NICKEL,   IRIDIUM.  12^ 

lights,  and  addressed  inquiries  to  all  parties  connected  with 
gold-mining  operations  in  regard  to  a  possible  or  probable  sup- 
ply of  the  metal.  He  found  that  it  was  much  more  widely  dif- 
fused than  had  generally  been  supposed,  but  that  it  was  found 
in  such  small  quantities  that  any  considerable  increased  demand 
would  enhance  the  price  beyond  the  limit  which  he  could  afford 
to  pay,  and  he  substituted  a  less  expensive  material  for  it.  Pla- 
tinum is  now  worth  from  ^70  to  ^75  per  pound. 

Tin  is  not  found  in  large  quantities  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States,  but  the  greater  part  of  what  does  occur  is  in  California, 
Nevada,  Idaho,  Missouri,  Arizona  and  Texas.  It  is  also  found  in 
the  State  of  Durango,  in  Mexico.  It  is  mostly  found  in  its  best 
form  as  cassiterite  or  oxide  of  tin,  and  is  classed,  as  mine  tin, 
stream  tin,  and  wood  tin.  This  ore  contains  about  seventy-eight 
per  cent,  of  pure  metal.  The  entire  production  of  the  world 
is  from  28,000  to  30,000  tons,  of  which  more  than  three-fifths 
comes  from  the  East  Indies,  from  Banca  and  the  straits  of  Ma- 
lacca. The  American  production  is  not  sufficient  to  exert 
any  appreciable  influence-  on  the  market. 

Nickel,  which  is  now  becoming  a  metal  of  so  much  economic 
value  in  the  usefCil  arts,  is  found  in  our  Western  Empire,  as  else- 
where, in  combination  with  several  of  the  ores  of  iron.  It  forms 
but  a  very  small  constituent  in  these  ores,  from  two  to  five  per 
cent.,  and  occurs  oftenest  in  the  argillaceous  ores.  By  proper 
treatment  of  the  ores,  it  is  removed  in  the  slag,  and  is  concen- 
trated by  various  processes  till  the  matte  contains  about  thirty- 
five  per  cent.,  when  it  is  dissolved  out  by  acids.  Its  use  in 
electro-plating  is  very  important  in  the  arts,  and  requires  consid- 
erable skill  in  its  successful  manipulation.  Nickel  in  a  pure  state 
Is  worth  about  5^3  a  pound. 

Iridi2iui  and  Osmiiim,  or  rather  the  compound  known  as  Iridos- 
niin,  which  contains  both  metals,  and  usually  a  small  percentage 
of  rhodium,  and  sometimes  ruthenium,  is  found  in  small  hard 
grains  and  sometimes  in  scales,  in  the  placer  deposits,  and  asso- 
ciates with  platinum.  The  alloy  is  the  hardest  of  known  metallic 
bodies,  and  is  infusible  except  under  the  oxy-hydrogen  blow-pipe. 
The  iridosmin  is  used  in  its  native  condition  for  pointing  the  nibs 


124  ^^'^     WESTERN^  EMPIRE. 

of  gold  pens,  being  as  nearly  as  possible  indestructible  either  by 
accidents,  or  by  the  chemicals  in  the  ink,  and  being  very  hard. 
Only  the  rounded  particles  are  suitable  for  this  purpose,  and 
these  constitute  only  from  one-fifth  to  one-tenth  of  the  whole. 
The  price  a  few  years  since  was  $250  per  ounce.  From  three  to 
eight  ounces  are  obtained  at  the  Assay  offices  in  the  melting  of 
one  million  of  dollars  of  gold.  The  iridium,  when  isolated,  fur- 
nishes the  basis  of  a  black  used  in  decorating  porcelain,  which 
when  blked  in,  is  indestructible. 

Telhcrium  is  found  in  combination  with  both  gfold  and  silver  as 
tellurides  of  those  metals.  It  belongs  to  the  same  class  of  ele- 
mentary bodies  as  sulphur,  and  imitates  it  in  most  of  its  com- 
pounds. It  has  little  economic  value,  but  is  a  great  source  of 
annoyance  in  the  reduction  works.  In  California,  Colorado,  and 
Montana,  from  the  intensely  poisonous  and  foetid  properties  of 
its  compounds.  It  is  found  sparingly  in  most  of  the  larger  gold 
deposits. 

Antimony,  Arsenic,  and  Manganese,  are  found  as  sulphides,  sul- 
phates, carbonates,  oxides,  and  in  rarer  forms,  in  combination 
with  silver,  copper,  lead,  zinc,  and  iron,  sometimes  impairing,  at 
others  enhancing,  the  value  of  the  compound.  'In  most  cases  the 
antimony  and  arsenic  are  expelled  in  the  smelter's  furnace.  The 
manganese  in  its  combination  with  iron  is,  to  a  certain  extent, 
beneficial. 

Sidpkiw,  in  the  form  of  sulphides  and  sulphates,  is  present  in 
a  large  proportion  of  the  silver,  lead,  copper,  zinc,  and  iron  ores. 
But  it  is  also  found  in  a  native  state  in  large  masses  or  deposits, 
in  those  portions  of  California  which  were  formerly  subject  to 
volcanic  eruptions,  in  Humboldt  county,  in  Nevada,  at  several 
points  in  Utah,  especially  In  Millard  county,  where  the  deposit  is 
more  than  twenty  feet  thick;  at  Brimstone  Mountain  in  the  Yel- 
lowstone Park  region.  In  Dakota,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and 
Texas.  Sulphuric  and  muriatic  acid  are  produced  at  some  of 
■  the  smelting  works  from  the  sulphure'ts  of  iron,  copper,  and  lead; 
while  the  sulphates  of  soda,  magnesia  and  potassa,  are  obtained 
in  a  nearly  pure  state  in  the  alkaline  lakes  of  California,  Nevada, 
Utah  and  Wyoming.     The  sulphate  of  lime  (gypsum  or  plaster 


SULPHUR,   B9RAX,   SODA,   SALT.  1 25 

of  Paris)  is  found  in  extensive  deposits  nearly  or  quite  pure,  in 
almost  every  State  and  Territory  of  the  region,  and  in  California, 
Colorado,  Texas,  and  perhaps  elsewhere,  it  assumes  also  its 
beautiful  forms  of  alabaster  and  selenite.  The  sulphates  of  zinc, 
copper,  and  iron,  if  they  do  not  exist  naturally,  are  easily  formed 
by  the  reduction  of  the  sulphurets  of  those  metals. 

Borax  (chemically  the  biborate  of  soda)  is  found  at  several 
points  in  California  and  Nevada,  in  the  mud  and  the  water  of 
alkaline  lakes ;  and  is  now  produced  of  great  purity,  and  in  such 
large  quantities  as  to  have  revolutionized  the  market,  and  caused 
the  price  of  the  article  at  retail  to  fall  from  fifty  or  sixty  cents 
below  twenty  cents  per  pound.  It  is  either  gathered  in  crystals, 
evaporated  from  the  water,  or  procured  from  the  mud,  by  wash- 
ing or  by  lixiviation.  The  supply  seems  inexhaustible,  though 
the  demand  has  greatly  increased  since  the  market  began  to  be 
supplied  from  the  Pacific  coast. 

Soda,  both  as  caustic  soda,  and  carbonate  of  soda  or  pearlash, 
and  also  as  sulphate  of  soda  or  Glauber's  salts,  exists  naturally 
in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  and  its  vicinity ;  at  several  places  in  Cali- 
fornia and  Nevada,  and  in  the  alkaline  lands.  It  is  also  found 
in  the  Yellowstone  recrion  and  in  Texas.  That  found  in  Utah  is 
so  nearly  chemically  pure  as  hardly  to  need  refining. 

Salt. — This  invaluable  mineral  is  widely  diffused  over  this  vast 
region.  On  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  it  is  procured  by  solar 
evaporation  and  boiling.  All  over  California  there  are  salt 
springs,  and  in  many  places  salt  lakes,  from  which  incrustations 
of  nearly  pure  salt  can  be  gathered.  In  Nevada  it  is  found  in 
laree  bodies  in  the  beds  of  desiccated  lakes,  in  the  waters  of  salt 
lakes,  and  in  mountain  deposits.  In  Utah,  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
is  a  saturated  solution  of  common  salt,  five  gallons  of  it  yielding 
one  and  three-fourths  gallons  of  crystallized  salt.  It  is  now 
manufactured  largely  from  the  waters  of  the  lake,  and  much  is 
produced  by  natural'  solar  evaporation.  Rock-salt,  much  of  it 
almost  perfectly  pure,  is  mined  in  Salt  Creek  Canon  and  on  the 
Sevier  river.  The  northern  part  of  Utah  abounds  in  salt  springs, 
which  pour  their  waters  into  the  Salt  Lake.  Wyoming  has  also 
its  salt  deposits,  as  well  as  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  many  of  them 


J 26  OUR    WESTERN^  EMPIRE. 

in  the  form  of  brine  springs.  Arkansas,  the  Indian  Territory, 
and  Texas  have  also  brine  springs,  salt  lakes,  and  deposits  of 
salt.  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  have  salt  deposits  and  salt  lakes. 
The  supply  in  most  of  the  States  and  Territories  now  exceeds  the 
demand,  but  the  growing  requirements  of  the  smelting  and  re- 
duction works  for  it,  in  the  reduction  of  pyritous  ores,  and  to 
some  extent  the  carbonates  also,  as  well  as  its  use  for  domestic 
and  packing  purposes,  insure  a  future  demand  which  will  require 
the  erection  of  additional  salt-works. 

Coal  is  found  at  many  points  in  this  vast  region,  and  of  many 
different  qualities.  There  are  four  distinct  coal-fields  between 
tlie  Mississippi  river  and  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  they  comprise  an 
area  of  more  than  200,000  square  miles.  The  first  of  these  coal- 
fields extends  from  Iowa,  in  which  State  it  covers  a  large  area, 
through  Missouri,  Eastern  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  Arkansas,  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  Indian  Territory,  and  Eastern  Texas. 
This  is  called  the  Missouri  coal-field.  It  is  a  bituminous  coal, 
from  the  middle  coal  measures  of  the  carboniferous  system,  in 
many  places  of  excellent  quality,  and  belongs  to  the  class  of 
coking  coals,  being  valuable  for  heating  and  smelting  purposes. 
The  total  area  of  this  coal-field  is  somewhat  more  than  47,000 
square  miles,  or  a  little  larger  than  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  second  of  the  coal-fields  begins  in  British  America,  near  the 
Saskatchewan  river,  and  passes  southward  through  Dakota, 
Eastern  Montana,  Western  Nebraska,  and  Kansas,  and  Eastern 
Wyoming,  through  Colorado,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
Northeastern  New  Mexico,  and  Central  and  Western  Texas.  It 
is  a  lignite  coal,  belonging  to  the  cretaceous  period,  and  in  some 
parts  of  its  course  yields  a  very  fair  heating  coal,  furnishing 
some  gas,  but  not  coking.  In  some  of  the  places  where  it  is 
mined,  it  assumes  the  characteristics  of  a  cannel  coal,  though  of 
inferior  quality.  It  covers  an  area  of  about  40,000  square  miles, 
but  much  of  it  is  too  deep  for  successful  mining,  especially  as 
the  quality  of  the  coal  is  not  of  the  first  class. 

The  third  coal-field  is  a  very  remarkable  one.  Like  the 
second,  it  commences  in  British  America,  passes  through  West- 
ern Montana  and  Idaho,  through  Western  Wyoming  and  Utah, 


COAL.  J  27 

through  Western  Colorado  and  New  Mex'ico,  and  perhaps 
Eastern  Nevada,  through  Arizona  and  Northwestern  Texas,  and 
into  Mexico.  Like  the  second  coal-field,  it  is  a  lignite,  but  of 
the  tertiary  instead  of  the  cretaceous  period,  being  found  at  the 
north  only  in  the  miocene,  but  in  Texas,  principally,  in  the 
eocene  rocks.  In  Western  Colorado,  in  Utah,  and  in  New 
Mexico,  near  Santa  Fe,  volcanic  action  has  changed  it  into  an 
anthracite  coal,  that  in  New  Mexico  being  of  a  quality  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  mines.  The  coal-beds  of  La 
Plata  county,  Colorado,  in  the  vicinity  of  Animas  City,  have 
recently  proved  to  be  anthracite,  probably  tertiary  lignites 
changed  by  volcanic  action.  At  other  places,  as  in  parts  of 
Utah,  it  has  been  hanged  into  a  semi-bituminous  coal.  Some 
beds  of  it  coke  and  give  evidence  of  being  good  smelting  coals. 
The  fourth  coal-field  is  in  reality  two  coal-fields  which  inter- 
lock, the  one,  lignites  of  the  tertiary,  which  pass  through  Eastern 
Washington  and  Oregon,  and  in  California  appear  on  both  sides 
of  the  Coast  range ;  the  other,  coming  from  Alaska,  and  furnish- 
ing on  Vancouver  island  and  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca 
some  mines  of  excellent  bituminous  coal,  and  passing  down  the 
coast  of  Washington  and  Oregon,  growing  constantly  poorer  and 
more  charged  with  sulphur,  become,  in  California,  interlaced  with 
the  deposits  of  the  tertiary  lignite.  At  one  or  two  points,  as  at 
Monte  Diablo,  they  yield  a  fair  quality  of  bituminous  coal.  The 
last-named  branch  of  this  coal-field  is  found  only  in  the  cretaceous 
rocks,  and  as  it  approaches  former  or  recent  centres  of  volcanic 
action  changes,  as  on  Vancouver  island,  to  a  semi-bituminous 
coal,  and  in  the  Queen  Charlotte  islands,  off  the  coast  of  British 
Columbia,  to  a  true  anthracite  of  excellent  quality.  This  double 
coal-field  covers  nearly  60,000  square  miles,  and  the  preceding 
one  over  50,000,  The  San  Francisco  market  is  supplied  with 
cannel-coal  from  England  and  Australia;  bituminous  and  semi- 
bituminous  from  Chili  and  Vancover  island ;  anthracite  from 
Pennsylvania  and  Queen  Charlotte  Islands;  Cumberland  and 
other  bituminous  coals  from  Pittsburoh,  Leavenworth  and 
Wyoming,  and  Pacific  coast  lignites  from  Bellingham  Bay,  Wash- 
ington Territory,  Coos  Bay,  Oregon,  and  Monte  Diablo  in  Cali- 


128  OUR    WESrERN   EMPIRE. 

fornia.  The  Colorado  and  New  Mexican  coals  will  also  appear 
in  its  marksts  as  soon  as  a  more  direct  railroad  communication  is 
established. 

In  many  portions  of  this  vast  territory,  where  fuel  for  smelting 
purposes  is  required  either  for  the  reduction  of  the  precious 
metals  and  lead  or  copper,  or  for  the  production  of  pig-iron  and 
Bessemer  steel,  the  forests  are  still  so  dense  and  convenient  that 
wood  or  charcoal  is  cheaper  than  coal.  But  other  sections  are 
obliged  to  rely  upon  coal  and  upon  that  which  can  be  coked ; 
and  in  some  of  the  States  or  Territories,  as  for  example  in  Ne- 
vada, these  coking  coals,  or  the  coke  made  from  them,  are 
brought  from  long  distances,  and  at  a  considerable  expense. 

Intimately  connected  with  coal,  geologically,  are  two  other  min- 
eral products,  Asphalhim  and  Petj^olettm.  In  California  there 
are  lakes,  or  rather  marshes,  which  after  the  winter  rains  have 
a  shallow  depth  of  water  on  their  surfaces,  which  are  covered 
to  a  considerable  depth  with  asphaltum,  in  varying  degrees  of 
hardness,  some  of  it  being  of  the  consistency  of  molasses,  and 
entangling  the  cattle,  which  are  drawn  thither  by  the  hope  of 
finding  water,  and  perish  in  the  sticky  mass ;  nearer  the  edges  it 
is  hardened,  and  becomes  the  solid  asphalt  of  commerce.  These 
lakes  or  marshes  are  found  in  San  Luis  Obispo,  Santa  Barbara, 
Tulare,  and  Los  Angeles  counties.  Some  petroleum  is  found 
with  them,  but  the  best  petroleum  oils  of  California,  and  they  are 
of  excellent  quality,  are  in  Humboldt,  Colusa,  and  Contra  Costa 
counties,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Monte  Diablo;  but  all  the  coast 
counties  have  petroleum  springs.  Petroleum  has  also  been  dis- 
covered in  Nevada,  though  it  has  not  been  developed.  In 
Northwestern  Colorado,  on  the  White  river,  in  and  near  the  Ute 
Reservation,  there  are  extensive  springs  and  marshes  of  petro- 
leum, asphalt,  and  mineral  tar.  There  are  also  petroleum  springs 
on  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas  river,  near  Denver.  The 
petroleum  region  of  Northwestern  Colorado  extends  northward 
through  Western  Wyoming,  Montana,  and  possibly  Idaho.  Re- 
cently extensive  springs  and  wells  of  petroleum  of  excellent 
quality  have  been  discovered  and  worked  about  ninety  miles 
north  of  Point  of  Rocks,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  in  Wyom- 


CEVSEKS   AXD   MINERAL    SPREXGS.  I29 

Ing  Territory.  The  last  report  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway, 
presented  in  March,  1880,  says  that  the  supply  is  apparently 
inexhaustible  ;  that  it  is  used  extensively  on  the  railway,  and  that 
it  will  probably  be  shipped  eastward  and  westward  in  large 
quantities,  as  soon  as  arrangements  can  be  made  for  its  trans- 
portation. Petroleum  and  beds  of  mineral  or  paraffin-wax  have 
been  discovered  in  Utah,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Spanish  Fork. 
caiion.  The  mineral  wax  is  of  the  same  quality  of  that  found  in 
Galicia,  Austria.  In  Kansas  there  are  numerous  gas-wells,  some 
of  them  furnishing  a  sufficient  quantity  of  illuminating  gas  to 
light  a  city  of  30,000  inhabitants.  These  indicate  the  existence 
of  reservoirs  of  petroleum  below  the  shales  or  bituminous  rocks, 
through  which  the  wells  are  bored.  There  are  also  indications 
of  the  presence  of  petroleum  in  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Texas. 

Of  other  mineral  products,  not  already  noticed,  we  may  men- 
tion mica,  which  is  found  in  extensive  deposits,  though  not  yet 
in  very  large  sheets,  at  numerous  points  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
as  well  as  in  the  Cascade  Mountains  ;  alum  (sulphate  of  alum- 
ina) found  in  great  quantity  and  nearly  pure,  in  Utah  ;  kaolin  and. 
other  porcelain  clays,  and  the  finest  of  glass-sand  in  all  the  States 
and  Territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Most  of  the  sili- 
cates are  also  found  in  combination. 

But  aside  from  the  mines  of  the  precious  metals,  nothing  in  the 
mineral  world  has  excited  so  much  interest  in  all  parts  of  this  vast 
region,  as  the  abundance  and  variety  of  its  mineral  springes  and 
geysers.  The  known  geysers,  some  of  them  the  most  remark- 
able yet  discovered  anywhere,  are  found  in  California,,  in  the 
Yellowstone  Park,  and  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Yellowst-one, 
the  Jefierson,  Madison,  and  Gallatin  rivers.  This  region,  like 
that  in  California,  has  been  the  scene  of  volcanic  action.  In  our 
description  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  we  shall  give  a 
detailed  account  of  these  and  other  remarkable  phenomena, 
found  in  that  true  wonder-land.  But  the  springs  thought  to  pos- 
sess medicinal  or  healinir  virtues  are  myriads  in  number,  as  well 
as  in  character.  Some,  like  the  scores  of  Hot  Springs  in  Arkan- 
sas, Texas,  Colorado,  Nevada,  California,  Utah,  Montana,  and 
Wyoming,  have  no  appreciable  mineral  constituents,  but  owe 
9 


I^O  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

their  healings  properties  either  to  their  thermal  quality  (the  heat 
rano-inn-  from  95  to  225°  F.)  or  to  some  not  fully  understood 
electric  influence,  which  is  thought  to  pervade  them ;  others, 
whether  cold  or  warm,  owe  their  reputed  medicinal  virtue  to  their 
impregnation  with  sulphur,  iron,  lime,  potassa,  soda,  lithia,  phos- 
phorus, or  some  and  perhaps  several  of  the  sulphates,  carbonates, 
phosphates,  nitrates,  lithiates,  chlorides,  bromides,  or  iodides,  or 
other  compounds  of  metals,  alkalies,  and  alkaline  earths,  and 
mineral  acids,  and  generally  the  more  nauseous  and  diabolic  the 
taste  and  smell  of  these  villanous  compounds  from  Nature's 
laboratory,  the  greater  the  healing  virtues  they  are  believed  to 
contain.  But  nowhere  in  the  wide  world  are  there  spas  of  such 
capacity,  surrounded  by  such  magnificent  scenery,  or  possessing 
such  natural  advantages,  to  amuse  and  delight  the  visitor,  and 
drive  away  cnimi,  as  are  to  be  found  in  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  in 
still  greater  numbers  in  Colorado,  the  Yellowstone  region,  Utah, 
Montana,  Dakota,  Minnesota,  Nevada,  California,  New  Mexico, 
Oregon  and  Washington.  Nature  has  done  its  part  with  a  most 
bountiful  hand,  and  in  many  of  these  places  man  has  done  his 
part  to  make  the  whole  surroundings  attractive.  Already  are 
the  springs  of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  the  most  celebrated  of  those 
in  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  California,  Arkansas,  and  Texas, 
widely  known  and  appreciated  in  Europe,  and  every  season 
brings  many  hundreds  of  European  visitors  hither,  in  search  of 


a  new  sensation. 


FARMING  EAST  OF   THE   ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  j.j 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Agriculture — Arable  Lands  East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — Minnesota 
Farming  Lands  and  Products — Dakota  Territory  Farming  Lands — 
Montana  Farms — Io^vA  Farms — Missouri  Farming  Lands — Nebraska 
Farming  Lands — Kansas  Farming — Arkansas  Farms — The  Indian  Ter- 
ritory as  a  Farming  Region — Texas  Farming,  Grain,  Cotton,  etc. — 
Review  of  Farming  Lands  East  of  Rocky  Mountains — Much  Poor  and 
Indifferent  Farming — Revolution  in  Farming  Produced  by  Agricul- 
tural Machinery — Root  Crops — Cotton — Sugar — Fruit  Culture — Tex- 
tile Fibres  and  Tobacco — The  Rocky  Mountain  Region — Wonderful 
Results  of  Irrigation — Beyond  the  Rockies — From  the  Sierra  Nevada 
TO  THE  Coast  Range — California — Viniculture  in  California — The  Pro- 
ducts OF  Oregon  and  Washington. 

No  very  close  approximation  of  the  amount  of  arable  lands  in 
our  Western  Empire  can  be  made.  The  reports  of  the  Sur- 
veyors-General.to  the  Land  Office  each  year  develop  the  fact 
that,  in  the  newer  States  and  Territories,  thousands  of  acres,  pre- 
viously deemed  incapable  of  cultivation,  have  been  conquered  by 
the  enterprising  settlers,  and  must  henceforth  be  recorded  as 
arable  lands  of  extraordinary  fertility.  We  have  alluded  to  this, 
in  our  chapter  on  the  Great  American  Desert ;  but  it  is  a  fact  which 
will  bear  repetition  and  illustration.  Nearly  the  whole  region 
lying  between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Rocky  Mountains 
was  regarded  fifty  years  ago  as  a  desert  land,  incapable  of  any 
considerable  cultivation,  and  given  over  to  the  buffalo,  the  pan- 
ther, and  the  prairie  wolf;  yet  in  no  part  of  the  vast  domain  of 
the  United  States,  and  certainly  in  no  other  country  under  the 
sun,  is  there  a  body  of  land  of  equal  extent,  in  which  there  are 
so  few  acres  unfit  for  cultivation,  or  so  many  which,  with  irriga- 
tion or  without  it,  will  yield  such  bountiful  crops.  The  land  lying 
between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  or  Cas- 
cade Range,  has  more  mountains,  and  more  grazing  lands  ;  some 
of  it,  too,  is  incapable  of  culture,  and  is  more  valuable  for  the 
mineral  wealth  which  lies  beneath  the  surface,  than  for  any  crops 
which  can  be  raised  from  it.     Some  of  these  lands  are  volcanic, 


1^2  OUR    WESTER iV   EMPIRE. 

and  the  lava  and  volcanic  scoricc  have  not  yet  been  long  enough 
exposed  to  the  influences  of  sun,  and  rain,  and  glacial  action,  to 
render  them  fertile  as  they  will  eventually  become.  Of  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  this  region,  also,  it  may  be  said,  that  it  has 
not  yet  been  explored  with  sufficient  thoroughness,  to  settle  the 
questions  whether  it  is  best  adapted  to  cultivation  or  grazing,  or 
whether  it  is  unfit  for  either. 

Perhaps  we  cannot  now  come  nearer  the  truth  than  to  say,  that, 
of  the  2,028,000  square  miles  comprised  between  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Pacific,  from  750,000  to  800,000  miles  may  fairly  be 
reckoned  arable.  Of  this  one-fourth,  and  possibly  a  little  more, 
may  require  more  or  less  irrigation,  for  some  years  to  come,  to 
bring  out  their  highest  productiveness;  but  this  is  regarded  by 
the  farmers  themselves  as  an  advantage,  rather  than  a  disadvan- 
tage, since  by  means  of  it,  they  are  assured  of  large  and  excellent 
crops  every  year. 

None  of  the  States  lying  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
the  Mississippi  river  have  much  waste  or  unipiprovable  land. 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  portions  of  the  Indian  Territory,  and 
Northwestern  Texas  are  more  mountainous  than  the  others,  and 
have  some  crrazino-  and  some  sterile  lands.  The  Black  Hills  in 
Dakota  (some  portions  of  which  are  capable  of  cultivation,  and 
yield  excellent  crops),  and  the  Bad  Lands  in  that  Territory 
(which,  however,  amount  to  only  75,000  acres  or  about  three 
townships)  and  Nebraska,  are  the  only  other  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule.  Minnesota,  Iowa,  most  of  Nebraska,  Kansas,  the 
greater  part  of  Iiastern  Wyoming  and  Eastern  Colorado,  Dakota, 
except  as  above  noted,  Eastern  Montana,  the  larger  part  of 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  the  Indian  Territory,  and  Texas,  arc  not 
surpassed  in  the  quality  or  productiveness  of  their  soil,  by  any 
portions  of  equal  extent  in  the  known  world.  Look  at  these  facts, 
and  remember  that  none  of  these  States  or  Territories  have 
one-third  and  most  of  them  not  one-tenth  of  their  arable  lands 
under  cultivation.  Minnesota,  one  of  the  newest  of  these  States, 
has  but  about  one-eleventh  of  its  area — 4,900,000  acres  out  of 
nearly  54,000,000 — under  cultivation;  yet  it  produced  in  1879,  on 
2,7<59'369  acres,  35,000,000  bushels  of  spring  wheat  of  a  quality 


FARMING   EAST   OF   THE   ROCKY  MOUNTAIXS.  j^, 

which  has  never  been  surpassed;  a  crop  of  corn  of  about 
19,000,000  bushels  on  about  475,000  acres;  more  than  21,000,- 
000  bushels  of  oats,  on  510,000  acres  of  land;  over  3,000,- 
000  bushels  of  the  other  cereals,  barley,  rye  and  buckwheat, 
on  110,000  acres;  over  4,100,000  bushels  of  potatoes,  on 
less  than  40,000  acres  of  land;  and  1,800,000  tons  of  hay  on 
less  than  950,000  acres.  A  large  part  of  these  crops  were  pro- 
duced on  lands  broken  up  for  the  first  time,  and  much  of  the 
cultivation  was  crude  and  imperfect,  yet  the  yield  per  acre 
averaged  larger  than  that  of  any  other  State,  though  not  so  large 
as  it  should.  Many  of  these  new  farms,  when  properly  tilled, 
yielded  over  large  tracts  from  thirty-three  to  forty-five  bushels 
(sixty  pounds)  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  and  deep  plowing  and  care- 
ful seeding  by  drill,  would  have  brought  the  same  results  every- 
where in  the  wheat  lands.  Dakota  Territory,  which  in  1870  had 
less  than  13,000  white  Inhabitants  and  now  has  over  200,000, 
though  it  only  began  to  grow  about  three  years  ago,  yielded  In 
1879  from  266,618  acres  in  Its  northeastern  counties  alone, 
5,332,360  bushels  of  spring  wheat,  and  nearly  as  much  more  in 
Southeastern  Dakota.  The  average  yield  was  twenty-two  bushels 
to  the  acre,  and  might  have  been  thirty  with  the  same  labor.  Other 
crops  are  equally  productive.  The  land  Is  mostly  prairie,  and  at 
least  three-fifths  of  this  production  was  from  the  first  crop  ever 
harvested.  Montana  is  a  still  newer  region,  and  has  much 
mountainous  country.  It  is  roughly  computed  to  have  i  5,000,000 
acres  of  arable  lands,  and  38,000,000  acres  of  grazing  lands;  but 
Its  arable  lands  are  the  most  fertile  the  sun  shines  upon.  Its 
30,000  acres  in  wheat  produced  an  average  of  twenty-five 
bushels  (weighing  sixty-four  pounds)  to  the  acre  ;  its  yield  of 
Indian  corn  averages  forty  bushels ;  that  of  oats  and  barley  fifty 
bushels  ;  of  potatoes  200  bushels,  etc. 

Iowa,  an  older,  though  still  a  young  State,  has  about  one-third 
of  her  area  under  cultivation.  Her  land  is  rich  and  fertile,  but 
wheat  in  1878  was  a  comparative  failure  there.  Indian  corn 
the  same  year  was  a  very  successful  crop,  175,000,000  bushels 
being  raised  on  4,686,000  acres  of  land — an  average  of  37.4 
bushels  to  the  acre.     The  crops  of  oats,  barley,  potatoes,  and  hay 


r.  .  OCR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

were  also  large,  and  eight  items  of  agricultural  crops  aggregated 
a  value  of  $65,586,000. 

Missouri,  the  oldest  State  west  of  the  Mississippi,  has  about 
one-fourth  of  her  42,000,000  acres  under  cultivation.  Her  crop 
of  Indian  corn  in  1878  was  93,062,000  bushels — an  average  yield 
of  26.2  bushels  to  the  acre;  the  wheat  crop,  20,196,000 — an 
average  of  only  eleven  bushels  to  the  acre;  oats,  19,584,000 — an 
average  of  30.6  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  potatoes,  5,415,000  bushels, 
averaging  seventy-five  bushels  to  the  acre;  tobacco,  23,023,000 
pounds,  averaging  ^jo  pounds  to  the  acre;  hay,  1,620,000  tons, 
averao'ino'  1.62  tons  to  the  acre.  Smaller  quantities  of  rye,  buck- 
wheat,  and  barley  were  produced,  and  hemp  and  flax  were 
raised  to  some  extent.  The  State  has  also  extensive  vineyards, 
and  large  quantities  of  grapes  and  wine  are  sent  to  market. 
The  agorreeate  value  of  her  acjricultural  productions  in  that  year 
was  about  sixty-five  millions  of  dollars. 

Nebraska  has  an  area  of  48,636,800  acres,  of  which  less  than 
3,500,000  or  about  one-fourteenth  of  the  whole  are  under 
cultivation.  It  is.  one  of  the  newer  States,  having  been  admitted 
into  the  Union  in  1867.  Corn  and  wheat  are  the  principal 
cereals  cultivated,  the  crop  of  the  former  ranging  from  forty  to 
fifty-four  million  bushels,  an  average  yield  of  forty-two  bushels 
to  the  acre ;  and  of  the  latter  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  million 
bushels,  mostly  of  spring  wheat,  an  average  of  fifteen  bushels  to 
the  acre.  Rye  and  oats  are  also  raised  in  considerable  quantities  ; 
rye  yielding  an  average  of  nearly  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and 
oats  about  thirty-four  bushels.  Potatoes  and  other  root  crops 
do  well,  potatoes  averaging  125  bushels  to  the  acre.  Hay 
yields  nearly  two  tons  to  the  acre.  Fruit  culture  is  a  very  large 
mterest  in  the  State,  and  its  fruits  are  of  the  best  quality.  The 
entire  crops  of  1879  exceeded  $25,000,000  in  value. 

Kansas,  from  its  central  position,  its  fine  climate,  its  large 
body  of  arable  lands,  its  railroad  facilities,  and  its  indomitable 
enterprise,  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  garden  spot  of  the 
Great  West.  Its  lands  are  probably  no  more  fertile  than  those 
of  some  of  the  other  States  and  Territories,  but  they  have  been 
more  extensively  advertised,  more  promptly  settled,  and  are  cul- 


FARMING   EAST  OF   THE    ROCKY  MOUNTAIXS.  125 

tivated  with  an  energy  and  dioroughness,  which  cannot  fail  to 
produce  the  highest  results.  The  mining  fever  has  not  dis- 
tracted the  attention  of  her  settlers.  It  is  hardly  probable  that 
any  considerable  amount  of  gold  or  silver  ores  will  be  found 
within  its  bounds,  and  though  it  has  some  lead,  zinc,  copper,  and 
considerable  coal,  its  mining  interests  will  probably,  for  all  the 
future,  be  subordinate  to  the  agricultural  development  of  the 
State. 

Of  the  51,770,240  acres  which  are  contained  within  the  bounds 
of  Kansas,  7,769,926  were  under  cultivation  in  1879,  of  which 
1,270,493  were  plowed  for  the  first  time  that  year.  About  one- 
fifth  of  the  cultivated  area  was  devoted  to  wheat,  and  two-fifths 
to  Indian  corn.  In  Kansas,  both  winter  and  spring  wheat  arc 
cultivated,  though  the  winter  wheat  predominates  in  the  ratio  of 
five  to  one.  In  1878  the  wheat  crop  was  32,315,358  bushels,  or 
20.5  bushels  per  acre  for  winter  wheat,  but  in  1879,  owing  to  late 
plowing  and  sowing,  and  a  dry  winter  and  spring,  it  was  not 
quite  20,000,000  bushels.  The  corn  crop,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  89,324,971  bushels  in  1878,  and  about  109,000,000  bushels 
in  1879.  This  was  almost  sixty  bushels  to  the  acre.  Oats 
yielded  17,411,473  bushels  in  1878,  but  only  13,400,000  bushels 
in  1879;  rye  yielded  2,722,000  bushels  in  1878,  21.3  bushels  to 
the  acre;  barley  1,562,793  bushels  in  1878,  being  29.7  bushels 
to  the  acre  ;  Irish  potatoes,  4,256,336  bushels  in  1878,  being  83.3 
bushels  to  the  acre.  In  1879  the  yield  was  smaller.  1,590,000 
tons  of  hay  and  forage  were  cut,  of  an  aggregate  value  of 
$5,700,000.  Large  quantities  of  sorghum  and  broom  corn  were 
also  raised,  and  2,721,459  gallons  of  sorghum  syrup  produced. 
Flax,  hemp,  castor  beans,  sweet  potatoes,  tobacco,  cotton,  and  a 
vast  amount  of  fruit,  were  the  other  agricultural  products  of  the 
State  in  1878  and  1879.  The  total  value  of  field  and  garden 
products  in  187S  was  $52,859,857.  In  1879,  notwithstanding 
the  partial  failure  of  the  wheat  crop,  it  was  $60,129,781,  on 
account  of  the  increased  production  of  hay,  sorghum,  broom 
corn,  and  potatoes,  and  the  material  advance  of  prices. 

Arkansas  has  a  much  more  varied  surface  than  Kansas; 
mountains,  valleys,  forests,   and   mines   of  silver,  lead    copper 


1,5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

iron  and  coal,  and  quarries  of  novaculite  or  oil-stone,  mill-stones, 
marble  and  lithog-raphic-stone.  It  has  also  a  more  varied  climate, 
from  the  semi-tropical  temperature  of  its  bottom-lands,  to  the 
cool  and  bracing-  air  of  its  mountain  districts.  Its  productions 
are  more  varied,  cotton  being  its  great  staple,  and  corn  coming- 
next  in  order;  while  the  other  cereals  are  only  moderately  culti- 
vated, and  fruits,  to  which  it  is  well  adapted,  figuring  largely  in 
its  ag-ricultural  products.  Of  the  33,406,720  acres  of  land  in  the 
State,  one-half  is  still  a  forest,  while  only  about  2,500,000  acres 
are  under  cultivation,  and  perhaps  three  times  that  quantity  are 
good  g-razing  lands.  The  staple  crop  is  cotton,  of  which  nearly 
800,000  bales  were  produced  in  1878  on  1,165,850  acres,  an 
average  of  about  three-fourths  of  a  bale  to  the  acre.  The  vield 
of  Indian  corn  the  same  year  was  about  23,000,000  bushels  on 
958,000  acres,  twenty-four  bushels  and  a  fraction  to  the  acre. 
Of  wheat  in  1878  only  1,038,000  bushels  were  raised,  an  average 
of  but  six  bushels  to  the  acre.  Of  rye  and  oats  the  quantity 
grown  was  but  small,  though  of  the  latter  it  was  1,665,420 
bushels,  a  yield  of  24.6  bushels  to  the  acre.  Potatoes  yielded 
121  bushels  to  the  acre,  but  only  8,200  acres  were  planted  in  this 
crop.  Of  the  sweet  potato  and  perhaps  of  the  Irish  potato  also, 
the  agriculturists  of  Arkansas  insist  that  they  can  raise  two  crops 
a  year.  Hay  is  not  a  large  crop,  though  the  yield  is  as  good  as 
in  most  States,  being  1.80  tons  to  the  acre.  Fruits  of  all  kinds 
are  abundant  and  of  excellent  quality.  A  considerable  quantity 
of  wine  is  made,  both  from  wild  grapes,  which  are  of  unusual 
excellence  in  the  State,  and  from  the  Scuppernong,  Post  Oak, 
Herbemont,  Norton's  Seedling,  and  other  cultivated  grapes. 

The  Indian  Territory,  which  joins  Arkansas  on  the  west,  con- 
tains much  valuable  farming-land,  and  some  which  is  not  desira- 
ble. The  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  and  Creeks,  as 
well  as  some  of  the  other  Indian  tribes  sctded  here,  have  among 
them  many  good  farmers,  who  produce  large  crops  from  the 
fertile  soil.  We  cannot  obtain  statistics  of  the  agricultural  pro- 
ductions of  the  Territory,  and  as  the  United  States  government 
is  bound  by  the  highest  obligations  of  honor  and  justice  to  pro- 
tect these  Indians  in  their  right  to  the  soil,  and  to  prevent  law- 


FARMING   EAST  OF   THE   ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  j^j 

less  adventurers  from  settling  there,  it  is  of  no  particular  conse- 
quence that  we  should  be  able  to  give  particulars,  which  might 
only  serve  to  stimulate  the  greed  of  the  lawless. 

Texas  has  a  vast  territory,  175,600,000  acres,  and  every 
variety  of  soil,  surface,  climate,  and  rainfall.  While  probably 
50,000,000  acres  of  its  lands  are  cultivable,  though  not  more 
than  three-fifths  of  this  amount  can  be  reckoned  arable  land  of 
the  first-class,  not  more  than  6,000,000  acres  have  yet  been  culti- 
vated, and  much  of  this  very  carelessly  and  imperfectly.  Eastern 
Texas  is  sandy,  and  not  very  fertile  ;  Central  Texas  has  a  rich 
soil,  and  for  a  width  of  200  miles  is  the  best  cotton  region  in  the 
United  States,  and  is  capable  of  producing  the  cotton  supply  of 
the  world.  Yet,  in  1878,  only  1,808,386  acres  were  planted  in 
cotton  and  yielded  497,310,000  pounds  of  cotton,  an  average  of 
275  pounds  to  the  acre.'''  The  northern  part  of  this  central  tract 
is  excellent  corn  land,  and  from  2,246,000  acres,  the  greater  part 
of  it  in  this  region,  58,396,000  bushels  of  corn  were  produced  in 
1878,  twenty-six  bushels  to  the  acre.  For  wheat,  rye,  and  oats, 
only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  State  is  well  adapted,  the  wheat 
belt  being  far  smaller  than  that  of  Kansas.  Only  450,000  acres 
were  sown  in  wheat,  3,000  in  rye  and  149,500  in  oats  in  1878, 
and  the  yield  was  7,200,000  bushels  of  wheat,  sixteen  bushels  to 
the  acre  ;  54,000  bushels  of  rye,  eighteen  bushels  to"  the  acre,  and 
5,531,500  bushels  of  oats,  thirty-seven  bushels  to  the  acre.  Irish 
potatoes  are  not  so  prolific  or  so  good  as  the  sweet  potatoes, 
and  root-crops  generally  do  not  yield  remarkably  well.  The 
pea-nut,  ground-nut  or  goober,  is  perhaps  an  exception,  as  it 
is  very  prolific  in  the  sandy  soils.  Tobacco,  hemp,  ramie,  and 
flax  are  profitable  crops,  where  they  are  carefully  cultivated. 
Small  fruits  and  market-crarden  vesfetables  do  well,  and  beino;' 
marketed  early,  afford  a  good  profit.  Peaches,  cherries,  and 
grapes,  are  also  of  excellent  quality,  and  some  of  the  latter  pro- 
duce wines  of  fine  flavor,  when  riglitly  handled.  A  prevalent 
fault  in  their  production,  is  the  addition  of  too  much  cane-sugar, 
which  gives  an  excess  of  alcohol  and  impairs  their  bouquet. 

*  The  average  Texas  bale  of  cotton  is  480  pounds;  so  that  the  average  yield  was  only  ihrce- 
fiflhs  of  a  bale. 


J 28  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

SuQ-ar  from  the  siicrar-cane,  and  also  from  sorq^hum,  is  produced 
in  very  considerable  quantity  in  Texas,  but  the  former  is  an  un- 
certain crop.  The  latter  under  the  new  stimulus  given  to  its 
production  by  recent  discoveries,  is  likely  to  become  much  more 
profitable. 

Western  Texas  is  much  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  to 
farming,  and  Northwestern  Texas,  except  in  its  river  bottoms,  is 
a  comparative  desert,  though  its  mining  lands  may  attract  to  it 
some  population. 

This,  with  the  exception  of  Eastern  Colorado,  whose  agricul- 
tural lands  are  but  slightly  developed  as  yet,  constitutes  a 
description  of  most  of  the  arable  lands  lying  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Our  brief  review  of  them  shows  that  hardly  more 
than  one-tenth  of  these  lands  is  yet  under  cultivation  ;  yet  if,  in 
1S78,  this  region  alone  yielded  135,000,000  bushels  of  wheat, 
and  502,000,000  bushels  of  Indian  corn,  what  may  be  expected 
when  its  arable  lands  shall  all  be  subjected  to  the  plow  ? 

It  is  to  be  noticed,  also,  that  much  of  the  farming  in  this  region 
is  not,  and  under  the  circumstances  could  not  be  expected  to  be, 
of  the  best  cliaracter.  The  emigrant,  whose  scanty  means  have 
only  enabled  him  to  reach  his  western  home,  pay  the  first  fees, 
build  his  sod-house,  and  with  a  poor  and  weak  team,  or  perhaps 
by  changing  works,  break  up  the  firm  and  hard  sod,  is  very  sure 
to  be  unskilled  in  western  farming,  however  much  of  an  adept 
he  may  have  been  in  agricultural  pursuits  in  his  own  country, 
and  so  the  plowing  which  should  have  gone  to  the  depth  of  fif- 
teen or  eighteen  inches  at  least,  does  not  penetrate  more  than 
three  to  four,  and  both  it  and  the  planting  are  deferred  till  too 
late  in  the  autumn,  if  the  crop  is  to  be  winter  wheat,  or  in  the 
spring  if  it  is  to  be  spring  wheat.  If  there  is  drought  in  winter 
or  spring,  deep  plowing  would  have  saved  the  crop,  while  shallow 
plowing  prevents  vigorous  growth.  The  proper  cultivation  of 
the  crop  is  prevented  also  by  the  limited  means  of  the  settler, 
and  in  harvesting  it,  he  cannot  readily  avail  Iiimself  of  the  agri- 
cultural machinery,  which  so  lightens  labor,  and  makes  large  farm- 
ing possible  and  profitable. 

The  complete  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in  the  last 


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FARMING   EAST  OF   THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  j -.q 

twenty-five  or  thirty  years  in  farm  work,  is  nowhere  so  evident 
as  at  the  West.  The  plowing  on  the  best  farms  is  done  by  a 
gang-plow  drawn  by  four  horses,  or,  in  some  cases,  by  asteam-plow, 
and  a  steam  or  two-horse  harrow  breaks  the  clods.  If  the  crop 
is  to  be  wheat,  or  any  of  the  other  cereals,  it  is  not  sown  broadcast, 
but  drilled  in  with  a  two  or  four-horse  seeding  machine  at  such 
distances  as  to  give  the  grain  as  it  comes  up  an  opportunity  to 
tiller  or  spread  out.  Or,  as  in  some  of  the  States,  a  centrifugal 
sower  scatters  it  evenly  within  a  given  radius,  and  thus  accom- 
plishes the  same  object.  'In  this  way  only  about  one-fourth  as 
much  seed  is  required,  and  a  greater  crop  is  raised.  In  Minnesota 
eighty  pounds  of  spring  wheat  is  sown  to  the  acre.  Some 
farmers  prefer  to  plant  Indian  corn  first  on  the  broken  and  rotted 
sod,  and  follow  with  wheat  or  other  small  grains.  The  corn  is 
cultivated  once  or  twice  with  a  horse-hoe  or  cultivator,  and  the 
ground  is  left  clean  and  free  for  the  wheat  crop.  But  the  per- 
fection of  the  agricultural  machinery  is  seen  in  gathering  the  crop. 
The  original  reaper  has  been  improved  till  it  would  not  be 
recognized  in  its  new  form.  It  is  now  the  harvester,  and  cuts, 
gathers,  binds,  and  loads  the  grain  for  the  threshing  machine, 
which  in  turn  threshes,  winnows,  cleans,  assorts  and  in  some 
cases  sacks  the  grain.  Another  improvement  cuts  and  gathers 
into  a  close  box-wagon  all  the  heads  of  the  grain  as  they  stand, 
and  when  the  wagon  is  filled,  empties  its  entire  load  into  the 
.  threshing  machine.  A  single  farmer  in  Dakota,  the  present 
year,  puts  30,000  acres  in  wheat,  and  has  provided  thirty-five 
threshing  machines  and  140  harvesters  to  gather  and  prepare  for 
market  the  crop.  Wheat,  raised  in  this  way,  or  if  on  a  much 
smaller  scale,  on  lands  properly  plowed,  sowed,  cultivated  and 
harvested,  should  yield  from  thirty-three  to  forty-five  bushels  per 
acre,  or  double  the  crop  grown  by  careless  and  slovenly  farming. 
The  crop  of  Indian  corn  on  these  new  lands  should  be  from 
sixty  to  eighty  bushels  to  the  acre,  or  more,  where  irrigation  is 
practised  ;  that  of  oats  from  seventy  to  seventy-five  bushels,  and 
of  barley  forty-five  to  fifty-five  bushels.  In  Arkansas  and  Texas, 
by  early  planting,  two  crops  of  wheat  or  even  Indian  corn  can 
be  raised  in  a  year;  but  very  little  of  the  fanning  there  is  of  a 


J  .Q  OUR    WESTERxW  EMPIRE. 

hi'^h  order,  and  even  on  rich  lands  the  yield  per  acre  is  shame- 
fully small. 

Root  crops,  potatoes,  turnips,  rutabagas,  beets,  carrots,  sweet- 
potatoes,  yams,  and  the  like,  require  deep  plowing,  and  thorough 
cultivation  in  the  first  stage  of  growth,  but  will  take  care  of  them- 
selves afterward.  The  yield,  in  light  but  fertile  loam,  is  enor- 
mous. In  Minnesota,  Dakota  and  Montana,  from  300  to  6co 
bushels  of  potatoes  of  the  best  quality  are  raised  to  the  acre,  and 
from  Soo  to  1,000  bushels  of  turnips  and  beets. 

In  the  cotton  region,  on  the  best  cotton-lands  in  the  world, 
where  the  minimum  of  production  should  be  two  bales  of  ginned 
cotton  or  960  pounds,  too  many  of  the  farmers  are  content  with 
a  yield  of  half  or  two-fifths  of  a  bale. 

This  whole  region  is  destined  to  become  famous  for  its  sucrar 
production.  Sorghum  has  been  cultivated  largely  all  over  these 
States  and  Territories,  and  millions  of  gallons  of  sorghum  syrup 
made  ;  but  it  is  only  within  the  last  two  years  that  it  has  been 
discovered  that  the  early  amber  sorghum,  a  variety  which  ripens 
early,  and  before  frost,  is  the  best  for  the  Northern  States  and 
Territories,  though  some  of  the  larger  kinds  will  yield  more  where 
the  seasons  arc  longer,  it  being  only  necessary  that  they  should 
not  suffer  from  frost  before  the  seeds  are  ripe,  and  that  the 
ripening  is  necessary  to  its  crystallization  into  sugar.  It  has 
been  ascertained  by  experiment  that  one  ton  or  more  of  sugar 
can  be  produced  from  an  acre,  and  that  with  ordinary  cultivation, 
and  care,  three-fourths  of  a  ton  to  the  acre  is  a  certain  crop. 
The  sugar  is  pronounced  superior  to  the  Louisiana  or  Texas 
cane  sugar.  A  sugar  equally  good,  but  in  somewhat  less 
quantity  can  be  made  from  the  stalks  of  Indian  corn,  and  in 
both  cases  the  ripe  corn  and  the  sorghum  seed  are  saved.  The 
Egyptian  rice  corn,  which  is  now  cultivated  extensively  in 
Kansas,  and  which  yields  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  bushels  of 
its  rice-like  seed  to  the  acre,  belongs  to  the  sorghum  family,  and 
will  doubtless  produce  large  quantities  of  sugar.  As  the  United 
States  arc  now  paying  ^100,000,000  annually  for  the  sugar  we 
import,  this  addition  to  our  products  will  be  very  welcome. 

The  sugar-cane,  as  grov.n  in  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Florida,  is 


FRUIT  CULTURE    EAST   OF   THE   ROCR-y  MOUNT.UA'S.  i^j 

an  exotic,  and  never  comes  to  maturity  in  our  climate,  but  is 
propagated  by  cuttings.  These  become  exhausted  in  a  few 
years,  and  require  renewal  from  tropical  countries.  They  are, 
moreover,  very  sensitive  to  climatic  changes,  and  often  fail 
entirely.  The  sorghum,  on  the  contrary,  is  hardy,  ripens  early,  and 
is  almost  indifferent  to  climate,  nourishing  equally  well  in  Northern 
Dakota  and  Texas.  There  is,  throuQhout  most  of  this  reeion,  irre- 
spective  of  the  grazing  lands,  a  large  demand  for  forage  grasses 
and  plants,  to  supplement  the  pasturage  for  horses,  mules,  asses, 
milch  cows  and  cattle,  kept  for  farm  use,  and  the  small  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats  which  the  farmer  finds  it  profitable  to  keep. 
The  buffalo,  gramma  and  blue  joint  grasses  soon  give  place,  in 
cultivated  lands,  to  clover,  timothy  and  herd's  grass  ;  but  it  has 
been  found  that  corn  sown  for  forage  purposes,  late  in  the 
season.  Alfalfa  clover,  Hungarian  grass,  Egyptian  rice  corn,  the 
millets,  and  especially  the  pearl  millet,  lately  introduced,  and  in 
the  north,  wild  rice,  furnish  more  nutritious  and  abundant  food 
for  domestic  animals  than  any  of  the  ordinary  grasses.  Tlie 
joearl  millet  is  said  to  )-ield  on  rich  soil  three  crops  in  a  season, 
and  the  enormous  quantity  of  ninety  tons  of  green  or  ten  tons 
of  dry  forage  to  the  acre.  Other  grasses,  like  the  Texas  millet, 
seem  well  adapted  to  tlie  use  of  stock,  and  are  coming  into 
cultivation  for  this  purpose. 

This  whole  region  is  well  adapted  to  fruit  culture.  The  apple 
X){  different  varieties,  and,  to  a  less  extent,  the  pear,  flourishes 
from  Minnesota  to  Arkansas;  the  peach  from  Iowa  and  Mis- 
souri to  the  Gulf;  quinces  from  Minnesota  to  Kansas,  and 
cherries  and  plums  from  Nortliern  Dakota  to  the  Gulf  Of 
'Smaller  fruits,  grapes,  native  and  wild,  as  well  as  the  cultivated 
varieties,  are  found  evcrj'where,  though  the  hardy  species  alone 
flourish  at  the  North,  whether  wild  or  cultivated,  while  the  more 
robust  summer  grapes  [Vilis  crslivalis),  native  and  foreign,  take 
their  place  in  the  South.  The  strawberry  flourishes  everywhere, 
but  is  six  weeks  earlier  in  Texas  than  in  Minnesota.  The  rasp- 
berry, blackberr)',  currant,  and  whortleberry,  arc  better  adapted  to 
the  Northern  and  Middle  States  and  Territories  than  to  the  South; 
but  the  papaw  and   the  banana,  the  pomegranate,  fig.  orange, 


142 


OUR    WESTERLY  EMPIRE. 


lemon,  and  olive,  are  found  in  die  Soudi  alone.  In  die  way  of 
nuts,  the  Xorth  has  the  chestnut,  hickory-nut,  black  walnut,  butter- 
nut, hazel-nut,  and  beech-nut;  while  the  South  has  the  pecan,  the 
chinquepin,  the  filbert,  the  hard-shell  almond,  and  can  have  the 
English  walnut,  and  pistachio  nut,  if  they  will  cultivate  it. 

Of  textile  fibres,  hemp  grows  in  all  latitudes  :  flax  mostly  in  the 
North,  cotton,  ramie,  jute,  tampico,  agave  fibre  and  cactus  fibres 
in  the  South,  while  the  dry,  wiry  grasses  of  the  river  bottoms  of 
the  Mississippi  and  its  western  tributaries,  now  coming  into 
demand  for  paper  stock,  are  mainly  the  product  of  the  northern 


region. 


Tobacco  grows  in  almost  all  latitudes,  but  Missouri,  Arkansas, 
and  Texas  are  the  only  States  in  which  it  is  largely  cultivated. 

The  Rocky  Mountains  consist  of  two,  and  a  part  of  the  distance, 
three  principal  ranges,  having  a  general  direction  of  north-north- 
west to  south-southeast,  and  numerous  spurs  and  out-liers  con- 
nectin^Tf  these  rancfes  and  extendinor  from  them  westward.  The 
eastern  slope  has  no  spurs  extending  eastward  unless  we  except 
some  hills  of  no  great  elevation  in  Wyoming.  The  Black  Hills 
in  Dakota,  the  Osan-e  and  Ozark  Mountains  in  Missouri  and 
Arkansas,  belong  to  a  different  mountain  system.  While  these 
mountain  ranges  have  many  peaks  or  summits  from  13,000  to 
14,000  feet  in  height,  and  some  even  higher,  the  table-lands  from 
which  the  summits  rise  are  generally  from  5,500  to  8,500  feet  in 
height,  and  most  of  the  passes  by  which  the  ranges  are  crossed 
do  not  exceed  that  elevation.  There  are  also  many  valleys  and 
parks  between  the  ranges,  which  contain  fine  tracts  of  arable 
land ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  land  included  widiin  these 
ranges  is  better  adapted  for  grazing  than  farming ;  and  con-^ 
siderable  portions  are  only  valuable  for  mining  and  the  opera- 
tions connected  with  it.  The  grazing  lands  of  Colorado,  Wyo- 
ming and  Montana  are  mainly,  though  not  entirely,  on  these 
mountain  plateaux  and  parks;  but  the  probabilities  are,  that 
there  will  be  enough  good  farming-lands  found  in  the  valleys 
and  parks,  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  large  mining,  herding  and 
non-producing  classes  who  are  even  now  filling  up  this  mountain 
region  with  great  rapidity.     The  wheat  and  other  grains,  Indian 


FARMING    IN    THE    ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  1^3 

corn,  sorghum  sugar,  root  crops,  and  vegetables,  milk,  butter, 
and  cheese,  and  pork,  can  be  furnished  by  the  farmers,  as  well  as 
most  of  the  fruits,  while  the  herdsmen  can  furnish  the  beef  and 
mutton,  and  the  sportsmen,  the  game,  large  and  small ;  but  there 
will  be  little  farm  produce  from  the  mountains  to  export. 

Much  of  what  is  grown  in  the  mountains  will  require  irriga- 
tion, and  with  it  will  yield  most  bountifully.  Even  the  best 
authenticated  statements  of  the  enormous  crops  produced  by 
irrigation  are  received  with  incredulity.  Seventy,  eighty,  and  in 
some  cases  even  one  hundred  bushels  of  wheat,  not  on  one  acre 
alone,  but  on  a  tract  of  thirty  or  fifty  acres;  a  like  amount  of 
barley ;  eighty  to  a  hundred  and  ten  bushels  of  oats ;  and  from 
I  50  to  200  bushels  of  Indian  corn  ;  400,  500,  and  600  bushels  of 
potatoes  to  the  acre ;  these  amounts,  incredible  as  they  seem,  are 
materially  below  what  is  claimed  for  these  lands,  some  of  which 
without  water  would  have  proved  utterly  barren  and  worthless. 
In  Montana  these  mountain  valleys  do  not  lack  water,  the  rain- 
fall being  there  sufficient  to  produce  good  crops,  and  the  whole 
remon  aboundino-  in  streams. 

Between  the  western  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  ranges 
and  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  or,  as  they  are  called 
in  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
the  character  of  the  lands  varies  as  you  go  southward  from 
British  Columbia.  In  the  eastern  part  of  Washington  Territory 
and  Oregon,  the  lands  form  generally  a  high,  treeless  plateau, 
moderately  fertile,  but,  except  in  the  river  bottoms,  generally 
better  adapted  to  grazing  than  to  cultivation.  Farther  south,  within 
the  limits  of  the  Great  Basin  which  includes  nearly  one-half  of 
Utah  and  Nevada,  the  area  of  cultivable  land  is  comparatively 
small,  though  by  means  of  irrigation  it  is  much  increased ;  con- 
siderable tracts  are  unfit  even  for  grazing  purposes,  but  these 
are  generally  good  mining-lands.  East  and  south  of  the  Grer.t 
Basin  are  the  sources  of  the  Grand,  Green,  San  Juan  and  Little 
Colorado,  as  well  as  other  smaller  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Colorado 
of  the  West,  and  that  great  river  itself  These  all  flow  through 
Western  Colorado,  Southeastern  Utah,  Western  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona,  in  such  deep  canons  that  they  leave  many  of  the 


,  ,  .  OUR    \VESrER\^   EMPIRE. 

mesas  and  table-lands  of  diese  territories  to  drought  and  sterility, 
except  where  irrigation  is  possible,  or  when,  as  in  the  autumn 
and  winter  of  1 8 79-1 880,  extraordinary  and  protracted  rains  de- 
luged the  country.  Yet  this  region  is  well  adapted  to  grazing, 
and  by  a  scanty  irrigation  will  yield  the  crops  and  fruits  neces- 
sary for  the  sustenance  of  its  inhabitants.  In  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona  there  are,  with  irrigation,  a  larger  amount  of  arable 
lands  than  has  hitherto  been  supposed. 

Governor  Fremont  writes  that,  in  the  summer  of  1879,  a  little 
band  of  Maricopa  Indians,  near  Prescott,  who  had  taken  to 
farmincT,  sent  to  San  Francisco,  over  the  Southern  California 
road,  ten  car  loads, — 200  tons,  of  wheat  of  their  own  raising,  which 
was  of  such  excellent  quality  that  it  brought  ^2.24  the  hundred 
pounds  when  the  usual  market  price  was  only  $2.10.  The  land 
on  which  such  wheat  could  be  grown,  in  an  unusually  dry  sea- 
son, must  be  counted  arable. 

West  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Cascades,  we  fmd  a  fine 
a<^ricultural  resfion.  Western  Washino^ton,  Oreo^on,  and  Califor- 
nia.  This  is  the  land  of  gigantic  forest  trees,  the  sequoias,  the 
cedars,  firs,  and  loftiest  pines,  the  tulip  tree,  liquidambar  and 
other  forest  trees,  which  have  no  rivals  in  the  Northern  Hemis- 
phere. It  is  also  the  land  of  wheat  and  barley,  of  Indian  corn 
and  oats,  of  the  vine,  and  its  abundant  wine  product,  as  well  as 
raisins  of  the  best  quality  ;  and  in  its  southern  portion,  of  the 
orange,  lemon  and  lime,  the  olive,  the  fig,  the  pomegranate,  and 
the  Madeira  nut  or  English  walnut,  and  the  French  and  Italian 
chestnut.  The  latter  is,  in  Italy,  largely  cultivated  for  the  food- 
producing  quality  of  its  nuts. 

The  wheat  crop  of  California  is  larger  than  that  of  any  other 
State,  ranging  from  36,000,000  to  50,000,000  bushels  annually, 
and  is  of  the  very  best  quality,  bringing,  in  European  markets, 
higher  prices  than  any  other.  It  never  rains  in  harvest-time  in 
California,  and,  on  the  large  grain  ranches,  the  giant  header  clips 
off  the  heads  of  the  wheat,  sweeps  them  into  the  hucre  wairon- 
box  froni  which  they  are  shot  into  the  threshing-machine,  which 
is  geared  on  to  the  header,  and  the  reaping  and  threshing  are 
carried  on  simultaneously;  while  the  grain  as  it  comes  from  the 


FARMING    ON  THE   PACIFIC    SLOPE.  j^^ 

threshing-machine  is  sacked  automatically,  and  the  sacks  are 
piled  in  heaps  in  the  field,  remaining  uninjured  in  the  pure, 
dry  air,  till  they  are  sent  to  market  or  shipped  for  Europe.  A 
large  part  of  the  crop  is  shipped  in  July.  Barley  is  also  a  very 
important  crop,  California  producing  more  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  barley  crop  of  the  United  States,  and  nearly  three  times 
as  much  as  any  other  State.  Its  product  in  1878  was  about 
15,000,000  bushels,  an  average  of  twenty-three  bushels  to  the 
acre,  though  forty  to  sixty  bushels  is  not  an  unusual  product. 
The  production  of  oats  is  hardly  sufficient  to  supply  the  State 
demand,  being  but  4,350,000  bushels  in  1S78,  though  consider- 
able dependence  is  placed  on  wild  oats,  which  are  used  largely 
for  hay.  Indian  corn  is  also  a  small  crop,  about  3,500,000  bushels 
in  1878,  or  about  thirty-five  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  Alfalfa  and 
the  various  species  of  millet,  including  the  pearl  millet  and  the. 
Dhourra  or  Egyptian  rice-corn,  are  cultivated  by  the  dairymen: 
for  fodder.  Beans  are  largely  grown.  The  root  crops  are  more 
remarkable  for  enormous  growth  than  for  fine  tlavor.  The 
sugar-beet  yields  several  crops,  and  contains  a  high  percentage 
of  sugar.  Hops  are  also  an  important  crop,  and  other  minor 
crops  add  to  the  aggregate  of  production.  The  fruits  of  Cali- 
fornia have  a  deservedly  high  reputation.  The  apple  must  yield 
the  palm  to  those  of  Oregon,  Washington,  or  the  States  and 
Territories  farther  East,  but  the  pear,  quince,  peach,  apricot, 
cherry,  orange,  lemon,  pomegranate,  fig,  prune,  plum,  olive,  cur- 
rant, strawberry,  blackberry,  raspberry,  banana,  plantain,  and 
pineapple  all  attain  a  high  degree  of  excellence  and  a  marvellous 
size. 

In  addition  to  the  native  grape  and  the  Mission,  grape,  both 
of  which  are  very  largely  grown,  every  known  variety  of  grape 
found  in  Europe  or  America  is  cultivated  here,  and'  both  in  the 
flavor  and  quality  of  the  fruit,  and  the  abundance  of  the  )'ield, 
they  all  greatly  surpass  their  product  where  they  are  native. 
The  production  of  raisins  was  at  first  a  partial  failure,  in  conse- 
quence of  incomplete  drying,  but  having  learned  the  art  of 
drying  these  as  well  as  most  other  fruits,  the  raisins  of  the  sun, 

from  California,   in  their  recent   samples,  surpass  those  of  any 
10 


146  OCR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Other  part  of  the  globe.  The  dried  fruits  of  the  State,  after 
failures  from  careless  drying,  are  now  beginning  to  take  rank 
with  the  best  in  the  world.  The  California  wines  and  brandies 
have  not  till  recently  attained  to  their  best  condition.  They 
were  too  strongly  alcoholic,  fiery  and  heady,  and  were  put  upon 
the  market  before  they  had  had  sufficient  age  to  ripen  them. 
The  conditions  of  climate  and  dryness  were  not  taken  into  ac- 
count by  the  wine-growers,  and  the  Mission  grape  being  largely 
used  for  wine-making,  its  peculiar,  earthy  taste  impaired  the 
value  of  the  wine.  These  difficulties  have  been,  now,  in  a  great 
measure  overcome,  and  the  present  and  future  vintages  of  Cali- 
fornia will  compare  favorably  with  the  best  wines  of  Europe, 
with  the  additional  advantage  of  being  purer.  The  California 
brandy,  when  it  has  a  sufficient  age,  is  preferred  by  connoisseurs 
to  the  best  cognac.  There  is  yet,  however,  a  considerable  im- 
portadon,  not  only  of  French  brandies,  but  of  the  lighter  and 
cheaper  French  wines,  especially  clarets,  which  might  be  made 
there  of  really  better  quality  than  the  imported  wines. 

Both  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory  contain,  besides  their 
ereat  amount  of  timber  lands,  and  their  extensive  ranches  for 
grazing,  large  tracts  of  fertile,  arable  lands.  There  is  no  lack 
of  rainfall  in  the  recrion  west  of  the  Cascade  Mountains.  At 
some  points  the  skies  weep  too  constantly  for  successful  grain 
culture,  but  this  very  excess  of  moisture  gives  to  the  forests  a 
more  cficjantic  orowth,  and  to  the  cfrasses  a  lar(jer  and  more  vicr- 
orous  development.  For  the  most  part,  however,  Oregon  and 
Washington  are  well  adapted  to  the  culture  of  the  cereals. 
Even  Eastern  Washington  and  Oregon,  formerly  regarded  as 
a  desert  and  rainless  region,  proves,  notwithstanding  its  whitish, 
alkaline  soil,  and  its  moderate  rainfall,  one  of  the  finest  wheat 
regions  in  the  world.  With  deep  plowing  no  irrigation  is  needed, 
and  the  wheat,  large,  full-berried,  and  of  the  very  best  quality, 
weighing  from  sixty-five  to  sixty-nine  pounds  to  the  bushel  (the 
legal  weight  is  sixty  pounds),  turns  out  from  thirty  to  sixty 
bushels  to  the  acre ;  many  of  the  farms  averaging  from  forty 
to  fifty  bushels  for  their  entire  crop.  In  1879  the  wheat  crop 
of  Oregon  exceeded  10,000,000  bushels,  and  that  of  Washington 


FOREST    GROWTHS.  I47 

was  about  half  as  much,  shnply  because  there  were  not  men 
enough  to  sow  a  larger  crop.  All  the  small  grains,  rye,  oats, 
barley,  and  buckwheat  are  successfully  cultivated  there ;  oats 
yielding  from  seventy  to  eighty  bushels  to  the  acre.  Indian  corn 
is  a  tolerably  sure  crop  in  Oregon,  but  less  so  in  Washington 
on  account  of  the  cool  nights.  The  root  crops  yield  enormously, 
and  there  is  a  ready  market  for  them  at  good  prices  at  home 
among  the  lumbermen,  fishermen,  and  manufacturing  population 
of  the  towns.  Flax,  though  cultivated  mainly  for  the  seed,  is 
of  excellent  quality,  the  lint  being  longer,  finer  and  silkier  than 
elsewhere.  Of  fruits,  the  apple  and  pear  are  unsurpassed,  and 
most  of  the  small  fruits  are  successfully  cultivated.  Oregon 
apples,  pears,  and  berries  command  a  high  price  in  the  San 
Francisco  market. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


Timber  and  Lumber — Tree-Planting — The  Forest  Growths  in  DiFFERfeNT 
Sections — California  Forests — Horticulture  and  Fruit-Culture — 
Floriculture — Wild  Flowers — Market  Gardening. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  a  considerable  portion  of  this  Great 
West  is  but  scantily  supplied  with  forest  trees.  In  1871,  a 
careful  estimate  put  down,  in  these  twenty  States  and  Territo- 
ries, the  woodland,  as  covering  198,124,802  acres;  but  in  the 
nine  years  which  have  since  elapsed,  the  demand  for  railroad  ties 
and  structures,  for  bridges,  for  machinery,  pardy  of  wood,  for 
mines,  for  dwellings,  and  public  buildings,  and  for  export,  has 
diminished  this  area  by  nearly  or  quite  twenty-five  per  cent. 
Minnesota,  Missouri,  Oregon,  and  Washington,  and  perhaps 
Texas,  and  Arkansas  to  a  moderate  extent,  are  the  only  States 
or  Territories  that  export  lumber.  Montana  has  good  timber- 
lands,  but  she  is  not  as  yet  producing  more  than  lumber  enough 
for  the  home  demand.  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Kansas,  Wy- 
oming, Colorado,  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Nevada,  have 
not  timber  and  lumber  enouoh  for  their  own  needs,   and  are 


J  iS  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

oblitjed  to  import  a  large  share  of  what  is  consumed.  The 
Indian  Territory  has  a  moderate  amount,  but  the  adjacent  rail- 
roads are  fast  consuming  it.  Idaho  has  considerable  forests  on 
its  mountains,  but  much  of  it  is  not  accessible.  The  orlo-antic 
forests  of  California  have  been  so  recklessly  wasted,  that  she  now 
imports  largely  of  timber,  lumber,  and  fire-wood.  In  the  prairie 
States,  liberal  premiums  have  been  offered  for  tree-planting  by 
the  State  authorities ;  and  the  National  Government,  by  their 
Timber-Culture  Act  and  its  amendments,  have  sought  to  promote 
the  cultivation  of  forest  trees.  The  railroad  companies,  which 
have  larofe  land  q; rants,  have  also  encouraijcd  tree-culture.  But 
though  these  efforts  have  led  to  the  planting  of  some  millions  of 
trees,  many  of  them  die  the  first  or  second  year,  and  the  whole 
number  planted,  in  six  or  seven  years,  bears  but  a  small  propor- 
tion to  the  annual  destruction  of  the  forests. 

The  forest  growths  differ  materially  in  different  sections.  In 
the  northeast,  Minnesota  and  Northern  Dakota,  pine  is  pre-emi- 
nent, though  there  are  some  of  the  harder  woods  scattered 
through  the  forests.  In  Missouri,  cottonwoods,  and  the  bois  d'arc 
or  Osage  orange,  mingle  with  the  other  hard  woods  and  pine 
and  hemlock.  Montana  has  pines  and  firs,  and  some  oaks,  black 
walnuts,  maples,  etc.,  etc.  Oregon  and  Washington  are  remark- 
able in  their  western  halves  for  gigantic  firs,  and  have  also  a  fair 
share  of  pines,  spruces,  red  cedars,  and  sequoias.  From  these 
and  the  almost  inexhaustible  forests  of  Alaska,  and  British 
Columbia,  the  Pacific  coast  will  probably  draw  its  supplies  of 
lumber  and  timber  for  many  years  to  come.  The  forests  of 
Eastern  and  Middle  Texas,  and  Arkansas,  are  largely  composed 
of  hard  woods ;  there  are  eight  or  ten  species  of  oak,  one  an 
evergreen,  though  not  the  genuine  live-oak  ;  chinquepin,  hickory, 
black  walnut,  cherry  and  ash;  and  in  Northern  Arkansas  the 
tulip  tree  or  yellow  poplar,  the  sweet,  sour,  and  black  gum, 
cypress  and  the  Osage  orange,  etc.,  etc.  In  Northwestern  Texas, 
there  are  some  forests  of  pine  and  fir.  The  mountains  of  Ari- 
zona, Colorado,  and  New  Mexico,  are  generally  covered,  nearly 
to  the  snow  line,  with  evergreen  forests  (pitch,  yellow,  and  sprue  c 
pine),  but  the  trees  are  not  usually  of  such  gigantic  size  as  are 


FOREST  GROWTHS  ^^^ 

found  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Along  the  streams  the  inevitable 
Cottonwood,  locust,  buckeye,  box  elder  [iicgiuido)^  and  maple,  are 
found  in  moderate  quantities. 

The  forest  growths  of  California  are  (or  rather  were,  for, 
except  in  a  few  of  the  counties,  they  are  rapidly  passing  away) 
for  the  most  part  wholly  unlike  those  of  the  region  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  Its  largest  trees,  the  sequoias,  are  of  the  red- 
wood or  cedar  family.  The  Sequoia  gigantea  has  attained  in  some 
instances  to  a  height  exceeding  450  feet,  and  very  few  of  them 
when  their  growth  was  attained  are  under  325  feet.  The  tallest 
now  standing  is  said  to  be  376  feet  in  height.  Their  circumfer- 
ence is  as  remarkable  as  their  height,  ranging  from  eighty  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  largest  now  standing  measures 
106  feet  in  circumference  at  its  base.  The  Sequoia  scmpei^uii^cns,  or 
redwood  of  the  Coast  Range  (the  Sequoia  gigantea  is  only 
found  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada),  is  but  little 
smaller  than  th^  Sequoia  gigantea;  often  attaining  a  height  of 
300  feet,  and  a  circumference  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet.  The 
sugar  pine  {Piiius  Lambet'tiana)  and  the  Douglas'  spruce  [Abies 
Douglasii)  both  attain  a  height  of  250  to  300  feet,  with  a  circum- 
ference of  forty  to  forty-five  feet.  The  California  yellow  pine 
[Pinus  pojiderosa)  is  often  225  feet  high.  Sabine's  or  the  nut- 
pine  {Pin,2cs  Sabiniana),  the  western  balsam-fir  [Pieea  grandis), 
and  the  white  cedar  [Libocednis  decurj-ens)  all  attain  a  height 
of  150  feet;  and  among  the  deciduous  trees,  the  burr  oak,  and 
the  western  chinquepin,  one  of  the  chestnut  family,  reach  125 
feet.  Many  other  trees  unknown  at  the  east,  some  of  them 
semi-tropical,  are  100  feet  or  more  in  height.  Two  of  the  oaks 
are  evero:reens. 

The  trees  planted  or  raised  from  the  seed,  under  the  Timber, 
Culture  and  other  acts,  have  been  almost  entirely  of  the  rapidly 
growing  kinds,  the  cottonwood,  the  ailantus,  the  locust,  the  Osage 
orange,  the  vine,  maple,  and  white  maple,  etc.  Few  ot  these  have 
much  value  for  timber,  but  most  of  them  are  good  for  fuel,  and 
some  make  moderately  durable  railroad  ties.  There  must  be 
added,  however,  to  this  list  of  trees,  planted  by  settlers,  one 
which  is  likely  to  prove  of  great  value  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view. 


ICO  OUR    U'ESTERX   EMPIRE. 

as  well  as  eventually  as  a  timber  tree,  the  Eucalyptus  globulus, 
a  tree  which  has  the  reputation  of  arresting  the  progress  of 
marsh  miasms,  and  of  rendering  the  regions  in  which  it  is  planted 
healthy.  Unfortunately,  this  species  is  not  hardy  above  latitude 
39°  or  40°  north,  but  some  of  the  other  species  of  Eucalyptus 
may  be  less  susceptible  to  the  cold.  One  species,  found  in  Aus- 
tralia, contests  with  the  Seqiwia  giga7itea  of  California,  the  title 
to  be  considered  the  largest  tree  in  the  world.  It  is  said  to  be 
at  least  of  crreater  circumference. 

In  the  newer  portions  of  this  vast  region,  the  farmer  has  been 
so  intent  on  bringing  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  his  grain 
or  root  crops  to  market,  that  there  has  been  comparatively  little 
opportunity  for  developing  aesthetic  taste  in  the  cultivation  of  a 
flower-garden  ;  and  yet  in  sections  where  two  years  ago  the  sod 
was  unbroken,  the  grounds  around  the  often  humble  cabin  or 
sod-house  give  evidence  of  refinement  in  the  variety  of  flowers 
already  blooming  there.  In  Iowa,  Missouri,  Minnesota,  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  Texas,  California,  Oregon,  Nevada,  and  Eastern  and 
Central  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  the  flower-gardens  are  often 
gay  with  beautiful  flowers,  of  kinds  unknown  at  the  l!,ast,  and  as 
often  redolent  with  the  sweetest  perfumes.  Many  shrubs,  which 
at  the  East  are  hardly  half-hardy,  and  cannot  in  our  climate  be 
preserved  through  the  winter,  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  in  Texas, 
become  trees  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet  in  height.  Among  these 
we  may  name  the  fuchsia  of  several  species,  with  its  beautiful 
flowers  of  crimson,  white,  scarlet,  yellow  and  blush ;  the  helio- 
trope, with  its  rich  perfume,  which  becomes  a  flourishing  tree; 
the  mignonette,  the  smilax,  here  so  delicate,  there  a  hardy 
climber;  the  magnolia  grandiflora,  the  syringa,  there  a  stately 
tree,  the  lily  family,  etc.,  etc. 

Wild  flowers  of  great  beauty  and  fragrance  abound  through- 
out all  this  region,  except  the  alkaline  or  sage-brush  lands,  the 
Llano  Estacado  and  the  dry  mesas  of  Arizona,  and  the  two  latter 
during  and  after  the  scanty  rains,  are  resplendent  with  brilliant 
blossoming  verdure,  and  during  their  dry  seasons,  the  cacti, 
though  of  uncouth  and  ungainly  forms,  produce  flowers  of  gor- 
geous hues,  and  some  of  them  of  wonderful  beauty. 


.  MARKET  GARDENING.    .  jX  I 

As  to  kitchen  and  market-gardens,  they  are  found  most 
abundantly  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  towns  and  cities.  A  large 
proportion  of  them  are  cultivated  by  Europeans,  the  Germans, 
perhaps,  being  most  numerous  among  the  larger  market-gar- 
deners. Their  products  are  of  almost  unlimited  variety:  cab- 
bage, cauliflower,  kohl-rabi,  onions,  leeks,  garlics,  early  sweet 
corn,  sweet  potatoes,  the  common  potato  of  many  varieties,  yams, 
okra,  gumbo,  asparagus,  celery,  spinage,  and  other  greens,  vege- 
table oysters,  egg-plants,  radishes,  lettuce,  artichokes,  turnips, 
beets,  mangel-wurzel,  ruta-baga,  carrots,  parsnips,  squashes, 
pumpkins,  muskmelons,  watermelons,  citrons,  cucumbers,  gher- 
kins, peppers,  the  flavoring  plants,  thyme,  summer-savory,  sage, 
endive,  peppergrass,  water-cresses,  parsley,  orange  leaves,  bay 
leaves,  etc.,  etc.  Many  of  them  deal  also  in  the  small  fruits  in 
their  season.  To  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  this  busi- 
ness in  Europe  or  in  the  Eastern  States,  there  is  a  fine  field  for 
enterprise  here  ;  a  very  few  acres  of  the  fertile  soil  are  sufficient, 
and  for  some  years  at  least,  and  in  most  cases  for  one  or  two 
generations,  no  manure  beyond  that  made  upon  the  place  will 
be  needed,  only  deep  and  thorough  tillage,  to  produce  such 
vegetables  as  cannot  be  produced  elsewhere.  In  the  vicinity  of 
any  of  the  rapidly  growing  towns  of  the  mining  region,  there  is 
no  danger  of  a  glut  in  the  market  for  these  products,  and  if  the 
market-gardener  can  manage  to  keep  two  or  three  milch  cows 
of  the  best  grade,  his  milk  and  butter  will  prove  additionally 
profitable.  In  this  connection,  too,  the  rearing  of  fowls,  whose 
feeding  and  care  is  inexpensive,  in  connection  with  the  market- 
garden  business,  is  a  source  of  large  profit. 


ir2  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

New  Directions  in  which  Agricultural  Industry  may  re  Developed,  and 

IN  WHICH  it  is  already  DEVELOPING MiLLET  AND    OTHER    FORACE  CrOPS 

SlLK-CULTURE — REARING  THE  S1LK.-WORM StIKLING  THE  CoCOONS — REEL- 
ING— The  Filature — Schappe  or  Spun-Silk — Cocoons  do  not  bear 
Transportation  well — Advantages  of  Silk-Culture  in  the  West — The 
SiLKviLLE  Experiment — Prices  ok  Raw  Silk,  and  of  Silk-worm  Eggs — 
Probahilitv  of  a  Large  Demand  for  Raw  Silk — Textile  Fidres — Flax 
AND  Hemp — Paper  Stock:  Esparto  Grass,  Tule,  Marsh-mallow,  etc. — 
Ramie,  Jute,  Tampico — The  Nettle — Dye  Stuffs — Cochineal — Oil- 
Producing  Plants — The  Olive — Cotton-seed  Oil — Hemp-seed  and  Lin- 
seed Oil — Oil  of  Sunflower  Seeds  and  other  Seeds — Sesamum  Indicum 
— Tar  Weed  (Madia  Sativa) — Pea-nut,  Ground-nut  or  Gqouer — Castor 
Bean  (Ricinus  Communis  and  Sanguinarius) — Tea  and  Coffee  Cultiva- 
tion— Fruit  and  Nut- bearing  Trees  and  Shrubs — The  Olive — Oranges 
AND  Lemons — Pomegranate — Fig — Banana,  Plantain,  Pineapple,  Guava 

■     AND    OTHER    TrOPICAL    FrUITS — PaPAW — NuT-BEARING  TrEES  AND  ShRUDS 

Introduction  of  Foreign  Nuts — English  Walnut — Italian  Chestnut — 
Almond  —  Other  Fruit-bearing  Shrubs  —  Japanese  Persimmon,  Carob, 
Jujube,  Mezquite,  etc. — Trees  and  Shrubs  containing  Tannin — The 
Sumacs — The  Wattles — The  Spiraeas  or  Hardhacks. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  cultivation  of  the  Minnesota 
early  amber-cane,  or  sorghum,  and  of  the  great  impulse  which 
has  been  given  to  its  culture  within  two  years  past  by  the  dis- 
covery that  it  contains  its  largest  proportion  of  sugar,  and  almost 
its  only  crystallizable  sugar,  when  it  is  ripe;  and  have  shown 
that  not  only  can  the  seed  be  saved  by  waiting  till  this  time,  but 
that  the  yield  of  sugar  is  so  large,  and  is  produced  by  such  sim- 
ple processes,  that  it  is  the  most  profitable  crop  a  farmer  can  raise, 
and  will  materially  diminish,  if  it  does  not  entirely  abolish,  the 
necessity  of  our  importing  immense  quantities  of  sugar  from  the 
West  Indies,  Demerara,  Brazil  and  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Our 
importation  of  sugars  now  costs  us  ^100,000,000  annually.  We 
may  be,  within  ten  years,  and  possibly  within  five,  exporters  in- 
stead of  importers  of  raw  sugars. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  the  stalks  of  our  Indian  corn  yield, 
when  the  corn  is  ripe,  about  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  quan- 


SILK-CULTURE.  j^j 

tity  of  sugar  produced  by  the  amber  sorghum ;  that  the  millets, 
the  Egyptian  rice  corn,  and  probably  broom  corn  also,  which  is 
largely  cultivated  in  some  portions  of  the  West,  yield  quite  as 
much  as  the  Indian  corn.  Here  is  a  great  opportunity  for  a  new 
and  lucrative  industry,  and  there  is  little  danger  of  overdoing  it. 

The  cultivation  of  the  millets,  and  especially  of  the  pearl  millet 
and  the  Egyptian  rice  corn,  already  introduced  into  Kansas  and 
some  of  the  other  States,  both  as  a  forage  plant  and  for  the 
production  of  sugar,  and  the  increase  in  the  crops  of  Alfalfa, 
Lucerne,  Hungarian  grass,  and  possibly  some  of  the  other  forage 
grasses,  is  well  worthy  of  attention.  We  shall  have  more  to  say 
on  this  subject  in  connection  with  stock-farming.  The  yield  of 
foraofe  from  some  of  them  is  enormous. 

The  rearing  of  silk-worms  is  an  industry  which,  if  rightly  man- 
aged, might  be  made  very  successful.  It  does  not  require  a 
very  large  outlay,  but  will  be  best  conducted  by  colonies,  some 
of  the  members  of  which  have  been  practically  familiar  with  the 
business  elsewhere. 

There  is  necessary,  in  starting  the  business,  a  plantation  of 
mulberry  trees,  but  this  need  not  be  large  at  first,  and  the  tree 
grows  very  rapidly.  The  white  mulberry  [Moj'us  alba)  is  per- 
haps the  best,  though  some  prefer  the  black  [Alortcs  nigra)  or 
the  many-leaved  [Alorus  inuUicaidis)''''  Other  trees  afford  food 
for  silk-worms,  such  as  the  Osage  orange,  regarded  by  many  as 
equal  to  the  mulberry,  the  ailantus,  the  weeping-willow  {Salix 
Babylonica),  the  kilmarnock  willow,  some  of  the  osiers,  several 
species  of  oak,  and  the  garden  lettuce,  but  the  silk  is  better  from 
the  mulberry  than  from  most  of  the  others,  and  if  well  managed, 
no  more  expensive.  When  the  mulberry  trees  are  large  enough 
to  furnish  a  good  supply  of  leaves,  the  silk- worm  eggs  should  be 
procured,  and  the  purchaser  should  avoid  any  fancy  varieties,  of 
which  there  are  many  in  the  market,  but  should  confine  himself 
to  those  kinds  which  will  produce  the  large,  single  crop  sulphur 
yellow,  lemon  yellow,  or  white  cocoons.     These  in  the  long  run 

*  M.  Boissiere  ihinUs  ilie  Lpoa  or  Japanese  mulberry  [flfdrus  japonica')  bettci*  than  any  other, 
as  fourteen  and  a  half  pounds  of  its  leaves  will  make  one  pound  of  cocoons,  while  of  the 
white  mulberry,  twenty  pounds  are  required,  and  of  the  moreUia  new  species  fifteen  pounds,  and 
the  rose  "mulberry  seventeen  pounds. 


j-_,  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

will  pay  best.  Shelves,  or  layers  of  brush,  separated  by  proper 
supports,  should  be  provided  for  feeding  the  worms,  and  the 
feeding,  if  the  number  is  considerable,  will  keep  the  children, 
pretty  busy  night  and  day  for  from  three  to  five  weeks.  When 
the  worms  are  ready  to  begin  to  spin,  the  brush  is  better  than 
shelves  or  frames.  When  the  cocoons  are  finished  a  few  of  the 
best  shaped  and  largest  must  be  reserved  for  the  production  of 
eggs,  and  the  rest  "  stiiied;  "  i.  c,  the  chrysalides  killed,  cither  by 
subjecting  them  to  the  fumes  of  camphor,  or  some  of  tlie  other 
hydro-carbons,  or  to  steam  heat,  or  baking  them.  It  is  not  best 
for  the  families  to  reel  the  cocoons  themselves ;  if  there  is  a 
colony  of  silk-growers,  sonic  of  them  will  probably  be  skilful 
reelers,  and  one  filature  or  reelinof  establishment  is  enouoh  for  a 
hundred  silk-?Towers.  Machines  recently  invented  make  reeling 
on  a  larofc  scale  easier  than  it  was,  and  if  the  silk-orowers  brino- 
their  cocoons  at  an  average  price  to  the  filature,  receiving  their 
pay  when  the  silk  is  reeled  and  sold,  a  moderate  capital  only  will 
be  required.  Raw  silk  is  not  so  bulky  as  to  make  its  transpor- 
tation very  expensive,  but  if  at  a  distance  from  market  the  silk 
may  be  doubled,  twisted,  and  thrown,  or  brought  into  the  condition 
of  tram  and  organzine,  without  any  great  addition  to  the  cost. 
The  pierced  cocoons,  or  those  through  which  the  chrysalis  has 
escaped,  as  well  as  wild  silk-worm  cocoons,  if  there  are  any, 
and  the  fioss  or  outside  silk  of  the  reeled  cocoons,  may  also  be 
utilized  in  such  an  establishment,  being  boiled  for  a  long  time  in 
soap  and  water,  cut  up,  carded  and  spun  to  form  the  spun  silk, 
or  Schappe.  Eventually  it  may  be  desirable  to  establish  a  factory 
for  the  production  of  sewing  silk,  ribbons,  handkerchiefs,  fringes 
and  trimmings,  dress  goods,  satins,  laces,  or  velvets.  The  last  are 
not  as  yet  produced  in  this  country.  Cocoons  are  too  bulky  to 
bear  long  transportation,  and  the  only  successful  silk-culture 
must  either  be,  that  in  v;hich  one  filature  with  skilled  reelers 
works  up  the  cocoons  from  a  hundred  families  of  silk-growers, 
or  one  in  which  the  silk-worm  eggs  are  produced  for  the  market 
in  large  quantities.  There  is  an  active  demand  for  these  at  high 
prices,  but  even  if  the  business  was  conducted  with  only  this 
end  in  view^  the  pierced  cocoons  might  be  utilized  with  profit. 


CAN  SILK-CULTURE  BE  MADE  PHOFITABLE?  155 

One  advantage  of  the  silk-culture  is,  that  it  occupies  but  a  few 
weeks  of  the  year,  and  most  of  the  work  can  be  performed  by 
children,  while  other  farm  or  manufacturing  work  can  be 
prosecuted  during  the  remainder  of  the  year.  M.  Boissiere  has 
established  a  cheese  factory  to  employ  his  operatives  the  remain- 
der of  the  year.  Conducted  as  we  have  indicated,  it  can  hardly 
fail  to  be  profitable  in  connection  with  the  cultivation  of  other 
crops.  The  silk-worm  disease  which  has  so  largely  reduced  the 
silk  product  of  Italy  and  France,  is  not  likely  to  be  introduced  here, 
but  the  silk-grower  should  select  localities  not  subject  to  frequent 
and  violent  storms,  or  to  severe  thunder-storms,  or  rapid  and 
extreme  changes  of  temperature  during  the  time  of  feeding,  as  the 
worm  is  then  very  sensitive,  and  easily  killed.  M.  E.  V\  Boissiere, 
the  French  silk-grower  and  manufacturer  already  mentioned,  has 
started  silk-ijrowine  and  silk  manufacture  with  a  colony  of  French 
silk-growers  on  a  small  scale  at  Silkville,  Williamsburg  P.  O., 
Franklin  county,  Kansas,  and  after  a  struggle  of  several  years, 
has  succeeded  in  producing  raw  silk  equal  in  quality  to  the  best 
French  and  Italian,  and  his  worms,  though  originally  from  the 
eggs  from  the  moths  of  diseased  worms,  have  proved  perfectly 
healthy.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  raw  silk  produced  at 
Silkville  is.  reeled  by  hand  by  the  daughters  of  the  silk-growers, 
who  had  become  experts  in  reeling  in  France. 

The  cocoons  from  French  silk-worms  are  much  larger  and 
more  easily  reeled  than  those  from  Chinese  or  Japanese  worms, 
and  M.  Crozier,  M.  Boissiere's  manager,  says  that  in  1S78  the 
raw  silk  produced  there  brought  in  the  French  market  130 
francs  the  kilogram,  or  about  $10  a  pound.  At  this  price  the 
raw  silk  affoi-ds  a  better  profit  than  the  production  of  silk-worm 
eggs  for  market,  and  is  safer,  as  the  price  of  the  eggs  varies 
so  much,  and  the  demand  for  them  is  liable  to  be  below  the  sup- 
ply. In  1877,  France  alone  paid  1,691,400  francs  =  ;S,33S,28o  to 
this  country  for  silk-worm  eggs;  but  a  part  of  these  proving 
worthless,  from  bad  management,  there  was  a  decided  falling 
off  in  the  demand  in  187S  and  1879. 

But  the  price  of  raw  silk  also  fluctuates  widely,  ranging  within 
the  ten  years   1S68-1878,   for  the  best    Italian,   from    $7.25   to 


1^6  OUR    WESTERN  EMRIRE. 

$15;  for  the  best  Japanese  (Maibash)  from  $3.75  to  $9.12,  and 
for  the  Chinese  (Tsatlee  III.)  from  $4.25  to  $8  per  pound.  In 
1878  the  prices  were  still  lower,  averaging  at  the  close  of  the 
year  only  about  $2.50  per  pound,  for  all  qualities,  European  and 
Asiatic,  It  has  since  advanced  materially.  To  command  the 
highest  price,  however,  the  raw  silk  must  be  reeled  with  the 
greatest  care  and  skill,  so  as  to  make  a  uniform  thread,  and  on 
this  account  it  can  never  be  done  successfully  by  Inexperienced 
hands,  and  is  best  done  by  machines  with  skilled  reelers. 

The  great  increase  in  the  silk  manufacture  in  this  country 
will  create  a  large  and  steady  demand  for  raw  silk,  and  if  it  can 
be  produced  at  paying  prices,  by  the  methods  we  have  Indicated, 
or  if  silk-factories  can  be  established  in  the  Western  States  and 
Territories,  which  will  combine  reeling  with  the  manufacture  of 
silk,  this  w^Ill  become  a  favorite  industry  among  the  enterprising 
farmers  of  the  Great  West, 

Another  wide  field  for  enterprise  is  in  the  direction  of  the 
cultivation  of  a  greater  variety  of  textile  fibres.  Even  flax  and 
hemp,  the  most  common  of  the  textiles  after  cotton,  have  not 
had  a  fair  chance  in  the  West.  W^ith  the  facilities  afforded  by 
our  unrivalled  machinery  for  the  breaking  of  flax  and  hemp, 
and  the  abundance  of  pure  water  for  bleaching,  Minnesota 
and  Dakota  ought  to  have  many  millions  of  acres  In  these  two 
crops. 

The  great  demand  for  paper  stock  should  cover  all  the  marsh 
lands  of  Missouri,  Nebraska  and  Kansas  with  Esparto  grass, 
tule,  marsh-mallow  or  the  cane-brake ;  while  farther  south  the 
palmetto  could  be  produced,  on  lands  now  considered  worthless, 
for  the  same  purpose.  The  vast  amount  of  wheat-straw  and 
wild  hay  of  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Nebraska  and  Kansas  might 
be  converted  Into  paper  and  straw-board,  to  much  greater  profit 
than  is  gained  by  using  both  as  fuel  for  running  threshing- 
machines  and  factories.  The  new  Invention,  by  which,  by  chem- 
ical saturation  and  powerful  compression,  straw-board  can  be 
made  Into  an  artificial  wood  almost  as  hard  as  iron,  and  fit  for  all 
the  uses  of  the  best  ornamental  woods,  at  hardly  more  than  a 
tithe  of  their  cost,  ought  to  be  worth  millions  of  dollars  to 
those  States,  and  to  California,  where  the  straw  Is  also  burned. 


NEW   TEXTILES.  icy 

But  the  production  of  textiles  is  not  limited  to  these  fibres. 
Ramie,  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  beautiful  of  textiles,  has 
been  raised  successfully  in  Texas  and  Arkansas.  Jute  is  even 
more  successfully  cultivated  throughout  the  entire  region  below 
forty-two  degrees,  and  there  is  a  steady  and  large  demand  for 
it.  The  various  fibres  known  as  Tampico,  Honduras  grass, 
Panama  grass  and  Agave  fibre,  can  all  be  raised  easily  and  prof- 
itably in  Texas,  Arkansas,  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  ;  while  the 
over-abundant  cacti  of  Texas  and  Arizona  can  be  utilized  for 
the  production  of  strong  and  excellent  fibres  suited  both  for  rope 
and  bagging  purposes  and  for  paper  stock.  A  species  of  cactus, 
which  grows  in  immense  jungles  or  'UJiaparral'"  in  Southern 
California,  has  already  been  utilized  for  making  mattresses,  for 
which  its  beautiful  white  and  easily-curled  elastic  fibre,  fit  it 
admirably. 

The  Germans  have  achieved  a  orood  decree  of  success  in  cul- 
tivating  the  nettle,  both  for  its  textile  fibres  and  as  a  good  and 
desirable  fodder.  They  cultivate  their  native  plant,  the  Urtica 
dioica,  but  the  BaiJuneria  nivca,  a  Chinese  and  Indian  nettle,  from 
which  comes  the  China  grass,  or  Ramie,  is  said  to  be  better  where 
the  climate  is  not  too  cold.  A  Canadian  species,  Urtica  Can- 
nabina,  is  also  highly  commended.  The  cuiiivation  is  very 
simple ;  the  nettle  will  grow  on  the  very  poorest  land  (though, 
of  course,  larger  and  better  on  that  which  is  richer);  its  fibres 
are  finer  and  better  than  hemp,  and  fully  equal  to  the  best  flax, 
and  it  will  yield  from  300  to  500  pounds  of  white,  fine  fibre  to 
the  acre,  while  it  is  more  easily  hackled  than  either  flax  or  hemp. 
It  is  worth  a  trial.  The  fodder  can  be  saved  in  cutting  it  for 
the  fibre,  and  is  much  relished  by  cattle. 

Since  the  discover}''  and  large  production  of  the  aniline  colors 
from  coal  and  gas  tar,  there  has  been  a  decreasing  demand  for 
madder,  cochineal  and  other  vegetable  and  animal  dyes,  but 
there  is  yet  a  considerable  call  for  them,  if  only  for  the  extrac- 
tion of  their  ultimate  coloring  principles,  Yet  the  cultivation 
of  madder  is  not  more  difficult  than  that  of  most  root  crops, 
and  where  it  is  erown  on  a  larofc  scale  the  extraction  of  its  active 
principle,  alizarine,  will  afford  large  profit. 


158  OUR    WESTER .y   EMPIRE. 

The  cochineal  is  composed  of  the  dried  bodies  of  insects 
which  feed  upon  the  cactus,  and  the  most  widely  diffused  species 
of  it.  Their  entomological  name  is  Coccus  cacti,  and  beside  the 
usefulness  of  the  cactus  in  furnishing  textile  fibres,  it  can  be  util- 
ized to  any  required  extent,  in  Arizona  and  Western  Texas,  in 
rearino;  this  valuable  little  insect. 

Another  new  direction  for  farming  industry  is  found  in  the 
cultivation  of  oil-producing  plants.  The  olive  will  flourish  and 
yield  fruit  in  most  of  the  region  south  of  the  38th  parallel.  It 
endures  drought  well,  and  will  mature  its  valuable  fruit,  even  in 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico ;  and  both  the  fruit  and  oil  will  com- 
mand a  ready  market.  It  is  already  cultivated  to  some  extent  in 
California  and  Texas,  and  its  culture  deserves  to  be  gready 
increased. 

The  extraction  of  oil,  and  the  sale  of  the  oil-cake  from  the 
cotton-seed,  is  an  industry  which  is  already  becoming  very  exten- 
sive in  Arkansas,  Louisiana  and  Texas,  and  is  a  great  boon  to 
the  cotton-planter,  transforming,  as  it  does,  what  was  formerly  a 
nuisance  into  a  valuable  product.  But  there  are  other  plants  and 
seeds  which  furnish  equally  valuable  oils,  and  which  may  be  cul- 
tivated with  very  litde  labor.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the 
culture  of  flax  and  hemp  under  the  head  of  textiles:  but  the 
seeds  of  each  are  very  valuable  both  in  their  natural  condition, 
and  crushed,  or  ground,  and  pressed,  yielding  the  linseed  and 
hemp  oils,  so  valuable  in  the  arts,  and  the  oil-cake,  in  demand  for 
fattening  catde,  and  increasing  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
milk  of  milch  cows.  Other  oil-producing  plants,  which  admit  of 
easy  cultivation  and  yield  a  liberal  return,  are  the  Sunflower, 
which  yields  from  275  to  300  pounds  of  oil  per  acre,  and  an  ex- 
cellent oil-cake,  and  has  a  deservedly  high  reputadon  for  absorb- 
ing and  rendering  innocuous,  marsh  exhalations;  the  two  spe- 
cies of  colewort  (the  common  and  curled)  which  yield  from  650 
to  875  pounds  of  oil  to  the  acre,  and  almost  a  ton  of  seed  ;  the 
winter  and  summer  rape,  which  furnishes  also  good  fodder,  while 
the  seed  is  in  demand  aside  from  its  use  in  furnishing  oil ;  the 
Swedish  turnip-seed,  and  the  turnip  cabbage-seed,  both  yielding 
a  good  manufacturing  oil ;   the  gold-of-pleasure  and   the  white 


■  OIL-PRODUCING   PLANTS.  jeg 

poppy — all  of  these  yield  from  550  to  650  pounds  of  oil  to  the 
acre.  The  Sesaiuum  indicum,  which  arrows  well  in  the  region 
below  the  parallel  of  39°,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  oil-pro- 
ducing plants  in  the  world.  It  yields  about  forty  per  cent,  of  oil, 
and  is  an  annual  of  simple  and  easy  cultivation.  The  black- 
seeded  variety  is  the  best.  It  is  sown  thinly  in  drills.  The  oil, 
for  all  medicinal  and  pharmaceutical  purposes,  is  fully  equal  to 
the  best  olive-oil,  and  keeps  for  many  years  without  becoming- 
rancid.  It  is  preferred  in  the  East,  for  table  purposes,  to  the  best 
olive-oil,  and  from  its  freedom  from  smell,  is  much  used  for  ex- 
tracting the  perfume  of  fragrant  flowers.  The  expressed  cake 
is  mixed  with  honey  and  preserved  citron  as  a  conserve,  and 
without  admixture,  furnishes  a  food  for  bees.  It  is  already  cul- 
tivated to  some  extent  in  the  South. 

The  tar-weed  {Madia  saliva)  is  found  abundantly  on  the 
Pacific  Slope,  where  it  is  indigenous.  Its  seeds  contain  an  oil 
which  is  used  as  a  salad-oil,  and  for  all  purposes  to  which  olive-oil 
is  applicable.  It  is  easily  cultivated,  and  yields  from  550  to  650 
pounds  of  oil  to  the  acre.  It  is  used  in  Europe  largely  to  mix 
with  olive-oil. 

But,  after  all,  the  most  profitable  of  the  oil-producing  plants 
for  cultivation,  is  the  gi^ound  nut,  or  pea-nut,  usually  called 
goober  in  the  Southwest.  It  will  grow  on  light  or  gravelly 
soil,  and  with  decent  cultivation  should  yield  from  forty  to  sixty 
bushels  to  the  acre,  and  has  been  known  to  yield  from  i  20  to 
125  bushels.  The  whole  plant  is  valuable.  The  vine  makes 
excellent  forage  or  fodder,  the  tubers  or  nuts  are  much  in 
demand,  when  baked  or  roasted,  by  children  and  some  adults. 
The  oil  expressed  from  them  is  of  excellent  quality,  fully  equal 
to  olive-oil,  and  for  many  purposes  superior,  as  for  illuminating 
and  lubricating  purposes.  It  does  not  readily  become  rancid, 
and  is  very  sweet  and  delicate.  The  pea-nut  is  largely  imported 
into  France,  and  the  oil  expressed  there,  and  sold  as  the  best 
olive-oil.  The  oil  is  also  produced  largely  in  the  East  India 
Islands,  and  on  the  African  coast,  whence  it  is  exported  to  be 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  finest  soaps.  The  nuts  are  also 
ground  up  and  mixed  with  .cacao,  for  the  manufacture  of  choco- 


l(3o  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

late,  and  in  the  production  of  chocolate  for  confectionery — the 
cacao  is  now  generally  omitted. 

Taking  all  its  uses  into  account,  there  is  hardly  a  more  surely 
profitable  crop  than  pea-nuts,  especially  if  enough  engage  in  it  to 
warrant  the  erection  of  an  oil  mill.  The  price  of  nuts  per  bushel 
has  varied  in  the  past  from  sixty  cents  to  $2.25  ;  but  they  are  not 
likely  to  fall  below  $1.25  per  bushel  hereafter.  The  yield  of  oil 
is  from  forty  to  forty-five  per  cent,  of  their  weight. 

The  castor  bcaii  yields  a  crop  which  always  has  a  prompt, 
though  not  a  very  high  market  value.  It  grows  readily  and 
rapidly,  and  the  gathering  of  the  crop  is  easily  accomplished.  It 
has  been  raised  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Texas,  and  perhaps  some  of  the  other  States.  The  crop  seems 
to  have  been  carelessly  cultivated  or  gathered,  for,  on  soils  like 
those  where  it  was  grown,  the  average  crop  should  be  at  least 
twenty  to  twenty-five  bushels  to  the  acre,  while  in  very  few  in- 
stances did  it  exceed  fifteen  bushels,  and  in  the  majority  it  was 
only  ten  or  eleven.  The  price  paid  for  the  beans  was  about  one 
dollar  a  bushel,  a  price  which  gives  a  very  large  profit  to  the 
mills  which  express  the  oil,  inasmuch  as  the  beans  should  yield 
forty-seven  per  cent,  of  oil.'-'  With  more  care  in  cultivating  the 
crop,  and  a  sufficient  number  engaged  in  raising  it  in  one  neigh- 
borhood to  sustain  a  co-operative  mill  in  the  vicinity,  the  crop 
might  become  a  tolerably  profitable  one. 

There  are  undoubtedly  some  districts  of  considerable  extent 
in  the  Great  West,  where,  under  favorable  circumstances,  both 
tea  and  coffee  might  be  successfully  cultivated,  the  former 
especially,  and  yet  we  hesitate  to  commend  it  as  a  desirable  in- 
dustry, for  several  reasons  ;  it  requires  a  considerable  invest- 
ment, though  not  all  in  one  year;  there  are  no  returns  under  six 
or  seven  years,  and  the  tea  gardens  must  be  sufficiently  extensive 
to  warrant  the  establishment  of  a  large  factory  with  many 
employes  to  prepare  the  teas,  while  there  are  so  many  opportu- 
nities for  investing  capital,  which  will  bring  a  quick  return,  that 

*  It  is  prol)al)lc  that  the  Riciniis  snngtiinaritis,  or  the  Ricinus  minor,  both  French  species  of  the 
castor  bean,  would  yield  more  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  more  oil  to  the  bushel,  than  the  Ricinus 
cominitnis,  the  species  most  generally  cultivated  here. 


TEA   AND   COFFEE    CUI.TURE—SUB-TROPICAL    FRUFFS.  i6i 

it  is  difficult  to  command  it  for  such  an  enterprise.  Further- 
more it  is  uncertain  whether  the  leaves  can  be  cured  in  such  a 
way  as  to  enable  them  to  compete  successfully  with  the  Assamese, 
Chinese,  and  Japanese  teas  ;  and  even  if  they  were  superior  to 
them  in  flavor  and  quality,  whether  the  public  taste,  which  always 
prefers  foreign  to  home-made  productions,  would  regard  them 
with  favor.  The  coffee  plantations  require  a  still  longer  period 
of  waiting  before  obtaining  the  first  crop,  though  there  is  less 
time  and  skill  required  in  its  preparation  for  the  market,  when 
it  is  brought  to  the  bearinsf  condition.  Coffee  is,  however, 
essentially  a  tropical  production,  and  though  there  is  a  possibility 
of  success  in  its  cultivation,  in  Southern  California,  Arizona,  and 
Southern  Texas,  there  is  hardly  sufficient  certainty  to  warrant  the 
ouday  necessary  to  make  it  a  product  of  any  great  commercial 
value. 

There  remain  to  be  considered  the  fruit  and  nut-bearing  trees 
and  shrubs  which  admit  of  profitable  cultivation.  We  have 
already  spoken  of  the  olive,  valuable  alike  for  its  fruit,  its  oil  and 
its  beautiful  wood.  Its  cultivation  has  been  attempt^^d  on  a 
small  scale  with  a  fair  measure  of  success,  in  Texas  and  Southern 
California,  and  perhaps  also  in  New  Mexico.  It  was  cultivated,, 
though  with  no  great  care  and  probably  not  of  the  best  varieties,  at 
the  Jesuit  Missions,  and  though  these  trees  from  long  neglect 
have  grown  wild,  they  would  furnish  stocks  for  grafting  the 
newer  varieties  upon.  It  is  probable  that  the  olive  might  be 
profitably  cultivated  in  all  the  region  south  of  the  39th  parallel, 
which  is  not  too  elevated.  It  is  worth  the  trial,  for  though  the 
numerous  substitutes  for  olive-oil  may  to  some  extent  reduce  its 
value,  yet  the  olive  has  too  many  good  qualities  ever  to  become 
an  unprofitable  tree.  The  orange  and  lemon,  which  have  become 
so  popular  and  profitable  in  Florida,  are  already  cultivated  to 
some  extent  in  Louisiana,  Texas  and  Southern  Calilornia,  and 
might  be,  if  they  are  not,  in  Southern  Arizona.  It  is  probable 
that  some  of  the  varieties  from  China  or  Persia,  if  not  the  several 
native  varieties,  might  be  cultivated  as  far  north  as  the  3Sth 
parallel,  though  most  of  them  would  be  injured  by  the  occasional 
severe  frosts  which,  at  rare  intervals,  extend  almost  to  the  Gulf 
II 


1 62  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

coast  of  Texas.  One  species,  the  Citnis  yaponica,  or  Kum-quat, 
bears  a  small  but  excellent  orange,  and  is  perfectly  hardy.  The 
lemon  is  not  as  hardy  as  the  orange,  but  its  culture  is  even  more 
profitable.  The  shaddock,  or  large  bitter  orange,  and  the  Seville, 
or  bitter  orange  of  the  south  of  Europe,  are  both  more  hardy 
than  most  of  the  sweet  varieties,  but  their  fruit  is  less  profitable. 
The  citron,  from  the  thick  peel  or  rind  of  which  the  preserved 
citron  of  commerce  is  prepared,  is  not,  we  believe,  cultivated  on 
this  continent,  and  its  culture  is  diminishing  in  Europe.  When 
an  orange-grove  is  not  in  danger  of  frost  it  becomes  in  time 
immensely  profitable,  but  it  yields  very  little  (and  it  is  better 
that  it  should  not  mature  any)  fruit  till  it  is  ten  years  old.  From 
the  tenth  to  the  twentieth  year  it  will  yield  every  year  a  good 
and  constantly  increasing  crop  of  fruit,  and  a  still  larger  one 
each  year,  from  the  twentieth  to  the  thirtieth  year.  In  an  ordinar- 
ily healthy  growth,  without  forcing,  it  does  not  attain  its  full  matur- 
ity till  about  its  thirtieth  year.  We  have  not  deemed  it  necessary, 
in  the  case  of  either  the  tea  or  the  orange-culture,  to  go  into 
details,  in  regard  to  the  processes  of  cultivation,  or  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  products  for  the  market.  In  the  case  of  the  tea, 
these  are  not  well  settled,  and  in  that  of  the  orange  and  lemon, 
different  climates  and  different  varieties  require  diverse  treatment. 
Those  who  contemplate  their  culture  will  be,  necessarily,  persons 
having  considerable  capital  at  command,  and  they  will  do  well 
to  make  a  special  study  of  the  subject,  before  investing.  For 
this  purpose,  there  are  numerous  essays  and  treatises  to  be  had, 
some  of  them  giving  the  results  of  careful,  protracted,  and 
intelligent  experience. 

^\\^  pomegraiiate  is  already  cultivated  in  California  and  Texas, 
as  well  as  in  the  Gulf  States  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Its  delicious 
fruit  finds  a  ready  market  at  good  prices,  and  the  imperfect  fruit 
is  in  demand  for  the  manufacture  of  citric  acid.  It  is  capable  of 
successful  cultivation  in  all  the  region  south  of  the  39th  parallel, 
except  those  portions  which  are  too  elevated  or  too  dry  for  fruit- 
culture. 

The  cultivation  of  the  fig  is  not  new  in  California,  Arizona, 
Texas,  Arkansas,  or  Louisiana,  but  it  is  capable  of  great  exten- 


lA'DIGENOUS  AND   FOREIGN  NUTS  AND   FRUITS.  i5^ 

sion,  and  could  be  profitably  grown,  eidier  for  die  fresh  or  dried 
fruit  in  Southern  Kansas,  Southern  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Ari- 
zona (wherever  irrigation  is  possible,  or  there  is  sufficient  rain- 
fall), and  nearly  the  whole  of  California.  There  are  few  fruits 
which  yield  as  good  a  return  from  a  small  expenditure  of  labor- 
The  banana,  plantain,  pine  apple,  guava,  and  other  tropical  fruits, 
flourish  in  the  southern  counties  of  Texas  and  Southern  Califor- 
nia, though  they  are  at  rare  intervals,  even  there,  affected  by 
frost.  The  papaw,  our  indigenous  fruit  of  the  banana  family,  is 
hardier  and  ripens  regularly  in  all  the  region  south  of  the  40th 
parallel.  It  is  worth  cultivating,  and  might  be  so  improved  as  to 
be  a  rival  of  the  plantain.  The  indigenous  nut-bearing  trees  and 
shrubs,  the  hickory-nut,  butter-nut,  black  walnut,  chestnut,  beech- 
nut, and  hazel-nut,  in  the  North;  the  pifion  or  edible  nut  of  one 
of  the  species  of  pine  in  the  region  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  the  pecan  nut,  chinquepin,  and  filbert,  which,  though 
not  indigenous,  grows  wild,  in  the  South,  are  all  capable  of  exten- 
sive propagation,  though  the  chestnut  only  thrives  on  soils  of  a 
particular  quality.  The  pecan  is  one  of  the  best  of  our  indige- 
nous nuts,  and  grows  on  a  shrub  or  bush  of  moderate  height. 

The  foreign  nuts  which  are  already  partially  introduced,  and 
which  are  likely  to  prove  profitable  in  cultivation,  are  :  1 .  The  Eng- 
lish walnut,  sometimes  called  also  the  Madeira  nut,  a  fine,  stately 
tree,  which  at  twelve  years  of  growth  yields  a  large  crop  annu- 
ally of  the  very  fine  nuts  we  know  as  English  walnuts.  2.  The 
Italian  chestnut,  whose  large  nuts  yield  a  nutritious  flour,  and 
one  which  keeps  well  for  two  years  or  more.  In  Tuscany  and 
Lucca,  there  are  several  millions  of  these  trees,  and  the  flour 
from  the  chestnuts  furnishes  the  principal,  and  sometimes  the 
entire  farinaceous  food  of  many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants. 
This,  too,  is  a  stately  tree,  and  proves  easy  of  culture  here,  while 
it  may  be  readily  grafted  upon  our  native  chestnut.  It  is  admir- 
ably adapted  to  the  western  slopes  of  our  mountains,  and  will 
thrive  luxuriously  there.  3.  The  almond,  which  being  a  con- 
gener of  the  peach,  thrives  wherever  the  peach  can  be  success- 
fully cultivated.  The  soft-shell  almond  is  not  as  hardy  as  the 
hard-shell,  and  a  sharp  frost  is  fatal  to  either ;  but  in  Southern 


1 54 


OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


California,  Arizona,  Southern  New  Mexico,  and  Texas,  both  can 
be,  and  are  successfully  cultivated.  The  pistachio  nut  is  also  on 
trial,  and  will  probably  prove  successful.  Of  other  fruit-bearing 
shrubs  and  trees,  we  may  name  the  Japanese  persimmon,  lately 
introduced,  and  said  to  be  an  excellent  fruit,  much  superior  to 
our  native  species,  which  however  has  some  good  qualities ;  the 
carob,  a  legume-bearing  tree,  whose  pods  and  beans  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  husks  fed  to  the  swine,  in  the  parable  of 
the  prodigal  son  ;  the  jujube,  whose  pulp  forms  the  material  for 
the  jujube  paste  of  commerce,  and  the  mezquite,  indigenous  in 
Texas,  whose  bark  and  root  yield  tannin  in  large  quantities, 
whose  pods  furnish  a  nutritious  food,  and  whose  gum  is  almost 
identical  with  gfum  traoracanth. 

Of  trees  and  shrubs  containino-  larcje  amounts  of  tannin  or 
tannic  acid,  besides  the  mezquite,  there  are  five  or  six  species  of 
the  rhus  or  sumac  ;  four  at  least  native,  and  containing  from  eio-ht 
to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  tannin,  and  two  foreign,  the  Venetian 
and  the  Sicilian  sumac,  which  contain  a  little  more.  These  are 
both  cultivated  here.'^"  The  wattle,  an  Australian  tree  of  the 
acacia  family,  of  which  there  are  two  species — the  golden  and  the 
black  wattle,  Acacia  pycnantha  and  decurrens — is  also  a  valuable 
tree  for  the  tannin  its  bark  produces.  It  attains  its  full  growth 
in  ten  years,  yields  from  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  per  cent,  of 
tannin,  and  its  wood  is  valuable  for  fences,  for  tools,  and  for  fuel, 
being  nearly  or  quite  equal  to  hickory,  for  the  last  purpose.  It 
grows  in  dry  soils,  and  in  almost  rainless  regions,  and  would  be 
of  great  value  for  planting  on  the  plains  under  the  Timber- 
Culture  Act. 

All  the  species  of  Spircca  contain  a  large  percentage  of 
tannin.  Some  of  these,  as  the  Spircaa  toincntosa,  or  common 
hardback,  and  Spircra  alba,  or  white  hardback,  are  common 
weeds,  and  can  be  easily  raised  on  the  poorest  lands,  yielding 
three  to  five  tons  to  the  acre.     The  extract  from  this  would  be 


*  We  are  not  aware  that  ihe  hark  of  the  ailantus  has  ever  l)ccn  tested  for  tannin,  but  as  it 
belongs  to  the  sumac  family,  it  is  reasonable  to  siqipose  that  it  may  be  somewhat  rich  in  that 
principle.  If  it  should  prove  to  l)e,  its  rapijJ  growth  would  make  it  nearly  as  valuable  as  the 
wattles  of  which  mention  is  made  above. 


TREES  AND   SHRUBS   CONTAINING    TANNIN.  165 

superior  to  the  best  bark  extract.  The  foreign  species  are  of 
larger  growth  and  are  much  cultivated  as  ornamental  shrubs.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  they  contain  a  larger  proportion  of  tannin 
than  the  native  species. 

New  forms  of  industry  and  profitable  labor  in  connection  with 
farming,  are  constantly  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  public, 
some  of  them  valuable,  others  valueless ;  but  those  which  have 
been  detailed  in  this  chapter  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  satisfy 
any  ordinary  ambition;  they  have  all  been  tested,  and  none  of 
them,  like  the  cultivation  of  the  opium  poppy,  which  has  been 
commended  by  some  writers,  are  of  a  character  which  will  in- 
jure rather  than  benefit  mankind. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Stock-raising — Cattle-herding,  and  the  rearing  of  Horses  and  Mules— 
The  Grazing  Lands — The  Stock-growing  Region,  par  excellence — Win- 
ter Care  of  Stock — NuiMBEr  of  Cattle  in  the  West  in  1879 — The 
Herdsmen  or  Cow-Boys — Stock-raising  profitable  if  well  managed — 
Stock-raising  in  Texas — Climatic  Advantages — Pasturing  on  the  Great 
Ranges,  or  on  one's  own  Land — Expense  of  rearing  Cattle  in  Texas — 
The  two  Extremes  in  Stock-raising  in  Texas — Examples — Beginning  on 
A  small  Scale — Growth  of  a  Texas  Stock- Ranche — Stock-raising  in 
Kansas  and  Colorado — Joint  Stock  Management  of  a  Ranche — The 
Colorado  Cattle  Company's  Estate  of  Hermosillo — Another  Colorado 
Company — Statistics — The  Estimate  of  Mr.  A.  A.  Hayes,  Jr. — The 
Difference  of  Profit  between  "Store"  Cattle  and  "Fat"  Cattle — 
Mr.  Barclay's  Account — The  English  View  of  the  Matter — Stock- 
raising  in  the  Northern  and  Northwestern  States  and  Territories — 
Shelter  and  Food  for  Stock — Future  Advantages  for  Shipping  Choice 
Stock  from  these  States  and  Territories  to  Europe — Dairy-Farming — 
Stock-raising  and  Dairy-Farming  in  California — Horse-Farming  and 
Rearing — Mules — Camels. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  vast  extent  of  grazing  lands 
found  in  this  great  Western  Empire.  What  is  the  actual  area 
of  these  lands  can  only  be  approximately  estimated,  since  every 
year  large  districts,  previously  supposed  to  be  only  available 
for  grazing  and   almost  worthless   even    for  that   purpose,  are 


J 56  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

found  to  be  susceptible  of  cultivation,  and  to  yield  immense 
crops  when  subjected  to  culture.  There  are,  furthermore,  many 
tracts  which  have  not  yet  been  surveyed  and  are  really  unex- 
plored even  by  the  Indian,  or  the  hunter  and  trapper;  in  some, 
and  perhaps  many,  of  these  there  are  beautiful  valleys,  narrow, 
yet  covered  with  a  rich  and  succulent  herbage,  which  will  fatten 
and  nourish  large  herds  of  catde.  As  nearly  as  we  can  estimate, 
there  must  be  somewhat  more  than  a  million  of  square  miles  of 
these  grazing  lands ;  enough  to  supply  the  whole  world  with 
beef,  mutton,  leather,  and  wool. 

Most  of  the  States  and  Territories  have  considerable  tracts  of 
o-razing  lands,  but  the  stock-growing  regions,  par  excellence,  are 
Dakota,  Montana,  a  part  of  Idaho,  Eastern  Washington,  and 
Oregon,  California,  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  W^yoming,  Western 
Nebraska.  Western  Kansas,  the  Indian  Territory,  and  Western 
Texas.  Texas  has  at  present  larger  herds  of  cattle  than  any 
other  section,  and  exports  live-stock  and  the  carcasses  of  slaugh- 
tered beef  in  refrigerator  steamers  to  Europe  in  large  quantities; 
but  the  finest  beeves  sent  to  our  Eastern  markets  and  to  Europe 
are  those  from  Colorado,  Western  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  Mon- 
tana, Dakota,  and  Wyoming.  The  native  grasses  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  parks  and  valleys  are  unrivalled  for  their  nutritive 
qualities,  and  catde  fed  on  them  will  fatten  with  but  very  little 
o-rain.  When  the  immigrants  beoan  to  pour  into  the  Pike's  Peak 
region  in  great  numbers,  in  185S  and  1859,  many  of  them  lost 
everything  except  their  catde,  and  in  their  despair,  finding  these 
unable  to  draw  their  loads  any  further,  they  unyoked  them  and 
turned  them  out  into  the  parks  and  grazing  lands  of  that  region 
to  shift  for  themselves,  believing  that  they  would  not  be  able  to 
endure  the  fast  approaching  winter.  The  cattle  went  off,  and 
for  several  months  nothing  was  seen  of  them.  The  settlers  at 
length  started  out  to  find  their  bones,  but  to  their  great  surprise 
found  them  not  only  alive,  but  fat  and  sleek  from  the  nutritious 
buffalo  and  gamma  grasses,  which,  though  cured  by  the  sun,  re- 
tained all  their  sweetness  and  nourishment. 

In  most  of  this  Rocky  Mountain  region  there  is  no  winter 
shelter  for   catde,  and   they  hardly  need   any  oftener  than   one 


STOCK-RAISING   AND    CATTLE-HERDING.  jg- 

winter  in  ten.  A  few  of  the  more  prudent  stockmen  put  up 
rough,  cheap  sheds,  and  cut  with  a  mowing-machine  a  score  or 
two  tons  of  the  natural  grasses,  against  a  long  or  cold  storm  ; 
but  it  is  so  seldom  that  these  precautions  are  necessary,  that 
their  fellow-stockmen  laugh  at  them  for  their  carefulness.  Even 
in  Montana  and  Dakota  the  pasturage  grounds  are  so  seldom 
visited  by  severe  or  desolating  storms,  that  provision  for  them 
is  the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  In  Oregon  and  Washino-ton 
somewhat  greater  attention  is  paid  to  the  sheltering  of  the 
stock,  but  in  California  no  effort  is  made  in  that  direction. 

The  aggregate  amount  of  cattle  in  the  Great  West,  at  the  end 
of  1878,  was  estimated  by  the  Agricultural  Department  as 
3,350,400  milch  cows,  and  12,259,000  oxen  and  other  cattle. 
The  estimate  was  below  the  truth,  as  the  local  statistics  show, 
and  especially  in  Colorado  and  the  Territories.  To  this  total  of 
15,609,400  neat  cattle  were  to  be  added  over  three  million  head 
in  the  Territories  not  estimated  by  the  department.  The  aco-re- 
gate  numbers  at  the  close  of  1879  were  certainly  not  less  than 
19,000,000,  and  this  Increase  was  probably  in  about  the  same 
ratio  in  milch  cows  and  in  oxen  and  other  cattle.  The  net  in- 
crease in  the  great  herds  is  about  forty-five  per  cent,  a  year, 
though  occasionally,  in  a  year  of  unusually  severe  weather,  it 
may  fall  off  to  thirty-five  or  thirty-eight  per  cent.  In  Texas  and 
in  the  large  herding  districts  elsewhere,  no  attempt  is  made  to 
obtain  the  milk  for  use  or  for  the  production  of  butter  or  cheese, 
dairy-farming  being  regarded  as  an  entirely  distinct  business 
from  stock-raising,  and  having  no  connection  with  it.  This  dis- 
tinction is  carried  so  far  in  Texas,  that  the  larofest  stock-growers, 
owning  from  10,000  to  50,000  head  of  cattle,  either  purchase 
their  milk,  butter  and  cheese,  or  go  without  it. 

The  cattle  are  under  the  care  of  herders  or  "cow-boys,"  who 
see  that  they  are  driven  to  the  best  pasture,  and  where  they  can 
have  a  good  supply  of  water.  These  cow-boys  lead  a  lonely  and 
hard  life,  being  in  the  saddle  most  of  the  day,  and  lodging  in 
small  and  comfortless  huts  at  night.  Once  a  year,  there  is  what 
is  called  a  "  round  up,"  when  the  vast  herds  of  different  owners, 
which  have  pastured  together  over  the  great  tracts  of  as  yet 


J 58  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

unsurveyed  government  lands,  are  brought  together,  and  each 
owner  or  his  herdsmen  separate  their  own  herds,  and  brand 
the  calves  which  follow  their  mothers.  This  is  a  time  of  excite- 
ment, and  where  the  herds  are  large  and  wild,  of  considerable 
dano-er,  as  should  one  of  the  herdsmen  be  unhorsed  in  front  of 
the  rushing  herds,  he  would  be  trampled  to  death  instantly. 
The  herdsmen  are  usually  very  expert  in  the  use  of  the  lariat  or 
lasso,  and  will  bring  a  refractory  cow  or  bullock  to  its  knees  in  a 
moment,  with  the  most  unerring  precision.  The  cattle  intended 
for  slaughter  or  shipping  are  usually  caught  in  this  way.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  Texas  and  California  herdsmen  are 
Mexicans,  but  in  Colorado,  Kansas,  Montana,  and  Wyoming  a 
majority  are  Americans,  English,  Irish,  and  Canadians.  The 
usual  wages  are  from  ^i6  to  ^20  per  month  and  food  and 
lodcrinof. 

Properly  managed,  the  business  of  raising  stock  is  profitable, 
but  it  requires  considerable  capital,  or  if  that  is  wanting,  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  business  and  good  executive  ability, 
to  achieve  any  marked  success.  Time  is  an  important  element 
in  the  profitable  management  of  this  as  well  as  of  farming  and 
fruit-culture.  The  man  who  begins,  even  with  a  very  moderate 
capital,  takes  good  care  of  his  stock,  improves  the  breed 
carefully,  and  watches  the  small  leaks,  which  ruin  so  many  men, 
will  find  himself  at  the  end  of  ten  or  twelve  years,  with  a  herd 
of  cattle,  which  will  yield  him  an  ample  income  each  year. 

Of  course  there  are  differences  in  the  mode  of  management 
of  herds  of  cattle  in  the  different  reo^ions  in  which  this  is  a 
prominent  industry.  In  Texas,  the  stock-raiser  has  some  great 
advantao-es,  and  some  disadvantacres.  One  crreat  advantage  is 
the  climate,  which  entirely  precludes  the  necessity  of  any  winter 
provision  for  his  stock  ;  they  are  better  provided  on  the  range, 
if  they  can  have  easy  access  to  water,  than  they  could  be  if  shut 
up  in  a  corral,  or  provided  with  hay,  or  even  green  forage.  He 
has  the  advantage  also  in  regard  to  his  pasturage  lands;  he  need 
not,  unless  he  chooses,  pay  out  a  dollar  for  all  the  grazing  land 
he  desires  to  occupy,  especially  in  Northwestern  Texas,  or  if  he 
prefers  that  his  cattle  should  not  become  so  wild,  as  they  may 


STOCK-RAISING   IN  TEXAS.  j5q 

become  on  the  great  range,  and  wishes  to  have  them  where  he 
can  give  some  attention  to  them,  and  prevent  them  straying 
away,  he  can  buy  one,  two,  three,  or  a  dozen  square  leagues  of 
grazing  lands,  at  a  mere  nominal  price  of  a  few  cents  per  acre, 
and  is  not  required  to  fence  it;  in  this  case  he  must  employ  a 
herdsman  to  every  1,500  or  2,000  head  of  cattle,  though  he  will 
save  most  of  the  expense  of  rounding  up,  which  he  would  have 
if  the  herd  were  looked  after  only  once  a  year,  when  they  were 
to  be  branded.  Of  course,  the  expenses  of  rearing  cattle  are 
much  less  here  than  farther  north;  the  first  cost  of  cows  with 
calves  being  only  from  ^8  to  $15,  and  of  stock  cattle  from  ^4  to 
^7  ;  and  Mexican  herdsmen  and  rounders  being  plenty  at  from 
^12  to  $18  per  month;  but  on  the  other  hand,  Texas  cattle  are 
not  as  large  or  as  fat  as  those  raised  farther  north,  and  do  not 
command  as  high  a  price.  Until  1872  or  1873  there  was  little 
effort  made  to  improve  the  breeds  of  cattle  in  that  State,  but 
since  that  time,  many  Durham,  Hereford  and  Devon  bulls  have 
been  Imported  into  the  State. 

In  Texas,  more  than  in  any  other  State  or  Territory,  are  found 
the  two  extremes  of  stock-raising ;  the  wealthy  patriarch  with  his 
herds  of  40,000,  50,000,  80,000,  or  even  100,000  cattle,  perhaps 
1 5,000  or  20,000  horses,  and  20,000  to  50,000  sheep ;  and  possi- 
bly in  the  same  county,  or  as  near  as  circumstances  will  permit, 
the  small  herdsman  with  his  eighty  or  one  hundred  cows,  two 
or  three  bulls,  and  possibly  one  or  two  hundred  sheep  ;  and  it  is 
often  the  case  that  the  man  who  now  counts  his  cattle  by  tens  or 
scores  of  thousands,  began,  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  on  a 
scale  no  lar^^er  than  his  humble  neicrhbor.  Father  Nueent,  an 
English  Catholic  priest,  who  visited  Texas  and  spent  some 
months  there,  wrote  to  the  Liverpool  Times,  August  12th,  1871  : 
"Here  is  one  of  a  hundred  examples  of  a  poor  man  becoming 
rich  without  a  copper.  Twenty-five  years  ago  an  Irishman  en- 
gaged with  a  stock-raiser.  There  was  no  money  to  be  given, 
but  he  was  to  be  boarded  and  found  in  everything,  and  in  the 
place  of  wages  he  was  to  receive  one  cow  and  a  calf  each  month. 
Now  he  is  worth  $100,000  In  cash,  and  sends  to  market  each 
year  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  head  of  catde.     Here  is  a 


j-Q  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

sailor,  formerly  a  man  before  the  mast,  who  has  now  six  steam- 
ers on  the  Rio  C^rande,  80,000  head  of  catde,  25,000  head  of 
horse  stock,  12,000  sheep,  and  150,000  acres  of  land,  and  last 
year  invested  ^5^29, 000  in  the  Jackson  &  New  Orleans  Railroad." 
Thomas  O'Connor,  a  soldier  in  the  Texan  war  of  independence, 
received  his  discharge  in  1837,  when  ^^'=>  only  earthly  possessions 
were  a  Spanish  pony,  saddle  and  bridle,  two  old  belt-pistols,  one 
of  them  broken  off  at  the  breech,  and  an  old  rifle-gun.  He  went 
into  the  business  of  raising  stock  on  this  capital,  and  forty  years 
later  had  80,000  head  of  cattle,  500  saddle  and  stock  horses, 
and  26,664  acres  of  land,  with  a  river  front  of  six  leagues.  In 
1 85 1,  a  gentleman  named  Adams  started  a  ranche  (or  grazing 
farm)  twelve  miles  west  of  San  Antonio  with  only  200  head  of 
cattle.  Upon  his  death  his  sons  continued  the  business,  and  in 
1877  sold  the  ranche,  delivering  to  the  purchasers  68,000  head 
of  cattle.  In  1858  Captain  Richard  King,  who  had  been  a  cabin- 
boy  on  board  a  coasting  vessel,  came  to  Texas  with  a  capital  of 
pluck  and  energy,  but  with  no  money.  Selecting  a  ranche  at 
Santa  Gertrudes,  thirty-five  miles  west  of  Corpus  Christi,  he 
commenced  rearing  stock  in  a  very  small  way.  In  1878,  twenty 
years  later,  he  had  60,000  acres  of  land  all  fenced,  over  50,000 
head  of  cattle,  more  than  10,000  horses  and  mules,  22,000  sheep, 
and  8,000  Angora  and  grade  goats.  He  brands  15,000  calves 
yearly,  sends  about  10,000  beeves  to  market  every  year,  and 
30,000  fleeces,  besides  a  large  number  of  horses  and  mules. 

The  beginners  on  a  small  scale  having,  we  will  say,  a  ranche 
of  2,000  acres,  which  will  not  cost,  on  the  pasturage  lands  of 
Texas,  more  than  <^i,ooo,  and  with  the  cabins,  corrals,  etc.,  from 
^300  to  $500  more,  can  purchase  100  cows  with  calves  for  from 
^12  to  ^14  each,  and  two  good  Hereford  or  Durham  bulls  at 
^50  each — the  entire  investment  not  exceeding  ^^3,000.  The 
milk  from  these  cow^s,  allowing  one-half  to  the  calves,  will  fur- 
nish milk,  butter,  and  cheese  enough  to  support  the  family  from 
the  first,  with  the  aid  of  a  small  vegetable  garden.  The  calves 
being  detained  for  six  months  in  the  corral,  and  "  roped  off," 
after  drawing  about  half  the  milk,  the  cows  will  be  gentle  and 
come  home  at  night  regularly, — until  the  herd  becomes  too  large 


SyOCA'  A'A/S/XG    IN  KANSAS  AND    COLORADO.  jji 

to  be  managed  easily  at  the  homestead.  The  Increase  from  this 
stock,  as  has  been  demonstrated  by  repeated  experiment,  will  be 
in  twelve  years  not  less  than  14,537.  Selling  off  a  portion  from 
year  to  year,  at  a  fair  market  valuation,  and  the  remainder  at 
the  end  of  twelve  years  to  close  out  the  business,  will  show  the 
aggregate  receipts  to  have  been  not  less  than  ^101,750,  aside 
from  the  value  of  the  ranche,  which  will  have  more  than  doubled 
in  that  time.  From  this  is  only  to  be  deducted  the  cost  of  an 
extra  hand  after  the  fifth  year  and  an  additional  one  each  year 
thereafter.  For  this  expense  $4,250  is  an  ample  allowance, 
leaving  $97,500  net  for  the  twelve  years'  work.  The  stock  will 
support  itself  without  the  outlay  of  a  dollar  for  hay  or  grain. 
This  shows  a  very  handsome  profit,  even  with  stock  at  low 
prices.  But,  of  course,  the  profit  of  a  great  ranche,  properly 
managed,  is  proportionately  greater. 

In  Kansas  and  Colorado  stock-ranches  or  farms  are  managed 
somewhat  differently.  The  buffalo  and  gama,  or  gamma  grass, 
of  the  unbroken  pasturage  lands,  is  somewhat  more  nutritious 
and  fattening  than  that  of  Texas,  and  the  stocks  of  cattle  are  of 
better  blood.  At  present  it  is  not  difficult  to  obtain  pasturage 
for  even  a  large  herd,  on  unsurveyed  government  lands,  the 
stock-raiser  entering  perhaps  three  quarter-sections  under  the 
Pre-emption,  Homestead,  and  Timber  Culture  Acts,  in  order  to 
secure  water  for  his  herd.  But  there  is  this  difficulty  in  regard 
to  these  unsurveyed  lands,  that  the  surveys  are  going  on  with 
considerable  rapidity,  the  frontier  of  arable  farming  lands  is 
pushing  westward  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  a  year ; 
and  ere  long  the  stock-raiser  wall  find  himself  pushed  by  the  tide 
of  farming  immigrants,  and  will  be  compelled  "  to  move  on." 
Congress  has  now  before  it  a  bill  to  sell  the  pasturage  lands 
supposed  to  be  only  fit  for  pasturage,  at  a  low  rate,  in  lots  of 
four  miles  square,  or  about  8,000  acres,  reserving  its  mineral 
rights  below  the  soil.  It  will  thus  be  possible  to  obtain,  in  per- 
petuity, stock  ranges  at  a  moderate  price. 

The  purchasable  stock  in  these  States  is  of  better  grade  than 
the  Texas  cows  or  steers,  and  brings  better  prices.  Cows  are 
worth  from  $18  to  $20  per  head  at  three  years  old,  and  steers 


1^2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

from  ^8  to  ^lO  at  two  years  old.  No  sensible  stock-raiser  would 
think  of  purchasing  any  but  the  best  pure  blood  or  high  grade 
bulls.  There  must  also  be  some  provision  made  for  the  shelter, 
either  by  sheds  or  by  means  of  natural  or  planted  forests,  if  not 
for  the  feedinof  of  cattle  from  the  severe  storms  of  the  elevated 
grazing  lands  of  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  Wyoming ;  and  the  wise 
manager  will  provide  a  moderate  supply  of  good  hay  or  forage 
and  shelter  for  the  storms  which  sometimes  sweep  down  from 
the  north.  The  herders  or  cow-boys  are  of  a  higher  grade  than 
most  of  the  Texan  herders,  and  command  usually  ^20  a  month, 
with  food  and  shelter,  etc.,  found. 

All  this  costs  money,  but  the  Kansas  and  Colorado  cattle  have 
so  high  a  reputation,  both  at  the  East  and  in  England,  that  they 
command  high  prices  and  pay  a  large  profit.  But  it  results  from 
this  condition  of  things  that  stock-raising  cannot  be  very  success- 
fully carried  on  in  these  States,  or  indeed,  in  most  of  those  north 
of  the  thirty-seventh  parallel,  except  on*  at  least  a  moderately 
large  scale.  A  man  with  little  or  no  capital,  but  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  business  and  the  care  of  stock,  can  make  a 
good  arrangement  for  conducting  the  business  with  a  capitalist, 
who  does  not  understand  it,  putting  his  skill  and  knowledge 
against  the  other's  capital,  and  perhaps  taking  his  salary  in  cat- 
tle. In  many  cases  these  large  ranches  are  owned  by  joint-stock 
companies,  and  the  business  is  conducted  by  a  manager,  who,  if 
honest  and  capable,  can,  in  a  few  years,  make  an  immense  for- 
tune for  his  employers,  and  a  very  satisfactory  one  for  himself. 

Let  us  give  one  example  of  stock-raising  on  a  large  scale  in 
Colorado :  the  Colorado  Cattle  Company's  estate  of  Hermosillo, 
in  Pueblo  and  Huerfano  counties,  on  the  Huerfano  river  and  its 
tributaries.  The  estate  consists  of  91,000  acres,  with  half  a  mil- 
lion acres  more  of  mountain  land  dependent  upon  it.  Four 
thousand  acres  w^ere  under  cultivation  by  the  former  owner, 
Colonel  Craig,  and  yielded  forty  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre  ; 
seventy-five  to  eighty  of  corn,  seventy-five  of  oats,  and  abun- 
dance of  vegetables;  15,000  acres  were  in  timber,  mostly  of  the 
larger  evergreens,  and  the  remainder  of  the  estate  was  dotted 
with  clumps  of  the  pinon  pine,  affording  shelter  to  the  stock. 


PROFITS   OF  A    CATTLE-RANCHE. 


173 


The  sale  was  for  $350,000,  and  included  10,000  steers  of  the 
best  grades,  100  Kentucky  and  Canadian  bulls,  great  numbers 
of  horses,  sheep,  goats,  etc.  The  company  immediately  placed 
upon  It  20,000  additional  steers  for  fattening,  and  Increased 
materially  the  number  of  cows,  bulls  and  other  stock,  Intendino- 
to  feed  their  catde  with  grain,  before  sending  them  to  market, 
and  to  make  this  the  most  complete  and  extensive  stock-ranche 
in  the  Union.  One  large  source  of  profit  Is  found  In  purchasing 
steers  two  years  old,  of  good  breeds,  and  keeping  them  a  year 
or  more  at  a  very  small  expense,  and  selling  them  well  fattened 
for  the  markets.  A  profit  of  from  $10  to  $15  per  head  can  be 
made  on  them,  and  the  net  profit,  as  in  the  case  of  this  company, 
would  be  more  than  ;^20o,ooo  per  year. 

The  following  table,  copied  from  Mr.  Frank  Fossett's  "  Colo- 
rado," gives  the  profits  on  the  cattle  increase  alone  for  seven 
years.  The  company  is  supposed  to  have  a  nominal  capital  of 
^500,000,  but  there  Is  nothing  to  indicate  that  more  than  one- 
half  of  It  was  paid  up.  The  profits  were  to  be  enhanced  by  the 
purchase  of,  say,  5,000  two-year  old  steers  each  year,  and  their 
sale,  after  fattening,  a  year  later.  The  amount  of  land  is  not 
stated,  but  it  could  not  be  less  than  25,000  acres,  widi  a 
reserve  of  unsurveyed  Government  lands,  of  perhaps  30,000 
acres  more,  for  which  no  rent  is  paid. 

COWS. 


Year.  ■ 

Number 

of 

Cows. 

Number 

of 
Calves. 

Number 

of 

Heifer  Calves. 

Value  when 
yearlings  at 
gio  per  head. 

Increased  Value 

when  two  yr's  old 

at  J5  per  head. 

Incieased  Value 

when  three  yr's  old 

at  j$3  per  head. 

Value  when  three 

yr's  old  at  j}i8 

per  head. 

One 

Two 

Three 

Four 

Five 

Six 

4,000 
4,000 
5,600 
7,200 
9.440 
I  2,200 
16,096 

4,000 

3,200 
3,200 
4,480 
5.760 
7.552 
9.856 
12,877 

1,600 
1,600 
2,240 
2,880 

3.776 
4,928 

6,438 

$16,000 
16,000 
22,400 
28,800 
37,760 
49,280 

at  $6  per  head 

$8,000 
8,000 
11,200 
14,400 
18,880 

$4,800 
4,800 
6,720 
8,640 

$28,800 
28,800 
40,320 
51,840 
56,640 
49.280 
38,628 

72,000 

>^366,3o8 

Seven 

Original  Cows 
at  ^18  a  head 

174 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

STEERS. 


Year 


One... 
Two... 
Three. 
Four . . 
Five... 
Six.... 
Seven . 


Number 

of 

Sleer  Calves. 

Value  when 

yearlings  at 

gio  per  head. 

Increased  Value 

when  two  yr's  old 

at  ;^6  per  head. 

1!  ./i-o 
-  -.    n 

w  c  ^ 

Value  when  three 

yr's  old  at  S;6 

per  head. 

1, 600 
1,600 
2,240 

2,S8o 

3.776 
4,928 

6,438 

$16,000 
16,000 
22,400 
28,800 
37.760 
49,280 
at  $6  per  liead 

$9,600 
9,600 
13.440 
17,280 
22,656 

$16,000 
16,000 
22,400 

28,800 

$41,600 
41,600 
58,240 
74,880 
60,416 
49,280 
38,628 

as  above 

364,644 
366,308 

Add  for  Cows  and  Heifer  Calves  as  above 

Total  product  in  seven  years  of  4,000  Cows  costing  $72,000,  includ 
ing  cost  of  Cows 


$730.95  = 


The  profits  or  increase  on  the  seventh  year  alone  would  be  $254,792,  or 
more  than  fifty  per  cent,  on  the  capital  of  $5oo,oqo.  The  profits  on  the  eighth 
year  would  be  $327,444;  and  for  the  ninth,  tenth,  eleventh,  and  twelfth 
years  a  constantly  increasing  proportion,  viz.:  ninth  year  $452,322,  tenth 
year  $519,473,  and  so  on. 

To  this  may  be  added  the  profit  each  year  of  buying  5,000 
two-year  old  steers  and  selhng  the  next  year  at  ^10  or  more  ad- 
vance, netting  ^50,000  of  clear  profit,  which  is  much  more  than 
the  annual  cost  of  running  the  ranche.  The  annual  increase  of 
calves  is  calculated  at  80  per  cent,  of  the  number  of  cows,  allow- 
ing 20  per  cent,  (a  liberal  allowance)  for  accidents  and  losses. 
Mr.  Fossett  makes  no  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  ranche  and 
necessary  buildings,  and  in  his  estimate  of  stock,  makes  no  esti- 
mate for  the  bulls.  Of  these,  for  the  herd  with  which  they  com- 
menced, eighty  full-blood  Herefords  or  Durhams,  costing  not 
over  $6,000  (the  best  are  the  cheapest),  or,  if  Holsteins,  perhaps 
$8,000,  would  insure  cattle  which  would  bring  the  highest  prices 
in  the  market.  As  these  cattle  are  raised  for  beef,  and  not  for 
milkers,  there  would  be  no  advantage  in  an  Ayrshire,  Alderney, 
or  Jersey  cross. 

Mr.  A.  A.  Hayes,  Jr.,  in  Harper s  Monthly,  for  November, 
1879,  gives  the  figures  for  a  ranche  of  about  the  same  number 


FAT  CATTLE    VS.    STORE   CATTLE.  1 75 

of  COWS,  in  Southern  Colorado,  somewhat  more  in  detail,  but 
unfortunately,  he  does  not  carry  it  beyond  the  third  year.  Still, 
in  that  time,  with  an  investment  of  5^^154,149,  of  which  ^50,000  is 
the  cost  of  the  ranche  (10,000  acres,  with  privilege  of  grazing  on 
other  mountain  lands),  ^yOjOOO  cost  of  stock,  and  ^28,149  capital, 
used  in  expenses  for  the  three  years,  he  shows  net  profits  of 
^129,651  (^114,651  profits  on  stock  and  ^15,000  in  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  the  property),  making  the  total  assets  at  the  end 
of  three  years  ^283,800.  These  profits  would  be  greatly  in- 
creased in  the  years  that  followed,  for  the  first  three  years  are 
the  years  of  greatest  outlay,  and  in  the  later  years  there  is  no 
possibility  of  such  losses  as  would  wipe  out  any  considerable 
amount  of  the  increasing  profits.  Land  will,  of  course,  soon  be 
higher,  and  the  free  pasturage  will  diminish  as  the  arable  lands 
are  more  clearly  defined,  and  the  grazing  lands  are  surveyed 
and  put  upon  the  market;  but  every  ranche  should  have  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  arable  lands,  as  the  ability  of  the  stock- 
raiser  to  fatten  his  beeves  for  the  market  from  his  own  grain  will 
make  a  great  difference  in  the  price  he  can  obtain  for  them.  All 
the  great  ranches  of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Colorado  will  soon 
be  within  easy  distance  of  thq  great  trunk  railroad  lines  which 
will  take  their  beeves  on  the  hoof  to  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  or 
Duluth,  whence  they  can  be  shipped  for  Europe  direct. 

Hitherto  they  have  been  carried  by  rail  from  these  States  as 
tslo^'-e  cattle  (the  steers  weighing  about  1,400  pounds),  to  Illinois, 
where  they  were  fattened  and  shipped  from  Chicago  to  Liver- 
pool. The  Chicago  dealers  paid  about  '^1"]  for  them  in  Colorado 
and  sold  them  in  Liverpool  for  5^100,  while  the  entire  trans- 
portation between  Colorado  and  Liverpool  did  not  cost  over  ^30. 

Hon.  J.  W.  Barclay,  M.  P.,  who  visited  Colorado  for  the  third 
time  in  the  autumn  of  1879,  and  from  whose  article  in  the  Fort- 
nigJitly  Rcviezv,  of  January  i,  1880,  these  figures  are  taken,  uses 
them  to  insist  that  the  British  Government  should  allow  the  im- 
portation by  English  farmers  of  store  cattle  ;  from  our  position 
they  seem  to  afibrd  a  much  more  powerful  argument  for  the  fat- 
tening of  his  stock  by  the  Kansas  or  Colorado  stock-grower; 
as  he  might  thereby  receive  the  greater   part  of  the   ^^2)3   P^r 


I -(5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

head  which  now  goes  into  the  pocket  of  the  Chicago  dealer  and 
shipper.  Mr.  Barclay  demonstrates  that  we  can  land  fattened 
cattle  at  Liverpool  at  an  average  price  of  ^^90  to  $100,  yielding 
us  a  very  large  profit  and  still  greatly  undersell  the  British 
stock-raiser  in  his  own  market.  The  shipping  of  slaughtered 
beeves  in  refrigerator  cars  and  steamers  with  the  recent  improve- 
ments in  artificial  refrigeration  offers  still  greater  profits. 

In  the  more  northern  and  northwestern  States  and  Terri- 
tories, of  which  Montana  may  perhaps  be  taken  as  the  type, 
there  are  some  slight  differences  in  the  management  of  the  busi- 
ness, as  well  as  in  the  pasturage  and  the  character  of  the  stock. 
In  all  these  States  and  Territories  pasturage  is  free;  that  is,  the 
government  lands,  as  yet  unsurveyed,  furnish,  and  will  for  years 
to  come,  abundant  pasturage  in  well-watered  valleys  for  much 
larger  numbers  of  cattle  than  are  likely  to  be  raised  there. 
There  is  no  buffalo  or  gama  grass  there,  but  the  bunch  grass, 
especially  in  Montana,  is  more  nutritious  than  either,  and  the 
stock  fatten  on  it  as  well  as  they  would  on  grain.  The  Montana 
beeves  have  an  excellent  reputation  for  juiciness,  tenderness, 
and  flavor;  the  only  complaint  in  regard  to  them  is  that  they 
are  too  fat. 

There  are  no  Texas  cattle  here:  they  are  all  of  the  American 
or  native  breed,  or  grade  animals  from  Short-horn  or  Hereford 
stock.  Many  of  the  stock-raisers  keep  them  out  on  the  range 
all  winter,  and  claim  that  their  loss  is  not  more  than  one  or  twa 
per  cent.,  as  the  bunch  grass,  which  grows  to  the  height  of  two 
or  three  feet,  is  not  often  covered  with  snow  on  tlie  hillsides ; 
but  the  best  stock-men  think  it  safer  to  provide  some  of  the  wild 
hay,  which  can  be  cut  and  stacked  for  ^i  to  $1.25  per  ton, 
against  possible  emergencies,  and  also  to  provide  rude  shelter 
for  their  animals  during  severe  storms.  They  have  one  cow-boy 
to  1,500  or  2,000  cattle.  The  cost  of  raising  a  steer  for  the  first 
four  years  is  from  60  cents  to  $1  per  year.  A  three  or  four- 
year  old  steer  is  worth  at  tlie  ranche  about  $20,  at  the  larger 
towns  or  railroad  points  from  $25  to  ^^o.  Much  of  the  stock- 
raising  is  done  in  these  territories  by  companies,  usually  joint- 
stock  companies,  who  trust  the  management  to  a  competent  and 


STOCK-RAISnXG    IN    CALIFORNIA.  I77 

skilful  expert,  who  becomes,  after  a  time,  a  partner.  There  is  a 
fine  opening  for  good  stock-farmers  with  little  or  no  capital  to 
make  laree  fortunes  in  this  business. 

When  railroads  traverse  these  territories,  as  they  soon  will, 
the  exceptionally  fine  stock  raised  here  will  command  much 
higher  prices,  and  can  be  shipped  to  England  at  considerably 
less  expense  than  from  Colorado.  Increasing  attention  is  being 
paid  in  Minnesota,  Dakota,  and  Montana  to  dairy-farming,  for 
which  that  region  possesses  fine  facilities.  Good  butter  com- 
mands a  very  high  price  all  over  that  region,  and  the  infusion  of 
Ayrshire,  Alderney,  or  Jersey  blood  into  the  stock  intended  for 
the  dairies  will  enable  the  dairy-farmers  to  supply  a  vast  demand 
at  largely  remunerative  prices.  Recent  improvements  in  the 
breeding  of  dairy  stock,  and  in  all  the  processes  of  butter  and 
cheese-making,  have  reduced  the  business  almost  to  one  of  the 
exact  sciences. 

Stock-raising  in  California  is  not  now  comparatively  so  exten- 
sive a  business  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago,  as  former  pasturage 
lands  have  been  taken  up  for  agricultural  purposes.  Before  the 
American  occupation  much  of  the  country  was  taken  up  in  large 
ranches,  often  of  from  50,000  to  150,000  acres,  and  the  Hispano- 
American  owner  had  his  vast  herds  of  Mexican  cattle,  lone  and. 
sharp-horned,  of  vicious  temper,  thick  hides,  and  lean,  rather 
gamy  flesh,  droves  of  the  Mexican  or  mustang  horses,  and  very 
lapge  flocks  of  the  Mexican  sheep,  a  degenerate  breed  from  the 
original  Spanish  Merino.  Very  few  of  these  ranches  now  re- 
main, and  the  Mexican  cattle  have,  for  the  most  part,  given 
place  to  Eastern  cattle  brought  in  by  the  early  settlers  and.  im- 
proved by  breeding  from  the  best  pure-blooded  stock.  The 
stock  now  actually  raised  in  California  is  very  little  beyond,  what 
is  demanded  for  home  use,  and  although  considerable  herds  are 
exported,  the  deficiency  in  the  Californian  markets  is  made  up 
by  cattle  brought  from  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory.  The 
general  quality  of  California  cattle  is  so  high  that  they  are  in 
demand  for  breeding  by  the  stock-growers  of  Colorado,  Wyom- 
ing, and  Montana,  and  command  liberal  prices  for  that  purpose. 

The  climate  of  California  is  so  mild  that  stock  requires  no 
12 


1^8  O^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

shelter,  but  the  long  dry  season  burns  up  the  herbage  so  thor- 
oughly that  the  best  stock-growers  find  it  necessary  to  sow  the 
Alfalfa  and  other  forage  grasses  largely  to  feed  their  stock  in  the 
dryest  months.  There  are  still  many  large  ranches,  but  the 
proprietors  are  usually  wide-awake  Americans,  and  they  do  not 
confine  themselves  to  raising  stock.  Extensive  wheat-fields, 
vineyards  or  olive-groves,  or  the  rearing  of  great  numbers  of 
horses  or  mules,  or  large  flocks  of  sheep,  also  occupy  their  atten- 
tion and  prevent  their  exclusive  interest  in  either  pursuit.  The 
herdsmen  or  cow-boys — vaquei'os  is  the  more  sonorous  Spanish 
name,  and  is  most  used  in  California — are  often  Mexicans,  but 
quite  as  often  French,  German,  Swiss,  Swedes,  or  Irishmen. 
The  lasso  is  used  as  in  Texas  in  rounding  up  the  herds,  and  the 
other  features  of  the  business  do  not  differ  materially  from  those 
already  described,  except  that  greater  care  is  taken  in  improv- 
ing the  breeds  by  the  introduction  of  the  best  imported  cattle. 

Dairy  farming  is  rapidly  increasing  in  California.  The  butter 
is  generally  good,  and  some  of  it  of  the  "gilt-edged"  quality. 
It  brings  a  high  price,  ranging  generally  from  40  to  60  cents  a 
pound,  or,  which  is  substantially  the  same  thing,  from  60  cents 
to  $1.10  a  roll,  the  roll,  though  nominally  two  pounds,  always 
coming  considerably  short  of  that  weight.  The  milk  is  of  excel- 
lent quality,  though  there  are  comparatively  few  Alderneys  or 
Jersey  cows  in  the  State.  Cheese  is  not  very  largely  produced, 
reliance  for  this  product  being  had  upon  the  Eastern  cheese 
factories. 

The  rearinor  of  horses  and  mules*  is  not  a  larofe  branch  of  the 
stock-raising  industry  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  except  in 
California,  Texas,  and  Arkansas,  thoucjh  it  is  increasinof  in 
Kansas,  Colorado,  and  perhaps  New  Mexico.  In  Texas  the 
greater  part  of  the  horses  raised  on  the  ranches  are  either  mus- 
tangs (the  descendants  of  the  Spanish  horses  introduced  into 
Mexico  three  centuries  ago),  very  tough  and  serviceable,  but 
vicious  and  tricky,  or  a  cross  between  these  and  our  larger 
American  horse,  somewhat  laro-er  than  the  mustancf  and  less 
tricky,  but  not  quite  so  tough.  These  are  usually  called  bron- 
chos.    The  Indian  ponies  belong  to  this  cross.     Horses  of  better 


RAISING   HORSES  AND   MULES— CAMELS.  j^n 

breeds  are  raised  on  smaller  farms  and  brought  Into  these 
States  from  States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  but  never  in  large 
droves.  In  California  the  Norman  and  Percheron  horses  are 
now  being  introduced  In  large  numbers  for  draught  horses. 
The  rearing  of  horses  and  mules  Is  said  to  be  very  profitable, 
and  some  of  the  large  stock-ranches  in  Kansas  and  Colorado 
are  turning  their  attention  to  it.  The  rapid  extension  of  rail- 
roads In  these  new  States  and  Territories  creates  a  vastly  in- 
creased demand  for  good  horses  for  purposes  of  draught,  for  car- 
riage use,  and  for  the  saddle.  Every  station  has  at  least  a  dozen 
settlements  tributary  to  it,  all  of  which  require  teams  to  make 
the  connection.  The  raising  of  mules  is  still  more  profitable, 
since  the  mule  is  more  surefooted,  hardier,  and  will  live  on 
poorer  fare  than  the  horse.  He  is  more  vicious  and  stubborn — 
granted,  but  that  is  partly  due  to  the  abuse  to  which  he  Is  sub- 
jected. Mules  bring  on  the  average  a  price  considerably  higher 
than  horses.  In  the  mining  districts,  and  especially  in  the  new 
mining  regions,  mules  are  in  great  demand  as  pack-animals,  and 
for  drawing  the  Immense  freight-wagons,  and  command  high 
prices  for  these  purposes.  The  great  stage  company.  Barlow, 
Sanderson  &  Co.,  whose  lines  run  daily  or  oftener  to  all  parts 
of  Western  Colorado  and  Northern  New  Mexico,  where  there 
are  practicable  roads,  keep  hundreds  of  horses  and  a  still  larger 
number  of  mules  In  their  stables. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  introduce  the  camel  Into  Texas, 
and  it  has  met  with  a  moderate  decree  of  success.  The  animal 
would  seem  to  be  well  adapted  to  a  part  of  Texas,  Arizona, 
Southern  New  Mexico,  and  Southern  California,  and  if  the 
Bactrian  species  could  be  introduced  It  might  do  well  farther 
north ;  but  the  camel  is  better  suited  to  the  Indolent  oriental  than 
to  our  wide-awake,  restless,  Impatient  Yankees. 


l3o  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Sheep-Farming  and  Wool-Growing — Number  of  Sheep  and  Annual  Increase 
or  Lamhs  in  each  State  or  Territory — The  Great  Wool  States — Improv- 
ing the  Breed  —  Merinos  —  Cotswolds  —  Southdowns  —  I.eicesters  — 
Tastes  Differ — Perils  of  the  Flocks  from  Cold,  Starvation,  and  Thirst 
— Winter  Shelter  and  Winter  Food  Necessary  in  Kansas  and  further 
North — Diseases  of  Sheep — The  Sheep  that  Browse  and  the  Sheep  that 
Crop  their  Food — Shrubs  and  Plants  Poisonous  to  Sheep — Sheep-Farm- 
ing— The  Shepherds — The  Sheep-Farmer  in  Colorado — The  Purchase 
of  the  Sheep-Farm — Buying  the  Sheep — The  Account — Beginning  on  a 
Small  Scale  :  the  Man  with  only  $1,000 — Crossing  the  Breed  with  the 
Big-horn — The  Angora  and  other  Goats — The  Rocky  Mountain  Goat. 

There  are  none  of  the  States  or  Territories  of  the  Great  West 
which  are  not  enorao^ed  to  a  orreater  or  less  extent  in  the  rearinof 
of  sheep,  either  for  their  wool  or  their  flesh,  or  both ;  but  the 
extent  of  the  business,  and  the  size  of  the  flocks,  differ  very 
greatly  in  different  sections.  The  latest  statistics  give  the 
number  of  sheep  in  this  Western  Empire  as  approximately 
20,810,000,  somewhat  more  than  one-half  of  all  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  numbers  are  increasing,  at  a  ratio  which  will  soon 
enable  them  to  rival  Australia  in  the  supply  of  mutton  and  wool 
to  the  world. 

California  leads  the  whole  country  in  numbers  and  perhaps  in 
quality  ;  her  flocks  numbering  about  7,300,000,  and  averaging 
ninety  lambs  each  year  to  every  one  hundred  ewes.  Texas 
follows  with  about  4,560,000,  of  an  average  quality  somewhat 
below  those  of  California,  but  improving.  Her  sheep-growers 
claim  about  eighty  lambs  annually  to  one  hundred  ewes.  Col- 
orado is  next  with  2,000,000  sheep,  mostly  of  good  quality,  and 
modestly  estimates  her  net  increase  at  seventy-five  lambs  for 
one  hundred  ewes.  Next  follow  in  their  order  Missouri,  Oregon, 
and  New  Mexico,  with  1,450,000,  1,250,000,  and  1,000,000  re- 
spectively. Those  of  New  Mexico  are  largely  of  the  old  Mex- 
ican breed,  and  the  Navajo  Indians  have  flocks  exceeding 
500,000.  Utah  and  Iowa  are  the  only  other  States  or  Territories 
whose  flocks  approximate  half  a  million. 


BREEDS— MERINO    PREFERRED.  j  8 1 

The  original  stock  on  which  all,  or  nearly  all  these  flocks  were 
started,  were  Mexican  ewes,  from  the  original  Spanish  Merinos 
brought  over  here,  by  the  early  Spanish  settlers,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  largely  raised  on  the  Missions,  which  were  so 
numerous  in  Mexico.  They  were,  in  the  beginning,  good  stock 
for  that  time;  but  in  three  centuries  of  neglect,  they  had  degen- 
erated till  they  were  a  puny  race,  gaunt  and  small,  and  yielded 
only  from  three  to  four  pounds  of  coarse  felting  wool  annually. 
The  California  and  Texas  shepherds  readily  saw  that  there 
would  be  no  profit,  either  in  the  wool  or  mutton  of  such  sheep 
as  these,  and  though  a  selection  from  these  were  the  best  ewes 
they  could  obtain,  they  procured,  often  at  very  high  prices,  the 
best  imported  or  Eastern  Merino,  Cotswold  or  Leicester  bucks, 
and  began  at  once  to  improve  the  breed.  Some  of  the  experi- 
ments proved  failures.  It  was  found  that  the  cross  with  the 
Leicester  or  Southdown  was  not  desirable,  at  least  until,  by  cross 
breeding,  the  size  of  the  ewes  had  been  materially  increased. 
Moreover,  it  was  more  profitable  to  raise  sheep  for  wool  than 
for  mutton,  and  while  it  was  desirable  to  have  an  eye  to  increase 
of  size,  and  to  improvement  of  the  flesh  in  the  future,  the  most 
desirable  improvement  for  the  present  was  the  increase  of  size, 
and  of  wool  production,  by  breeding  with  the  largest  and  best 
full  Merino  bucks;  thereby  producing  in  two  or  three  crosses,  a 
much  larger  and  better  fleeced  sheep.  The  Merino  wool  is  the 
best  of  the  felting  wools,  and  by  careful  breeding,  the  sheep  can 
in  five  or  six  years  be  brought  to  yield  from  ten  to  twelve  pounds 
per  year,  and  eventually  the  bucks  and  wethers  reach  from 
seventeen  to  twenty-five  pounds  of  washed  wool. 

The  crosses  with  the  Cotswolds  bring  a  better  sheep  for 
mutton,  and  a  fleece  of  perhaps  equal  weight,  but  it  is  of  a 
different  character — a  medium  long  and  fine  combing  wool, 
adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  all  kinds  of  worsted  or  hard- 
twisted  goods,  but  not  suitable  for  broadcloths,  merinos, 
cashmeres  or  any  description  of  the  softer  woollens. 

Probably  nine-tenths  of  these  vast  flocks,  or  nearly  nineteen 
millions,  approximate  more  or  less  closely  to  the  Merino  standard; 
while  over  the  line  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  where  the  sheep 


1 32  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

is  raised  quite  as  much  for  the  flesh  as  for  the  fleece,  the 
Cotswolds,  Leicesters  and  Southdowns  are  greatly  in  excess  of 
the  Merinos. 

Even  in  Texas,  those  sheep-masters  are  wisest,  who  provide 
some  shelter,  if  not  fodder  for  their  flocks,  in  the  severe  storms 
which  occasionally  visit  the  hill  slopes,  which  form  the  best  pastur- 
age for  sheep.  In  Southern  California,  this  is  never  done,  but  the 
greatest  suffering  to  which  the  flocks  are  subjected  comes  from 
the  failure  of  the  pasturage,  in  the  long  and  dry  summer,  and 
the  failure  also  of  water.  In  some  years  in  that  State,  entire 
flocks  have  been  almost  annihilated  by  starvation  and  thirst,  and 
when  at  last  in  desperation,  the  shepherds  attempted  to  drive  them 
to  the  fresher  and  moister  pastures  of  the  mountains,  every  foot 
of  the  way  was  strewn  with  the  festering  carcasses  of  the  poor 
animals.  By  sad  experience  the  sheep-masters  of  California 
have  learned  two  things :  first,  that  in  the  dry  season  at  least, 
the  pastures  on  the  slopes  and  foot-hills  of  the  mountains  are 
much  better  for  sheep,  than  those  on  the  plains,  or  generally  in 
the  valleys:  and  second,  that  it  is  a  wise  measure  of  economy 
to  sow  Alfalfa,  millet,  Hungarian  grass,  or  something  of 
the  sort,  to  feed  to  their  sheep  in  seasons  when  the  pasturage  is 
scanty. 

In  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  all  the  States  and  Territories  farther 
north,  both  shelter  and  hay  or  grain  are  necessary,  though  not 
always  furnished.  In  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  the  general 
practice  is  to  furnish  neither,  though  sometimes  the  flocks  suffer 
in  consequence.  The  greater  part  of  the  flocks  in  these  two 
Territories  is  the  Mexican  sheep,  which  is  hardier,  though  far 
less  valuable,  than  the  improved  breeds  of  the  other  States  and 
Territories. 

Sheep  suffer  in  some  sections  from  a  variety  of  diseases,  many 
of  them  fatal,  others  greatly  depreciating  their  value.  Among 
these  are  the  scab,  the  result  of  the  attachment  of  an  insect,  the 
Acanis  scabiei,  first  to  the  wool,  and  afterward  to  the  skin  and 
flesh  of  the  sheep,  causing  severe  torture  and  a  most  intolerable 
itching  to  the  poor  animal,  causing  it  to  rub  off  its  wool  and  pro- 
duce ugly  sores  on  its  back  and  sides,  in  which  the  pestiferous 


DISEASES   OF  SHEEP.  13^ 

insect  riots  and  multiplies.  This  is  cured  by  dipping  the  sheep 
several  times  in  a  strong  decoction  of  tobacco,  or  in  strong  lime- 
water,  or,  better  still,  in  a  wash  to  which  the  impure  carbolic 
acid  of  the  quality  known  as  "  sheep-dip,"  has  been  added. 
This  is  by  no  means  the  only  disease  caused  by  parasitic  insects, 
from  which  the  sheep  suffers.  The  tick  is  an  insect  which 
works  its  way  through  the  wool  into  the  flesh  of  the  sheep,  and, 
like  the  preceding,  causes  intolerable  itching  and  loss  of  wool. 
Dipping  the  sheep  when  they  first  manifest  the  symptoms  of  its 
presence  is  an  effectual  cure.  The  various  worms  or  maggots 
which  enter  the  body  of  the  sheep,  or  are  taken  in  with  the  food 
and  hatched  in  the  stomach,  are  a  cause  of  great  suffering  and 
mortality  to  the  poor  animal.  Among  these  are  the  gTzib  in  the 
head,  the  fluke,  or  liver-rot,  tape-worm,  lung-worm,  the  white 
intestinal  worms  which  cause  "  the  pale  disease  "  in  lambs,  or  what 
is  known  as  "■paper-skin''  in  the  full-grown  sheep — and  hydatids 
or  worms  in  the  bladder  and  kidneys.  Most  of  these  diseases 
are  incurable,  except  in  the  earlier  stages.  The  use  of  sulphur, 
spirits  of  turpentine,  linseed  oil,  castor  oil,  Glauber  salts,  wood 
and  cob  ashes  with  salt,  etc.,  are  recommended,  but  in  these,  as 
in  most  cases  of  diseases  of  animals,  the  treatment  is  generally 
empirical,  and  without  any  very  clear  ideas  of  the  indications  to 
be  fulfilled.  The  foot-rot  is  another  troublesome  and  often  fatal 
disease,  which  is  especially  prevalent  in  Texas.  It  is  said  to  be 
caused  by  pasturing  the  sheep  on  low,  moist  lands.  It  first  ap- 
pears as  a  purulent  sore  behind  the  hoofs,  and  if  not  treated,  not 
only  produces  great  lameness  in  the  animal,  but  causes  the  hoofs 
to  slough  off  and  the  sheep  to  die.  This  is  also  best  cured  by 
the  use  of  the  "  sheep-dip,"  or  impure  carbolic  acid.  The  black- 
leg is  a  more  speedily  fatal  disease,  usually  affecting  young 
lambs ;  the  legs  become  swollen,  turn  black,  and  seem  filled  with 
a  black,  decomposed  blood,  and  the  lamb  dies  within  two  or 
three  days.  It  is  said  that  bleeding  on  the  first  indications  of  the 
disease  will  cure  it.  Sheep  are  also  subject  to  pleuro-pneumo- 
nia,  to  snuffles  and  snoring,  to  colics,  constipation,  diarrhoeas 
and  scouring.  They  are  generally  much  more  healthy  in  a 
tolerably  dry  atmosphere,  and  on  high  land  along  the  slopes  and 


jS4  our   western  empire. 

foot  hills  of  the  mountains.  The  vicsas,  or  isolated  table-lands 
of  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  and  Utah,  would  afford  them 
good  pasture-grounds,  if,  by  artesian  wells,  or  reservoirs,  they 
could  be  supplied  with  the  very  moderate  quantity  of  water  they 
require.  Such  a  jegion  was  found  in  Palestine,  east  of  the  Jor- 
dan, on  the  elevated  plains  or  mesas,  where  the  King  of  Moab, 
Mesha,  and  his  predecessors,  kept  their  myriads  of  sheep, 
200.000  forming  his  annual  tribute  to  the  King  of  Israel. 

Different  breeds  or  varieties  of  sheep  feed  in  different  ways. 
The  Cotswold  and  Leicester  breeds  crop  the  grass  very  closely, 
but  do  not  browse,  or  eat  the  branches  of  trees  or  shrubs ;  the 
Merino,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  browsing  animal,  and  where  there 
are  shrubs,  plants,  or  young  trees  having  limbs  within  reach,  it 
prefers  them  to  grass.  This  necessitates  two  precautions  in 
pasturing  this  breed ;  they  should  not  be  pastured  in  an  orchard, 
especially  of  young  trees,  as  they  will  do  great  injury,  though  on 
a  field  of  winter  wheat  during  the  winter  or  very  early  spring, 
their  presence  is  rather  beneficial  than  injurious,  as  they  do  not 
crop  the  roots  so  closely  as  other  sheep. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  in  their  pastures  that  no  poison- 
ous shrubs  or  vines  should  remain  within  their  reach ;  for  the 
sheep  has  not  the  keen  instinct  to  avoid  poisons  which  the  hog 
possesses.  If  poke-root  {Phytolacca  decandrd),  bitter-sweet 
{SolaiiMm  dulcamara^,  deadly  nightshade  {Digitalis  piirpuTea\ 
aconite,  henbane  {Hyoscya77zus),  or  either  the  green  or  white 
hellebores,  the  poison  ash,  or  tl.e  poisonous  species  of  the  Rhus 
or  sumach,  comes  in  his  way,  the  sheep,  and  particularly  the 
Merino  sheep,  will  be  sure  to  eat  them  and  die. 

Sheep-farming  is  more  monotonous  and  unexciting  than  stock- 
raising,  or  the  care  of  cattle  or  horses ;  for  the  sheep  is  a  timid 
and  harmless  creature,  easily  controlled,  and  not  as  intelligent 
or  sympathetic  as  the  horse,  the  cow,  or  the  dog.  The  shep- 
herd has  a  lonely  life  in  taking  care  of  his  flocks,  and  but  for  the 
companionship  of  his  faithful  and  almost  rational  companions, 
the  collies,  or  shepherd-dogs,  his  lot  would  be  almost  intolerable. 
But,  humdrum  as  it  is,  it  is  more  immediately  profitable,  and  we 
suspect,  even  for  a  period  of  ten  or  twenty  years,  with  flocks  of 
large  size,  more  permanently  so,  than  the  cattle  range. 


THE    YOUNG   SHEEP-FARMER   AND    HIS  FLOCK.  i8- 

Let  US  illustrate  this  assertion  by  taking  an  actual  case,  in  no 
respect  exceptional,  in  Colorado.  We  select  this  State  because 
from  its  central  position  we  find  here  all  or  nearly  all  the  ad\an- 
tages  and  disadvantages  attending  sheep-farming  in  any  portion 
of  "Our  Western  Empire."  We  take  the  case  of  a  young  man 
who  has,  or  can  command  about  5^15,000,  and  who  has  resolved 
to  put  his  money  into  a  sheep-farm  on  the  hills,  or  rather 
plateaux  of  Colorado.  He  selects  as  his  location  El  Paso  county, 
on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  though  he  might 
have  found  locations,  perhaps  equally  desirable,  in  Huerfano, 
Las  Animas  or  Pueblo  counties,  or  perhaps  somewhat  farther 
north.  But  in  his  choice,  he  must  seek  first  for  the  great  and 
important  requisite — water. 

Having  found  a  township  containing  the  necessary  number  of 
streams  and,  if  possible,  some  springs,  he  next  proceeds  to  pur- 
chase or  secure  title  to  his  lands  ;  for  thoucfh  he  mio-ht,  as  the 
stock-raisers  do,  pasture  his  flock  on  the  government  lands,  yet 
there  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  in  Colorado  between  the  cattle- 
herders  and  owners,  and  the  sheep-farmers  and  their  shepherds, 
and  the  sheep-master  will  be  better  situated  if  he  owns  his  land. 
If  there  is  a  land  office  near  him,  and  a  sale  takes  place,  he  can 
purchase  a  quarter  section  (160  acres)  at  the  government  price, 
^1.25  per  acre.  He  can  next  pre-empt  160  acres  more  for  $1.25 
per  acre  and  fees,  having  six  or  thirty  months  to  pay  for  it  and 
receive  his  tide.  Next  he  can  claim  160  acres  more  under  the 
Homestead  Act,  paying  only  fees,  and  having  lived  on  it  for  five 
years  can  obtain  his  title,  and  lasdy  he  can  claim  160  acres  more 
under  the  Timber-Culture  Act,  planting  in  the  course  of  five  years 
forty  acres  of  trees  upon  it  which  he  will  need  for  the  shelter  of 
his  flocks.  He  has  now  640  acres,  or  one  mile  square,  which 
may  cost  him.,  all  told,  possibly  5^500.  But  he  needs  more.  How 
is  he  to  obtain  it?  In  one  of  three  or  four  ways.  If,  as  is  prob- 
able, the  bill  now  before  Congress  passed  during  the  recent 
session,  he  can  purchase,  at  a  very  low  price,  a  tract  of  from 
four  to  eight  square  miles  as  pasturage  land,  subject  to  the  lia- 
bility of  being  explored  below  the  surface  for  minerals,  but  with 
a   guarantee  of  all    his    surface  rights.     If   it  did  not,  he  can 


1 86  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

buy  up  soldiers'  or  bounty  land  scrip  at  5^3  or  $3.50  per  acre, 
which  he  can  locate  where  he  pleases.  If  he  is  within  six  or 
eight  miles  of  a  land-grant  railroad  (and  all  the  railroads  here- 
abouts have  land-grants),  he  can  purchase  from  them,  probably 
at  ^5  per  acre,  on  long  time,  the  additional  land  he  wants. 
Or  he  may  very  possibly  find,  as  the  man  described  by  Mr.  A. 
A.  Hayes,  jr.,  in  Harper  s  Mtvithly  for  January,  i8So,'-'  did,  a 
sheep-farm  for  sale  with  its  corrals,  cabins,  etc.,  favorably  situated, 
but  which  its  owner,  tired  of  this  monotonous  life,  and  anxious  to 
go  back  to  civilization  and  Eastern  comforts,  was  willing  to  sell 
for  ^4,000.  It  is  ample  for  5,000  sheep,  but  in  order  to  be  secure 
he  avails  himself  of  his  privileges  already  described  and  secures 
an  additional  640  acres.  This  purchase  made,  the  young  sheep- 
farmer  has  next  to  buy  his  sheep. 

He  avails  himself  of  the  judgment  of  an  expert,  buys  2,000 
selected  ewes,  "second  cross"  if  they  are  to  be  had,  at  ^3 
per  head — ^6,000;  and  60  bucks  at  an  average  of  ^30 — ^1,800. 
He  needs  also  a  pair  of  mules  and  a  saddle-horse,  for  which  he 
has  to  pay  about  $275  more,  and  finds  it  best  to  break  up  eighty 
acres  and  sow  it  half  in  wheat  and  half  in  Alfalfa  or  some  other 
forage  crop.  This  costs  him,  perhaps,  $500  more.  He  has 
now  left,  of  his  $15,000,  $1,925  as  working  capital.  This 
transaction  is  completed,  we  will  say  October  i.  He  must 
employ  for  this  flock  one  herder,  a  cook,  and  for  a  time  team- 
sters, etc.  His  ewes  will  come  in  during  the  following  May, 
and  from  the  2,000  ewes,  he  will  have  living,  on  the  first  of  the 
following  October,  a  year  from  the  time  of  making  his  purchase, 
at  least  1,500  lambs  or  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
number.  (The  Merino  ewe  very  seldom  has  twin  lambs.)  This 
is  a  very  liberal  estimate  for  losses,  blunders,  etc.  The  Texan 
sheep-masters  claim  that  they  raise  from  eighty  to  ninety  per 
cent.,  which  would  be  1,800,  and  surely  with  all  his  precautions 
he  should  do  nearly  or  quite  as  well,  but  we  prefer  to  understate 
rather  than  overstate  the  probable  results  of  the  business.  Let 
us  now  go  on  with  his  account  (supposing  him  to  be  an  accurate 

*We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Hayes'  very  able  article  on  the  "Shepherds  of  Colorado,"  for  most 
of  the  details  of  this  account  of  the  expenses  and  profits  of  a  sheep-farai. 


A   SHEEP-MASTER'S  PROFITS.  1 87 

and  caretul  accountant)   for  the  next  three  years.     His  gross 
increase  of  values  and  receipts  for  this  first  year  will  be : 

1,500  lambs  (average  one-half  ewes,  one-half  wethers),  at  $2  each  .     $3,000  00 

In  June  he  shears  his  wool,  and  gets  from  : 

2,000  ewes,  5  lbs.  each,  or  10,000  lbs.,  at  21  cents    .   $2,100  00 

60  bucks,  17  lbs.  each,  or  1,000  lbs.,  at  15  cents  .     .         150  00       2,250  00 

$5'25o  00 
Expenses  : 

Herders,  teamsters,  cook,  and  provisions $1,835  °° 

Shearing  2,060  sheep,  at  6  cents 123  60 

Hay  and  grain 275  00 

$2,233  60 
Losses  (all  estimated  as  made  up,  in  money) : 

Ewes,  4  per  cent,  on  $6,000 $240  00 

Bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $i,Soo ,       90  00      330  00 

Depreciation : 
On  bucks,  5  percent,  on  i,Soo 90  00       2,653  6° 

Net  profits  for  first  year $2,59*5  4° 

SECOND  YEAR. 

The  1,500  lambs  will  be  a  year  older,  and  worth  an  additional  15  per 

cent,  (or  15  per  cent,  on  $3,000) $450  00 

1,500  new  lambs  will  be  worth,  as  before 3,000  00 

And  there  will  be  of  wool  from 

2,000  sheep,  5  lbs.  each,  or  10,000  lbs.,  at  21  cents  .  $2,100  00 
1,500  lambs,  4  lbs.  each,  or  6,000  lbs.,  at  21  cents  .  1,260  00 
60  bucks,  17  lbs.  each,  or  1,000  lbs.,  at  15  cents     .  150  00       3oio  co 

$6,960    CO 

Expenses  : 

Herders,  etc $2,060  00 

Shearing  3,560  sheep,  at  6  cents 213  60 

Hay  and  grain 35°  °° 

$2,623  60 

Losses  : 

On  ewes,  4  per  cent,  on  $6,000 $240  00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $i,Soo     ....  90  00 

On  lambs,  7  per  cent,  on  $3,000     ....  210  00      540  00 

Depreciation : 

On  ewes,  5  per  cent,  on  $6,000 $3°°  0° 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $  I, Soo      ....  90  00      390  00       3,553  60 

Net  profits  for  second  year $3'4o6  40 


J 88  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

THIRD    YEAR, 

The  second  year's  lambs  will  be  worth  an  additional  15  per  cent.,  or, 

say  (15  per  cent,  on  $3,000) $450  00 

There  will  be  1,500  lambs  from  original  2,000  ewes,  and,  say,  from 
new  750  ewes  (one-half  of  1,500,  not  more  than  60  per  cent, 
in  first  lambing,  or,  say,  450 — in  all,  1,950  lambs,  at  $2      .       3,900  00 
Wool  will  be : 

From    3,500    ewes,    5)^     lbs,     each,    or    19,250    lbs.,    at    21 

cents $4)042  50 

From  i,95olambs,4lbs.  each,or7,8oolbs.,at2icents         1,638  00 

From  60  bucks,  17  lbs.  each,  or  1, 000 lbs.,  at  15  cents  150  00       5,830  50 

^10,180  50 
Expenses : 

Herders  and  fodder .     ^2,970  00 

Shearing  5,510  sheep,  at  6  cents     .......  330  60 

New  corrals,  etc .  300  00 

^3,600  60 
Losses : 
On  ewes,  4  per  cent,  on  $6,000      ....       $240  00 
On  new  sheep,  4  per  cent,  on  $4,500  ,     .     .  180  00 

On  lambs,  7  per  cent,  on  $3,000    ....         210  00 
On  bucks,  5  percent,  on  $1,800     ....  90  00      720  00 

Depreciation : 
On  old  ewes,  10  per  cent,  on  $6,000  .     .     .       $600  00 
On  bucks,  20  per  cent,  on  $1,800  ....         360  00      960  00       5,280  60 

Net  profits  for  third  year $4,899  90 

RECAPITULATION. 

First  year's  profits $2,596  40 

Second  year's  profits 3,406  40 

Third  year's  profits 4,899  90 

Total $10,902  70 


At  the  end  of  five  years  after  selling  off  the  original  2,000 
ewes,  which  are  now  more  than  replaced  by  those  of  a  better 
grade,  which  will  give  larger  lambs,  and  yield  heavier  Heeces,  and 
disposing  also  of  2,000  wethers  and  lambs,  our  )oung  sheep- 
master  finds  that  his  net  profits  received  within  the  five  years 
amount  to  a  little  more  than  $37,500,  and  that  he  has  still  on 
hand  3,500  ewes  and  ewe  lambs,  2,013  wethers  and  male  lambs 
all  over  a  year  old,  1 50  bucks    of  high  grade  and  good  size,  and 


SHEEP  FARMING    ON  A   SMALL    SCALE.  jgg 

that  the  increased  value  of  his  land  and  buildings  being  added 
to  his  stock  its  present  value  is  ^28,767.  In  other  words  he  has 
earnings,  stock  on  hand  and  improved  land  to  show  to  the 
amount  of  ^66,267,  for  an  original  investment  of  not  more  than 
^13,200,  or  about  500  per  cent,  advance  in  five  years.  Extend 
the  time  to  ten  years,  and  if  he  can  obtain  land  he  will,  after 
selling  off  his  surplus  stock  to  the  amount  of  at  least  $25,000, 
have  a  flock  of  25,000  sheep,  450  bucks,  and  can  shear  from 
180,000  to  200,000  pounds  of  wool  annually,  and  his  possessions, 
in  land,  buildings,  and  animals  in  the  absence  of  any  extraordinary 
misfortune,  are  worth  from  $100,000  to  $i20,cco,  and  his  net 
income  over  $40,000  a  year. 

Of  course  it  is  possible  to  build  up  a  handsome  fortune  in  the 
course  of  ten  or  twenty  years  from  a  much  smaller  beginning 
than  this ;  there  were  instances,  when  lar.d  was  lower  and  sheep- 
ranges  on  government  lands  were  more  available  than  now,  when 
an  investment  of  $1,000  resulted  in  an  ample  fortune  in  fifteen 
or  twenty  years.  If,  however,  the  emigrant  knows  something 
of  the  care  of  sheep,  and  has  but  a  thousand  dollars,  our  advice 
to  him  would  be  to  secure  land,  if  he  can,  under  the  Homestead 
and  Timber- Culture  Acts,  or  by  pre-emption,  and  hire  himself 
out  in  some  capacity  to  a  large  sheep-farmer,  either  taking  his 
pay  in  lambs  to  be  herded  with  his  employer's  flock,  or  investing 
a  part  of  his  money  in  them,  and  gradually  getting  ready  his 
cabin  and  corrals,  putting  out  his  trees,  and  hire,  say,  forty 
acres  of  his  land  broken  and  seeded  to  wheat,  and  perhaps  an 
equal  quantity  to  corn.  Alfalfa  or  millet.  In  this  way  he  can,  at 
the  end  of  three  or  four  years,  have  a  range  of  his  own  with 
1,000  ewes  to  stock  it  and  can  go  on  swimmingly  from  that  time. 
His  wheat  and  forage  plants,  for  which  there  is  a  ready  sale,  will 
bring  him  not  only  an  ample  support,  if  he  takes  his  pay  for 
herding  in  lambs,  but  will  give  him  additional  means  for  the  pur- 
chase of  land  and  stock.  But  we  would  not  advise  a  young  man 
to  marry  or  to  bring  his  family  to  this  wild  primitive  life  till  he 
has  a  comfortable  cabin  and  sheep-ranche  of  his  own.  The  life 
of  the  shepherd  on  a  large  sheep-farm  is  isolated  and  lonely, 
•though  not  in  most  sections  fraught  with  any  considerable  dan- 


jQO  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

ger;  but  his  family  would  find  it  monotonous  and  wearisome 
beyond  measure  In  Texas  the  sheep-farmer  usually  resides 
with  his  family  in  a  village,  which  may  be  ten,  twenty-five,  or 
even  fifty  miles  from  his  farm  and  Hocks.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  he  should  be  daily  in  attendance  there  if  he  has  competent 
and  faithful  shepherds. 

As  land  becomes  more  valuable  even  for  pasturage  in  this 
Great  West,  and  there  comes  a  demand  for  a  hardier  breed  of 
sheep  which  can  ascend  to  the  higher  mountain  pastures,  and 
whose  flesh  will  be  of  finer  flavor,  it  may  be  worthy  of  experi- 
ment to  try  the  crossing  of  the  wild  native  Rocky  Mountain 
sheep  or  Big-horn  with  the  largest  Merino  grades,  and  thus  pro- 
duce a  large  and  hardy  breed  which  will  combine  the  excellen- 
cies of  both.  The  Big-horn  ranges  in  weight  from  250  to  350 
pounds,  and  thrives  and  fattens  where  the  common  sheep  would 
starve.  Its  coat  or  fleece  is  a  fine  and  silky  hair  rather  than 
wool.  Its  flesh  is  tender  and  of  excellent  flavor.  Its  form  and 
motions  are  graceful.  If  these  qualities  could  be  grafted  upon 
the  Merino,  without  materially  injuring  the  value  of  its  fleece, 
though  they  might  change  its  character,  it  would  be  a  great  gain 
to  the  sheep-masters. 

The  rearing  of  the  Angora  goat  has  become  a  favorite  in- 
dustry with  many  of  the  larger  stock-farmers  of  the  West.  A 
single  stock-farm  in  Colorado  has  8,000  of  these  animals,  and 
they  are  largely  raised  in  California,  Texas,  and  to  some  extent 
in  Kansas  and  Wyoming.  Those  raised  here  are  usually  grades 
from  pure  Angora  or  Syrian  bucks  crossed  with  selected  she- 
goats  of  the  native  stock,  and  the  crossing  continued  until  the 
progeny  is  not  more  than  one-eighth  or  one-sixteenth  of  the 
common  stock.  The  mohair  or  curly  glossy  hair  from  these  is 
said  to  be  fully  equal  to  the  best  Syrian  mohair.  They  are 
hardy,  of  much  larger  size  than  the  common  goat,  will  live  and 
thrive  on  the  roughest  and  poorest  fare,  while  their  fleece  is  very 
valuable.  If  the  so-called  Rocky  Mountain  goat  [Aplocenis 
Mo7itamis)  is  really  a  goat  and  not  a  goat-like  antelope — a  point 
not  yet  quite  settled — a  cross  of  this  and  the  Angora  goat,  which 
it  strongly  resembles,  might  be  still  better. 


OTHER   EMPLOYMENTS.  IqI 

The  flesh  of  the  Angora  goat  is  better  than  that  of  the  com- 
mon goat,  and  it  yields  about  four  quarts  daily  of  an  excellent 
and  rich  milk,  while  the  cost  of  its  keeping  is  only  about  one- 
twelfth  that  of  a  cow.  In  some  sections  this  is  an  important 
consideration. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Employments  tn  Cities,  Towns  and  Villages — Horticulture,  Floricul- 
ture, Arboriculture — Mercantile  Business — Banking  —  The  Profes- 
sions, Clergymen,  Lawyers,  Physicians,  Engineers,  Artists,  Musicians, 
AND  Teachers  of  Music,  Vocal  and  Instrumental — Teachers  and  Edu- 
cators— Artisans  of  all  Trades — Machinists,  Operatives,  and  Em- 
ployes IN  Manufacturing  Establishments — Employments  Connected 
with  Mining,  Reducing,  Smelting,  and  Refining  Metals — Farming, 
Herding,  and  other  Employes — Day-Laborers — Facilities  for  Manufac- 
turing— Water-Power,  Steam-Power  —  Woollen  1\L\nufacture  —  Cot- 
ton Manufactures  and  Cotton  Seed — Other  Textiles — Iron  and  Iron 
Wares — Machinery — Manufactures  of  Wood,  etc. 

"  But,"  says  the  man  who  is  contemplating  a  migration  to  the 
Great  West,  and  who  has  read  the  preceding  pages  with  great 
interest,  "  in  all  this,  I  do  not  find  anything  which  exactly  hits 
my  case.  I  have  not  the  capital  necessary  for  the  purchase  or 
opening  of  a  mine  of  gold  or  silver,  of  platinum  or  copper,  of 
lead,  zinc,  or  iron  ;  nor  have  I  the  education  in  metallurgy,  which 
would  qualify  me  for  that  business,  if  I  had  the  capital,  I  am 
not  familiar  with  the  timber  or  the  lumber  trade,  and  the  capital 
for  engaging  in  that  is  lacking.  I  have  no  practical  acquaintance 
with  farming,  am  no  judge  of  soils,  and  if  I  were  to  put  what 
little  money  I  have  into  a  farm,  I  should  probably  lose  it  all,  and 
find  myself  a  penniless  stranger  in  a  strange  land.  I  have  never 
been  accustomed  to  the  care  of  larofe  herds  of  cattle  or  flocks  of 
sheep,  and  if  I  had,  these  callings  require  a  capital  which  is  far 
beyond  my  means.  Is  there  not  something  which  a  professional 
man,  or  an  educated  man  of  small  means,  or  of  a  limited  fixed 
income,  or  a  retired  army  officer,  engineer,  chemist,  or  govern- 


1^2  OUR     IVESTERX   EMPIRE. 

ment  clerk,  banker's  clerk,  accountant,  tradesman,  gardener, 
florist,  nurseryman,  carpenter,  builder,  painter,  mason,  marble 
worker,  glazier,  tinman,  jeweller,  blacksmith,  brass-founder, 
paper-maker,  factory  operative,  or  willing  and  honest  day- 
laborer  can  do  ?" 

Yes,  friend,  there  is  room  enough  and  work  enough  for  all 
these  classes,  and  to  whichever  of  them  you  belong,  if  you  are  in 
prime  health  and  vigor,  and  have  enterprise,  patience,  endurance, 
and  even  a  small  capital,  you  can  do  well  in  your  calling. 

An  English  immigrant,  who  had  tried  a  great  variety  of  pur- 
suits without  adhering  long  to  any,  and  whom  Mr.  A,  A.  Hayes, 
Jr.,  met  on  a  sheep-farm  in  Colorado,  herding  sheep  at  ^20  a 
month  and  his  keeping,  said  to  Mr.  Hayes,  with  a  grim  resolu- 
tion, "  I  tell  you  a  feller  can  just  make  money  in  this  country, 
but  he  s  s'ot  to  have  sandy      Sand  is  the  Colorado  vernacular 

o 

for  ^r//,  or  do^^Qfed  resolution. 

The  Great  West  is  no  place  for  any  man  who  is  easily  dis- 
couraged or  disheartened,  and  who,  after  a. two  or  three  months' 
trial  of  a  business,  into  which  he  has  thrown  very  little  energy, 
becomes  home-sick,  and  concludes  that  he  had  better  return  to 
the  East  or  to  Europe.     Such  a  man  will  not  succeed  anywhere. 

But  to  the  man  who  has  energy  and  pluck,  who  is  not  cast 
down  because  everything  does  not  go  just  as  he  expected  it 
would :  the  man  who  has  given  pledges  to  fortune,  who  has  a 
■wife  and  little  ones  dependent  upon  him,  or  who  is  looking  for- 
ward to  havlntj  a  home  to  which  he  can  brine  one  dearer  to  him 
than  life,  or  who  has  parents  or  minor  brothers  and  sisters,  who 
must  look  to  him  for  support,  the  man  who  knows  how  to  do  at 
least  one  thing  well,  and  who  is  observant,  patient,  brave,  honest 
and  true,  there  is  no  part  of  the  world  where  he  can  do  better, 
whatever  his  calling,  than  this  great  Western  Empire. 

Such  a  man  has  been  an  assistant  to  a  market-gardener, 
florist,  or  nurseryman  at  the  East  or  in  Europe.  He  has  become 
familiar  witli  the  plants,  flowers,  shrubs,  or  young  trees  to  be 
raised,  and  with  the  best  methods  of  propagating  and  cultivating 
them,  and  he  has  been  sufficiently  prudent  and  far-sighted  to 
save  ^400  or  ^500  to  start  in  his  new  home  at  the  West.     Let 


THE    FLORIST   OR    MARKET- GARDENER.  Iqj 

him  locate  his  garden,  or  nursery,  or  market-garden,  as  near  as 
may  be  to  some  one  of  the  new  towns,  which  are  springing  up 
all  over  this  region.  If  he  is  early  enough  to  take  up  his  forty 
acres  under  the  Timber-Culture  Act,  it  will  be  just  the  thing,  for 
he  can  plant  his  ten  acres  with  trees  for  nursery  purposes,  and 
while  obtaining  his  land  for  ten  or  fifteen  dollars,  can  be  making 
a  profit  from  the  trees,  which  give  him  the  land.  But  if  there  is 
no  suitable  location  of  this  kind  available,  he  can  buy  land  from 
the  government,  near  the  railroad,  for  $2.50  an  acre,  or  with  sol- 
diers' bounty  warrants,  or  from  the  railroad  company,  so  that  it 
will  not  cost  him  at  the  utmost  over  ^200  for  the  forty  acres  he 
takes,  and  this  on  sufficient  time,  to  enable  him  to  realize  on  his 
first  crop  before  paying  for  it.  The  breaking  up  the  sod  will  be 
the  first  considerable  expense,  and  this  he  can  provide  for,  either 
by  changing  works  with  a  neighbor,  or,  which  will  be  better,  by 
hiring  out  for  a  year  to  some  one  in  one  of  the  same  lines  of 
business  with  himself  Meantime  he  can  put  in  his  first  crop, 
and,  if  he  is  wise,  he  will  make  that  a  root  crop,  potatoes,  beets, 
turnips,  ruta-bagas,  sweet  potatoes,  or  something  of  the  sort. 
From  this  crop,  even  on  twenty  acres,  he  will  realize  enough  to 
build  his  cabin,  stock  his  nursery,  flower-garden,  or  market- 
garden,  and  obtain  a  horse  and  wagon,  or  a  pair  of  pack-mules 
or  asses.  Starting  thus  fairly  in  his  second  year,  he  will  find,,  if 
he  will  make  his  place  and  wares  known,  that  there  is  a  ready 
and  good  market  for  everything  he  can  raise;  and  so  rich  is  the 
virgin  soil,  that  for  perhaps  a  score  of  years,  no  manure,  or  at 
most  only  that  made  on  the  place  will  be  needed.  At  the  end 
of  three  or,  at  the  most,  four  years  from  the  time  he  first  plants 
his  foot  in  the  West,  he  is  so  well  situated  as  to  be  able  to  sup- 
port his  family,  or  those  dependent  on  him,  in  comfort,  and  that 
without  impairing  his  business  capital.  If  he  is  very  enterprising 
he  will  be  likely  by  this  time  to  combine  the  three  vocations  of 
market-gardener,  florist,  and  nurseryman,  and  acquiring  more 
land,  and  employing  the  necessary  help,  he  will  soon  be  on  the 
hio^h  road  to  fortune. 

The  intending  immigrant  has  been  perhaps  a  clerk  or  small 
proprietor  of  a  grocery  or  a  dry-goods  shop,  or  of  a  druggist's 


ig^  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

or  apothecary  shop.  He  has  saved,  by  careful  economy,  ^600 
or  $800.  He  understands  his  business  well,  knows  where,  when 
and  how  to  buy,  and  how  to  sell.     What  can  he  do  ? 

This  is  the  most  difficult  class  to  provide  for,  and  yet  the  case 
is  by  no  means  a  hopeless  one.  We  would  advise  that  the  im- 
migrant should  select  some  point  where  a  village  or  town  is  just 
commencing,  either  in  a  mining:  or  farmin"-  retrion,  and  visit  it 
before  purchasing  his  goods  ;  find  out  what  goods  will  be  wanted, 
and  what  quantities,  and  then,  having  secured  a  town-lot  before 
they  have  had  an  opportunity  to  rise  much,  and,  if  he  can  buy  to 
advantage,  a  forty-acre  lot  in  the  vicinity,  and  arranging  for  the 
erection  of  a  shop,  of  sods,  logs,  or  slabs,  only  so  that  it  is  suffi- 
ciently roomy  and  cheap,  let  him  buy  his  goods,  if  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  at  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul,  St.  Joseph,  Omaha, 
Kansas  City,  or  Denver,  Galveston,  or  Houston  ;  or  if  he  needs 
and  can  afford  a  larger  stock,  at  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  or  New  Or- 
leans. There  is  no  advantage  in  going  farther  East  for  the  quanti- 
ties he  will  want,  and,  ere  long,  the  commercial  travellers  will  visit 
him  and  take  his  orders,  if  he  will  allow  them  to  do  so.  At  first 
he  will  be  obliged  to  buy  on  credit  in  part,  but  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble he  should  pay  cash  for  his  purchases,  and  in  selling,  a  week's 
credit  is  better  than  a  month's.  Grocers,  shopkeepers,  and  the 
mercantile  class  generally,  are  sure  to  be  ruined  if  they  buy  and 
sell  on  credit.  The  shopkeeper  should  make  his  prices  as  low 
as  possible,  and  deal  justly  and  honestly  by  his  customers,  but 
he  should  insist  on  cash  payments,  or,  at  the  utmost,  give  credit 
only  for  from  ten  to  thirty  days.  Doing  this,  and  buying  closely, 
paying  cash  for  everything  as  soon  as  possible,  and  living  eco- 
nomically, the  merchant,  shopkeeper,  or  grocer,  though  he  may 
not  make  money  so  rapidly  as  those  in  some  other  callings,  can- 
not fail,  w^hatever  the  times,  and  will  be  likely,  in  the  course  of  a 
dozen  years  or  so,  to  acquire  a  competence.  The  purchase  of 
forty  or  eighty  acres  of  land  will  prove  advantageous,  as  it  will 
add  to  his  credit  much  more  than  its  value,  and  when  improved 
will  add  to  his  profits  also. 

For  the  young  banker  who  is  skilled  in  finance,  and  has  a  good 
credit  at  the  East  for  his  honor  and  integrity,  even  though  he 


BANKERS,    CLERGYMEN.  igt 

may  not  have  much  capital,  there  is  a  good  opening  in  almost 
every  part  of  the  West.  Coming  to  a  town  or  city  with  good 
references,  and  plenty  of  enterprise,  he  can,  in  the  legitimate 
course  of  his  business,  make  a  fortune  in  a  few  years,  if  he  will 
carefully  avoid  all  reckless  speculation.  Men,  and  men  in  new 
mining  and  farming  communities  especially,  are  very  credulous 
and  reckless  in  trusting  their  money  with  anybody  who  will 
promise  to  take  care  of  it  for  them ;  but  they  will  be  furious  if 
they  find  that  they  have  been  defrauded.  But  both  mining  and 
the  sale  of  crops  require  banking  operations,  and  if  these  are 
well  and  honestly  conducted,  the  young  banker  has  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  success. 

The  professions  are  somewhat  in  danger  of  being  crowded, 
though  "  there  is  always,"  as  Horace  Greeley  said,  "  plenty  of  room 
at  the  top."  Clergymen  coming  to  settle  in  the  new  towns  or 
villages,  if  dependent  upon  their  professions  for  a  living,  .and 
having  sufficient  health  to  preach  and  act  as  pastors,  will  find  it 
necessary  in  most  cases,  at  first,  to  take  an  appointment  from 
their  denominational  missionary  boards,  and  draw  a  part  of  their 
pay  from  thence,  as  the  young  churches,  in  these  new  settlements 
are  generally  composed  of  those  who  have  yet  their  fortunes  to 
make ;  and  though  they  may  be,  and  often  are,  liberal,  even  to 
an  extent  beyond  their  means,  they  cannot,  at  first,  erect  churches 
and  support  their  pastors  without  aid.  This  condition  of  things 
is,  however,  but  temporary,  and  the  missionary  societies  at  the 
East,  with  their  wealthy  clientage  at  home,  furnish  most  of  the  / 
aid  required,  till  they  are  able  to  go  alone.  In  cases  of  emigra- 
tion in  colonies,  of  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say  by  and  by, 
the  colonies  are  often  of  a  sinofle  denomination,  and  brinof  their 
pastors  with  them.  This  has  usually  been  the  case  with  the 
Scandinavian,  Mennonite,  and  Roman  Catholic  colonies  from 
Europe,  and  with  many  of  those  from  the  Eastern  States.  If  a 
clergyman  of  moderate  means,  who  is  not  disposed,  on  account 
of  health  or  for  any  other  cause,  to  devote  himself  solely  to  his 
clerical  duties,  migrates  to  this  western  region,  the  way  is  open 
to  him,  of  course,  to  engage  in  farming,  wool-growing,  stock- 
raising,   mining    or  any   other  reputable    employment,  and  his 


ig5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

chances  of  success  are  not  lessened  by  his  profession,  while  he 
may,  if  he  is  really  an  earnest  Christian  man,  do  a  great  amount 
of  orood. 

The  lawyers  have  a  better  chance  for  a  fortune  than  the  clergy- 
men, especially  in  thS  mining  districts,  although  they  congregate 
there  in  large  numbers.  There  is  always  a  great  deal  of  litiga- 
tion in  regard  to  mining  property,  and  the  disposition  of  mining 
estates ;  and  in  addition  to  this,  crimes  against  the  person,  fights, 
shooting  affrays,  murders  and  suicides,  the  results  of  the  two 
great  vices  of  mining  towns  in  their  early  history, — gambling  and 
intemperance — are  sufficiently  rife  to  give  employment  to  very 
many  lawyers.  In  the  farming  towns  there  is  less  litigation,  but 
conveyancing  and  disputes  about  boundaries,  transportation, 
and  prices  of  crops,  and  other  matters,  give  the  legal  profession 
generally,  a  fair  share  of  business.  The  joint-stock  companies, 
which  now  carry  on  most  of  the  mining,  and  a  large  part  of  the 
farming,  stock-raising,  and  sheep-growing  ranches,  each  have 
their  counsel,  and  sometimes  more  than  one. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  legal  profession  have  almost  a  monop- 
oly of  politics.  They  slide  into  political  life  as  easily  as  a  duck 
takes  to  water,  and  sooner  or  later  some  of  its  prizes — mem- 
bership of  the  State  House  of  Representatives,  State  Senate,  or 
Congress,  United  States  Senatorships,  Judgeships,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  United  States  Commissionerships,  United 
States  Marshalships,  Clerks  of  courts,  and  of  counties,  or  State 
offices — fall  to  their  lot. 

Physicians  have  not  so  good  an  outlook  as  the  legal  profession, 
though  they  swarm  in  the  newer  towns  in  great  numbers,  and 
perhaps  the  most  arrant  quacks  have,  at  first,  as  good  a  chance 
as  the  best  educated  and  most  accomplished  physicians.  But 
time  in  this,  as  in  most  matters,  brings  about  its  revenges.  Edu- 
cation, talent,  integrity,  and  skill,  will  in  the  end  triumph.  There 
are  probably,  in  most  of  the  towns  and  villages  of  the  West, 
more  physicians  than  can  get  a  living  by  their  profession  ;  but 
some  of  them,  who  are  skilful  as  chemists  or  metallurgists,  will 
become  connected  with  mining  interests;  others,  accomplished 
botanists,  anatomists,  zoologists,  or  geologists,  \\\\\  turn  aside  to 


PHYSICIANS,   ENGINEERS,   ARTISTS.  ig^ 

these  pursuits,  and  perhaps  fill  a  professor's  or  teacher's  chair  ; 
while  others  still  will  engage  in  farming,  or  sheep,  or  stock- 
raising  ;  and  with  the  rapidly  increasing  population,  there  will  be 
room  for  more,  if  they  are  of  the  best  sort.  We  cannot,  how- 
ever, advise  physicians,  born  and  educated  in  Europe,  to  come 
to  the  West,  unless  they  come  with  colonies  of  their  own  coun- 
trymen ;  as  our  diseases  and  modes  of  practice  differ  materially 
from  theirs,  and  our  own  physicians,  like  our  own  lawyers,  would 
generally  have  the  preference. 

For  engineers,  and  especially  mining  and  civil  engineers,  of 
high  character,  intelligence  and  integrity,  there  is  a  wide  field. 
The  immensity  of  the  mining  interest  and  its  rapid  development 
will  furnish  profitable  employment  for  every  honest  and  skilful 
minine  engineer  who  will  oo  there.  It  is  not  the  mines,  or 
smelting  and  reduction  works  of  gold,  silver,  quicksilver  or  lead 
alone  which  will  furnish  employment  to  them,  but  the  great  iron, 
copper  and  coal  interests  also  will  give  them  ample  business. 
Civil  engineers  and  surveyors  will  find  their  services  needed  in 
the  construction  of  railroads,  in  the  superintendence  and  design- 
ing of  machinery,  in  the  laying  out  of  new  lands,  in  the  construc- 
tion of  new  tunnels,  draining  and  irrigating  canals,  and  the  erec- 
tion of  great  public  works. 

The  ii^ue  artist  is  cosmopolitan,  and  will  find  himself  as  much 
at  home,  perhaps  more,  among  the  grand  phenomena  of  nature 
in  the  West;  its  lofty  mountains,  often  lifting  their  heads  to  the 
perpetual  snows;  the  broad  valleys,  covered  with  verdure  and 
flowers  ;  the  deep  and  frightfully  dark  caiions  ;  the  unusual  forms, 
often  grand  and  inspiring,  sometimes  grotesque,  into  which  the 
water  currents  and  the  glaciers  have  cut  and  moulded  the  rocks ; 
the  geysers ;  the  hot  springs  with  their  ralnbow-hued  basins ; 
and  all  the  wonders  of  scenery  which  Dame  Nature  spreads 
before  his  eyes  as  profusely  as  anywhere  in  the  world,  and  he  can 
draw  from  them  an  inspiration  which  will  prompt  him  to 
loftier  flights  of  genius  than  he  has  yet  attained.  But  the  artist 
is  mortal,  and  must  be  sustained  like  the  rest  of  the  world,  on 
mundane  food,  and  wear  such  raiment  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
seasons  and  of  society  demand.     Can  he  find  patrons  of  art  in 


iq8  our  western  empire. 

these  new  lands?  Most  assuredly  he  can,  and  the  higher  and 
purer  his  artistic  attainments,  the  more  abundant  will  be  his 
patronage.  The  vast  wealth  attained  by  a  large  number  of 
mining  and  other  capitalists  in  this  region,  is  freely  lavished  on 
objects  of  art,  and  they  are  not  generally  so  ignorant  as  not  to 
know  a  good  picture  or  group  of  statuary  when  they  see  it. 
Nowhere  is  the  true  artist  more  sure  of  hearty  appreciation  than 
here. 

As  to  musicians  and  teachers  of  music,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
there  is  no  calling  in  greater  demand.  A  very  large  proportion 
of  the  emigrants  from  Europe  are  Germans,  lovers  of  music 
from  their  birth.  Another  considerable  portion  are  Scandinavi- 
ans, equally  gifted  in  natural  fondness  for  music,  while  for  the 
others  instrumental  and  vocal  music  has  come  to  be  considered 
a  necessity.  Nowhere  is  the  performance  of  a  really  excellent 
brass  band  more  thoroughly  appreciated  than  in  any  of  these 
western  towns ;  the  best  opera-singers  receive  a  far  more  enthu- 
siastic reception,  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  this  western  region, 
than  awaits  them  in  the  great  cities  of  the  East.  Every  church 
and  hall  has  its  choir,  and  every  town  of  3,000  inhabitants  its 
musical  association  for  culture  in  vocal  or  instrumental  music. 
As  an  instance  of  the  fondness  of  the  western  people  for  parlor- 
music,  an  incident  related  by  a  visitor  to  Colorado  may  suffice. 
This  gentleman  went  to  Leadville,  Colorado,  when  it  was  in  the 
formative  plastic  condition,  in  the  winter  or  spring  of  1078. 
There  were  very  few  even  frame  buildings  yet  erected,  and  the 
majority  of  the  citizens  were  living  in  large  tents,  happy  if  they 
could  secure  boards  enough  for  a  floor  to  keep  them  from  the 
mud.  Sod-houses  were  also  in  demand,  among  those  who 
found  the  tents  a  little  too  frail  for  the  strong  winds.  The  near- 
est accessible  railroad  station  was  130  miles  distant,  and  the 
roads  leading  to  it  were  horrible  beyond  description.  The  low- 
est price  of  transporting  freight  from  the  railroad  station  to 
Leadville  was  fifty  cents  a  pound,  and  the  railroad  freights  to 
their  final  station  were  also  very  high.  There  were  yet  very 
few  women  in  the  town,  as  the  accommodations  were  so  rough 
and  poor.     He  had  been  doing  some  business  with  a  young  man 


MUSICIANS  AND  MUSIC-TEACHERS.  igg 

who  was  working  energ-etically  at  a  shaft  of  a  new  mine,  and 
whom  he  found  very  intelligent,  though  roughly  clad ;  and  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  business,  the  young  miner  asked  him  to  go 
home  and  dine  with  him  if  he  could  put  up  with  "canned  vittles." 
He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  the  miner  led  the  way  through 
the  mud  to  one  of  these  tent-houses.  They  were  met  at  the 
door  by  a  very  beautiful  young  lady,  whom  the  miner  introduced 
as  his  wife.  She  was  plainly  but  tastefully  dressed,  and  her 
manners  and  conversation  showed  that  she  was  a  well-educated, 
refined  and  accomplished  woman.  As  she  arranged  the  table 
for  their  meal,  the  visitor  looked  about  the  room,  and  was  aston- 
ished to  see  on  one  side  a  Chickering  grand-piano.  "  How  did 
you  ever  get  that  here?"  he  asked.  "Oh,"  was  the  reply,  "it 
was  brought  piece-meal  on  the  backs  of  pack-mules,  and  we  put 
it  together  after  it  came."  "  But  it  must  have  cost  you  an 
enormous  sum  to  transport  it  so  far?"  "Well,  yes,  a  litde 
under  $200,  but  then  we  were  both  so  fond  of  music,  and  my 
wife  is  one  of  the  best  players  I  ever  heard,  and  I  was  afraid  she 
would  be  lonely  here  amid  so  many  discomforts."  The  visitor 
expressed  a  desire  to  hear  some  pieces  played,  being  himself  a 
connoisseur  in  music,  and  when  his  hostess  complied  with  his  re- 
quest, without  any  apologies  or  excuses,  he  was  fain  to  confess 
that  her  husband  had  not  overrated  her  skill. 

The  railroad  has  but  just  reached  Leadville,  but  among  the 
wares  offered  for  sale  in  its  principal  thoroughfares,  pianos  and 
cabinet  organs,  as  well  as  other  musical  instruments,  hold  a  con- 
spicuous place.  In  the  farming  districts  the  great  ambition  of 
the  farmer,  after  he  has  purchased  and  paid  for  his  harvester,  is 
to  get  a  "pianny"  for  his  daughter. 

"But,"  asks  another  anxious  immigrant,  "can  you  tell  us 
whether  the  schoolmaster,  or  the  teacher  of  any  description  has 
a  chance  there?"  "Yes,  indeed!  There  is  a  very  active  de- 
mand for  good  teachers  all  over  this  vast  region,  greater  per- 
haps in  the  northern  and  middle  tier  than  in  the  south,  but  a 
good  teacher  will  find  employment  very  readily  anywhere. 
The  immense  amount  of  school-lands  and  their  judicious  man- 
agement in  all  the  new  States  and  Territories,  insures  for  them, 


200  <^^'^^'     ^yi^^TERN   E  MP  IKE, 

in  the  not  distant  future,  such  an  endowment  as  can  be  found  in 
no  other  country.  Two  sections  (1,280  acres,  or  one-eighteenth 
of  the  whole  area)  in  each  township  are  set  apart  foe  common  or 
public  schools,  and  beside  the  interest  on  these  funds,  there  is  a 
State  school  fund,  from  the  proceeds  of  fines,  civil  or  military, 
the  sale  of  estrays,  etc.,  and  a  district  tax  which  is  at  present 
three  or  four  times  the  amount  received  from  the  school  funds. 
Kansas,  which  is  a  fair  representative  of  these  States  and  Terri- 
tories, will  have,  when  its  school  lands  are  sold,  a  school  fund  of 
$13,000,000  for  its  common  schools  alone.  It  expended  on  these 
schools,  in  1S79,  about  ^5^  1,400,000,  of  which  a  full  million  was 
paid  for  teachers'  wages ;  paying  its  male  teachers  a  monthly 
average  of  about  '^■},2,,  and  its  female  teachers  about  $26.  This 
included  town  and  country ;  the  average  wages  in  the  towns 
were,  of  course,  higher.  In  the  older  settled  and  more  populous 
counties  the  average  of  monthly  wages  is,  for  the  whole  county, 
from  $43  to  5^50  for  male,  and  from  $30  to  ;>40  for  female 
teachers. 

There  are  also  liberal  appropriations  of  lands,  in  all  these 
States  and  Territories,  for  the  endowment  of  a  State  University, 
a  State  Agricultural  College,  and  generally  of  Normal  Schools 
and  State  Institutions  for  the  Blind  and  Deaf  Mutes.  There  are 
also,  in  each  State  and  Territory,  many  private  and  denomina- 
tional schools,  some  of  them  liberally  endowed.  These  educa- 
tional endowments  are  not  suffered  to  remain  unused.  The 
progress  of  common  school,  as  well  as  of  higher  education,  has 
been,  in  nearly  all  this  region,  rapid  beyond  any  former  prece- 
dent. No  village,  no  hamlet  even,  is  without  its  district  school, 
and  the  settler  pays  no  tax  with  greater  alacrity,  than  that  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  school.  There  are  two  or  three  excep- 
tions to  this  general  prevalence  of  a  desire  for  the  best  educa- 
tional privileges.- 

In  Utah  the  school  funds,  and  generally  the  public  schools,  are 
under  the  control  of  the  Mormons,  and  the  opportunities  of 
primary  education  do  not  average  more  than  twelve  weeks  of 
tuition  to  the  pupils  in  attendance,  who  are  only  43.5  per  cent, 
of  the  school  population  ;  and  the  higher  schools  are  few  and 


t 
EDUCATIONAL    CONDITION.  201 

not  of  high  grade.  This  deficiency  is  pardy  made  up  by  private 
or  denominational  schools,  but  these  are  not  very  well  sustained. 

In  New  Mexico,  where  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants 
are  Hispano-Americans  and  Pueblo  Indians,  and  more  than 
ninety-five  per  cent.  Roman  Catholics,  the  control  of  the  school 
funds  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits  and  other  monastic 
and  teaching  orders  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  these 
moneys  have  been  perverted  to  exclusive  denominational 
teaching,  and  even  to  paying  the  board  of  theological  students 
in  Roman  Catholic  seminaries.  These  abuses  cannot  be  pre- 
vented until  there  is  a  more  enterprising  and  larger  non-catholic 
population  ;  but,  until  a  change  takes  place,  the  Territory  cannot 
come  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  since  it  has  not  a  fully  Repub- 
lican form  of  government. 

In  Texas  and  Arkansas,  there  has  been,  until  recently,  less 
interest  in  public  instruction  than  in  some  of  the  more  northern 
States  ;  but  this  difference  is  fast  disappearing,  and  the  school 
systems  of  these  States  are  being  rapidly  and  efficiently  organ- 
ized.'-' Texas  has  a  large  number  of  private  and  denominational 
schools,  many  of  them  of  a  high  grade.  On  its  admission  into 
the  Union,  having  been  previously  an  independent  Republic,  it 
did  not  cede  its  unclaimed  lands  to  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, but  retained  them  all  in  its  own  possession.  The  State 
has,  however,  made  a  very  liberal  provision  of  lands  for  school 
purposes,  and  will  eventually  have  a  large  school  fund. 

For  artisans  of  all  the  usual  trades  there  is,  in  the  newer 
States  and  Territories,  ample  employment.  Carpenters  and 
builders,  masons  and  bricklayers,  and  generally  tinners,  painters, 
and  glaziers,  are  in  especial  demand,  and  at  fair  wages.  Bakers 
and  confectioners  find  employment  in  the  towns  and  cities,  and 
the  plumbers,  gas-fitters,  and  brass-founders  are  mostly  confined 
to  the  larger  cities.  Butchers  are,  of  course,  wanted  everywhere, 
and  fisherm^en  and  fish-dealers  find  generally  ample  employment 
on  the  coasts,  and  in  the  rivers  and  lakes  of  tlie  interior,  which 
abound  in  fish  of  most  of  the  edible  kinds. 

■■■"The  newly  awakened  zeal  for.jniblic  school  education  in  Arkansas  is  said  to  be  almost  phe- 
nomenal; and  indicates  a  hriiliant  futme  for  a  Stale,  wliiih,  in  spite  of  great  natural  advantages, 
has,  in  the  past,  been  apathetic,  and  lacking  in  public  spirit  and  enterprise. 


202 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Hatters  and  furriers  find  business  enough  where  furs  and  pelts 
are  so  plentiful ;  the  blacksmith  finds  constant  employ,  and 
the  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  are  kept  busy,  and  profitably  so. 
Machinists  have  abundant  work  in  the  mining  districts,  and  to 
some  extent  also  in  the  farming  region,  since  the  universal  use 
of  agricultural  machinery  often  necessitates  repairs  which  are 
beyond  the  ordinary  skill  of  the  blacksmith ;  and  where  there 
are  extensive  flouring  mills,  they,  too,  require  the  skill  of  an 
expert  for  their  repairing. 

Alanufactiirbig  is  conducted  with  great  advantage  at  many 
points,  the  admirable  water-powers  being  so  abundant,  and  oper- 
atives from  woollen  mills,  cotton  mills  (a  limited  number),  all 
kinds  of  wood-working  factories,  millers,  sugar-boilers,  brewers, 
smelters,  furnace  men,  and  workmen  on  coats,  vests,  and  panta- 
loons, overalls,  etc.,  etc.,  will  find  employment  in  Minnesota, 
Nebraska,  Kansas,  California  or  Texas,  and  the  metal  workers  in 
most  of  the  mining  districts.  Farm-hands,  herdsmen,  and  shep- 
herds will  seldom  fail  of  employment,  in  the  farming  and  grazing 
regions,  if  they  are  trustworthy  and  faithful,  even  thpugh  they 
may  not  have  had  much  previous  experience. 

The  day-laborer,  unskilled  in  any  of  the  arts  or  trades,  is  wel- 
comed in  all  parts  of  the  West,  if  he  is  honest,  temperate,  and 
willing  to  work.  On  the  farms  there  is  plenty  of  work  for  him, 
except  in  mid-winter;  in  the  grazing  districts,  there  is  always 
need  for  extra  hands  at  fair  wages,  and  he  can,  if  he  will,  acquire, 
for  a  merely  nominal  sum,  a  piece  of  land  sufficient  for  the  needs 
of  his  family,  and  erecting  a  sod-house  at  only  the  cost  of  labor, 
can  be  comfortably  situated,  and,  in  a  few  years,  can  attain  what 
to  him  will  be  a  competence,  such  as  he  could  never  have 
acquired  in  the  East  or  in  Europe.  In  the  mining  districts,  too, 
there  is  abundant  work  for  brawny  arms  and  powerful  muscles. 
Here,  also,  he  can  have  what  land  he  needs,  almost  for  the 
asking,  and  the  chickens,  eggs,  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables  he 
can  raise,  and  the  pigs  he  will  contrive  to  keep,  will  always  com- 
mand a  high  price  at  his  own  door.  Then  there  are  railroads  to 
be  built,  canals  and  irrigating  ditches  to  be  dug,  and  sluices  to  be 
laid  and  tended. 


FACILITIES  FOR  MANUFACTURIXG.  203 

The  industrious,  well-behaved,  and  honest  day-laborer  can 
nowhere  have  a  better  chance  of  bettering  his  position  than  in 
the  Great  West.  Not  a  few  of  the  great  bonanza  capitalists 
and  mine-owners  have,  with  commendable  enterprise  and 
industry,  worked  their  way  up  from  this  very  class.  One  of 
these  men  said  to  a  friend,  a  few  months  ago,  "  Tom,  I  read  the 
papers  now-a-days  what  I  can,  though  I  make  rather  slow  work 
of  it,  for  you  know  my  early  eddication  was  neglected,  all  along 
of  my  having  to  carry  a  hod  so  much  when  I  was  a  boy ;  but  I 
find  some  things  in  the  papers  that  bother  me.  I  thought  I  knew 
all  the  wild  varmint  about  here  pretty  well,  for  I  have  shot 
enough  of  'em,  but  the  papers  are  telling  about  a  new  one,  which 
they  say  is  very  plenty,  but  I  don't  seem  ever  to  have  heerd  of 
it  before." 

"What  do  they  call  it?"  asked  his  friend.  "A  lynix,"  was  the 
answer,  "and  that's  what  bothers  me  ;  I  don't  seem  to  remember 
no  lynixes  round  here."  "  How  do  they  spell  it  ? "  asked  the 
other.  ••  L-y-n-x — lynix,"  said  the  capitalist.  "  Why  that  spells 
lynx  ;  you  certainly  know  what  lynxes  are  ?  "  ''Lynx,  is  it  ?  To  be 
sure  1  do ;  I've  killed  hundreds  of  'em ;  but  who  ever  thought  of 
spelling  lynx  that  a  way;  I  supposed  it  was  spelt  l-i-n-k-s.  What 
a  fool  I  was,  to  be  sure." 

As  to  mannfactiiring,  it  is  believed  that  no  part  of  the  world 
offers  greater  facilities  for  it  than  this  Western  Empire.  Wher- 
ever water-power  is  desirable,  there  is  no  lack  of  the  most 
magnificent  water-falls  on  the  globe.  In  the  whole  northern  tier 
of  States  and  Territories,  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho, 
W^ashington,  and  Oregon,  there  is  water-power,  yet  unutilized, 
sufficient  to  put  in  motion  all  the  machinery  on  the  globe.  In 
the  middle  tier — Missouri,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Wyoming,  Colo- 
rado, Utah,  Nevada,  and  California — there  is  an  abundance; 
though  in  some  of  these  States,  as,  for  instance,  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  the  fall  is  not  as  great;  while  in  the  southern  tier — 
Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Indian  Territory,  Arizona,  and  New 
Mexico — the  water-power  is  sufficient,  and  more  than  sufficient, 
for  all  practical  purposes,  present  and  prospective. 

If  it  should  be  contended  that,  under  favorable  circumstances, 


204  ^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Steam-power  is  more  economical  than  water-power,  though  we 
might  be  incHned  to  doubt  it,  where  the  water-supply  was  con- 
stant and  from  a  sufficient  head  or  height,  still  we  can  point  the 
advocates  of  steam  to  the  immense  coal-beds  already  described, 
which  traverse  nearly  or  quite  every  State  and  Territory,  and 
furnish  a  fuel  which  is  very  cheap,  abundant  and  admirably 
adapted  to  its  purpose.  Within  the  next  ten  years  wool  will 
become  one  of  the  largest  products  of  this  region,  and  the  wool- 
ofrowers  of  the  vast  orrazinor  districts  will  'not  consent  to  send 
their  wool  to  the  East,  and  have  it  manufactured  there,  to  be 
returned  to  them,  with  its  value  enhanced,  five  or  ten  fold,  or  as 
in  the  finer  goods,  twenty  or  thirty  fold.  They  will  prefer  to 
have  it  manufactured  in  their  own  vicinity,  and  thus  not  only  the 
cost  of  a  double  transportation  saved,  but  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  manufacturer's  profit  also. 

Already  the  woollen  goods  of  California  and  Oregon  have  a 
much  higher  reputation,  in  certain  lines,  than  those  produced 
elsewhere  in  Europe  or  America ;  and  commanding  the  finest 
and  most  perfect  machinery  and  workmen  of  the  highest  skill, 
with  their  wool  at  a  lower  price  than  it  can  be  obtained  elsewhere, 
there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  any  goods  made  wholly 
or  in  part  of  wool,  should  not  be  produced  there,  in  the  greatest 
perfection,  and  at  the  lowest  price.  The  mohair  goods  made  in 
part  from  the  hair  and  fleece  of  the  Angora  goat,  and  in 
part  from  the  long  combing  wool  of  the  Cotswold  or  Leicester 
sheep,  and,  in  the  cheaper  grades,  a  filling  of  cotton,  can  be  made 
equally  well  here.  The  material  is  all  at  hand  for  making  these 
goods  of  better  quality,  and  at  lower  prices  than  they  have  ever 
yet  brought. 

In  the  southern  tier  of  States  and  Territories,  the  manufacture 
of  cotton  goods  can  find  its  finest  development.  By  a  process 
discovered  a  few  years  since,  the  cotton  can  be  spun  into  yarns 
of  all  degrees  of  fineness,  just  as  it  comes  from  the  field, 
unginned,  and  with  its  beautiful  and  glossy  fibres  unbroken  and 
unbruised  by  the  teeth  of  the  gin,  while  the  cotton  seed  can  be 
pressed  for  its  valuable  oil,  and  its  oil-cake  sold  to  the  farmers 
and  stock-raisers  for  their  catdc.     The   cloths   made  from   this 


MANUFACTURES    OF   TEXTILES,    IRON  AND    WOOD.  205 

unginned  cotton  will  far  surpass  in  beauty  and  durability  any 
cotton  goods  made  elsewhere  ;  while  the  cost  of  manufacture 
will  be  greatly  reduced,  and  there  will  be  no  waste. 

Other  textiles,  the  growth  of  this  region — flax,  hemp,  jute, 
ramie,  agave  and  other  fibres,  the  cactus  fibre  and  the  tule  rush, 
bunch  grass,  straw,  etc. — can  be  manufactured  very  largely  into 
cloths  and  into  paper  pulp,  the  uses  of  which  are  every  day  in- 
creasing, till  already  everything,  from  the  driving-wheel  of  a 
locomotive,  to  a  petroleum  barrel,  or  a  linen  handkerchief,  a 
house,  a  wash-pail,  a  lamp,  or  a  pill-box,  is  made  from  it. 

But  it  is  not  simply  in  the  department  of  textiles  that  the 
Great  West  offers  the  best  field  for  manufactures.  Iron  and 
steel  can  be  smelted  and  manufactured  more  cheaply  than  any- 
where else,  and  the  telegraph  wires  which  span  the  world,  the  rails 
which  stretch  across  the  continent,  the  steel  plates  for  our  new 
navy,  the  huge  steel  guns  which  will  constitute  its  offensive 
armament,  the  locomotive  and  stationary  engines,  and  the  vast  and 
complicated  machinery  used  in  the  reduction  or  smelting  of  gold, 
silver,  quicksilver,  copper,  lead,  or  zinc,  as  well  as  the  agricultural 
machines  which  now  cannot  be  manufactured  fast  enouy^h  to 
supply  the, demand,  and  the  infinitude  of  iron  and  steel  castings, 
will  all  be  manufactured  in  this  western  land,  not  simply  on  its 
borders,  as  now,  but  in  the  very  heart  of  the  country. 

The  manufactures  of  wood  in  all  their  numberless  varieties  of 
wooden  ware,  furniture,  machinery,  carriages,  wagons,  carts  and 
drays,  doors,  sashes,  blinds,  and  even  houses  all  complete,  with 
inner  walls  of  a  compound  of  paper  and  gypsum,  are  already 
largely  produced  in  many  parts  of  this  Great  West,  and  are 
destined  to  an  infinitely  larger  production,  as  the  demand  for 
them  goes  on  increasing.  There  is  then  abundant  room  and 
employment  for  every  honest,  industrious  man  who  will  come, 
but  no  room  for  the  idler,  sluggard,  or  drone. 


2o6  ^^^     IVESTERN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

The  Future,  the  Glorious  Future  of  this  Grand  Empire  of  the  West — 
The  Causes  which  have  led  to  its  Growth — Bishop  Berkeley's  Pre- 
diction— The  "Empire"  he  saw — The  Germ  of  the  Great  Repub- 
lic— What  the  Empire  is,  and  what  it  is  to  be — Irs  Growth  and 
future  Capacity — The  future  Climate — The  future  Soil  and  Pro- 
ductiveness—  Influence  of  Railroads  in  Developing  this  Region 
— The  Gold  and  Silver  Mines  as  aiding  in  the  Development  of  the 
Country — The  Future  of  the  Mines  of  the  Precious  Metals — The 
Western  Slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  full  of  Gold  and  Silver — 
Results  of  Increased  Production  of  Gold  and  Silver — Effect  of 
Increased  Production  of  other  Metals — No  Metal  but  Tin  to  be 
Imported — Mineral  Earths  and  Elements  to  be  Developed — Coal — 
Petroleum — Metallic  and  Mineral  Products  of  the  Far  West  in  1880 
— The  Production  of  a.  d.  1900 — Vegetable  Products — Wheat — Indian 
Corn — Corn  Crop  of  1879 — Sorghum — Sorghum  Sugar — Oats — Barley — 
Rye — Buckwheat — Egyptian  Rice  Corn — Summing  up  of  Cereal  Products 
—  Root  Crops — Potatoes  —  Sweet- Potatoes  —  Other  Root  Crops  — 
Orchard  Products — Textiles — Cotton — The  future  Demand  for  Cotton 
— Wool — Wool  Clip  in  a.  d.  1900 — Other  Textiles — The  Hay  Crop — 
Dairy  Products — Tobacco — Sugar,  not  from  Sorghum — Hops — Summary 
OF  Vegetable  Products,  Exclusive  of  Cereals — Fisheries  of  the  Pacific 
AND  THE  Gulf,  of  the  Lakes  and  Rivers  of  the  Interior — Fish-Culture, 
Present  and  Prospective  —  Live-Stock  in  1S80  and  1900 — Forest 
Products — Various  Ways  in  which  Wood  is  used  and  destroyed — 
Probable  Value  of  Forest  Products  in  1900 — Manufactures — Future 
OF  Manufactures — Commerce — Internal  and  Interstate  Commerce — 
General  Summary — Character  of  future  Population — Little  Danger 
of  War — Indians — Probable  early  Extinction  of  Indian  Tribes — The 
Colored  Race — The  Mexicans,  Chinese  and  Japanese — Probability  of 
a  large  Influx  of  Chinese  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  the  near  Future — 
European  Immigrants — Emigrants  from  the  Eastern  United  States 
— The  Character  of  its  Citizens  the  best  Guaranty  of  its  Future. 

"  Westward  Ihe  course  of  empire  takes  its  way; 
The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fiflli  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

So  wrote  Bishop   Berkeley  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  when   this  Great   Western  Empire,  which  we  have 


A     \  IbluN    Ml-    1)1  K    WEbTKR.N    h.Ml'lKli. 


GROWTH  AND  FUTURE   CAPACITY.  207 

endeavored  to  describe,  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  civilized 
world,  except  from  the  reports  of  adventurous  navigators  who  had 
touched  upon  its  southern  or  western  shores,  or  the  journals  of 
Jesuit  missionaries,  who  had  established  themselves  in  California, 
New  Mexico,  and  Texas,  or  the  few  hunters  and  trappers  who  had 
penetrated  up  the  Missouri  or  its  tributaries.  The  empire  which 
he  then  saw  in  vision  (for  he  had  not  at  the  time  of  the  publi- 
cation of  this  poem  visited  America)  was  composed  of  the 
colonies,  which  lay  between  the  Appalachian  range  and  the 
Atlantic.  A  population  of  not  more  than  1,200,000  was  the 
nucleus  of  the  future  empire. 

Yet  in  this  mere  handful  of  people  scattered  along  the 
Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  lay  the  germ  of  the 
grandest  empire  this  world  has  ever  seen — an  empire  destined  to 
realize  in  altogether  another  sense  than  the  late  British  premier 
gave  to  it,  when  he  quoted  a  few  months  ago,  the  dictum  of  the 
great  Roman  orator, — hupci'mvi  et  Libei'tas.  Here  is,  and  is  to 
be,  the  empire  in  its  vastness  of  extent,  its  teeming  population,  its 
immensity  of  resources,  its  ripe  and  universal  culture,  and  its 
moral  power  over  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  united  with  this 
the  liberty  which  is  the  right  and  privilege  of  a  great  people — a 
liberty  which  is  not  license,  but  law ;  a  government  ^the  people, 
for  the  people,  and  by  the  people.  And  of  this  great  empire,  the 
portion  largest  in  population,  most  abundant  in  resources,  and 
foremost  in  all  great  enterprises  is  to  be  the  region  lying  between 
the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Western  Sea.  To-day,  this  region 
has  more  than  eleven  millions  of  inhabitants.  In  a.  d.  1900  it  will 
have  fifty  millions.  In  a.  d.  1950  who  shall  say  how  many  ?  The 
capacity  of  the  country,  in  point  of  production,  to  sustain  human 
life,  has  never  yet  been  tested ;  but  if,  when  our  arable  lands  are 
not  one-twentieth  developed,  and  our  grazing  lands  can  feed 
twenty  times  the  cattle  and  sheep  now  there,  we  are  feeding 
fifty  millions  at  home,  and  nearly  twenty-five  millions  in  Europe, 
what  can  we  not  do  when  our  reaources  are  tasked  to  their  full 
extent? 

'  •  But  where  shall  we  begin  to  speak  of  the  future  of  this  goodly 
heritage,  with  which  God  has  endowed  this  Nation  ?     We  have 


2o8  OUR    WESTER X   EMPIRE. 

told  )ou  of  Its  present  varied  but  beneficent  climate,  witli  its 
western  Gulf  stream  from  the  nordi,  bringing  mild  and  genial 
breezes  to  the  Pacific  shore  ;  of  its  torrid  heats,  coming  up  from 
INIexIco,  to  be  tempered  by  the  Arctic  cold  from  the  Valley  of  the 
Red  river  of  the  North.  Is  diere  to  be  an  improvement  In  its 
climates  ?  We  fully  believe  so.  The  vast  plains  beaten  almost 
to  the  solidity  of  stone  by  the  hoofs  of  the  buffalo  for  many 
hundred  years,  are  being  rapidly  broken  up  by  the  plow,  and 
warmth  and  moisture  penetrate  the  soil.  The  rainfall  is  in- 
creasing, and  these  treeless  })lalns  are  fast  becoming  clad  with 
(jroves  and  islands  of  forest  trees,  which  will  turn  what  was  once 
a  desert  into  a  fertile  field.  The  mcsfxs  and  plateaux  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  drained  of  their  moisture  by  the  deep  canons 
cut  by  the  rivers,  were  once  densely  inhabited,  and  again,  by  the 
planting  of  forest  trees,  and  the  boring  of  drive  and  artesian 
wells,  their  capacity  for  cultivation,  and  for  sustaining  a  large 
population,  drawn  thither  by  their  mineral  wealth,  will  be  fully 
restored,  and  the  region  so  lonof  remarkable  for  Its  intense  heat 
in  summer  will  enjoy  an  equable  temperature. 

Are  we  to  look  for  any  improvement  In  the  soil  and  Its  culti- 
vation ?  There  is  every  reason  to  expect  It  The  greater  rainfall 
will  render  those  lands  arable,  which  have  not  hitherto  been  con- 
sidered so  ;  and  irrigation,  which  is  only  yet  In  its  infancy,  will 
develop  the  best  qualities  of  a  soil,  whose  fertility  is  almost 
incredible.  Deep  plowing  and  careful  seeding  should  largely 
increase  the  grain  crops,  and  the  use  of  forage  grasses  and 
cotton-seed  cake  give  opportunity  for  much  larger  herds  of 
cattle  and  sheep  on  smaller  ranches,  than  the  great  herds  now 
occupy.  All  these  changes  will  come,  for  the  spirit  of  en- 
terprise and  improvement  is  rife  among  these  western  citizens. 
It  is  difficult  to  predict  to  what  points  the  tide  of  immigration 
will  flow  most  strongly  during  the  twenty  or  fifty  years  to  come. 
The  extraordinary  efforts  made  by  the  railway  companies,  which 
have  lands  to  sell,  have  had  a  great  Influence  in  directing  it 
toward  certain  States  and  Territories.  The  railway  companies  of 
Minnesota,  the  Northern  Pacific  and  its  feeders,  have  made  known 
to  Immigrants  both  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  the  great 


LEADING  FACTORS    OF  IMMIGRATION.  200 

advantages  offered  by  the  climate,  soil,  and  manufacturing  privi- 
leges of  Minnesota,  and  especially  the  great  fertility  and  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  Red  River  valley,  and  the  lands  adjacent  in 
Dakota ;  while  other  railroad  companies  in  Iowa  and  Southeast- 
ern Dakota  have  commended  the  farminyf  lands  of  that  section. 
The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  with  its  extensive  con- 
nections, the  Wabash,  and  the  Chicago  and  Burlington,  all  of 
them  connected  with  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railways, 
as  well  as  the  latter  roads  themselves,  have  rendered  great 
service  to  Iowa,  Nebraska,  and  Northern  Kansas,  and  Colorado, 
as  well  as  to  the  Territories  beyond.  So,  too,  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway  has  been  so  important  a  factor 
in  the  settlement  of  Southwestern  Kansas,  and  Southern  Colo- 
rado, that  it  is  within  the  bounds  of  truth  to  say  that  it  has  hast- 
ened their  development  by  more  than  twenty  years.  The  roads 
extending  from  Missouri,  through  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory into  Texas,  as  well  as  the  Texan  roads  themselves,  have 
added  three-fourths  of  a  million  cf  souls  to  the  population  of 
that  State  widiin  the  past  ten  years.  On  the  Pacific  Slope  these- 
agencies  have  not  been  so  actively  at  work,  but  they  are  now. 
fast  developing  at  the  Northwest  in  Oregon  and  Washington, 
and  at  the  Southwest  in  Southern  California,  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico. 

The  wonderful  development  of  the  mines  in  Colorado,  Mon- 
tana, Utah,  and  the  Black  Hills,  has  contributed  largely  to  the 
influx  of  population  into  those  sections,  within  the  past  three  or 
four  years.  There  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  discov- 
eries of  the  precious  metals  in  these  States  and  Territories  are 
as  yet  only  in  their  infancy,  and  that  they  will  go  on  for  ycars^to 
come  with  increasing  magnitude  each  year;  while  New  Mexico, 
Arizona,  Texas,  Idaho,  and  Nevada,  with  its  added  facilities  from 
its  Sutro  and  other  tunnels,  and  possibly  Eastern  Oregon  and 
Washington,  will  fill  up  the  measure  of  prosperity  in  this  direc- 
tion to  ovcrflowinp-. 

It  is  vain  to  attempt  to  predict  the  quantities  of  gold  and  silver 
which  will  be  produced  in   this  region  within  the  next  fifty  years: 
we  only  know  that  already  the  yield  of  silver  has  disturbed  the  pro- 
14 


2IO  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

portionate  value  of  silver  and  gold,  which  had  existed  for  the  last 
five  hundred  years,  when  fifteen  ounces  of  silver  would  purchase 
an  ounce  of  eold.  Now  the  ounce  of  orold  is  worth  more  than 
fifteen  and  a  half  ounces  of  silver,  and  with  our  vastly  increased 
production  it  will  soon  require  sixteen  ounces  to  purchase  an 
ounce  of  cfold. 

The  prevalent  opinion  among  the  best  mining  geologists  is 
that  the  western  and  some  of  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  ranges 
composing  the  Rocky  Mountain  chain,  and  the  spurs  running  east 
and  west  from  it,  are  charged  with  lodes  or  veins  of  eold  and 
silver-bearing  ores;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
eastern,  and  perhaps  the  western  slope,  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
through  its  whole  extent,  is  equally  rich  in  these  ores.  They 
have  been  traced  as  far  north  as  the  line  of  British  America,  and, 
indeed,  beyond  it;  they  exist  in  Montana,  Idaho,  and  Eastern 
Oregon,  and  Washington,  in  Nevada,  Utah,  and  Wyoming,  in 
Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  (in  the  last  three,  perhaps, 
most  abundantly  of  all),  and  in  Western  Texas.  The  valuable 
mines  of  California  are  mostly  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  though  a  few  are  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Coast  Ranofe. 

If  this  opinion  of  the  geologists  shall  prove  to  be  correct  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  the  opening  of  three  hundred  thousand 
mines,  all  profitable,  if  well  managed,  and  a  yield  of  one  thousand 
millions  of  gold  and  silver  annually.  Such  a  yield  could  not  fail  to 
produce  two  results  :  the  further  disturbance  of  the  ratio  between 
the  values  of  gold  and  silver,  since  the  production  of  silver  will 
be  far  greater  in  bulk,  and  probably  greater  even  in  value,  than 
that  of  gold ;  and  a  universal  advance  in  the  price  of  other  com- 
modities, or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  a  depreciation  of  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  gold. 

But  it  is  not  solely  in  the  so-called  precious  metals  that  the 
production  will  be  so  greatly  increased ;  lead  is  combined  with 
silver  in  certainly  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  ores ;  copper  and  zinc 
with  both  gold  and  silver  in  a  very  considerable  proportion,  and 
iron,  platinum,  osmium,  and  other  rare  metals  in  a  small  num- 
ber.    But  all  these   metals,  or  rather  their  ores,  are   found  in 


INCREASE    OF  METALLURGICAL   DEVELOPMENT.  21I 

great  abundance  without  any  admixture  of  the  precious  metals, 
and  the  ores  of  lead,  copper,  zinc,  and  iron  are  capable  of  im- 
mense development.  Another  decade  will  see  copper  ores 
reduced,  and  the  copper  refined,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  mines,  in  such  quantities  that  there  will  be  no  necessity 
of  importation  of  that  metal,  and  still  less  of  sending  the  concen- 
trated ores  to  Swansea,  or  anywhere  else,  for  reduction.  Iron 
and  steel  will  be  made  so  abundantly  and  cheaply  from  the  very 
best  ores  and  by  the  best  processes,  that,  instead  of  importing 
either  to  supply  our  greatly  increased  demand,  we  shall  export 
both  iron  and  steel  to  all  the  nations  around  us.  Before  the 
dawn  of  the  twentieth  century,  tin  will  be  the  only  metal  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  import ;  and  if,  as  seems  probable,  the  small 
veins  of  tin  already  discovered  in  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Col- 
orado, and  Texas  shall  enlarge  as  they  go  deeper  into  the  earth, 
this,  too,  may  be  stricken  from  the  list  of  our  imports.  Platinum, 
nickel,  aluminium,  all  destined  to  play  an  important  part  in  our 
manufactures,  in  the  near  future,  exist  here,  and  can  be  produced 
as  cheaply  as  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

All  the  metallic  and  mineral  earths  and  elements  used  in 
medicine,  chemistry,  farming,  or  the  useful  arts,  and  all  the  salts 
of  these, either  exist  as  the  natural  productions  of  this  region,  or 
are  capable  of  easy  transformation  into  the  compounds  adapted 
to  use. 

Of  other  mineral  products,  coal  exists  in  too  large  quantities, 
and  of  every  known  quality  and  variety,  to  make  any  lack  of  it 
possible  for  ages  to  come  ;  whether  required  for  the  production 
of  heat  or  steam,  for  manufacturing  or  for  smelting,  for  coking 
coal  for  the  production  of  iron  and  steel,  or  for  family  use,  an- 
thracite, semi-anthracite,  bituminous,  semi-bituminous  and  lig- 
nites, in  all  these  forms,  are  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  at  reason- 
able prices  and  at  hundreds  of  points. 

Petroleum,  whose  existence  has  long  been  known,  but  which 
has  not  been  largely  developed,  is  now  found  in  such  quantities 
in  Wyoming  and  California  as  to  have  already  become  a  large 
item  in  the  traffic,  and  will  eventually  prove  a  formidable  rival 
of  the  Eastern  oil  wells.     If,  before  the  close  of  the  century,  elec- 


212  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

tricity  does  not  become  the  universal  Illuminator,  the  oil  wells 
of  Wyoming-  and  California  may  be  taxed  to  the  utmost  to 
supply  the  illuminating  and  heating  material  for  this  Western 
Empire. 

An  eminent  metallurgist  and  scientist  has  recently  estimated 
the  entire  mineral  production  of  the  region  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi for  the  year  1880  as  worth  ^1,000,000,000,  and  has  given 
the  items  on  which  his  estimate  is  based.  With  the  wonderful 
development  which  is  now  taking  place  in  everything  appertain- 
ing to  mineral  products  and  metallurgy,  it  is  certainly  within 
bounds  to  predict  that  the  product  of  the  year  a.  d.  1900  will 
not  be  less  than  ^5,000,000,000,  and  the  man  who  should  esti- 
mate it  at  twice  that  sum  could  hardly  be  regarded  as  exces- 
sively sanguine  in  his  anticipations. 

Turning  now  to  the  vegetable  and  animal  products  of  this 
region,  what  shall  be  our  forecast  for  them  twenty  years  hence  ? 

Wheat,  though  not  our  largest  grain  crop,  is  the  pioneer 
among  the  grains,  being  especially  adapted  to  new  lands,  easily 
raised,  and  readily  marketed,  usually  at  a  paying  price.  We 
estimate  that  the  population  of  the  United  States,  in  a.  d.  1900, 
will  be  not  far  from  one  hundred  millions,  of  whom  at  least 
90,000,000  will  require  wheat  bread ;  and  a  barrel  of  flour,  200 
pounds  =  eight  bushels  of  wheat,  will  not  be  more  than  a  fair 
supply  for  each.  This  would  require  720,000,000  bushels  for 
home  consumption.  Our  last  year's  product  (1879)  was  in 
round  numbers  450,000,000  bushels,  of  which  fully  one-half,  or 
about  230,000,000  bushels,  was  grown  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
But  our  export  demand  is  now  from  150,000,000  to  200,000,000 
bushels,  and  is  constantly  increasing.  Within  the  next  twenty 
years,  all  the  wheat  districts  of  this  Western  Empire  will  be 
traversed  so  thoroughly  by  railroads  that  the  wheat-grower  in 
Montana,  Oregon,  or  Washington  will  be  able  to  obtain  a  fair 
price  for  his  wheat,  and  to  market  it  at  once ;  the  greater  part 
of  the  arable  lands  of  the  whole  region,  and  especially  the  wheat 
lands,  will  be  under  cultivation  ;  better  methods  of  plowing,  seed- 
ing, and  where  necessary, irrigating  and  fertilizing  the  soil,  will 
prevail,  and  the  lowest  average  for  the  wheat  crop  will  be  twenty 


INDIAN  CORN  IN  A.    D.    1900.  21 3 

if  not  twenty-five  bushels  to  the  acre.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  wheat  crop  of  that  year  ought  not  to  be  less  than 
2,000,000,000  bushels,  and  may  exceed  that  amount.  This  would 
be  ample  for  our  own  supply  with  1,000,000,000  bushels  of  wheat 
or  its  equivalent  in  flour  for  export.  This  crop  should  certainly 
be  worth  ^2,000,000,000. 

Indian  corn  is  the  largest  of  our  grain  crops,  yielding,  in  1879, 
in  round  numbers,  1,545,000,000  bushels.  It  is  not  certain  to 
mature  in  the  extreme  northern  portions  of  the  Great  West,  but 
is  a  successful  crop  to  the  extreme  southern  limit,  requiring  for 
its  perfection  a  longer  summer  than  it  can  always  command 
near  the  line  of  British  America.  We  export  of  Indian  corn  and 
its  various  preparations,  the  equivalent  of  about  100,000,000 
bushels,  and  our  export  of  this  is  increasing;  though  the  foreign 
demand  for  it  is  less  than  for  wheat.  But  our  home  consump- 
tion is  large  and  varied.  It  forms  the  principal  food  employed 
for  fattening  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  poultry,  is  largely  used  for 
feeding  horses,  especially  those  which  are  constantly  worked, 
forms  the  staple  article  of  food  of  at  least  6,000,000  of  our  peo- 
ple, is  manufactured  into  corn-meal,  samp,  hulled  corn,  or 
hominy,  maizena,  corn-starch,  common  starch,  glucose,  sugar, 
and  syrup,  fusel  oil  and  whiskey.  When  the  price  is  low,  and 
markets  not  easily  accessible,  it  is  burned  instead  of  coal,  being 
somewhat  cheaper  and  making  a  hotter  fire.  Its  leaves  and 
stalks,  green  or  dried,  are  used  as  a  fodder  for  cattle,  and  from 
the  juice  of  its  stalks,  cut  when  the  corn  is  just  ripe,  a  cane- 
sugar  is  made.  In  all  of  these  ways  this  grain  is  utilized,  large 
as  the  crop  may  be. 

Of  this  great  crop  which,  at  a  low  valuation,  was  worth  nearly 
^600,000,000,  a  little  more  than  two-fifths  or  about  650,000,000 
bushels  was  raised  in  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  Iowa 
being  second  only  to  Illinois  in  the  magnitude  of  its  corn  crop, 
and  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Texas,  and  Minnesota  being 
the  other  States  of  largest  production.  Although  the  produc- 
tion of  this  grain  west  of  the  Mississippi  is  destined  to  increase 
largely  within  the  next  twenty  years,  and  may  very  possibly 
reach   in   that   time   the   present  product  of  the   entire  United 


214  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

States  or  even  a  little  more,  yet  we  do  not  anticipate  for  It  so 
rapid  an  increase  proportionally  as  in  the  wheat  crop,  for  several 
reasons.  It  cannot  be  grown  so  successfully  or  with  as  much 
certainty  as  some  other  crops  in  the  whole  of  the  region  where 
the  greatest  agricultural  activity  and  enterprise  is  displayed  ; 
other  crops  produced  more  easily  and  with  greater  certainty, 
will,  to  some  extent,  take  its  place.  Among  these  we  may  name 
the  pearl  and  other  millets,  and  the  Egyptian  rice  corn,  all  of 
which  yield  larger  crops  and  with  less  labor,  and  are  better  liked 
by  cattle,  and  form  a  less  heavy  food  for  horses  and  swine  ;  the 
great  progress  which  is  making  in  the  cultivation  of  barley, 
three-fifths  of  the  whole  crop  being  raised  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  its  substitution  to  some  extent  for  corn  for  horses  and 
cattle ;  and  the  wonderful  impulse  recently  given  to  the  culture 
of  sorghum,  and  especially  of  the  early  amber  sorghum,  for  the 
production  of  sugar.  All  the  sorghums,  as  well  as  the  millets, 
the  rice  corn,  and  the  broom  corn,  belong  to  the  Zea  family,  and 
the  seeds  of  the  sorcrhum  furnish  a  valuable  food  for  animals, 
while  its  stalk  yields  a  considerably  larger  quantity  of  saccharine 
juice  than  the  Indian  corn.  There  is,  however,  an  increasing 
demand  for  corn  for  the  manufacture  of  glucose  sugar  and 
syrup.  This  industry  has  very  recently  become  largely  devel- 
oped, immense  factories  for  its  production  having  been  estab- 
lished, mostly  since  January,  1880,  in  Buffalo,  Chicago,  and 
other  cities  and  towns  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Iowa.  One  in 
Chicago  has  cost  ^650,000,  and  is  said  to  have  a  capacity  of 
20,000  bushels  of  corn,  equal  to  300  tons  of  sugar  per  day.  The 
net  profit  is  said  to  be  300  per  cent.  The  export  demand  for 
corn,  while  increasing,  is  not  likely  to  be  enlarged  very  rapidly, 
and  will  be  rather  in  its  products  than  in  the  corn  itself,  since  its 
cultivation  is  also  increasing  in  the  south  of  Europe.  But  with 
the  multiplication  of  the  facilities  for  speedy  and  cheap  trans- 
portation, the  price  will  be  enhanced,  and  it  will  no  longer  com- 
pete with  coal  as  fuel.  Should  the  crop  of  corn,  in  the  region 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  amount,  in  a.  d.  1900,  to  1,600,000,000 
bushels,  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  to  estimate  its  value  at 
^1,200,000,000. 


SORGHUM.  215 

We  have  alluded  to  the  great  probable  increase  In  the  culture 
of  sorgktcm,  and  especially  of  the  early  amber  variety,  which 
ripens  its  seed  long  before  frost  comes.  Though  the  smallest 
of  the  sorghums,  and  yielding  a  smaller  quantity  of  juice  tlian 
the  other,  the  early  amber  kind  is  the  one  best  adapted  to  the 
Northern  States  and  Territories.  Careful  and  oft-repeated  ex- 
periments demonstrate  that  In  ordinarily  good  corn-land,  either 
by  manuring  and  irrigation,  or  without,  as  is  the  case  In  most  of 
the  arable  lands  of  the  Great  West,  a  crop  can  be  raised  which 
will  yield  on  an  average  a  ton  or  more  of  raw  crystallized  sugar 
to  the  acre.'"'  With  that  yield  It  would  be  by  far  the  most  pro- 
fitable crop  which  could  be  cultivated,  as,  In  addition  to  the 
sugar,  the  leaves  and  seed  form  a  very  valuable  food  for  cattle, 
and  even  the  bagasse  or  exhausted  stalks,  where  not  required  to 
furnish  fuel  for  the  evaporators,  have  a  value  for  paper  stock 
and  for  other  purposes.  Even  If  but  three-quarters  of  a  ton  of 
sugar  could  be  made  to  the  acre,  worth  from  ^70  to  ^75  per 
ton,  which  Is  considerably  below  the  present  price  of  raw  sugar, 
It  would  still  be  a  very  profitable  crop,  and  one  for  which  there 
would  be  an  unlimited  demand.  We  are  importing  annually 
from  ^80,000,000  to  ^100,000,000  value  of  sugar  and  sugar  pro- 
ducts, besides  the  amount  made  in  Florida,  Louisiana  and  Texas 
from  the  sugar-cane  ;  and  all  our  exertions  to  Increase  the  pro- 
duction of  sugar  from  the  cane  have  proved  Ineffectual,  and 
must  continue  to  do  so,  because  the  sugar-cane  cannot  grow 
here  from  the  seed,  but  is  only  propagated  by  cuttings,  and  gives 
but  Imperfect  results,  with  very  frequent  failures.  The  culture 
of  the  sugar-beet  for  sugar  has  not,  so  far,  proved  successful  on 
a  large  scale,  and  cannot  probably  compete  with  the  sorghum. 

If,  by  the  cultivation  of  this  plant,  we  can  supply  the  present 
and  constantly  Increasing  demand  for  sugar,  and  prevent  any 
necessity  of  importation,  the  devotion  of  three  or  five  million 
acres  to  this  crop  will  be  one  of  the  best  measures  which  our 
Western  farmers  can  adopt.     The  processes  for  sugar-making 

*The  experiments  of  the  AgricuUiual  Department  in  1S79,  which  were  all  with  the  early 
amber  cane,  give  an  average  of  1,588  pounds  to  the  acre,  but  these  were  not  a  fair  test  of  what 
can  be  accomplished  with  olher  and  larger  varieties. 


2i6  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

from  sorghum  are  much  simpler  and  less  expensive  than  those 
for  the  sugar-cane.  With  an  apparatus  costing  only  from  $ioo 
to  $150,  any  farmer  can  boil  it  down  to  a  syrup  which  will  yield 
at  least  twelve  pounds  of  sugar  to  the  gallon,  and  the  syrup  can 
be  crystallized  from  this  at  any  time  within  a  year.  General  Le 
Due  advises  that  the  farmers  should  not  attempt  anything  more 
than  the  production  of  the  syrup,  and  that  there  should  be  one 
or  more  sugar-mills  in  each  county  where  the  sorghum  is  culti- 
vated, which  will  find  constant  employment  throughout  the  year 
in  crystallizing  the  sugar  from  the  syrup.  It  is  not  to  be  for- 
gotten, also,  that  when  sugar  becomes  a  domestic  product,  and 
the  price  of  the  refined  article  is  lowered,  as  it  will  be,  the  con- 
sumption w^ill  be  greatly  increased,  irrespective  of  the  increase 
of  our  population,  so  that  if  we  are  paying  ^150,000,000  for 
sugar  now,  w'e  shall  expend  certainly  ^500,000,000  for  it  twenty 
years  hence,  with  our  population  doubled,  and  their  appetite  for 
sweets  increased. 

The  next  great  cereal  crop  is  oals,  of  which  wo.  now  raise 
about  420,000,000  bushels  in  the  entire  United  States,  of  which 
one-third  is  grown  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  present  value 
of  the  entire  crop  is  about  ^.125,000,000.  Oats  are  so  valuable 
both  for  human  and  animal  food  that  we  may  confidently  expect 
that  the  crop,  which  is  so  well  adapted  to  the  Northern  and 
Central  States  and  Territories,  and  yields  so  bountifully  there 
(seventy  to  eighty  bushels  or  more  to  the  acre),  will  be  more 
largely  cultivated  each  year.  Our  exports  of  this  grain,  though 
not  large  (5,500,000  bushels  in  1879),  are  increasing,  while  our 
imports  of  it  have  nearly  ceased.  We  may  safely  set  down  the 
oat  crop  of  the  Great  West,  in  a.  d.  1900,  at  500,000,000 
bushels,  and  its  money  value  as  at  least  ^175,000,000. 

Of  the  other  cereals,  the  production  of  barley,  of  which  we 
now  raise  from  40,000,000  to  45,000,000  bushels,  and  import 
6,000,000  or  more,  is  likely  to  increase — not  so  much,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  for  its  use  in  the  manufacture  of  malt  liquors,  as  for  its 
value  for  horses  and  cattle,  and  the  fondness  which  the  German, 
Scandinavian,  and  Russian  emio-rants  have  for  it  as  an  article  of 
food.     It  is  grown  and  marketed  as  easily  as  oats,  and  on  suit- 


RYE  AND   BUCKWHEAT.  217 

able  soils  yields  almost  as  largely.  It  brings  from  seventy-five 
cents  to  a  dollar  a  bushel,  and  on  the  newer  lands  is  a  fairly 
profitable  crop.  The  product  of  barley  in  the  Great  West,  in 
A.  D.  1900,  may  be  safely  set  down  at  200,000,000  bushels,  and 
worth  as  many  dollars. 

Rye  will  also  increase  moderately.  The  crop  for  the  whole 
country  now  ranges  from  23,000,000  to  28,000,000  bushels,  and  it 
is  worth  from  sixty  to  eighty  cents  per  bushel.  Not  quite  one- 
fourth  of  the  whole  crop  was  grown  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It 
is  not  here,  as  in  Europe,  now  largely  used  for  food,  though 
there  is  some  demand  for  it  in  the  manufacture  of  whiskey;  it  is 
seldom  fed  to  cattle,  but  with  the  influx  of  emigrants  from 
Central  and  Southern  Europe,  it  will  be  more  largely  used  for 
food. 

It  grows  well  on  poor  soils,  and  most  of  the  soil  in  the  Great 
West  is  too  rich  for  it.  It  may  reach  50,000,000  bushels,  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  by  a.  d,  1900,  but  that  will  be  its  utmost  limit. 

BiLckzuhcat,  the  cereal  w^hich  is  least  grown  in  the  United 
States,  its  largest  crop  being  only  a  little  more  than  1 3,000,000 
bushels,  is  hardly  an  appreciable  crop,  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
350,000  bushels  being  the  largest  crop  ever  grown  there.  It  is 
not  probable  that  it  will  become  a  very  important  crop  at  any 
time,  though  it  may  reach  4,000,000  or  5,000,000  bushels,  worth 
fifty  or  sixty  cents  per  bushel. 

The  Egyptian  rice  corn,  and  the  pearl  millet,  both  cereals 
belonging  to  the  millet  family,  are  likely  to  be  largely  cultivated, 
within  the  next  twenty  years,  both  as  forage  plants,  and  for  their 
seed  or  grains.  They  yield  nearly  as  much  seed  as  oats,  and 
the  amount  of  fodder  which  may  be  cut  from  them  is  from  forty 
to  eighty  tons  of  green  forage,  or  from  seven  to  ten  tons  of  dry, 
in  three  cuttino;s,  in  a  sincfle  season.  The  orain  of  the  rice  corn 
is  regarded  by  the  Kansas  farmer  as  superior  to  Indian  corn  for 
cattle  and  hogs,  and  many  prefer  its  meal  to  corn  or  oat  meal 
for  human  food.  We  may  confidently  expect  that  from  these 
cereals  or  their  congeners,  the  crop  of  a.  d.  1900,  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  will  not  be  less  than  50,000,000  bushels  of  seed,  or 
its  equivalent  of  forage. 


2iS  <^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Thus  much  for  the  cereals.*      We  foot  up  the  crop  of  a.  d. 
1900  as  follows: 

Wheat 2,000,000,000  bushels,            Value  $2,000,000,000 

Indian  Corn      .     .     .    1,600,000,000       "                      *'  1,200,000,000 

Sorghum  Sugar,  etc.  .                                                          **  500,000,000 

Oats        500,000,000       "                      **  175,000,000 

Barley 200,000,000       "                      "  200,000,000 

Rye 50,000,000       "                      "  40,000,000 

Buckwheat        .     .     .          .5,000,000       "                      "  2,500,000 

Millet  and  Rice  Corn          50,000,000      with  forage,     "  50,000,000 

$4,167,500,000 


Of  the  cereal  production  at  dates  still  farther  in  the  future  it 
is  not  wise  to  speak.  Circumstances  may  change ;  an  oriental 
population,  if  largely  in  the  ascendancy,  may  prefer  other  grains, 
and  cultivate  them  by  other  processes,  in  the  coming  century ; 
or  root  crops,  or  such  edibles  as  the  bread-fruit,  the  cassava,  or 
the  pith  of  the  sago-palm,  may  be  deemed  preferable  to  those 
grains  which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  consider  the  staff  of 
life.     The  future  century  must  provide  its  own  bread. 

We  turn  next  to  the  root  crops  and  the  vegetables,  which, 
though  perhaps  neither  tubers,  nor  bulbs,  serve  to  sustain  life  in 
"man  and  beast.  Potatoes  rank  first  in  the  list — our  common, 
sometimes  called  Irish  potatoes — because  they  did  not  come  from 
Ireland, — the  Solanum  tuberosum.  Of  these  about  185,000,000 
bushels  were  grown  in  1879,  although  it  was  not  regarded  as  a 
very  favorable  year  for  this  crop.  Of  these  about  one-third,  or 
62,000,000  bushels,  were  grown  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
labor  of  harvesting  this  crop  is  greater  than  that  required  on 
some  others,  though  now  materially  diminished  by  the  use  of  the 
potato-digger ;  but  very  few  crops  pay  as  well.     In  all  the  newer 

*  We  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  speak  of  the  production  of  rice,  of  which  there 'are  a 
few  plantations  in  Western  Louisiana  and  Texas;  it  is  undoulitedly  capable  oi  great  develop- 
ment, and  in  the  event  of  a  large  migration  of  Mongolians  to  this  Western  Empire  within  the 
next  twenty  years,  may  receive  it ;  but  tlie  experience  of  all  the  past  is  that,  in  warm 
climates,  the  cultivation  of  such  cereals  as  require, much  labor  and  exposure  of  life  and  health, 
is  not  successfully  prosecuted,  except  where  labor  is  compulsory.  Other  cereals  more  easily  cul- 
tivated will  be  substituted  for  this.  The  wilii  rice,  a  plant  of  northern  growth,  is  extensively 
gathered  for  forage  and  hay,  but  is  not  cultivated,  so  far  as  we  are  aware. 


VEGETABLE   AND   ROOT  CROPS.  210 

lands,  and  many  of  the  old  ones,  the  yield  is  from  1 50  to  400  or 
even  500  bushels  to  the  acre,  while  the  price  at  the  nearest 
market  seldom  falls  below  thirty-three  cents  per  bushel,  and 
ranges  from  this  to  sixty  cents.  A  crop  which  will  bring  from 
^60  to  $125  per  acre  is  a  profitable  crop  for  the  emigrant  to 
raise,  and  as  there  is,  and  is  likely  to  be,  a  demand  for  all  that 
are  grown,  we  may  well  expect  that  there  will  be  a  great  increase 
in  the  production.  The  autumn  of  the  year  1900  will  very  pos- 
sibly give  a  crop  of  potatoes,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  of  not  less 
than  650,000,000  bushels,  worth  probably  half  that  number  of 
dollars. 

The  sweet  potato  and  yam,  though  largely  grown  in  California, 
Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Kansas,  will  never 
approach  to  these  figures,  but  may,  twenty  years  hence,  yield 
50,000,000  bushels,  and  at  a  value  of  perhaps  seventy-five  cents 
per  bushel.  Neither  of  these  tubers  are  exported  to  any  great 
extent.  In  1S79,  625,000  bushels  of  the  common  potato  were 
shipped  to  other  countries,  550,000  bushels  going  to  the  West 
Indies  and  South  America.  There  is  some  prospect  of  an  in- 
crease of  this  demand  both  from  the  Pacific  and  the  Texan  ports, 
but  the  principal  consumption  will  continue  to  be  in  the  home 
markets. 

Of  the  other  root  and  vegetable  crops,  turnips,  rutabagas, 
onions,  leeks,  mangel-wurzel,  cabbage,  kale,  cauliilower,  peas, 
beans,  pumpkins,  squashes,  melons,  okra,  spinage,  celery,  cucum- 
bers, tomatoes,  pie-plant,  egg-plants,  salsify,  green  corn,  radishes, 
lettuce,  etc.,  though  we  know  the  present  aggregate  to  be  very 
large,  and  the  prospective  one  vastly  greater,  yet  it  is  difficult  to 
arrive  at  any  very  definite  estimates  concerning  it.  The  census 
of  1870  reported  these  products  very  imperfectly,  probably 
omitting  more  than  it  reported.  Its  aggregates  were  nearly 
•^27,000,000,  while  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  put  down  the  actual 
production  as  nearly  or  quite  ^50,000,000.  Since  that  time  these 
products  have  undergone  an  immense  development,  and  what- 
ever may  be  the  census  figures,  the  actual  production  cannot 
fall  short  of  ^100,000,000;  indeed,  the  consumption  of  twenty- 
five  of  our  largest  cities  would  very  nearly  reach  that  sum.     We 


220  ^^'^     IVESIERAT  EMPIRE. 

think  that  a  fair  estimate  of  the  consumption  of  those  articles  by 
the  50,000,000  of  people  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  a.  d.  1900, 
would  not  be  less  than  1150,000,000. 

The  orchard  produces  and  the  small  fruit  sales,  including-  the 
wine  and  raisins  from  the  grapes,  the  cider,  etc.,  from  apples,  and 
the  preserved,  dried,  and  canned  fruits,  are  next  to  be  considered. 
In  1870  these  products  for  the  whole  United  States,  so  far  as 
reported,  amounted  to  about  ^53,000,000.  Since  that  time  the 
orchard,  grape,  wine,  and  small  fruit  products  have  nearly  or 
quite  quadrupled.  The  State  of  Kansas,  which  then  was  set 
down  as  having  ^173,000  of  these  products,  reported,  in  1878, 
^6,500,000  of  orchard  products  alone,  with  less  than  half  her 
trees  in  bearing ;  California  has  made  even  greater  advance,  and 
Oregon,  Washington,  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Minnesota,  and  Iowa 
at  least  an  equal  one.  One  hundred  and  sixty  million  dollars 
is  a  low  estimate  of  these  products  for  1880,  for  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  twice  that  amount  is  equally  low  for  the  region  west  of 
the  Mississippi  in  a.  d.  1900. 

Textiles  come  next  in  order.  The  cotton  crop  of  1S79-80  is 
exceptionally  large,  the  largest  ever  produced  in  this  country, 
and,  owing  to  the  lateness  and  mildness  of  the  autumn  and  early 
winter,  picking  was  continued  much  later  than  usual.  It  Is  esti- 
mated as  equal  to  5,750,000  bales  of  480  pounds,  worth  not  less 
than  ^320,000,000.  Nearly  one-half  of  this  great  crop  is  raised 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  mostly  in  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Ar- 
kansas, though  the  Indian  Territory,  California,  Arizona,  Kansas, 
and  Missouri  add  small  quotas  to  the  amount.  The  State  of 
Texas  alone  has  excellent  cotton  lands,  as  yet  mostly  uncultivated, 
of  sufficient  extent  to  grow  not  only  the  whole  crop  of  1879,  but 
tlie  entire  supply  of  cotton  needed  for  the  consumption  of  the 
world — about  i  2,000,000  or  1 3,000,000  bales.  And  as  the  cotton 
lands  east  of  the  Mississippi,  unless  their  methods  of  cultivation 
are  gready  improved,  shall  be  worn  out,  and  become  sterile,  the 
natural  tendency  will  be  to  transfer  the  greater  part  of  the  cotton 
production  to  Texas  and  Arkansas,  where  virgin  soils  will  yield 
larger  crops. 

The  culture  of  cotton  in  the  South  is  not  so  scientific  and  thor- 


TEXTILES. 


221 


ough  as  It  should  be.  The  average  yield  per  acre  In  Texas  is 
only  about  275  pounds  per  acre,  when  It  should  be,  and  might 
be,  with  proper  management,  960  pounds.  Greater  efforts  for 
Improvement  are  now  making  than  at  any  previous  time,  and 
these  cannot  fail  to  result  in  increased  production  per  acre. 

Twenty  years  hence  the  largest  demand  for  cotton  will  be  for 
home  consumption.  Now  less  than  one-third  of  the  crop  is 
retained  here,  and  all  the  rest  exported.  That  demand  may 
reach  10,000,000  or  11,000,000  bales.  If  It  does  so,  we  believe 
that  the  whole  amount  or  nearly  the  whole  will  be  grown  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  We  are  led  to  this  conclusion  from  the  fact 
that  the  tendency  In  all  our  manufactures  is  to  bring  the  place 
of  manufacture  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  place  of  the  produc- 
tion of  the  raw  material.  This  Is  particularly  true  where  the  raw 
material  Is  bulky  and  cumbrous,  as  is  the  case  with  cotton.  For 
many  long  years  the  cotton  was  brought  with  great  labor  and 
cost  to  the  shipping  ports,  sent  thence  to  England  and  France, 
where  It  was  made  into  yarns,  thread,  and  fabrics,  and  these  re- 
exported hither,  and  thus  we  were  buying  back  our  own  cotton 
and  paying  from  400  to  600  per  cent,  for  the  privilege  of  doing 
so.  Our  manufacturers  in  New  England  sought  to  save  a  part 
of  these  profits  to  our  own  people,  but  the  transportation  of  the 
cotton  from  the  South  to  New  England  cost  nearly  as  much  as 
to  England,  and  though  there  was  some  gain,  yet  there  was  a 
more  excellent  way.  Already  the  change  has  begun,  and  It  will 
be  carried  forward  with  rapidity.  The  yarns,  at  least,  will  be 
made  from  the  unglnned  cotton,  near  the  place  where  It  is  grown, 
and  the  seed  utilized  for  oil  and  food  for  cattle  and  horses,  while 
the  yarn  supplied  to  mills,  perhaps  In  an  adjacent  State,  Is  there 
manufactured  Into  cloths,  stronger,  more  lustrous,  more  beau- 
tiful, and  wearing  longer  than  any  made  In  English,  French,  or 
Northern  mills,  and  at  a  lower  price.  Manufacturing  in  this 
way,  we  can  export  our  goods  Instead  of  our  raw  material ;  since 
no  other  nation  can  compete  with  us,  cither  In  the  cheapness  or 
the  Intrinsic  value  of  our  cotton  goods.  China,  India,  South 
America,  Europe,  and  Northern  and  Southern  Africa,  and  Aus- 
tralasia will  gladly  take  all  the  cotton  goods  we  can   spare,  and 


222  OUR    IVESTERN^  EMPIRE. 

it  will  task  the  energies  of  our  manufacturers  to  supply  all  these 
and  our  home  market;  while  our  agriculturists  will  be  stimulated 
by  the  demand  to  make  two  bales  of  cotton  grow  where  now 
only  a  half  bale  is  grown. 

Wool  has  improved  as  much  in  quality  as  it  has  increased  in 
quantity  within  the  past  decade,  and  the  improvement  and  in- 
crease has  but  just  begun.  The  wool  clip  of  the  region  west  of 
the  Mississippi  in  1879  exceeded  100,000,000  pounds,  and  was 
fully  equal  in  quantity,  and  much  superior  in  quality,  to  that  of  the 
whole  United  States  in  1870. 

The  rapid  multiplication  of  flocks  of  sheep  of  improved  grades, 
throughout  the  whole  region,  insures  to  that  region  within  twenty 
years,  an  annual  clip  of  not  less  than  350,000,000  pounds,  of  an 
average  value  of  not  less  than  twenty-two  cents  per  pound,  or 
an  aggregate  of  ^77,000,000.  This  will  all  be  required  at  home, 
and  we  shall  cease  to  import  wool  for  our  manufacturers.  The 
hair  of  the  Angora  goat  and  the  grade  goats,  and  possibly  also 
that  of  the  camel,  will  also  be  largely  in  demand,  and  there  will 
be  a  sufficient  supply  at  remunerative  prices.  Probably  these 
textiles  will  make  up  the  amount  to  full  ^100,000,000  by  the 
year  a,  d.  1900. 

Raw,  or  rather  reeled  silk,  is  now  imported,  to  the  extent 
of  from  ^7,000,000  to  ^12,000,000  annually,  to  be  manufactured 
here.  If  common  sense,  without  excitement  or  mania  of  any 
sort,  shall  ever  take  possession  of  the  minds  of  our  people  on 
the  subject  of  rearing  silkworms,  every  farmer  who  has  been 
five  years  on  his  place  will  be  as  sure  to  have  a  cocoonery  as  he 
will  to  have  a  barn.  The  children  and  young  women  of  the 
household  will  rear  the  worms,  gather  and  stifle  the  cocoons,  and 
the  town  or  villasfe  filature  will  reel  them.  Then  instead  of 
sending  $1 2,000,000  abroad  for  raw  silk,  and  ^25,000,000  more  for 
silk  goods,  we  shall  export  both.  Fifty  millions  of  dollars  will 
be  less  than  the  value  of  our  raw  silk  and  silk  products,  raised 
and  made  west  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  year  a.  d.  1900. 

Of  the  other  textiles  proper,  flax,  heuip,  ramie,  jute,  cactus 
fibre,  etc.,  they  are  all  destined  to  have  a  considerable  develop- 
ment, and  if  methods  of  bleaching  equal  to  those  provided  by 


THE   HAY  CROP  AND   DAIRY  INTEREST.  223 

nature  In  Ireland,  can  be  invented  or  discovered,  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  the  culture  of  flax,  ramie,  jute,  hemp,  nettle  and 
cactus  fibre,  should  not  increase  to  an  enormous  extent.  Flax  is 
now  cultivated  principally  for  its  seed,  and  the  oil  obtained  from 
it.  The  present  value  of  this  for  the  United  States  is  about 
^5,000,000 ;  that  of  hemp  about  ^2,000,000,  and  of  the  other 
textiles  perhaps  ^150,000  in  all.  ,  To  what  extent  these  values 
may  be  increased  within  the  next  twenty  years  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  We  imported  in  the  year  1879  nearly  $1,000,000  worth  of 
raw  flax,  and  $1,829,000  of  raw  hemp;  and  $14,600,000  worth 
of  manufactures  of  flax,  and  $107,000  worth  of  manufactured 
hemp,  $3,781,037  worth  of  raw  jute,  and  $1,776,750  worth  of 
manufactured  jute.  All  of  these  articles  and  raw  material  should 
be  produced  here,  and  perhaps  they  will  be,  within  twenty  years. 

But  we  have  not  yet  noticed  a  crop  which  ranks  third  among 
our  great  national  products,  being  surpassed  only  by  Indian  corn 
and  wheat — the  hay  crop.  In  1879  this  was  estimated  by  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Department  at  35,648,000  tons,  having 
a  value  of  $325,851,280.  This  crop,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
must  increase ;  the  great  increase  of  cattle  and  sheep  will  require 
'it,  in  all  the  Northern  and  Middle  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Great  West,  and  the  magnitude  which  the  dairy  interest  is 
assuming,  will  add  to  the  necessity.  Under  this  general  head  of 
hay,  all  plants  cultivated  for  forage  must  be  included.  Much  of 
the  hay,  in  the  north  especially,  is  wild,  and  costs  only  the  labor 
and  expense  of  the  gathering,  but  this  will  eventually  give  way 
to  the  cultivated  grasses.  The  value  of  the  hay  crop  of  the 
Great  West  in  a.  d.  i  900  will  not  be  less  than  $700,000,000. 

Intimately  associated  with  this  crop  is  the  dairy  interest,  which 
is  now  rapidly  increasing  under  the  stimulus  of  a  large  export 
demand,  a  demand  which,  by  good  management,  may  be  almost 
indefinitely  enlarged.  The  exports  of  butter  and  cheese  in  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1879,  were  $18,000,000,  and  for  the  coming 
year  they  will  probably  be  much  greater.  It  is  estimated  that 
1,500,000,000  pounds  of  butter  are  now  made  in  this  countr)-,  and 
about.  900,000,000  pounds  of  cheese;  1,000,000,000  gallons  of 
milk    are    sold,   and    condensed    milk    to    the   extent   of  about 


22A  OUR    WESTERX   EMPIRE. 

$6,000,000.  The  value  of  these  dairy  products  in  the  aggregate 
is  about  $590,000,000.  That  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi 
will  require  in  a.  d.  1900  not  less  than  $500,000,000  worth  of 
dairy  products  is  absolutely  certain,  and  the  export  demand  may 
reach  another  $100,000,000.  Three  other  items  close  our  sum- 
mary of  vegetable  production,  present  and  prospective,  viz. : 
I.  Tobacco,  the  crop  of  which  varies  in  different  years,  but  its 
value  is  not  far  from  $22,000,000  annually.  The  production  of 
this  in  the  Great  West  will  be  in  the  future  quite  large,  as  some 
of  the  land  is  admirably  adapted  for  it,  and  it  is  regarded  as  a 
profitable  and  desirable  crop.  We  doubt,  however,  if  that  region 
will  in  A.  D.  1900  much  exceed  the  whole  present  United  States 
crop  in  quandty,  though  the  quality  may  be  somewhat  better. 
It  may  be  safely  estimated  at  $25,000,000.  2.  Sugar  and  syrup 
from  the  sugar-cane,  maple  and  sugar-beet.  The  value  of  these 
products  in  1879  was  about  $18,000,000,  and  it  does  not  seem 
to  us  likely  to  increase.  As  the  sorghum  sugar  begins  to  take 
possession  of  the  market,  the  sugar  from  the  cane  being  in  some 
sense  a  forced  product,  and  an  uncertain  crop,  will  fall  off.  The 
suo-ar  maple  is  not  a  very  abundant  forest  tree  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  will  not  gready  increase  its  present  production  of 
sugar  ;  while  the  sugar-beet  sugar  is  so  dependent  upon  the  soil, 
and  upon  rather  complicated  processes  of  manufacture,  and  costs 
so  much  more  to  make  than  the  sorghum,  that  it  cannot  add  very 
materially  to  the  aggregate  producdon.  We  should  be  loth  to 
allow  more  than  $15,000,000  as  the  value  of  these  products  in 
A.  D.  1900  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Adding  to  these  the  glucose 
product,  mosdy  from  corn,  and  we  have  probably  $75,000,000. 
3.  Hops  have  been  a  very  uncertain  crop,  cultivated  only  in 
certain  localities,  and  in  many  instances  failing  even  there.  It 
has  been  more  successful  in  California  than  elsewhere  in  the 
West,  but  is  so  unreliable  that  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  its  prob- 
able prospective  value.  The  crop  of  1877  was  the  best  for 
several  years.  It  was  about  23,000,000  pounds,  and  was  valued 
at  about  $4,250,000  dollars.  That  of  1879  would  not  bring  half 
that  amount.  It  is  doubtful  if  it  will  ever  be  worth  $3,000,000 
west  of  the  Mississippi. 


SUMMARY    OF   OTHER    CROPS.  225 

The  oil-bearing  plants  and  seeds  are  largely  those  which  have 
other  claims  to  be  considered  than  the  oil  they  produce.  Yet 
they  ought  not  to  go  entirely  unnoticed.  Cotton-seed  oil  is  in 
such  demand  that  its  production  is  sure  to  increase  largely. 
Linseed  oil  is  also  in  great  demand ;  the  oil  from  colza  or  rape- 
seed,  and  the  other  vegetable  seeds  of  its  class,  tar-weed, 
sesame,  etc.,  is  always  sure  of  a  market,  and  the  pea-nut  or 
ground-nut  is  now  largely  cultivated  for  its  oil.  The  castor-oil 
plant  {^Richms  comnmnis  and  sangumainzts)  is  largely  cultivated  in 
several  States  for  its  oil ;  and  we  are  just  beginning  in  California, 
Texas,  Arizona,  and  some  other  States,  the  cultivation  of  the 
olive,  mainly  for  its  oil.  It  Is  difficult  to  estimate  the  amount  of 
all  these  oils  which  will  be  produced  beyond  the  Mississippi 
twenty  years  hence  with  any  great  definiteness,  but  probably  of 
them  all,  ^25,000,000  would  be  a  very  low  valuation. 

Let  us  sum  up  now  in  regard  to  these  farm  crops  other  than 
cereals,  and  their  yield  in  a.  d.  i  900. 

The  Common,  or  Irish  Potato    .     .   650,000,000  bushels,  Vahie  ^325,000,000. 

Sweet  Potatoes        50,000,000         "            "  37,500,000 

Market-Garden  Vegetables  of  all  kinds ''  150,000,000 

Orchard  Products "  320,000,000 

Textiles — Cotton 10,500,000  bales            "  588,000,000 

Wool "  77,000,000 

Goat's  Hair,  Alpaca,  and  Camel's  Hair  ..."  23,000,000 

Silk  and  Silk  Products '*  50,000,000 

Flax,  Hemp,  Jute,  etc "  30,000,000 

Hay  and  Forage ''  700,000,000 

Dairy  Products •     .     .     .      "  600,000,000 

Tobacco "  25,000,000 

Sugar  and  Syrup,  not  from  Sorghum "  75,000,000 

Hops "  3,000,000 

Oils ofVegetable Production, Cotton-Seed, Linseed, Olive, etc.  "  25,000,000 

Total $3,028,500,000 


The  fisheidcs  of  the  Great  West  demand  our  attention  also. 

The  salmon  fisheries  of  the  Pacific  coast  and  of  the  Columbia 

river  have  already  attained  a  great  magnitude,  and  but  for  the 

artificial  replenishing  of  its  waters  with  this  right  royal  fish,  they 

15 


226  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

would  exhaust  the  supply  within  ten  or  fifteen  years.  In  1878 
more  than  <^i 0,000,000  worth  of  canned  salmon  was  shipped 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  Columbia  river,  and  in  1879  the  catch 
and  shipments  were  fifty  per  cent,  greater  than  the  previous 
year.  Salmon  are  also  brought  in  large  quantities  from  our 
great  northern  Territory  of  Alaska. 

But  this  vast  product  from  a  single  fish,  greater  than  all  the 
products  of  all  the  fisheries  in  the  United  States,  in  1870,  by 
twenty-five  per  cent.,  by  no  means  exhausts  the  resources  of  the 
fisheries  of  the  Pacific.  The  seal,  sea-otter,  sea-lion,  and  other 
fisheries  of  the  mammals  of  the  sea,  amount  to  over  $3,500,000, 
while  the  markets  of  the  Pacific  coast  swarm  with  fish  of  all 
kinds ;  and  the  whale  fishery,  conducted  from  Pacific  ports,  has 
taken  the  place  of  that  from  the  former  whaling  ports  of  the  At- 
lantic. The  Great  Lakes  at  the  Northeast  and  the  coast  of 
Texas  and  Louisiana  on  the  South  are  teeming  with  edible  fish. 

But  far  beyond  these,  in  its  aggregates,  within  the  next  twenty 
years,  will  be  the  fisheries  of  smaller  lakes  and  rivers  from  artifi- 
cial propagation.  Every  State  and  Territory  of  the  interior  can 
profit  by  this.  Minnesota  claims  7,000  lakes,  many  of  them  of 
considerable  size ;  Dakota,  Montana,  Oregon,  and  Washington 
abound  in  lakes.  California  has  many,  and  most  of  them  of 
great  purity.  Utah  has  them  both  of  fresh  and  salt  water,  and 
all  the  States  and  Territories  have  greater  or  less  numbers. 
Then  the  rivers,  which  have  their  sources  and  many  of  them 
their  entire  course  in  this  region  :  the  Columbia  with  its  gigantic 
affluents,  the  Clarke  and  Lewis,  or  Snake  ;  the  Missouri,  with  its 
scores  of  affluents,  some  of  them  themselves  mighty  rivers ;  the 
Platte,  the  Kansas,  the  Arkansas,  the  Red  river  of  the  South,  and 
the  Red  river  of  the  North ;  the  Brazos,  the  Colorado,  and  the 
Rio  Grande  of  Texas  and  New  Mexico ;  the  great  Colorado  of 
the  West  with  its  tributaries,  the  Grand,  Green,  San  Juan  and 
Litde  Colorado,  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  of  California, 
and  the  Gila  of  Arizona,  and  the  numerous  bays  and  estuaries 
of  the  Pacific  and  Gulf  coasts  are  also  teeming  with  the  finny 
tribes.  All  these  lakes,  rivers  and  estuaries  are  now  being 
stocked,  or  have  already  been  supplied  with  thousands  and  mil- 


LIVE-STOCK  L\    A.  D.   1900.  £37 

lions  of  young  fish  of  the  best  kinds  ;  the  larger  lakes  have  the 
lake  trout,  the  land-locked  salmon,  the  white  fish,  the  muske- 
longe,  the  black  bass,  the  grayling,  and  the  smaller  fry ;  the 
streams  are  replenished  with  the  brook  trout,  which,  in  some  of 
them,  attains  a  huge  size,  while  In  the  streams  flowing  into  the 
sea,  the  salmon  is  introduced,  or  its  waste  supplied,  the  shad, 
striped  bass,  w^hite  fish,  Spanish  mackerel,  and  other  fish  equally 
valuable,  but  not  so  well  known,  are  introduced  in  large  num- 
bers. The  result  is  likely  to  be  that  fish  will  be  plentiful  in  all 
parts  of  the  West,  and  at  such  prices  as  to  make  them  in  de- 
mand for  the  food  of  all  classes.  The  fish  product  of  the  Great 
West  in  a.  d.  i  900  will  not  fall  below  ^  1 00,000,000. 

We  turn  next  to  the  live-stock  of  this  vast  region.  In  1870 
the  States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  held,  accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  that  year,  live-stock  of  the  value  of  $347,- 
350,790.  In  the  summer  of  1878  the  numbers  and  value  of  the 
live-stock  of  the  same  region  had  increased  until  it  was  worth, 
at  the  very  low  prices  then  ruling,  ^625,314,521,  which  was 
divided  as  follows:  Horses,  ^^204,753, 432  ;  mules  and  asses, 
5^45,367,560;  milch  cows,  ^92,870,880;  oxen  and  other  cattle, 
^195,237,488;  sheep,  ^39,424,200;  swine,  $47,160,981.  The 
ratio  of  increase  which  had  ruled  from  1875  to  1878,  If  continued 
in  1879  and  1880  (and  it  has  gone  much  beyond  the  average  of 
those  years),  would  give  for  the  value  of  live-stock,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1880,  in  these  States  and  Territories,  $706,518,831  ;  a  lit- 
tle more  than  double  the  value  of  the  live-stock  of  the  same 
region  In  1870.  We  are  warranted  in  believing  that,  owing  to 
*  the  extraordinary  activity  displayed  in  all  parts  of  that  region,  in 
the  rearing  of  horses,  mules,  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats,  and  the 
great  care  taken  to  Improve  the  stock,  as  well  as  the  increased 
attention  paid  to  the  breeding  of  milch  cows,  the  census  of  1890 
will  show  the  value  of  live-stock  to  be  not  less  than  $1,500,000,- 
000,  and  that  of  1900  somewhat  more  than  $3,000,000,000. 
The  greater  part  of  this  increase  will  be  in  the  items  of  horses 
and  mules,  of  milch  cows,  and  of  cattle  for  draught  and  for  sale, 
and  of  sheep.  Swine  will  increase  when  the  population  shall 
increase,  but  their  increase  will  not  be  proportionally  as  rapid  as 
that  of  sheep  or  neat  cattle. 


228  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  what  may  be  the  future  supply  of 
the  products  of  i/ic  forest.  Under  this  head  are  included  all  the 
timber,  spars,  and  lumber  exported  or  consumed  in  our  own 
countr)^  all  railroad  ties  and  track  beams,  all  the  wood  used  for 
fuel  and  for  fencing,  clap-boards,  laths,  shingles,  telegraph 
poles,  hoop-poles,  shooks,  staves,  hogsheads,  and  barrels,  every 
descripdon  of  wooden  ware,  the  wooden  pordon  of  agricultural 
and  other  machines,  house  furniture,  the  wood  used  for  car- 
riages, cars,  wagons,  trucks,  sleighs  and  sleds,  the  consumpdon 
for  spools,  matches,  tooth-picks,  etc.,  etc.,  all  barks  of  trees  or 
shrubs  used  for  tanning  purposes,  the  wood  made  into  paper 
pulp,  all  the  tar,  pitch,  turpentine,  rosin,  and  wood  spirits, 
charcoal,  crude,  pot,  and  pearl  ashes,  and  wood  ashes  generally. 
The  timber  and  lumber  production  alone  was  in  1870,  in  the 
region  west  of  the  Mississippi,  of  the  value  of  nearly  $125,- 
000,000,  and  since  that  time  it  has  enormously  increased.  The 
extensive  forests  of  Northern  Minnesota  have  furnished  logs 
enough  for  the  immense  saw-mills  of  Minneapolis  and  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  to  manufac- 
ture into  timber,  lumber,  shingles,  and  staves  for  its  great  flour- 
ing mills,  and  for  a  wide  region  of  the  Northwest ;  and  Washing- 
ton and  Oregon  have  been  increasing,  to  an  almost  equal  extent, 
their  lumber  production.  The  40,000  miles  of  railway  has 
gathered  up  all  the  available  timber  within  its  reach  for  railway 
ties  and  telegraph  poles,  for  stations,  snow-sheds,  and  signal- 
posts.  The  factories,  which  are  turning  out  so  many  scores  of 
thousands  of  agricultural  machines  and  implements  every  year, 
are  eating  up  the  forest  at  a  fearful  rate  ;  the  furniture  produc- 
tion, though  less  extensive  here  than  in  the  East,  yet  consumes 
year  after  year,  vast  quantities  of  the  harder  woods,  as  well  as 
much  pine  and  cedar.  The  consumption  of  the  forest  trees  for 
fuel  has  been  enormous  and  wasteful.  In  the  mining  regions, 
charcoal  has  been  largely  used  instead  of  mineral  coal  for  smelt- 
ing and  reduction  of  the  metals.  The  production  of  small  articles 
of  wood,  such  as  spools,  matches,  tooth-picks,  nine-pins,  and  of 
paper  pulp,  from  bass  wood,  etc.,  etc.,  has  used  a  far  greater 
amount  than  is  generally  supposed.     Fencing  the  farms  has  also 


PRODUCTS   OF   THE  FOREST  22Q 

required  vast  quantities  of  timber,  and  the  erection  of  log- 
houses,  the  timbering  of  mines,  tunnels,  and  shafts  which 
requires  in  some  sections  all  the  available  timber  for  many  hun- 
dred square  miles  ;  the  erection  of  bridges,  and  the  making  of 
corduroy  roads,  have  added  to  the  consumption  of  the  forest 
till  its  aggregate,  in  any  year  of  the  past  ten,  must  be  enormous. 
The  use  of  the  bark  of  the  hemlocks  and  oaks  for  tanning  pur- 
poses has  not  hitherto  been  as  great  in  the  West  as  in  the  East, 
but  it  is  increasing,  and  unless  it  can  be  supplied  by  the  wattle, 
the  mezquite,  the  sumacs,  or  the  hardbacks,  it  must  prove  very 
largely  destructive  of  timber;  and  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  in 
Louisiana  and  Texas  there  is  a  constantly  increasing  demand 
for  naval  stores,  tar,  pitch,  rosin,  and  turpentine,  which  will  ere 
long  denude  the  mountains  of  the  pine  forests. 

In  all  these  ways  the  products  of  the  forest  annually  con- 
sumed in  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  cannot  have  been 
less  than  ^500,000,000  at  any  fair  valuation,  and  may  have 
greatly  exceeded  that  sum.  Unless  the  planting  of  trees  goes 
on  much  more  rapidly  than  now,  in  the  immediate  future,  and 
some  means  are  found  of  substitutingf  other  materials  for  wood, 
in  many  of  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  now  used;  as  iron  and 
glass  for  buildings ;  glass,  metal,  or  stone  for  railroad  ties ; 
paper  made  from  straw  and  condensed  into  a  hard  wood  for 
furniture  ;  artificial  stone  or  cement  for  supports  of  mines ;  and 
coal  for  fuel  and  smelting  purposes,  the  whole  West  will  be,  by 
the  year  1900,  a  treeless  region  ;  but  before  that  time  comes, 
the  coming  scarcity  of  forest  trees  will  enhance  the  price  of  all 
the  products,  and  even  if  the  consumption  should  be  no  greater 
than  now,  its  money  value  would  not  be  less  than  a  thousand 
million  dollars. 

The  manufacturing  industry  of  this  region  did  not  make  a 
comparatively  large  showing  in  1S70  with  the  Eastern  States, 
Of  the  ^4,232,325,442  of  reported  manufactured  products  for 
the  preceding  year,  only  ^^437, 232,1 17,  a  less  amount,  probably, 
by $60,000,000 or  <i7o,ooo,ooo  than  the  existing  condition  of  manu- 
factures there  warranted,  was  set  down  as  the  production  oi  the 
entire  Western  region,  and  of  this  amount,  nearly  one-half  was  to 


2^o  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  credit  of  Missouri  alone.  At  that  tinie  only  Missouri,  Califor- 
nia, Iowa,  Minnesota,  Kansas  and  Texas  had  manufactures 
exceeding  in  value  ^10,000,000.  The  other  States  and  Terri- 
tories were  new,  and  had  not  yet  emerged  from  their  almost 
wholly  agricultural  condidon.  Nine  years  later,  Minnesota  had 
manufacturing  industries  exceeding  ^75,000,000  in  value;  Kan- 
sas about  $95,000,000;  Iowa  more  than  $100,000,000;  California 
more  than  $150,000,000;  Texas  about  $50,000,000  ;  and  Missouri 
over  $300,000,000.  The  newer  States  and  Territories  were 
wheeling  into  line,  and  in  1879-80  the  total  manufacturing 
interest  of  this  region  was  over  $1,000,000,000. 

In  the  near  future,  the  amount  of  manufacturing  here  will 
exceed  that  in  the  East.  The  water-power,  the  raw  material,  the 
coal,  the  iron,  the  cotton,  the  wool,  flax,  hemp,  jute,  etc.,  the 
wood,  copper,  lead,  zinc,  grain,  paper,  and  paper  stock,  every- 
thing indeed  which  enters  into  the  composition  of  any  kind  of 
manufactured  goods,  is  at  hand.  The  skilled  labor  is  there  also, 
and  if  the  capital  is  not  now,  it  soon  will  be.  It  is  not  a  rash  or 
hap-hazard  prediction,  which  we  make,  when  we  say  that  the 
census  of  a.  d.  1900  (the  twelfth  census)  will  show  that  the  manu- 
factures of  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  exceed  in  annual 
product  $5,000,000,000. 

The  amount  of  the  commerce  of  this  Western  Empire  at 
the  end  of  the  next  twenty  years  is  not  easily  predicted.  The 
number  of  good  seaports  on  the  Pacific  coast  is  not  as  large 
as  on  the  corresponding  extent  of  the  Adantic,  but  a  few  of 
them  are  amonsf  the  best  in  the  world.  On  the  Gulf  coast, 
aside  from  New  Orleans,  which  hardly  belongs  to  our  Western 
Empire,  none  of  the  ports  are  of  the  first-class,  though  several 
are  good  for  all  but  the  largest  vessels.  There  is  also  a  great 
extent  of  river  and  some  lake  navigation.  The  commerce  with 
Eastern  Asia,  with  Australasia,  with  the  Sandwich  Islands,  with 
the  Northwest  Coast,  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  the  west 
coast  of  South  America  is  likely  to  be  gready  increased,  and 
from  the  Gulf  ports,  Europe,  the  Mediterranean,  Northern 
Africa,  India,  and  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America  will  be 
readily  reached. 


SUMMARY  OF  ANNUAL    PRODUCTION.  03 1 

The  Internal  and  interstate  commerce,  by  coast  and  river 
steamers,  and  by  the  numberless  railroads  which  gridiron  the 
whole  region,  will  also  attain  a  magnitude  almost  beyond  our 
conception.  On  the  ocean  and  coast  steamers,  the  river 
steamers,  and  the  railroad  freight  trains,  almost  the  entire  yield 
of  our  mines,  placers  and  quarries,  of  the  farms  and  forest  pro- 
ducts, and  all  the  surplusage  of  live-stock,  as  well  as  the  wool 
and  hides,  and  the  flesh  of  all  the  slaughtered  animals,  all  the 
machinery,  dry-goods,  groceries,  hardware,  drugs,  oils,  etc.,  in- 
tended for  the  consumption  of  50,000,000  of  people,  will  be  car- 
ried. We  dare  not  attempt  to  reckon  up  the  aggregate  of  this 
commerce,  lest  we  should  be  accused  of  oriental  extravagance 
of  statement ;  but  a  summary  of  the  various  items  of  production, 
which  we  have  demonstrated  as  probable  twenty  years  hence, 
will  give  some  idea  of  what  the  outgoing  commerce  of  that 
period  may  be,  and  the  incoming  commercial  receipts  will  be 
very  nearly  as  much  more. 

We  sum  up,  then,  as  follows : 

Mining  Products  and  Quarries  in  a.  d.  1900 $5,000,000,000 

Cereal  Products 4,167,500,000 

Root  Crops,  Textiles,  Market  Garden,  Dairy  Products,  Hay, 

Tobacco,  etc 3,028,500,000 

Fisheries 100,000,000 

Live-Stock 3,000,000,000 

Forest  Products 1,000,000,000 

Manufactures 5,000,000,000 

Grand  Total 321,296,000,000 

Or  more  than  ten  times  our  present  national  debt.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  that  this  is  only  the  valuation  of  the  products  and 
crops  of  a  single  year;  that  it  does  not  include  either  the  value 
of  the  real  or  personal  estate  of  the  50,000,000  who  will  inhabit 
our  Western  Empire  at  that  time. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  population  which,  twenty  years 
hence,  will  fill  this  vast  region  with  life  and  industrial  activity? 
Remember,  it  is  but  twenty  years,  but  little  more  than  half  a  gen- 
eration ;  and  many  of  those  who  are  actively  engaged  in  business 
now  will  be  active  and  useful  then  ;  but  who  that  remembers  the 


232  OL'K     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

year  before  the  civil  war,  and  the  changes  through  which  our 
nation  has  passed  in  twenty  years,  can  fail  to  realize  that  even 
two  decades  may  separate  us  from  an  era,  which  seems  to  belong 
to  the  half-forgotten  past,  and  from  circumstances  which  have 
entirely  changed  our  condition  and  character  as  a  nation. 

There  is  very  little  reason  to  apprehend  either  a  foreign  or  a 
civil  war  within  that  time.  The  magnitude  and  comparative 
isolation  of  our  territory  prevents  our  position  from  being  one 
which  menaces  any  other  great  power;  while  our  resources  are 
ample  to  repel  any  foreign  invasion.  As  to  a  civil  war,  there  are 
now  no  sufficient  causes  to  provoke  it.  While  slavery  existed, 
it  was  a  standing  menace  against  a  free  government.  But,  now, 
there  may  be  temporary  discontent,  on  the  part  of  a  single  State, 
from  some  real  or  imaginary  hardship ;  while  the  great  mass  of 
States  are  so  bound  to  each  other  by  a  multiplicity  of  ties,  finan- 
cial, commercial,  sanitary,  charitable,  literary,  and  religious,  that 
there  can  be  no  fjeneral  movement  which  would  lead  to  a  civil 
war.  Questions  like  that  of  the  disposition  of  the  Indians,  that 
of  the  prohibition  of  polygamy  among  the  Mormons,  and  that 
of  undenominational  public  schools,  may  excite  a  temporary 
ripple  in  the  smooth  sea  of  our  prosperity,  but  the  calm  will  soon 
return.  A  bitter  Presidential  contest  may  produce  excitement 
and  apprehension  for  a  time,  and  some  fear  of  Caesarism  on  one 
hand,  or  of  a  revolutionary  dictatorship  on  the  other;  but  the 
nation  is  too  patriotic  to  sustain  any  attempts  at  unconstitutional 
rule.  Vexed  questions  of  the  rights  of  labor  and  capital,  or  of 
the  right  to  prohibit  the  migration  of  particular  nationalities  to 
our  soil  may  excite  temporary  strife  and  discord,  but  in  the  end 
we  shall  settle  down  upon  the  broad  principles  of  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man  and  the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law. 

It  would  have  been  better  in  some  respects  if  our  male  suffrage 
had  not  been  quite  so  nearly  universal  as  it  is,  but  the  dangers 
apprehended  from  that  source  are  now  very  nearly  obviated. 
Let  us  glance,  then,  at  the  races  and  nationalities  which  will 
probably  make  up  the  50,000,000  to  be  found  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  A.  D.  1900. 

It  may,  we  think,  be  taken  as  a  setded  fact  that  by  the  com- 


PROBABLE  DlVhYDLING    OF  INDIAN  TRIBES.  333 

mencement  of  the  twentieth  century,  the  Indian,  especially  in  his 
nomadic  condition,  will  have  ceased  to  be  a  disturbino-  factor  in 
the  West.  The  tribes  are  diminishing  in  a  very  rapid  ratio.  In 
i860,  there  were  somewhat  more  than  500,000  of  them  within 
the  limits  of  the  United  States.  In  1870,  the  number  had  dwin- 
dled to  383,000.  In  1878,  there  were  but  275,000,  and  the  super- 
visors of  the  census,  in  18S0,  will  hardly  report  more  than  250,- 
000.  At  this  ratio  they  would  be  extinct  by  a.  d.  1900.  This 
is  hardly  probable,  but  they  will  be  so  few  as  to  be  of  very  little 
importance.  There  are  natural  laws  which  would  bring  about 
this  result  in  time,  but  it  must  be  said  that  for  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  present  century  the  policy  of  our  government  has  been  to 
hasten  it.  They  have  been  removed  from  one  district  of  country, 
and  from  one  reservation  to  another,  and  have  been  exposed  to 
the  frauds  of  unscrupulous  traders,  who  have  plied  them  with  the 
vilest  liquors,  and  have  plundered  them  of  all  their  property, 
while,  in  too  many  instances,  the  government  agent  has  stood 
by  and  permitted  the  wrongs,  without  even  protesting  against 
them.  Moreover,  the  government  has  not  observed  its  treaty 
provisions,  and  the  Indian,  learning  only  the  worst  vices  of  civil- 
ization, has  come  to  his  death,  either  by  vice,  disease,  or  murder 
inflicted  by  the  whites. 

While  we  write,  a  treaty  has  been  negotiated  which  will,  very 
soon  we  hope,  put  an  end  to  the  system  of  large  reservations 
and  give  to  the  Indians  about  480  acres  of  land  per  family  in 
severalty,  and  pay  them  an  annuity,  while  the  remainder  of  their 
reservations  is  to  be  put  upon  the  market.  This  plan,  just 
adopted  on  the  great  reservation  of  the  Utes  in  Colorado,  by 
which  more  than  1 1,000,000  acres  of  their  lands  are  to  be  offered 
for  sale,  will  undoubtedly  be  followed  by  similar  action  in  regard 
to  the  great  reservations  in  Dakota,  Wyoming,  Montana,  Utah, 
Idaho,  Oregon,  Washington,  Nevada,  California,  and  perhaps 
Arizona,  and  the  Indian  Territory.  The  measure  is,  in  itself,  a 
jjood  one,  but  to  be  of  much  benefit  to  the  Indians  it  should  have 
been  adopted  years  ago.  The  diminution  and  final  extinction 
of  the  Indian  races  will  not  be  materially  delayed  by  it. 

We  may  safely  predict^  that  with  the  exception  of  the  Indian 


234 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Territory,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  possibly  Idaho, 
Montana,  W^ashington  and  Dakota,  the  Indian  will,  by  a,  d.  1900, 
have  ceased  to  be  an  appreciable  element  of  the  population,  and 
even  in  these  Territories,  except  possibly  the  Indian  Territory, 
their  numbers  will  be  so  small  as  to  excite  no  alarm,  and  lead  to 
no  difficulties.  Nearly  200,000,000  acres  of  land,  some  of  it 
excellent  farming  land,  and  perhaps  more  containing  valuable 
mineral  deposits,  will  thus  be  thrown  upon  the  market. 

The  colored  race,  which  in  1870  numbered  in  all  the  States 
and  Territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  less  than  900,000,  or 
only  about  one-sixth  of  the  whole  number  in  the  United  States, 
has  since  that  time  increased  largely  by  immigration ;  and 
probably  at  the  census  of  the  present  year  will  show  1,400,000 
or  1,500,060  in  that  region.  The  natural  increase  in  this  race 
is  not  likely  to  be  large,  for  in  time  they  too  will  become  extinct, 
under  the  pressure  of  a  higher  civilization,  but  the  accessions  from 
the  East  will  continue  for  some  years  to  come.  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  whether  there  will  be  more  than  3,000,000  or  3,500,000 
in  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  in  a.  d.  1900. 

The  Mexican  races,  whether  Hispano-American  or  pure 
Indian,  fail  to  hold  their  own  by  the  side  of  our  more  robust 
civilizadon.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  both  for  our  sakes  and  theirs,  that 
the  mania  for  annexation  may  not  seize  our  people  before  that 
time,  and  Mexico  be  brought  into  the  Union,  either  peacefully  or 
by  force — for  our  sakes,  because  we  have  already  a  sufficient 
territory,  and  the  accession  of  a  weak  nation  almost  wholly 
uneducated,  and  speaking  another  language  than  ours,  would 
degrade  rather  than  improve  our  nadonal  character ;  and  for 
theirs,  because  they  would  inevitably  be  placed  in  an  inferior 
posidon,  and  might  be  goaded  to  a  resistance  which  would  prove 
fatal  to  them.  But,  for  the  Mexicans  who  are  residincr  in  the 
Great  West,  we  can  predict  no  considerable  accessions,  except 
from  immigration.  They  are  not  aggressive,  and  taking  an 
inferior's  position,  they  will  be  likely  to  be  kept  there. 

The  Chinese  and  Japanese  are  likely  to  be  exceptions  to  the 
general  law  in  regard  to  weaker  races.  The  immigradon  of  the 
Chinese  hitherto  has  been,  with  but  few  exceptions,  of  the  coolie  or 


CHINESE  AND    OTHER   NATIONALITIES.  2'1< 

peasant  class.  When  a  better  class  come,  bringing  their  families, 
such  a  tide  of  immigration  will  pour  in  upon  the  Pacific  coast,  as 
will  materially  change  the  situation  of  affairs  there,  though  not 
necessarily  for  the  worse.  The  better  classes  in  China  are  by  no 
means  barbarians,  but  people  of  as  much  refinement  and  delicacy 
of  manner  as  can  be  found  anywhere,  and  in  morals  vastly  the 
superiors  of  their  persecutors  in  California. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  wherever  the  Chinese  have 
emigrated  in  considerable  numbers,  they  have  always  in  the  end 
become  the  masters  of  the  country,  however  intelligent  and 
physically  vigorous  and  powerful  the  natives  might  be.  This  has 
been  the  result  at  Singapore,  at  Saigon,  at  Bangkok,  and  in 
other  parts  of  Malaysia.  They  can,  if  they  choose,  plant 
50,000,000  of  Chinese  colonists  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  the 
interior,  within  the  next  twenty  years  ;  but  that  will  hardly  be 
their  policy.  If  they  obtain  a  foothold  they  will  become  largely 
engaged  in  commercial  transactions,  in  which  they  possess  great 
skill,  and  the  peasant  class  will  be  in  demand  for  both  skilled 
and  unskilled  labor.  We  regard  it  as  altogether  probable  that 
the  census  of  1900  will  report  not  less  than  10,000,000  of  them 
west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Of  the  emigrants  from  Europe,  it  is  probable  that  the  nation- 
alities will  prevail  in  about  the  following  order :  Germans,  Irish, 
Scandinavians,  English,  Scotch  and  Welch,  Italians,  Russians, 
Canadian  French,  French,  Swiss,  Spanish,  Belgians  and  Hol- 
landers. There  will  also  be  a  considerable  number  of  emigrants 
from  the  West  Indies,  and  from  South  America.  But  the  larger 
proportion  of  immigrants  will  be  from  the  States  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  not  a  few  of  them  originally  European  emigrants, 
who  are  now  drifting  westward ;  others,  the  children  of  such 
emigrants,  but  a  fair  proportion  of  the  genuine  Yankee  stock, 
drawn  thither  to  become  farmers,  mine-owners,  stock-raisers, 
sheep-masters,  or  manufacturers.  \^ery  many  of  our  best 
citizens  are  among  these  settlers  in  the  Great  West,  and  they 
will  do  good  service  in  making  it  and  keeping  it  patriotic,  loyal 
and  pure. 

The  future  of  this  Western  Empire  is  to  be  what  its  citizens 


236  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

shall  make  it.  With  all  the  advantages  of  mineral  wealth  vastly 
surpassing  that  of  Ormuzd  or  of  Ind  ;  with  a  soil  of  such  extent 
and  fertility,  that  it  could  supply  the  world  with  bread,  with  flocks 
and  herds  beyond  the  dream  of  the  most  opulent  of  the 
patriarchs  of  the  East,  and  all  the  elements  of  material  prosperity 
in  such  abundance  as  to  defy  description,  if  its  citizens  are 
industrious,  enterprising,  intelligent,  moral,  law-abiding,  God- 
fearine  men  and  women,  there  is  in  reserve  for  it  a  future  which 
not  all  the  dreams  of  the  poets,  or  the  rapt  vision  of  the  seers, 
can  describe  in  too  glowing  colors — a  future  which  shall  make 
the  ancient  Paradise  a  modern  reality,  and  cause  men  to  flock 
thither,  as  to  a  new  Eden. 

But  if  industry  and  enterprise  are  lacking,  if  morals  are 
debased,  and  intelligence  wanes ;  if  reverence  for  law  and 
order  is  lost,  and  there  comes  a  time  when  they  do  not  fear  God 
and  keep  His  commandments ;  if  pride,  self-confidence,  and 
fullness  of  bread,  lead  to  all  the  vices  which  ruined  the  empires 
of  the  Old  World ;  all  this  material  wealth  and  prosperity,  all 
these  advantages  of  situation  and  production,  will  only  make 
its  downfall  the  more  sudden  and  terrible.  And  its  swift  de- 
struction will  call  forth  a  wail  of  anguish  from  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  as  much  deeper  and  more  distressing,  as  its  position 
had  been  grander  and  more  imposing,  than  that  of  any  of  the 
older  empires.  Which  shall  it  be  ?  a  government  of  the  people, 
for  the  people,  by  the  people ;  a  government  firm  and  persistent 
for  liberty  and  law,  for  freedom,  justice,  and  right,  between  man 
■and  his  fellow-man,  and  between  man  and  his  Creator  ?  or  a 
government  without  law,  without  justice,  without  purity,  without 
right,  and  without  order ; — an  anarchy,  where  men's  evil  pas- 
sions and  corrupt  practices,  all  the  arts  of  the  demagogue,  all 
the  schemes  of  the  hypocrite,  and  all  the  vices  of  the  debauchee 
are  allowed  to  destroy  the  nation,  without  check  or  restraint  ? 

Rome  and  Greece,  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  Corinth  and 
Ephesus,  the  most  powerful  empires  and  cities  of  their  times, 
owed  their  ruin  to  this  uncontrolled  spirit  of  license  and  mis- 
rule, and  in  modern  times,  we  have  seen  powerful  nations 
brought  to  the  verije  of  destruction  from  the  same  causes.  Let 
us  heed  the  warning  while  there  is  time. 


PART  11. 

IMMIGRATION. 

Who  Should  Go,  and  Why?     The  How,  When  and  Where  of 

Emigration  to  the  Far  West. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Who  Should  Migrate  to  this  Western  Empire,  and  the  Reasons  Why- 
Desirableness  OF  Accurate  Information  —  Intentional  and  Unin- 
tentional Misrepresentation — Who  should  not  com# — The  Land- 
Grant  Railway  Companies,  and  the  Emigration  Societies — Age  Beyond 
which  Emigration  is  Undesirable  —  Other  Obstacles — Amount  of 
Capital  Necessary — This  varies  avith  the  Occupation — What  are 
Necessary  Expenses — Why  some  Emigrants  are  Dissatisfied. 

"Are  you  thinking  of  emigrating  to  that  *  Far  West '  in 
America,  about  which  we  hear  so  much  lately?"  asks  one  neigh- 
bor of  another  in  England,  in  the  winter  of  1 8  79-1 880.  "  Yes," 
is  the  reply.  "  I  am  thinking  of  it  very  seriously,  but  I  find  it 
hard  to  come  to  a  decision.  All  my  acquaintance  are  here ;  I 
feel  strongly  attached  to  the  country  and  place  in  which  I  was 
born  and  reared,  where  I  found  my  good  wife,  and  where  my 
little  ones  were  born.  England  is  very  dear  to  me ;  and  yet  I 
cannot  buy  an  acre,  no,  nor  a  rood  of  ground,  even  to  be 
buried  in  ;  I  must  be  a  tenant  all  my  life,  and  liable  to  be  evicted 
at  the  landlord's  pleasure.  I  had,  in  past  years,  laid  up  a  litde 
money,  but  it  is  fast  going,  in  these  past  three  years  of  bad 
crops,  low  prices,  and  poor  markets,  and  yet  I  am  paying  five 
pound  rent  per  acre  for  my  place.  Then  again,  my  children 
cannot  get  on  here,  and  as  I  belong  to  the  Methodists,   they  can 

have  no  chance  unless  they  go  to  the  church,  which  I  don't  like 

(237) 


238  0^'^     U'ESl^EKiV   EMPIRE. 

to  have  them  do.  Now,  I  am  told  that  I  can  take  up  a  farm  of 
160  acres  in  that  western  country,  under  what  they  cah  the 
Homestead  Act,  for  less  money  than  I  pay  rent  for  one  acre 
here,  and  excellent  land  too,  and  that  in  five  years'  time  I  can 
have  as  good  a  farm  as  this — yes,  and  better — all  my  own,  and 
a  steady  income  of  ^500  or  ^600  a  year,  and  good  schools 
and  churches,  all  convenient.  When  I  consider  all  these  things 
I  think  I  must  go,  though  it  will  be  a  sore  thing  to  leave  dear 
old  England.  How  I  wish  now,  that  I  had  some  book,  or  some- 
body that  I  knew  wouldn't  deceive  me,  to  tell  me  all  about 
the  country,  just  as  it  is,  and  enable  me  to  decide  what  I  ought 
to  do." 

There  are  many  thousands  not  only  in  England,  but  in  Ireland 
and  Scotland,  Germany,  Sweden  and  Norway,  in  Austria  and 
Russia,  in  Italy  and  France,  who  are  asking  themselves  and 
others  the  question,  whether  it  is  not  best  to  emigrate  to  this  far- 
off  western'Sand,  and  thus  escape  from  evils,  discomforts,  and 
oppressions  of  all  sorts,  which  have  become  well-nigh  intolerable. 
And  there  are  scores  of  thousands  more  in  our  own  country, 
vv^ho,  from  one  cause  or  another,  are  revolving  the  same  ques- 
tion in  their  own  minds,  and  are  sincerely  desirous  of  light  in 
reofard  to  it. 

To  all  such  honest  inquirers,  we  propose  to  give  the  informa- 
tion which  they  seek,  and  we  beg  leave  to  assure  them  at  the 
start,  that  we  have  no  object  in  view,  except  their  benefit.  We 
have  no  interest  in  any  railroad,  land  grant,  colony,  mining, 
farming,  stock-raising,  or  wool-grov/ing  company  or  organiza- 
tion west  of  the  Mississippi  river;  we  do  not  own  a  square 
foot  of  land  west  of  that  river,  and  do  not  expect  to  do  so ;  but 
we  know  the  country,  its  advantages  and  disadvantages,  and  we 
propose  to  state  these  honestly  and  fairly.  We  could  obtain  the 
indorsement  of  all  the  governors,  senators,  and  representatives 
of  that  entire  region,  to  the  truthfulness  and  fairness  of  our 
book,  if  It  were  needful ;  but  we  think  that  every  one  who  will 
read  It  will  be  satisfied  for  themselves  that  it  is  an  honest 
and  trustworthy  book. 

Having  thus  avouched  the  honesty  of  our  purpose,  and  the 


HORRORS    OF    THE    OLD   EMIGRATION.  239 

knowledge  of  the  subject  which  we  possess,  we  will  proceed  to 
answer  the  very  important  questions,  Who  should  emigrate,  and 
why  ?  The  emigration  societies,  the  railroad  companies,  and  the 
steamship  agents,  would  answer  the  question  very  promptly,  by 
saying,  "  Every  one  who  has  the  means  to  reach  the  West 
should  go ;"  and  they  would  be  greatly  in  the  wrong,  and  if 
they  were  believed,  would  do  much  wrong  to  emigrants  by  such 
an  answer. 

No !  not  every  one  who  has  the  means  to  reach  there  should 
go;  not  even  every  one  who  has  from  ^i,ooo  to  ^10,000  to 
invest,  after  reaching  the  country.  The  question,  "  Who  should 
go  ?  "  requires  a  previous  consideration  of  many  other  questions 
before  it  can  be  rightly  answered.  There  are  always  many  hard- 
ships attending  emigration ;  not  so  many  now  as  there  were  in 
former  days,  when  the  European  emigrant  took  passage  across 
the  Atlantic  in  the  steerage  of  a  sailing  packet,  and  was  tossed 
on  the  waves,  with  but  scant  fare  and  horrible  accommodations, 
for  from  thirty  to  sixty,  or  seventy-five  days,  and  landing  at 
the  end  of  his  tedious  voyage,  at  New  York,  found  himself  the 
prey  of  the  landsharks  and  confidence  men,  who  swarmed  around 
him.  He  was  very  fortunate,  if  he  succeeded  in  making  his  way 
by  barge  and  canal  boat  to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by  other  sailing 
vessels  to  distant  Ohio,  Indiana,  or  Illinois,  and  amid  the  forests, 
or  the  wide  treeless  plains,  shaken  by  chills  and  fever,  reared  his 
rude  log-hut,  and  set  out  resolutely  to  make  a  home  and  a  for- 
tune for  his  family.  That  is  not  so  very  long  ago  either.  Forty 
or  fifty  years  ago,  the  emigrant  had  to  take  all  these  hardships 
into  the  account,  if  he  would  make  his  home  in  the  West.  It  is 
not  thirty-five  years,  hardly  more  than  thirty,  since  those  who 
sought  homes  beyond  the  Mississippi  were  obliged  to  go  with 
their  huge  wagons — "prairie  schooners"  they  were  called — 
drawn  by  five,  eight,  or  even  twelve  yoke  of  oxen,  carrying  with 
them  their  entire  household  goods,  and  travelling  for  many 
weeks,  eight  or  ten  miles  a  day,  before  reaching  their  new 
homes. 

When  we  compare  the  present  facilities  of  travel  and  settle- 
ment with  the  hard  lot  of  these  pioneers  of  civilization,  and  the 


240  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Speed  and  safety  widi  which  our  emigrants  reach  their  desired 
location,  and  the  perils  and  dangers  from  Indians,  from  storms 
and  snows,  from  hunger  and  thirst,  from  the  giving  out  of  their 
cattle,  or  the  prairie  fires — perils  which  marked  the  whole  trail 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  with  the  skeletons  of  their 
cattle,  and,  not  so  rarely  as  could  have  been  wished  with  human 
bones  also — with  the  present  freedom  from  these  dangers  and 
miseries,  we  are  almost  inclined  to  declare  that  there  are  now 
no  hardships  for  emigrants  to  face.  This,  however,  would  not  be 
quite  true.  To  the  emigrant  from  Europe,  the  ten  or  twelve  . 
days'  passage  in  the  steerage  of  these  magnificent  ocean  steam- 
ships, though  a  vast  improvement  on  the  old  sailing  vessels,  is 
not  quite  an  "earthly  paradise,"  as  indeed  it  could  not  well  be. 
Most  of  these  steamship  lines,  also,  are  in  some  way  connected 
with  some  one  or  more  of  the  emigration  companies,  which,  in 
turn,  have  their  arrangements  with  some  of  the  great  railway 
companies,  and  are  under  obligations  to  send  their  emigrants  to 
particular  sections  of  country,  where  their  lands  are  situated. 
Of  course,  these  emigration  companies  and  railroad  agents  extol 
their  particular  section  in  the  highest  terms,  and  cannot  say  any- 
thing too  strong  in  disparagement  of  every  other  region.  They 
have  no  intention,  probably,  of  misrepresenting  either  their  own 
lands,  or  the  lands  in  other  States  or  Territories;  but  human 
nature  must  be  differently  constituted  from  what  it  now  is,  if  the 
emigrant  does  not  find  that  some  things  have  been  overstated, 
and  that  the  advantages  of  other  localities  have  been  unduly 
depreciated. 

There  are  two  remedies  for  this  difficulty :  one,  that  the  emi- 
grant should  inform  himself  thoroughly  before  making  arrange- 
ments to  come  to  this  country,  what  will  be  the  best  location  for 
him,  taking  into  consideration  climate,  chances  of  employment, 
accessibility  to  good  markets,  prices  of  land,  condidon  of  society, 
advantages  of  education,  etc.,  etc.  His  sources  of  information 
must  be  free  from  all  temptation  to  misrepresentation  and  self- 
interest,  and  they  must  be  from  parties  who  are  fully  informed  of 
the.  presejtt  condition  of  affairs  there,  for  so  rapid  are  the  changes 
which  are  taking  place  in  this  Great  West,  that  statements  which 


PJ^ESEiVT  HARDSHIPS   OF  EMIGRA  TION. 


241 


were  perfectly  true  two  years  ago,  are  now  very  far  from  the 
truth.  It  has  been  our  sole  object  in  the  preparation  of  this  work, 
to  make  it  as  perfect  a  guide  to  the  emigrant  as  it  could  be  made, 
one  which  should  be  in  every  respect  impartial,  and  have  no 
interest  except  that  of  the  emigrant  to  serve.  If  the  intending 
emigrant  will. study  such  a  book  faithfully,  he  will  find  no  diffi- 
culty in  determining  what  is  the  best  locality  for  him,  and  then 
can  make  his  arrangements  with  that  steamship  or  emigration 
company,  which  will  take  him  directly  to  his  desired  location  ;  but 
he  should  be  careful  to  make  no  contract,  binding  him  to  pur- 
chase land  of  any  emigration  company  till  he  has  seen  it  for  him- 
self. He  can,  of  course,  procure  his  tickets  and  transportation 
at  a  considerable  reduction,  if  he  takes  his  land  from  the  emi-  . 
gration  company,  but  the  extra  cost  of  this  will  much  more  than 
make  up  the  difference,  if  the  land  they  allot  to  him  should  prove 
undesirable  from  any  cause.  ' 

The  other  way  of  avoiding  the  difficulty  is  this :  the  emigrant, 
having  by  inquiry  and  study  come  to  a  conclusion  as  to  the  best 
location  for  him,  takes  passage  on  a  steamer  for  New  York  or 
New  Orleans,  and  thence  by  rail  to  the  point  where  he  desires 
to  settle,  leaving  his  family,  if  he  has  one,  behind  him,  till  he  can 
provide  a  home  for  them.  This  will  cost  him  more  than  to  buy 
his  ticket  from  the  emigration  company,  but  if  he  wants  a  farm,, 
he  can  take  up  his  land  under  the  Homestead  or  Timber-Cul- 
ture Acts,  or  pre-empt  it,  and  the  cost  under  either  of  the  former 
plans  will  not  exceed  ^25  for  160  acres,  and  under  the  latter  not 
over  $1.25  per  acre  with  thirty  months  to  pay  for  it,  while  diat 
must  be  very  poor  land  which  he  can  get  from  the  emigration 
company  at  anything  less  than  $5  per  acre.  As  soon  as,  he' is 
able  he  can  send  for  his  family,  and  buying  the  ticket  here  it  will 
cost  him  no  more  than  if  he  had  bought  it  of  the  emigration 
company.  But,  in  whatever  way  the  emigrant  secures  his  land, 
there  are  still  hardships  ;  his  first  home  will  be  in  all  probabilit}' 
a  log-cabin,  an  adobe,=-"=  or  a  sod-house.  If  he  purchases  in  the 
northern,  or  even  the  central  tier  of  States  or  Territories,,  the 
deep  snows,  and  the  consequent  embargo  on  travel^  will  annoy 

*  A  house  huilt  of  sun-dried  bricks  or  of  cl.iy  mortar. 
16 


24- 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


and  distress  him,  as  being  so  different  from  all  his  past  experi- 
ence. The  climate,  too,  may,  very  possibly,  affect  his  health  at 
first ;  an  unusual  languor  and  listlessness  may  oppress  him,  the 
effect  of  his  acclimatization.  There  will  be  times  when  he  feels 
as  if  he  must  go  back  to  his  European  home ;  as  if  he  could  not 
endure  life  in  a  region  where  everything  is  so  different  from  the 
home  of  his  childhood.  But  if  he  is  brave  and  resolute  these 
feelings  will  soon  pass  away,  and  when  his  first  crop  is  harvested 
and  sold,  he  will  look  forward  hopefully  to  a  better  future  than 
he  could  have  had  at  home. 

In  general  we  may  lay  down  these  rules  in  regard  to  immi- 


ofration 


1.  Age.  A  man  who  has  his  fortune  to  make,  or  a  family  to 
support,  should  not  emigrate  from  Europe  to  the  West,  after 
he  has  passed  his  forty-fifth  year.  There  may  be  a  few  excep- 
tions to  this,  but  they  are  very  few.  After  a  man  has  reached 
his  forty-fifth  year,  he  finds  it  far  more  difficult  to  change  all  his 
habits  and  modes  of  life  and  thought,  than  when  he  was  younger. 
If  he  is  a  farmer,  stock-raiser,  or  sheep-master,  or  has  been  a 
foreman  or  manager  in  either  of  these  callings,  he  will  find  that 
it  is  necessary  to  learn  all  his  business  anew,  from  the  difference 
in  soil,  climate,  and  ways  of  doing  business.  A  capitalist  who 
has  money  to  invest  in  these  or  any  other  kinds  of  business,  can 
come  and  make  his  investments  at  any  age,  when  he  is  able  to 
travel,  and  examine  the  property  for  himself;  but  we  are  not 
making  a  book  for  capitalists,  but  for  workingmen. 

2.  As  a  general  rule  an  invalid,  or  a  person  in  feeble  health, 
will  not  find  it  advisable  to  come  to  the  West  to  become  a  per- 
manent resident,  unless  he  has  sufficient  property  to  insure  his 
support.  Some  do  migrate  under  these  circumstances,  espe- 
cially those  whose  lungs  are  affected,  and  in  Minnesota,  Dakota, 
Montana,  Colorado,  Southern  California,  New  Mexico,  Utah,  or 
Washington  Territory,  find  positive  benefit ;  while  Arkansas, 
Texas  and  Arizona  have  a  good  reputation  for  rheumatic  affec- 
tions. But,  in  either  disease,  the  beneficial  result  is  contingent 
upon  a  permanent  residence  there.  To  come  away,  even  after 
several  years,  ig,  in  most  cases,  certain  to  prove  fatal;  while  a 


WHO   SHOULD  NOT  COME.  243 

majority  of  those  who  go  to  these  States  and  Territories  for 
their  health,  after  a  brief  and  temporary  improvement,  suddenly 
become  worse  and  die  of  the  disease.  The  invalid,  if  he  will 
come,  should  not  stay  in  the  larger  towns  but  resort  to  the  hills, 
where  an  open-air  life  is  possible. 

3.  No  man  should  come  who  is  averse  to  work,  or  who  ex- 
pects, by  coming,  to  lead  an  easier  life,  for  some  years  at  least, 
than  he  is  leading  at  home.  Since  the  primeval  sentence  at  the 
expulsion  from  Eden,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat 
bread,  until  thou  return  unto  the  ground,"  there  has  been  no 
reprieve  from  toil,  of  hand  or  brain,  and  there  will  not  be,  till  the 
lost  Eden  returns,  which  will  not  be  in  our  day.  Industry  will 
reap  a  better  reward  here  than  elsewhere,  and  the  honest  toiler 
may  hope,  in  the  later  years  of  life,  to  enjoy  a  competence ;  but 
it  can  only  be  procured  by  hard  and  wearisome  labor. 

4.  No  man  should  come  whose  temper  is  fickle,  and  who  will 
give  way  at  the  first  rebuff  and  become  discouraged,  despondent 
and  home-sick.  The  persevering,  earnest,  and  sanguine  worker, 
who  grows  stronger  under  defeats  and  discouragements,  who 
will  not  give  up,  is  the  man  to  succeed. 

5.  No  man  can  come  with  much  hope  of  success,  unless  he 
has  a  little  capital  beyond  what  is  necessary  to  bring  him  to  the 
West.  This  is  particularly  true  of  a  man  who  has  a  family.  If 
he  brings  his  family  with  him,  which  it  is  not  always  wise  to  do 
at  first,  they  must  have  something  to  live  upon  till  he  can  receive 
some  return  for  his  labor ;  and  he  will  need  money  to  purchase 
his  land,  break  it  up,  sow  it,  cultivate  it,  and  reap  the  harvest. 
If  he  attempts  to  raise  stock,  or  to  keep  sheep,  still  more  capital 
will  be  wanted ;  if  he  starts  a  market-garden,  a  nursery,  or  raises 
flowers  for  profit,  he  must  still  have  some  capital  to  start  with ; 
if  he  is  a  mechanic  or  a  tradesman,  he  cannot  start  without  some 
capital.  How  much  he  must  have  will  depend  very  much  on 
what  he  proposes  to  do ;  for  what  would  be  sufficient  for  a 
mechanic  or  a  market-gardener,  might  be  too  little  for  a  farmer, 
a  stock-raiser,  or  a  tradesman. 

The  safe  rule  will  be,  as  much  as  the  emigrant  can  command  ; 
but  in  no  case  less  than  $500  after  the  travelling  expenses  are 


244  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

paid ;  and  for  a  farmer,  stock-raiser,  sheep-master,  miner,  or 
tradesman,  not  less  than  5i>ooo,  and  as  much  more  as  he  can 
honestly  command. 

If  the  man  has  a  family,  these  sums  should  be  doubled,  "  But," 
asks  the  intending  emigrant,  "  isn't  it  possible  to  go  to  the  West 
and  setde  down  with  less  money  than  this?  With  the  utmost 
economy  1  have  not  been  able  to  save  but  ^loo  in  ten  years, 
and  it  will  take  at  least  ^25  of  it  to  pay  the  passage  and  trans- 
portation for  myself  and  family.  Must  I  be  cut  off  from  all  hope 
of  realizing  the  object  for  which  I  have  been  saving  and  working 
so  long?" 

No,  friend ;  hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast,  so  you 
need  not  give  over  hoping ;  but  as  to  the  emigrating,  you  have 
just  a  choice  of  two  alternatives  :  either  to  postpone  your  emigra- 
tion for  two,  three,  or  five  years,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  make 

'up  the  amount  you  need — a  somewhat  doubtful  expedient  in  the 
present  depressed  condition  of  the  markets  and  failure  of  the 
crops;  or,  leaving  with  your  family,  say  ^75  of  the  ^100,  take 
the  rest  and  go  alone  to  the  West,  and  seeking  employment  as  a 
farm-hand,  or  herder,  or  shepherd,  or  miner,  secure  as  soon  as 
possible  a  homestead  farm  of  So  or  1 60  acres,  on  which  the  only 
payments  will  be  from  fourteen  to  twenty-five  dollars  (^2  i6s.  to 
;^5)  ;  get  twenty  acres  of  it  broken  up  by  changing  works,  and 
have  it  planted  to  root  crops,  or  sown  with  wheat ;  by  the 
second  year  a  sod-house  can  be  built  and  a  crop  raised,  which 
will  not  only  pay  for  further  improvements,  but  leave  ^20  or 
£2^  to  be  sent  to  the  family  at  home.  At  the  end  of  four 
or  five  years,  with  good  management,  you  can  send  for  them, 
and  welcome  them  to  a  home,  humble  and  rude  indeed,  but 
your  own,  and  with  a  fair  prospect  of  improving  your  condi- 
tion rapidly.  We  recommend  the  latter  alternative,  because 
homestead  lands,  in  desirable  locations,  are  becoming  daily  more 
scarce,  and  in  two  or  three  years  may  not  be  obtainable  at  all. 

•But  to  come  with  a  family,  with  too  small  a  sum  to  sustain  them, 
and  make  the  necessary  outlay  for  the  scanty  comforts  of  the 
pioneer,  until  you  can  receive  a  return  from  your  crops,  is  to 
expose  yourself  and  them  to  severe  suffering,  and,  perhaps,  to 


THE  DISSATISFIED    EMIGRANT.  245 

premature  death.  Farther  on  we  propose  to  show  what  can  be 
done  with  ^i,ooo  by  a  careful  and  intelHgent  emigrant. 

6.  It  is  unwise  for  aged  people  to  come,  even  if  it  is  with  their 
young  and  robust  children.  The  hardships  of  the  pioneer  life 
fall  with  peculiar  severity  upon  the  aged ;  they  miss  the  little 
comforts  and  privileges  to  which  they  have  been  for  many  years 
accustomed ;  and  the  fatigues  and  exposures  they  must  undergo 
very  often  shorten  their  days,  without  adding  to  their  happiness. 

It  is  because  these  precautions  have  not  been  heeded,  because 
so  many  emigrants  have  come  without  more  means  than  were 
just  sufficient  to  carry  them  to  their  destination,  firmly  believing 
that  they  could  pick  up  money  in  the  streets,  or  that  they  could 
obtain  employment  which  would  be  immediately  remunerative, 
that  there  are  so  many  disappointed  and  homesick  emigrants  in 
the  country.  Without  employment,  without  money  or  food,  sick 
from  the  long  voyage  and  journey,  from  the  change  of  climate 
and  water,  or  possibly  from  some  malarious  influences  to  which 
they  have  been  exposed,  they  are  indeed  in  a  pitiable  condition  ; 
and  though  the  kind  hand  is  almost  invariably  stretched  out  to 
help  them  (for  the  western  people  are  full  of  kindness  and 
charity)  they  often  become  so  utterly  wretched  as  to  be  unmindful 
of  the  kindnesses  they  have  received ;  and  even  when  they  have 
been  helped  to  return  to  their  old  homes,  they  will  often  denounce 
the  country  and  those  who  have  aided  them  in  the  strongest 
terms,  when  the  fault  has  only  been  with  themselves,  that  they 
came  hither  so  entirely  unprepared  for  their  new  life  on  the 
frontier.  The  prudent,  energetic  emigrant  who  comes  expecting 
hardships,  but  prepared  to  meet  them,  who  does  not  expect  others 
to  do  for  him  what  he  can  do  for  himself,  and  who  recognizes  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  his  own  support  and  that  of  his  family 
until  he  can  receive  returns  for  his  labor,  will  encounter  some 
hardships,  but  he  will  rejoice  in  triumphing  over  them,  and  very 
soon  will  be  in  a  position  to  help  others. 

The  emigration  societies  and  the  land-grant  railroads,  though 
they  make  such  a  fair  showing,  and  paint  in  such  glowing  colors 
the  prosperity  of  the  emigrants  who.  have  come  out  under  their 
auspices,  cannot  guarantee  success  to  those  emigrants  who  have 


246 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


no  disposition  to  help  themselves.  The  railroad  companies  and 
the  emierration  societies  also  qrive  the  emiqfrant  from  six  to  eleven 
years  to  pay  for  their  land,  but  the  price  is  high,  and  the  interest 
at  from  seven  to  ten  per  cent,  adds  materially  to  the  price,  while 
the  first  payment  conies  hard  on  a  man  who  has  little  or  no 
money,  and  his  title  is  not  complete  till  he  has  paid  for  the  land, 
while  a  default  in  payment  works  a  forfeiture  of  his  farm,  and 
the  loss  of  most  of  what  he  has  paid.  Meanwhile,  if  he  has  no 
money,  how  is  he  and  how  is  his  family,  if  he  has  one,  to  be  fed 
before  he  can  raise  a  crop,  or  earn  money  for  immediate  support? 
Neither  the  emigration  society  nor  the  railroad  company  can  or 
will  support  him.  He  would  have  done  better  to  have  gone  to 
work  for  any  one  who  would  give  him  his  board  and  even  mod- 
erate wages,  and  if  he  could  secure  a  farm  under  the  Homestead 
or  Timber-Culture  Act,  he  would  at  least  have  no  heavy  debt  to 
weigh  him  down,  and  no  ground  of  anxiety  about  his  own  food 
and  raiment. 

No  industrious,  willing,  able-bodied  man  need  starve  if  he 
reaches  the  West  alone,  with  but  a  dollar  in  his  pocket,  but  he 
will  riiOt  accumulate  property  so  rapidly  as  if  he  had  a  little  to 
start  with.  John  Jacob  Astor,  the  founder  of  the  Astor  family, 
once  said,  that  the  only  difficulty  he  had  in  accumulating  his  vast 
estate  was  in  earnino-  the  first  thousand  dollars. 

We  have  purposely  presented  the  dark  side  of  the  picture  to 
emigrants,  because  they  need  to  know  the  worst  as  well  as  the 
best.  The  rosy  and  pleasant  side  is  presented  to  them  every 
day,  and  they  are  tempted  to  believe  that  there  are  no  shadows 
till  they  come  into  the  actual  experience  of  them,  and  then  they 
find  them  so  dark  and  gloomy  that  they  are  ready  to  recoil  from 
them,  and  say,  "  If  we  had  only  known,  we  would  not  have 
come." 

But  the  emigrant  who  goes  to  the  West  with  small  means 
should  know  beforehand  that  there  are  awaiting  him  and  his 
family,  if  he  has  one,  exposures  to  severe  cold  and  intense  heat; 
hard  beds,  perhaps  of  pine  or  spruce  boughs,  or  dried  leaves 
on  the  ground  ;  scanty  food  at  times,  with  hunger  for  his  only 
sauce  ;  poor  cooking,  from  the  want  of  proper  utensils  ;  clothing 


THE   HARDSHIPS   OF  THE   EMIGRANT.  247 

which  he  would  have  disdained  at  his  old  home ;  a  lack  of  all 
the  conveniences  of  life  ;  very  possibly  at  first  no  schools,  no 
church,  no  post-office  within  twenty  or  thirty  miles ;  a  house  of 
one  or  two  rooms  built  of  sods  or  of  logs,  with  a  floor  of  earth, 
and  upon  this  humble  house,  perhaps  the  summer's  sun  beats 
fiercely,  and  the  winter's  snows  may  bury  it  out  of  sight.  But 
he  should  know  also  that  these  privations  and  discomforts  will 
be  but  temporary;  that  in,  perhaps,  four  or  five  years,  he  will 
have  a  pleasant  home  and  farm,  with  all  the  comforts  of  life, 
and  all  his  own  ;  that  school  and  church,  and  town-hall  and  post- 
office,  with  perhaps  a  daily  mail,  will  all  have  come  by  that  time ; 
that  eood  clothine  and  the  luxuries  of  choice  beds,  excellent  and 
toothsome  fare,  and  the  music  of  organ  or  piano,  may  gratify 
his  tastes ;  and  knowing  these  things,  he  should  decide  whether 
the  privations  of  the  first  few  years  were  worth  enduring,  for  the 
sake  of  the  comforts  and  substantial  benefits  which  will  probably 
follow. 

There  is  another  view  of  this  subject  of  emigration  to  which 
attention  should  be  directed.  For  some  years  past  great  efforts 
have  been  made  to  direct  emii^fration  to  other  countries  than  the 
United  States ;  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  Australia,  Brazil,  Bue- 
nos Ayres,  Venezuela,  Colombia,  Peru,  and  Chili,  have  sought  to 
attract  emigrants  to  their  respective  countries.  The  Dominion 
and  Australia  have  been  moderately  successful,  for  the  whole 
influence  of  the  British  Government  has  been  exerted,  properly 
enough,  in  their  favor;  but  the  emigrants  to  Canada  have  had 
much  greater  hardships  to  undergo  than  those  to  our  western 
country,  and  very  nearly  two-thirds  of  them  have  eventually 
crossed  the  border  and  located  themselves  under  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.='=  The  Australian  emigrants  have  struggled  manfully 
with  the  trying  climate,  and  the  very  great  hardships  which  they 
have  had  to  encounter,  but  many  of  them  have  come  into  the 

*  Lately  there  is  much  complaint  among  the  emigrants  to  Manitoba,  that  by  recent  Acts 
of  the  Colonial  Legislature,  they  cannot  secure  lands  within  five  miles  of  the  proposed 
railway  to  the  Pacific  coast  for  less  than  six  dollars  per  acre,  and  all  homcsteading  is  cut 
off  from  that  belt,  and,  further,  that  by  the  Act  of  July  last,  the  homestead  grant,  however 
distant  from  market,  is  limited  to  eighty  acres,  while  the  United  States  Government  make  it 
160  acres. 


248  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

West  by  way  of  San  Francisco,  and  the  tide  of  emigration  to  the 
United  States  to-day  is  more  than  four  times  that  to  Austraha. 
The  emicrration  to  the  South  American  States  has  in  most  cases 
proved  a  complete  failure.  Liberal  as  were  the  offers  of  the 
governments,  the  whole  matter  was  badly  organized  and  man- 
aged, and  the  sufferings  of  the  emigrants  became  so  intolerable 
that  they  were  glad  to  escape  to  their  old  homes  with  the  loss 
of  everything,  being  indebted  in  many  cases  to  the  consuls  of 
their  respective  countries  for  a  free  passage  homewards.  The 
present  rapid  influx  of  emigrants  from  Europe  to  the  United 
States,  and  their  strenuous  objections  to  going  to  any  other 
country,  shows  conclusively  that  the  experience  of  sixty  years 
of  emigration  has  convinced  the  people  of  Europe  that  the'  will 
fare  best  here. 


CHAPTER   II. 


The  Routes  by  which  our  Western  Empire  is  Reached — The  Northeastern 
Region — The  Central  Region — The  Southern — The  Southwestern — 
The  Pacific  States  and  Territories. 

The  immigrant  who  has  valiantlv  resisted  at  Hamburg,  Bre- 
men,  Rotterdam,  or  Havre,  at  Southampton,  Liverpool,  Glasgow, 
Edinburgh,  or  Cardiff,  the  blandishments  of  the  emigration  com- 
panies, and  the  glowing  representations  of  the  railway  companies, 
and  who  lands  at  Casde  Garden,  New  York,  unpledged  to  any 
company,  and  under  no  obligation  to  take  a  poor  route  when 
there  is  a  better  to  be  had,  may  well  rejoice  in  his  freedom  ;  but 
he  will  find  himself  beset  by  as  hungry  a  horde  of  runners  and 
canvassers  for  all  the  different  routes,  as  ever  drove  a  poor  man 
to  distraction. 

If  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  what  section  of  the  West  he 
will  migrate  (and  he  should  have  done  this  before  leaving  home), 
our  advice  to  him  would  be  to  stop  over  a  day  at  Castle  Garden 
and  make  choice  of  the  route  which  will  bring  him  most  direcdy, 
quickly,  and  safely  to  his  desired  destination.  He  cannot  well 
do  this  from  the  flaming  posters  placarded  there ;  nor  from  the 


ROUTE   FOR   NORTHWESTERN  EMIGRANT.  240 

noisy  vociferations  of  the  runners;  and  there  is  a  strong  possi- 
bility that  even  some  of  the  officials  may  have  been  slightly  in- 
fluenced by  interested  persons  to  give  the  preference  to  one 
route  or  another  from  motives  not  altoo^ether  disinterested. 

Knowing  where  he  wishes  to  go,  and  knowing  also,  as  he  may, 
what  railway  lines  will  take  him  thither  most  surely,  directly,  with 
the  greatest  amount  of  comfort,  and  the  smallest  amount  of  cost 
he  can  make  up  his  own  mind  as  to  his  route  as  well  as  anybod), 
else  can  do  it  for  him,  and,  as  all  the  routes  have  their  real 
eastern  termini  at  Castle  Garden,  he  can  purchase  his  tickets 
there  and  have  no  further  trouble,  except  occasionally  looking 
out  for  his  meals  and  his  baggage,  till  he  reaches  his  destination, 
or  the  railway  terminus  nearest  to  it. 

The  journey  on  an  emigrant  train  will  be  at  the  best  a  long 
and  weary  one,  but  if  he  has  a  fellow-countryman  or  shipmate 
of  his  own  way  of  thinking,  and  bound  for  the  same  vicinity  as 
himself,  the  companionship  will  reHeve  the  journey  of  some  of 
its  tedium  for  both. 

If  our  immigrant  is  a  farmer,  or  farm-hand,  and  desires  to 
establish  himself  in  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Northeastern 
Montana,  or  Nebraska,  he  will  probably  find  it  desirable  to  make 
Chicago  his  point  of  departure  for  the  Northwest.  Chicago  is  ^' 
distant  from  New  York  about  950  miles,  the  five  trunk  roads 
running  thither  varying  from  933  to  975  miles  in  the  length  of 
their  lines  to  it.  There  is  very  little  room  for  choice  between 
the  Hudson  River  and  New  York  Central,  the  Erie,  the  Penn- 
sylvania Central,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  roads,  all  of  which 
run  trains  through  to  Chicago.  They  are  all  good  roads,  and 
give  the  immigrant  as  nearly  the  worth  of  his  money  as  they  can 
possibly  afford.  These  lines,  we  believe,  now  all  make  close 
connection  with  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  lines,  which  are 
the  connecting  lines  with  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  the  Minne- 
sota, Iowa,  and  Dakota  Railways.  By  taking  a  through  ticket, 
via  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  to  any  point  reached  by  this 
railway  or  its  connections,  he  will  be  insured  a  passage  with  as 
few  annoyances  as  he  will  find  on  any  route.  One  precaution 
he  should  not  fail  to  take.     The  number  and  clnss  of  his  railway 


2rQ  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ticket,  and  the  railroads  over  which  he  is  to  pass,  and  the  num- 
bers and  stamps  of  his  baggage  checks,  should  all  be  noted  down 
in  a  little  memorandum,  and  he  will  do  well  occasionally  to  see 
that  all  his  baggage  is  on  board.  In  case  of  loss  of  either  baggage 
or  ticket,  he  will  recover  damages  much  more  readily  if  he  can 
tell  on  which  of  the  affiliated  roads  it  was  lost  and  what  were  the 
numbers.  He  should  also  have  a  printed  time-table  of  the  roads 
over  which  he  passes,  which  will  be  furnished  him  for  the  asking 
at  the  office  of  the  railroad  on  which  he  is  to  travel,  in  Casde 
Garden.  It  seems  a  pity  to  be  obliged  to  caution  a  man  against  his 
fellow-man,  especially  when  he  is  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land  ;  but 
it  is  necessary  to  say,  once  for  all,  not  only  to  emigrants  from 
Europe,  but  to  our  own  people  who  may  be  migrating  westward, 
that  it  is  best  to  be  shy  of  strangers,  unless  they  are  introduced 
to  you  by  those  whom  you  have  reason  to  confide  in  as  honest  and 
trustworthy,  and  even  then  it  is  not  necessary  or  wise  to  become 
too  confidential  with  them,  to  tell  them  all  your  family  history, 
to  show  your  money  to  them,  or  inform  them  just  the  amount 
you  carry  about  you.  It  is  very  imprudent  and  foolish  to  engage 
in  any  games  of  chance  or  skill  with  strangers,  especially  in  any 
involving  the  winning  or  losing  money.  If  you  win,  your  antag- 
onist has  probably  lost  what  he  can  ill  afford  to  lose ;  if  you  lose, 
as  you  probably  will  (for  generally,  it  is  only  sharpers  who  pro- 
pose to  play  in  a  public  conveyance),  you  will  feel  the  loss  and 
have  occasion  at  the  same  time  to  lament  your  folly.  Never 
manifest  a  suspicious  disposition  in  regard  to  those  who  are  about 
you.  If  there  is  anything  you  cannot  understand,  ask  the  con- 
ductor, courteously  and  pleasantly,  and  he  will  generally  be  cour- 
teous in  his  reply.  Do  not  make  yourself  conspicuous  by  loud 
talking,  or  a  swaggering  manner.  There  are  always  people  on 
the  train  who  will  weigh  a  man  at  what  he  is  really  worth,  not 
at  the  value  he  may  set  upon  himself.  Do  not  judge  of  people 
by  their  dress  or  their  pretensions.  You  will  often  find  in  the 
West,  a  millionaire  in  plain,  rough  clothing,  or  an  eminent  scholar 
in  a  dress  which  might  be  worn  by  a  tramp ;  while  a  gambler, 
black-leg,  or  horse-thief  may  sport  his  diamonds,  or  dress  in  irre- 
proachable taste. 


ROUTES  FOR    THE  PACIFIC  STATES.  25  I 

The  immigrant  who  is  attracted  to  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Colo- 
rado, Wyoming,  Western  or  Central  Montana,  Idaho,  Utah, 
Nevada,  or  New  Mexico,  Texas  or  Arizona  does  not  need  to 
make  Chicago  his  point  of  departure,  unless  he  chooses  to  do  so. 
His  more  direct  route  will  lie  through  St.  Louis ;  and  Omaha,  ^ 
Nebraska,  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  or  Atchi- 
son, Kansas,  will  be  his  points  of  departure.  Omaha  is  the  east- 
ern terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific  and  Central  Pacific  Railways, 
though  recently  a  part  of  its  traffic  has  been  transferred  to  Kan- 
sas City.  St.  Joseph  is  the  terminus  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  Den- 
ver branch  of  the  Union  Pacific,  and  is  otherwise  a  railroad  cen- 
tre of  some  importance.  Atchison  is  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
central  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific  and  also  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway,  the  most  enterprising  and  energetic 
railway  in  the  Western  Empire,  but  which  is  now  also  extended 
to  Kansas  City.  The  last-named  place  has  recently  become  one 
of  the  greatest  railway  centres  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  the 
most  easterly  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific,  and  commands  from 
its  position  the  travel  and  transportation  of  the  Kansas  Pacific, 
the  Denver  Pacific,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  the  Utah 
and  Northern  ;  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  ;  the  Houston  and 
Texas  Central ;  the  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco,  and  the  Texas 
Pacific.  All  these  roads  but  one  are  now  controlled  by  one  man, 
or  rather  by  a  combination,  of  which  he  is  the  head.  The  immi- 
grant leaving  New  York  by  either  of  the  great  trunk  roads, 
Erie,  New  York  Central,  Pennsylvania  Central,  or  Baltimore  and 
Ohio,  will  do  better  as  matters  now  stand,  to  buy  his  through 
tickets  via  the  Wabash  Railway,  which  connects  directly  at  Kan- 
sas City  with  all  these  roads.  By  either  of  the  other  lines, 
Chicago  and  Northwestern,  or  Chicago  and  Burlington,  he  will  be 
obliged  to  change  cars  and  re-check  his  baggage  at  Kansas  City, 
Omaha,  Atchison  or  St.  Joseph.  He  may  be  required  to  do  so 
on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  but  probably  he  will  not. 
If  the  emigrant's  destination  is  to  Oregon  or  Washington,  he 
will  still  find  it  best  to  take  this  route  going  by  the  Union  and 
Central  Pacific,  and  stopping  off  at  Kelton  or  at  Junction,  twenty 
miles  east  of  Sacramento,  and  going  thence  by  stage  and  rail  to 


2C2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Oreeon  or  Washintrton,  or  continuinor  on  to  San  Francisco  and 
takinor  a  steamer  thence  to  Portland,  Oreo^on.  If  the  emitrrant's 
destination  is  to  Southern  CaHfornia  or  Arizona,  this  route  is 
still  the  best,  taking  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway  at  Lathrop  on 
the  Central  Pacific,  and  going  by  this  railway  to  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, or  to  any  point  in  Arizona  between  Yuma  and  Tucson. 
The  States  and  Territories  on  the  Pacific  can  also  be  reached 
from  New  York  at  about  the  same  expense  by  steamers  to  San 
Francisco,  via  Panama  Railroad,  and  other  steamer  lines  plying 
from  San  Francisco  to  Portland,  Oregon,  to  the  Columbia  river 
and  Puget  Sound,  and  southward  to  Los  Angeles,  San  Diego, 
and  up  the  Gulf  of  California  to  Fort  Yuma,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Rio  Colorado.  Very  soon,  probably  within  two  years  at  the 
farthest,  all  Southern  Arizona,  Western  Texas,  and  Southern 
California,  will  be  reached  by  a  much  shorter  and  more  direct 
route  throup^h  Texas.  Those  emigrants  whose  destination  is  to 
Missouri,  Southeastern  Kansas,  Arkansas,  Indian  Territory, 
Western  Louisiana  or  Texas,  will  make  St.  Louis  their  point  of 
departure,  and  can  go  from  thence  either  by  Mississippi  river 
steamer  to  any  points  below,  and  by  New  Orleans  steamer  to 
any  points  on  the  Texas  coast,  or  by  Missouri  river  steamer  to 
any  points  in  Missouri,  Dakota  or  Montana,  lying  on  that  river 
or  on  its  principal  navigable  affluents,  such  as  the  Dakota,  Yel- 
lowstone, Jefferson,  Gallatin,  etc.,  etc. 

If  they  prefer,  however,  to  continue  their  journey  by  rail,  they 
can  go  from  St.  Louis  by  the  Cairo  and  St.  Louis,  the  St.  Louis, 
Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  ;  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  or  the 
Missouri  Pacific  with  its  continuation  in  the  Missouri,  Kansas 
and  Texas,  and  some  of  its  branches,  and  the  Texas  Pacific.  Or 
they  may  take  the  New  Orleans  or  Galveston  steamers  from 
New  York  and  go  direct  to  Louisiana  or  Texas. 

On  the  railroads  the  emigrant  trains  move  slowly,  being  under 
the  necessity  of  switching  off  frequently,  as  the  faster  trains  have 
the  right  of  way.  The  emigrant  train  from  Kansas  City  or 
Omaha  to  the  Pacific  coast,  on  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific 
Railways,  is  usually  nine  or  ten  days  on  its  journey.  The  emi- 
grant cars  are  fairly  comfortable,  about  equal  to  the  third-class 
cars  in  Euroj)e.     They  have  no  cushions,  are  warmed  by  fiat- 


RAILROAD  FARES. 


topped  stoves,  on  which  the  passengers  can  heat  any  food  or 
drinks  they  need  for  young  children  or  invahds  ;  have  an  arrange- 
ment by  which,  by  the  use  of  boards  furnished  by  the  company, 
bunks  can  be  made  In  which,  with  the  aid  of  coats,  blankets  and 
shawls,  the  passengers  can  sleep  as  well  as  in  the  steerage  of  a 
steamship.  The  following  table,  compiled  with  great  care,  gives 
the  railroad  fares  which  prevailed  in  the  autumn  of  1879: 


E-ii 

Destlnntion. 

•i> 

States  and  Territories. 

•r. 

Tt,     U 

t^Z 

Portl.ind    Oro^'nn 

j?75.oo 
100.00 
108.00 

75.00 

112.50 

Portl.iiid    OrcLfoii     

Fort  Benton,  Montana 

Fort  Benton,  Montana. .... 

46.50 

97- 50 
61.50 
68.50 

33-56 

33.56 

Helena,  Montana 

Pueblo,  Colorado 

Colorado  Springs,  Col 

33.56 

Canon  City,  Colorado 

35.56 

Alamosa,  Colorado 

38.56 

Del  Norte,  Colorado 

41.56 

t  Leadville ,  Colorado 

47.56 

fLaVe  City,  Colorado 

55.56 

tSanta  Fe,  New  Mexico  .  . 

51. Si 

MesiUa,  New  Mexico  .    ... 

98.31 

Ojo  Caliente.  New  Mexico 

53.56 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming 

40.00 

Emporia,  Kansas 

16.76 

Wichita,    Kansas 

17.86 

Hutchinson,  Kansas 

17.41 

(jreat  Bend,  Kansas 

18.46 

19.41 

20.11 

Dodge  City,  Kansas 

Ogden,  Utah 

61. 00 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

6i.OO 

Provo,  Utah 

64.50 

York, Utah 

San  Antonio.  Texas 

36.90 

33.tx> 
29.50 
25.50 

Waco,  Texas 

Denison,  Texas 

Fort  Worth,  Texas 

27.00 

Vinita,  Indian  I'erritory  , . 

20.00 

Fort  Smith,  Arkansas 

28.55 

Houston ,  Texas  , , 

30.50 
27.50 

Dallas,  Texas 

Deadwood,  IJlack  Hills, 

Dakota 

39.50 

Deadwood,  Black  Hills, 

Dakota 

Virginia  City,  Nevada 

68.00 

Carson,  Nevada 

67.00 

Los  Angeles,  California.... 

75.00 

San  Diego,  California 

86.00 

X  Tucson,  Arizona 

,89.00 

Railroad  or  Steamer  Routes,  and  Points  of 
Departure. 


via  San  Francisco  &  Oregon  S.  S.  Company 

via  U.  P.  R.  R.  .-jnd  Stage  by  Kelton  &  Umatilla, 
via  U.  P.  R.   R.   &  Stage  by  junction    Redding 

and  Roseburg 

By  Pacific  ^L^ll  to  San  Francisco,  and  thence  by 

Steamer  to  Portland 

By  Union  &  Cen.  Pacific,  and  Utah  &  Nor.  R.  R. 

By  Missouri  River 

By  Union  &  Cen.  Pacific,  and  Utah  &  Nor.  R.  R. 

By  St.  Louis  &  Missouri  River 

Later  rates  by  Union  Pacific,  Utah  &  Northern 

R.   R ; 

via   St.    Louis,    Kansas  City,  and  the  Atchison, 

Topcka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R 

via   St.    Louis,  Kansas  City,  and  the  Atchison, 

Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R 

via   St.    Louis,   Kansas  City,  and  the  Atchison, 

Topcka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R 

via   St.   Louis,  Kansas  City,  and  the  Atchison, 

Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R 

via  St.   Louis,  Kansas  City,  and   the  Atchison, 

Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R 

via  St.   Louis,  Kansas  City,  and   the  Atchison, 

Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R 

By  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R.,  or  by 

Union  Pacific,  Colorado  Central,  and  Stage . 


By  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R. 


By  Union  Pacific  R.  R 

By  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R. 


By  Union  Pacific 

By  Union  Pacific  &  Utah  Narrow  Gauge  R.  R. 


By  St.  Louis  &  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  R.  R. 


By  U.  P.,  and  Stage  from  Sydney  to  Deadwood. 

By  Northern  Pacific,  and  Stage  from  Bismarck. 
J'y  Union  and  Central  Pacific 


fa  =.= 
£■-> 


'  -^   c   'J  ■ 

ifa 


o 
to 


$61.44 
85.44 

93-44 


By  Union,  Central  &  Southern  P.icific 


98.56 
32.56 
84.00 
48.00 


20.00 
20.00 
20.00 

22.00 

25.00 

28.00 

34.00 
42.00 
38.25 
84.75 
40.00 


3-7^ 
4.8a 

4.35 
5.40 

6.35 
7.05 
46.44 
48.44 
5'^.94 
5244 
30.95 


;?3S-oo 
80.00 


90.00 

32.00 

So. 00 
46.00 

45.00 
25.00 
25.00 
25.00 
27.00 

30.00 

33.00 

39.00 
47.00 
43-25 

89.75 

45.00 

20.00 

1.73 
9.83 

9-35 
10.40 

11-35 
12.05 
40.00 
42.00 
44.50 
46.00 
31.00 


48. 00 
47.C0 
55.00 
66.00 
^.00 


■r    =   •■> 


1^65.50 
75.00 

I  83.00 


•103. CO 

37.00 
88.00 
53.00 

55-50 

15-55 

2S.00 
25.00 
27.00 

30.00 
33.00 

39.00 

47.00 
43.25 

89.75 

45.00 


1.70 
9.83 

9-35 
10.40 

11.35 
12.05 
50.00 
52.00 
55.00 
56.50 
27.40 
23.50 
20.00 
16.00 
17.50 
10.53 
IQ.U5 

21. 03 
18.00 

30.00 


*In  March,  iSS-i,  the  Utah  and  Northern  R.  R.  was  completed  to  Helena,  Montana,  and  the  far?s  to  that  Irwn 
and  to  Fort  Benton,  have  conse(|uenily  been  reduced  somewhat  on  this  route. 

+  The  completion  of  the  railro.id  to  Leadvi'lj.  Alamosa  and  Santa  Fe,  has  reduced  these  fares  somewhat. 
jl'he  Southern  Pacific  is  now  completed  to  Tucson,  and  f.\res  are  lowir. 


254 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

How  TO  OBTAIN  LaND — GOVERNMENT  LaNDS — PRICES  OF  ARABLE   OR   FARMING 

Lands — Purchase  at  Auction  or  Private  Entry — Pre-emption — The 
Homestead  Sales — Land-Warrants — The  Timber-Culture  Act — Terms 
and  Mode  of  Purchase  of  Timber  Lands — Grazing  Lands:  how  Secured. 

Having  arrived  at  his  destination,  the  immigrant,  if  a  farmer,  or 
if  disposed  to  invest  in  arable  lands,  looks  about  him,  to  see  how 
he  can  best  secure  a  farm.  If  he  is  a  member  of  a  colony  formed 
in  Europe,  or  in  our  own  Eastern  States,  or  if  he  comes  out 
under  the  management  of  an  emigration  company,  he  is  spared 
that  trouble.  He  takes  what  is  allotted  to  him,  whatever  its 
quality,  and  without  any  privilege  of  change  ;  or  if  he  is  allowed 
a  voice  in  the  allotment,  it  must  still  be  in  the  same  tract  of  land. 
Not  all  the  immigrants,  however,  are  disposed  to  come  into  such 
an  arrangement  as  this.  It  is  very  well  in  a  small  colony,  where 
all  the  colonists  are  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  where  the  town 
lots  and  farming  lands  are  about  equally  eligible,  to  unite  together 
in  this  way,  but  to  be  only  one  of  several  thousands  to  whom 
land  is  allotted  without  choice  of  the  party  who  is  to  culdvate  it, 
and  without  the  stimulus  of  individual  enterprise,  though  it  may 
suit  foreign  colonists,  is  not  much  to  the  taste  of  our  independent 
and  self-reliant  American  emigrants. 

We  will  suppose,  then,  that  our  immigrant,  having  decided  where 
he  desires  to  locate  his  farm,  proceeds  to  secure  it.  There  are 
many  ways  in  which  he  may  do  this ;  some  of  them  depending 
upon  the  amount  of  money  he  has  at  command,  others  upon  the 
locality  itself,  and  the  amount  and  desirableness  of  the  govern- 
ment land  in  the  market.  If  he  has  a  sufficient  capital  and 
proposes  to  farm  his  own  land,  he  will  perhaps  find  it  advisable 
to  purchase  a  partially  improved  farm  from  some  settler  who 
desires  to  pay  off  the  debts  he  has  incurred  and  start  anew  on 
government  land  farther  west.  There  are  very  often  such  oppor- 
tunies  by  which  an  immigrant,  who  has  some  capital,  may,  for  less 
money  than  he  would  have  to  expend  on  new  and  unbroken  lands, 
procure  a  good  farm,  with  such  improvements  as  may  enable  him 


HO IV  TO   SECURE  A   FARM.  255 

to  enter  upon  it  at  once.  In  all  these  cases,  however,  he  should 
carefully  examine  his  title,  and  see  that  there  are  no  clouds  on  it. 
If,  however,  there  is  no  such  opportunity  where  he  wishes  to 
locate,  he  will  do  well  to  purchase,  if  he  can  find  it,  government 
land  of  the  best  quality,  either  at  auction  or  by  private  entry, 
being  careful  to  select  a  farm  with  either  a  spring  or  running 
water  on  it,  and,  if  it  is  to  be  had,  one  of  the  alternate  sections 
on  or  near  a  railway  line,  present  or  immediately  prospective. 
The  land,  if  not  near  a  railway,  will  be  held  by  the  government 
at  $1.25  per  acre  and  the  fees,  which  may  bring  the  price  up  to 
^1.33  or  $1.35  per  acre.  If  it  is  within  the  railroad  limit  the 
price  will  be  $2.50  per  acre,  with  the  fees,  which  may  bring  it  up 
to  ^2.60.  In  either  case,  he  will  do  well  if  he  can  afford  it  to 
take  a  quarter-section  (160  acres)  in  this  way.  If  he  needs  more 
hereafter  he  can  probably  secure  it  at  a  less  cost. 

But  it  may  happen  that  there  has  been  such  active  emigration 
to  that  neighborhood,  that  there  are  no  desirable  quarter-sections 
to  be  had,  among  these  alternate  sections  along  the  railroad,  and 
that  the  remoter  lands  are,  for  some  reason,  not  desirable.  Or, 
it  may  be  that  there  is  no  railroad  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  or 
that  the  lands  have  not  been  surveyed,  and  so  put  upon  the 
market.  In  the  first  case,  he  can  probably  buy  the  railroad  land, 
paying  a  little  more  for  it,  usually  $^  per  acre,  but  receiving  a 
liberal  discount  for  cash  payment.  In  the  second  case,  he  may 
be-obliged  to  pre-empt  his  land,  in  which  case  he  will  have  thirty- 
three  months  to  pay  for  it,  and  a  longer  time  if  it  is  not  surveyed, 
but  meantime  does  not  receive  a  full  title ;  or  he  can  enter  it 
provisionally  under  the  Homestead  or  the  Timber-Culture  Act, 
receiving  his  full  title  in  five  or  eight  years.  Or,  he  may  find 
some  school  lands  or  other  State  lands  in  the  vicinity,  which  he 
may  be  able  to  purchase  on  fair  terms ;  or,  at  the  very  worst,  if 
there  is  no  survey,  no  railroad  near,  no  State  or  Territorial  lands 
ready  for  purchase,  nothing  but  a  mining  setdement  just  sprung 
into  existence,  which  will  afford  him  a  good  market  for  whatever 
he  can  raise,  he  can  "squat"  on  the  land,  taking  his  chance  of 
dispossession,  but  with  pay  for  his  improvements,  if  the  land 
should  prove  to  be  mining  land,  and  filing  a  pre-emption  claim 
as  soon  as  possible. 


2-6  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  immigrant  who  has  but  little  money  will  take  a  somewhat 
different  course.  He  will  do  better  to  look  out  for  a  quarter- 
section  under  the  Homestead  Act,  or  the  Timber-Culture  Act,  or 
both,  if  he  needs  so  much  land,  and  he  will  find  it  for  his 
advantage,  if  there  are  lands  near  a  railroad,  to  secure  those, 
taking  if  he  chooses,  only  half  the  quantity  and  thereby  saving 
something  on  entry^fees.  His  entry  fees  for  eighty  acres  (an 
eighth  of  a  section)  will  be  about  $14,  and  if  he  takes  the  same 
quantity  under  the  Timber-Culture  Act,  it  will  cost  him  ^14 
more;  but  he  obtains  his  full  title  only  at  the  end  of  five  years  of 
cultivation  (unless  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war,  when  the 
time  of  service  in  the  war  is  deducted),  and  under  the  Timber- 
Culture  Act,  not  till  the  end  of  eight  years,  though  the  tree-plant- 
ing is  extended  over  the  whole  time,  a  certain  quantity  being 
planted  each  year.  If  there  is  no  opportunity'  to  obtain  a 
desirable  farm  in  this  way,  the  next  best  mode  is  by  pre-emption, 
which  will  give  him  at  least  thirty-three  months,  time  for  two 
crops,  before  he  will  have  to  pay  for  his  land.  Or  failing  this, 
the  school  lands,  which  though  of  slightly  higher  price  are 
usually  sold  on  time,  in  seven  or  ten  annual  instalments,  or  he 
may  purchase  on  long  credit,  though  at  a  higher  price,  railroad 
lands  in  an  eligible  location.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no 
possibility  of  misunderstanding  the  provisions  under  which 
government  lands  are  sold,  we  give  below  the  acts  and  inter- 
pretations of  them,  by  the  United  States  Land  Office,  under  which 
the  public  lands  are  sold  or  given  to  settlers  for  farming  or 
grazing  purposes,  and  also  the  laws  in  regard  to  timber  lands 
and  mining  lands.  These  have  been  compiled  and  compared 
with  the  reports  of  the  office  with  great  care,  and  are  believed  to 
embody  every  particular  necessary  for  procuring  government 
lands  under  all  circumstances.  We  ought  to  say,  that  there  is 
very  little  government  land  eligible  for  farming  purposes  in  Iowa, 
Missouri,  Eastern  Kansas,  Eastern  Nebraska,  or  California,  and 
none  in  Texas,  though  the  State  has  vast  quantities  for  sale  at 
merely  nominal  prices.  In  some  of  the  other  States  and 
Territories  grazing  and  timber  lands  are  greatly  in  excess  of 
those  adapted  to  cultivation.     In  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana, 


HO IV  TO  SECURE    GOVERNMENT  LANDS.  257 

Wyoming,  Western  Nebraska,  Western  Kansas,  Arkansas, 
Colorado,  Oregon  and  Washington,  there  are  still  large 
quantities  of  arable  lands,  and  a  considerable  amount  in  Utah, 
Nevada,  Idaho,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  though  in  all  these 
the  grazing  and  mineral  lands  largely  predominate. 

HOW  TO  OBTAIN  GOVERNMENT  LANDS. 

I,  Arable  Lands. — The  following  is  compiled  from  circulars 
issued  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  and  is 
explicit  in  reference  to  the  manner  of  acquiring  title  to  public 
lands : 

There  are  two  classes  of  public  lands — the  one  class  at  $1.25 
per  acre,  which  is  designated  as  ininimitm,  and  the  other  at 
^2.50  per  acre,  or  double  minimum. 

Title  may  be  acquired  by  purchase  at  public  sale,  or  by 
ordinary  "  private  entry,"  and  in  virtue  of  the  pre-emption, 
homestead,  and  timber-culture  laws. 

BY  PURCHASE  AT  PUBLIC  SALE. 

1.  This  may  be  done  where  lands  are  "offered"  at  public, 
auction  to  the  hifjhest  bidder. 

BY    "  PRIVATE    ENTRY  "    OR    LOCATION. 

2.  The  lands  liable  to  disposal  in  this  manner  are  those  which 
were  offered  at  public  sale,  but  were  not  then  sold,  and  which 
have  not  since  been  reserved  or  otherwise  withdrawn  from 
market.  In  this  class  of  offered  and  unreserved  public  lands, 
the  following  steps  may  be  taken  to  acquire  title : 

CASH    PURCHASES. 

3.  The  applicant  will  present  a  written  application  to  the 
register  for  the  district  in  which  the  land  desired  is  situated. 
Thereupon  the  register  will  so  certify  to  the  receiver,  stating  the 
price,  and  the  applicant  must  then  pay  the  amount  of  the 
purchase-money. 

The  receiver  will   then   issue  his   receipt  for  the  money  paid, 
and  when   the   proceedings  are  found  regular,  a  patent  or  com- 
plete title  will  be  issued. 
17 


o^g  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

LOCATIONS   WITH    WARRANTS. 

4.  Application  must  be  made  as  in  cash  cases,  but  must  be 
accompanied  by  a  warrant  duly  assigned  as  the  consideration  for 
the  land  ;  )'ct,  where  the  tract  is  $2.50  per  acre,  the  party,  in 
addition  to  the  surrendered  warrant,  must  pay  in  cash  $1.25  per 
acre,  as  the  warrant  is  in  satisfaction  of  onl\'  so  many  acres,  at 
^1.25  per  acre,  or  furnish  a  warrant  of  such  denomination  as 
will,  at  the  legal  value  of  $1.25  per  acre,  cover  the  rated  price 
of  the  land. 

The  following  fees  are  chargeable  by  the  land  officers,  and  the 
several  amounts  must  h^ paid  at  the  time  of  location: 

For  a  40-acre  warrant,  50  cents  each  to  the  register  and  receiver — total,  ^i.oo 

For  a  60-acre  warrant,  75  cents  "               "                    "              "         1.50 

For  an  So-acre  warrant,  $1.00  "               "                    "             *'         2.00 

For  a  1 20-acre  warrant,  $1.50  "               *'                    "             "         3.00 

For  a  160-acre  warrant,  ^2.00  "               "                    **             "         4-oo 

AGRICULTURAL    COLLEGE    SCRIP. 

5.  This  scrip  may  be  used — 

Fii'st.  In  the  location  of  lands  at  '' pi'ivate  entry''  but  when  so 
used,  is  only  applicable  to  lands  not  mineral,  which  may  be  sub- 
ject to  private  entry  at  $1.25  per  acre,  restricted  to  a  '' q2ia7'tey- 
sectio7i^'  or  it  may  be  located  on  a  part  of  a  "  quarter-section," 
where  such  part  is  taken  as  in  full  for  a  quarter;  but  it  cannot 
be  applied  to  different  subdivisions  to  make  an  area  equivalent 
to  a  quarter-section.  The  manner  of  proceeding  to  acquire  title 
with  this  class  of  paper  is  the  same  as  in  cash  and  warrant  cases, 
the  fees  to  be  paid  being  the  same  as  on  warrants. 

Second.  In  payment  of  pre-emption  claims  in  the  same  manner 
and  under  the  same  rules  and  regulations  as  govern  the  applica- 
tion to  pre-emptions  of  military  land  warrants. 

Third.  In  payment  for  homesteads  commuted  under  section 
2301  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States. 

PRE-EMPTIONS    ADMISSIBLE    TO    THE    EXTENT   OF    ONE    QUARTER-SEC- 
TION, OR    ONE    HUNDRED    AND    SIXTY    ACRES. 

6.  These  are  admitted  under  sections  2257  to  2288  of  the  Re- 


PRE-EMPTION    OF   LANDS.  259 

vised  Statutes  of  the  United  States,  upon  "offered"  and  "un- 
offered"  lands,  and  upon  any  of  the  unsurveyed  lands  belonging 
to  the  United  States.  The  pre-emption  privilege  is  restricted  to 
■the  heads  of  families,  widows,  or  single  men  over  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  who  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  who  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens,  as  required  by  the 
naturalization  laws. 

7.  The  right  of  pre-emption  for  one  quarter-section,  or  i6o 
acres,  at  the  price  of  $2.50  per  acre,  to  the  alternate  United  States 
or  reserved  sections  along  the  line  of  railroads,  is  continued  by 
the  Revised  Statutes. 

8.  Section  2281  thereof  protects  the  rights  of  settlers  along 
the  line  of  railroads,  w^here  settlement  existed  prior  to  with- 
drawal, and  in  such  cases  allows  the  land  to  be  taken  by  pre- 
emptors  at  $1.25  per  acre. 

9.  Where  the  tract  is  ''offered'"  land,  the  party  must  file  his 
declaratory  statement,  as  to  the  fact  of  his  settlement,  within 
thirty  days  from  the  date  of  said  settlement,  and  within  one  year 
from  date  of  settlement  must  make  proof  of  his  actual  residence 
on,  and  cultivation  of,  the  tract. 

10.  Where  the  tract  has  been  surveyed  and  not  offered  at 
public  sale,  the  claimant  must  file  his  declaratory  statement 
within  three  months  from  date  of  settlement,  and  make  proof 
and  payment  within  thirty  months  after  the  expiration  of  the 
three  months  allowed  for  filing  his  declaratory  notice,  or  in  other 
words,  within  thirty-three  months  from  date  of  settlement. 

11.  Where  settlements  are  made  on  tmsurveyed\d^viA?>,  settlers 
are  required,  within  three  months  after  the  date  of  the  receipt  at 
the  district  land  office  of  the  improved  plat  of  the  township  em- 
bracing their  claims,  to  file  their  declaratory  statement,  and 
thereafter  to  make  proof  and  payment  for  the  tract  within  thirty 
months  from  the  expiration  of  said>  three  months.  When  two  or 
more  settlers  on  unsurveyed  land  are  found  upon  survey  to  be 
residing  upon,  or  to  have  valuable  improvements  upon,  the  same 
smallest  legal  subdivision,  they  may  make  joint  entry  of  such 
tract,  and  separate  entries  of  the  residue  of  their  claims. 

12.  Should  the  settler,  in   either  of  the  aforesaid   cases,  die 


26o  ^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

before  establishing  his  claim  within  the  period  limited  by  law,  the 
title  may  be  perfected  by  the  executor,  administrator,  or  one  of 
the  heirs,  by  making  the  requisite  proof  of  settlement  and  pay- 
ing for  the  land  ;  the  legal  representatives  of  the  deceased  pre- 
emptor  being  entitled  to  make  the  entry  at  any  time  within  the 
period  to  which  the  pre-emptor  would  be  entitled  if  living. 

LAWS    EXTENDING    THE    HOMESTEAD    PRIVILEGE. 

13.  The  laws  extending  the  homestead  privilege,  embraced  in 
sections  2289  to  2317  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  give  to  every 
citizen,  and  to  those  who  have  declared  their  intention  to  become 
citizens,  the  right  to  a  homestead  on  surveyed  lands. 

14.  To  obtain  homesteads,  the  party  must  make  affidavit 
before  the  register  or  receiver  that  he  is  over  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  or  the  head  of  a  family ;  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  or  has  declared  his  intention  to  become  such ;  and  that 
the  entry  is  made  for  his  exclusive  use  and  benefit,  and  for 
actual  settlement  and  cultivation. 

15.  Where  the  applicant  has  made  actual  settlement  on  the 
land  he  desires  to  enter,  but  is  prevented,  by  good  cause,  from 
personal  attendance  at  the  district  land  office,  the  affidavit  may 
be  made  before  the  clerk  of  the  court  for  the  county  within 
which  the  land  is  situated. 

1 6.  On  compliance  of  the  party  with  the  foregoing  require- 
ments, the  matter  will  then  be  entered  on  the  records  of  the  dis- 
trict office,  and  reported  to  the  General  Land  Office. 

17.  An  inceptive  right  is  vested  in  the  settler  by  such  pro- 
ceedings, and  upon  faithful  observance  of  the  law  in  regard  to 
settlement  and  cultivation  the  register  will  issue  his  certificate, 
and  make  proper  returns  to  the  General  Land  Office  as  the 
basis  of  a  patent  or  complete  title  for  the  homestead.  In  making 
final  proof,  it  is  required  that  the  homestead  party  shall  appear  . 
in  person  at  the  district  land  office.  But  where,  from  good 
cause,  the  witnesses  of  said  party  cannot  attend  in  person  at  the 
district  office,  their  testimony  may  be  taken  before  any  officer 
authorized  by  law  to  administer  oaths. 

18.  Where  a  homestead  settler  dies  before  the  consummation 


• 


THE  HOMESTEAD   LAW.  26 1 

of  his  claim,  the  widow,  or,  in  case  of  her  death,  the  heirs  may 
continue  the  settlement  and  cultivation,  and  obtain  title  upon 
requisite  proof  at  the  proper  time.  If  the  widow  proves  up,  the 
title  passes  to  her;  if  she  dies  before  proving  up  and  the  heirs 
make  the  proof,  the  title  will  vest  in  them.  Where  both  parents 
die,  leaving  infant  heirs,  the  homestead  may  be  sold  for  cash  for 
the  benefit  of  such  heirs,  and  the  purchaser  will  receive  title  from 
the  United  States. 

19.  The  sale  of  a  homestead  claim  by  the  settler  to  another 
party  before  completion  of  title,  is  not  recognized  by  the  General 
Land  Office,  but  would  h^  prima  facie  evidence  of  abandonment, 
and  might  give  cause  for  cancellation  of  the  claim.  A  party  may 
relinquish  his  claim,  but  on  his  doing  so,  the  land  reverts  to  the 
government.  Where  application  is  made  to  contest  the  validity 
of  a  homestead  entry  on  the  ground  of  abandonment,  the  officers 
will  set  apart  a  clay  for  a  hearing,  giving  all  the  parties  in  interest 
due  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  trial.  The  expenses  incident 
to  such  contest  must  be  defrayed  by  the  contestant,  who  must 
ascertain  when  notice  of  cancellation  is  received,  and  then  make 
formal  written  application  for  the  tract,  which,  after  cancellation, 
is  open  to  \\\^  first  legal  applicant. 

20.  As  the  law  allows  but  one  homestead  privilege,  a  settler 
relinquishine  or  abandoninof  his  claim  cannot  thereafter  make  a 
second  entry ;  but  where,  a  party  having  made  one  entry,  it  is 
cancelled  as  invalid,  for  some  other  reason,  he  is  not  thereby  de- 
barred from  enterinof  ao^ain.  Where  an  individual  has  made 
settlement  on  a  tract  and  filed  his  pre-emption  declaration  therefor, 
he  may  change  his  filing  into  a  homestead,  if  he  continues  in  good 
faith  to  comply  with  the  pre-emption  laws  until  the  change  is 
effected. 

21.  If  tJic  Jiomestead  settler  does  not  wish  to  remain  five  years  on 
his  tract,  the  law  permits  him  to  pay  for  it  zvith  cash  or  warrajits, 
or  agricidttwal  college  scrip,  2ipon  making  proof  of  settlement  and 
cidtivation  for  a  period  not  less  than  six  months  from  the  date  op 
entry  to  the  time  of  payment.  This  proof  of  actual  settlement  and 
cultivation  must  be  the  affidavit  of  the  party,  made  before  the 
district  officers,  corroborated  by  the  testimony  of  two  credible 
witnesses. 


252  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

2  2.  There  is  another  class  of  homesteads  designated  as  "ad- 
joining farm  homesteads."  In  these  cases  the  law  allows  an 
applicant,  owning  and  residijig  ov\  an  original  farm,  to  enter  other 
land  lying  contiguous  thereto,  which  shall  not,  with  such  farm, 
exceed  in  the  aggregate  1 60  acres.  In  applying  for  an  entry  of 
this  class,  the  party  must  make  affidavit  describing  the  tract  which 
he  owns  and  upon  which  he  resides  as  his  original  iarm.  In 
making  final  proof,  it  is  not  required  that  he  should  prove  actual 
residence  on  the  separate  tract  entered ;  but  it  must  appear  that 
he  has  continued  for  the  period  required  by  law  to  reside  upon 
and  cultivate  the  original  farm  tract,  and  has  bona  fide  made  use 
of  the  entered  tract  as  part  of  the  homestead. 

23.  Provisiojis  for  the  benefit  of  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  late 
war,  their  zuidoius  and  minor  orphan  children:  Sections  2304, 
2305,  2306,  2307,  2308,  and  2309  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  for 
the  benefit  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  their  widows  and  minor  orphan 
children,  provide : 

First.  In  section  2304,  that  every  soldier  and  officer  of  tlie 
army,  and  every  seaman,  marine,  and  officer  of  the  navy,  who 
served  for  not  less  than  ninety  days  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the 
United  States  "during  the  recent  rebellion,"  and  who  was  honorably 
discharged,  and  has  remained  loyal  to  the  government,  may  enter, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  homestead  law,  160  acres  of  the  public 
lands. 

Second.  In  section  2305,  that  the  time  of  his  service,  or  the 
whole  term  of  his  enlistment,  if  the  party  was  discharged  on 
account  of  wounds  or  disability  incurred  in  the  line  of  duty,  shall 
be  deducted  from  the  period  of  five  years  during  which  the 
claimant  must  reside  upon  and  cultivate  the  entered  tract,  but 
the  party  shall,  in  every  case,  reside  upon,  improve,  and  cultivate 
his  homestead  for  a  period  of  at  least  one  year. 

Third.  That  any  person  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  section  2304, 
who  had,  prior  to  the  2 2d  of  June,  1874,  made  a  homestead  entry 
of  less  than  160  acres,  may  enter  an  additional  quantity  of  land 
sufficient  to  make,  with  the  previous  entry,  160  acres. 

FourlJi.  That  the  widow,  if  unmarried,  or  in  case  of  her  death 
or  marriage,  then  the  minor  orphan  children,  of  a  person  who 


HOMESTEAD  LANDS  TO  SOLDIERS,   ETC.  263 

would  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  section  2304,  may  enter  lands 
under  its  provisions,  with  the  additional  privilege  accorded,  that 
if  the  person  died  during  his  term  of  enlistment,  the  widow  or 
minor  children  shall  have  the  benefit  of  the  whole  term  of  enlist- 
ment. 

Fifth.  That  any  person  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  section  2304 
may  file  his  claim  for  a  tract  of  land  through  an  agent,  and  shall 
have  six  months  thereafter  within  which  to  make  his  entry  and 
commence  his  settlement  and  improvement  upon  the  land. 

24.  The  following  is  the  course  of  proceedings  for  parties  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  benefit  of  these  sections  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  in  makine  homestead  entries  : 

First.  On  the  party  producing  proper  proof  of  his  right  to  do 
so,  immediate  entry  of  the  tract  desired  may  be  made  ;  but  if  the 
party  so  elect,  he  may  file  a  declaration  to  the  efiect  that  he  claims  a 
specified  tract  of  land  as  his  homestead,  and  that  he  takes  it  for 
actual  settlement  and  cultivation.  Thereafter,  at  any  time  within 
six  months,  the  party  may  come  forward,  either  in  person  or  by 
agent  "having  his  power  of  attorney,  make  his  entry  of  the  land, 
and  commence  his  settlement  and  improvement. 

Second.  The  claims  of  widows  and  minor  orphan  children  may 
be  initiated  by  declaration  as  above.  Minor  orphan  children  can 
act  only  by  their  duly  appointed  guardians,  who  must  file  certified 
copies  of  the  powers  of  guardianship. 

TJiii'd.  Applications  for  additional  entries  must  be  for  a  quantity 
which,  with  the  original  entry,  will  no-t  exceed  160  acres.  Where 
the  party's  first  entry  has  been  consummated,  the  register  and 
receiver  will  require  him  to  make  application  and  affidavit  in  the 
forms  prescribed,  and  to  pay  the  same  fee  and  commissions  as  in 
cases  of  original  entry.  Then,  to  complete  the  transaction,  the 
party  will  make  payment  of  the  usual  final  commissions  on  the 
entered  tract,  for  which  the  receiver  will  issue  his  receipt.  In  case 
the  party  has  not  made  proof  on  his  original  homestead  entry 
when  he  applies  for  additional  land,  he  will  be  allowed  to  make 
the  additional  entry  on  proper  application  and  affidavit  as  above 
stated,  and  paying  the  usual  fee  and  commissions.  Thereafter, 
when  the  party  shall  make  final  proof  on  the  original  entry,  he 


264 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


will  be  required  to  pay  the  final  commissions  on  both  entries, 
when  a  final  receipt  will  be  issued  for  the  money,  and  thereupon 
a  final  certificate  issued  to  call  both  for  the  tract  in  the  original 
entry  and  the  additional  tract. 

25,  The  following  proof  will  be  required  of  parties  applying 
for  the  benefits  of  these  sections,  in  addition  to  the  prescribed 
affidavit  of  the  applicant : 

First.  Certified  copy  of  certificate  of  discharge,  showing  when 
the  party  enlisted  and  when  he  was  discharged  ;  or,  if  this  can- 
not be  procured,  then  the  affidavits  of  two  respectable,  dis- 
interested witnesses,  corroborative  of  the  allegations  contained 
in  the  prescribed  afiidavit  on  these  points. 

Second.  In  case  of  widows,  the  prescribed  evidence  of  military 
service  of  the  husband,  as  above,  with  affidavit  of  widowhood. 

Third.  In  case  of  minor  orphan  children,  in  addition  to  the 
prescribed  evidence  of  military  service  of  the  father,  proof  of 
death  or  marriage  of  the  mother.  Evidence  of  death  may  be 
the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  or  certificate  of  a  physician  duly 
attested.  Evidence  of  marriage  may  be  a  certified  cdpy  of 
marriage  certificate,  or  of  the  record  of  same,  or  testimony  of 
two  witnesses  to  the  marriage  ceremony. 


28.  All  lands  obtained  under  the  homestead  laws  aj^e  exempt 
from  liability  for  debts  contj^acted  prior  to  the  issuing  of  patent 
therefor. 

29.  For  homestead  entries  on  lands  in  Kansas,  fees  are  to  be 
paid  according  to  the  following  table : 


Acres. 


One  hundred  and  sixty 

Eighty 

Forty 

Eighty 

Forty 


Price  per 
acre. 

31 

25 

I 

25 

I 

25 

2 

50 

2 

50 

Commission. 


Payable  when 
entry  is  made. 


$4  00 

2    CO 

1  CO 

4  00 

2  00 


Payable  when 
certificate 

i.s.sucs. 


$4  00 
2   00 

1  00 

4    CO 

2  00 


Fees. 


Payable  when 
entry  is  made. 


$10    00 

5  00 

5  00 

10  00 

5  o^ 


Total  fees 

and  com- 

missions. 

$iS 

1 
00 

9 

00 

7 

00 

iS 

00 

9 

00 

Note. — Where  entries  are  made  on  $2.50  land  by  officers,  soldiers  and  sailors,  under  section  2304  of  the  Re- 
vised Statutes,  double  the  amount  of  the  above  commissions  must  of  course  be  paid — that  is,  for  i6o  acres  of  J:. 50 
f8  at  the  dale  of  entry,  and  jJS  upon  proving  up. 


TIMBER-CULTURE  ACTS. 


265 


o 


LAWS  TO   PROMOTE   TIMBER   CULTURE. 

,1.  The  Timber-Culture  Act  of  June  14th,  1S78,  amendatory 
of  the  act  of  March  13th,  1874  (sections  2464  to  2468  of  the 
Revised  Statutes),  is  to  the  following  effect: 

First.  The  privilege  of  entry  under  this  act  is  confined  to  per- 
sons who  are  heads  of  families,  or  over  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  and  who  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  have  declared 
their  intention  to  become  such. 

SecoJid.  The  affidavit  required  for  initiating  an  entry  under 
this  act  may  be  made  before  the  register  or  receiver  of  the  dis- 
trict office  for  the  land  district  embracino-  the  desired  tract,  or 
before  some  officer  authorized  to  administer  oaths  in  that 
district,  who  is  required  by  law  to  use  an  official  seal. 

TJiird.  Not  more  than  1 60  acres  in  any  one  section  can  be 
entered  under  this  act,  and  no  person  can  make  more  than  one 
entry  thereunder. 

Fourth.  The  ratio  of  area  required  to  be  broken,  planted,  etc., 
in  all  entries  under  the  act  of  June  14,  1878,  is  one-sixteenth  of 
the  land  embraced  in  the  entry,  except  where  the  entered  tract 
is  less  than  forty  acres,  in  which  case  it  is  one-sixteenth  of  that 
quantity.  The  party  making  an  entry  of  a  quarter-section,  or 
160  acres,  is  required  to  break  or  plow  five  acres  covered 
thereby  during  the  first  year,  and  five  acres  in  addition  during 
the  second  year.  The  five  acres  broken  or  plowed  during  the 
first  year,  he  is  required  to  cultivate  by  raising  a  crop,  or  other- 
wise, during  the  second  year,  and  to  plant  in  timber,  seeds,  or  cut- 
tings, during  the  third  year.  Thefive  acres  broken  orplowed during 
the  second  year,  he  is  required  to  cultivate,  by  raising  a  crop  or 
otherwise,  during  the  third  year,  and  to  plant  in  timber,  seeds, 
or  cuttings,  during  the  fourth  year.  The  tracts  embraced  in 
entries  of  a  less  quantity  than  one-quarter  section  are  recjuired 
to  be  broken  or  plowed,  cultivated,  and  planted  in  trees,  tree 
seeds  or  cuttings,  during  the  same  periods,  and  to  the  same 
extent,  in  proportion  to  their  total  areas,  as  are  provided  for  in 
entries  of  a  quarter-section.  Provision  is  made  in  the  act  for 
an  extension  of  time  in  case  the  trees,  seeds  or  cuttings  planted 


266  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

should  be  destroyed  by  grasshoppers,  or  by  extreme  and  unusual 
drought. 

Fifth.  If,  at  the  expiration  of  eight  years,  or  at  any  time  within 
five  years  thereafter,  the  person  making  the  entry,  or,  if  he  or 
she  be  dead,  his  or  her  heirs  or  legal  representatives,  shall  prove 
by  two  credible  witnesses  the  fact  of  such  planting,  cultivation, 
etc.,  of  the  said  timber  for  not  less  than  the  said  period  of  eight 
years,  he,  she  or  they  shall  receive  a  patent  for  the  land  em- 
braced in  said  entry. 

SixiJi.  If  at  any  time  after  one  year  from  the  date  of  entry, 
and  prior  to  the  issue  of  a  patent  therefor,  the  claimant  shall 
fail  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  act,  or  any  part 
thereof,  then  such  land  shall  become  liable  to  a  contest  in  the 
manner  provided  in  homestead  cases ;  and  upon  due  proof  of 
such  failure  the  entry  shall  be  cancelled,  and  the  land  become" 
again  subject  to  entry  under  the  homestead  laws,  or  by  some 
other  person  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Seventh.  No  land  acquired  under  the  provisions  of  this  act 
shall  in  any  event  become  liable  to  the  satisfaction  of  any  debt 
or  debts  contracted  prior  to  the  issuing  of  final  certificate 
therefor. 

Eighth.  The  fees  for  entries  under  the  act  of  June  14,  1878,  are 
ten  dollars,  if  the  tract  applied  for  is  more  than  eighty  acres,  and 
five  dollars,  if  it  is  eighty  acres  or  less;  and  the  commission  of  reg- 
isters and  receivers  on  all  entries  (irrespective  of  area)  are  four 
dollars  (two  dollars  to  each)  at  the  date  of  entry,  and  a  like  sum 
at  the  date  of  final  proof. 

Ninth.  No  distinction  is  made,  as  to  area  or  the  amount  of 
fee  and  commissions,  between  minimum  and  double-minimum 
lands  ;  a  party  may  enter  160  acres  of  either  on  payment  of  the 
prescribed  fee  and  commissions. 

Tenth.  The  fifth  section  of  the  act  entitled  "An  act  in  addi- 
tion to  an  act  to  punish  crimes  against  the  United  States  and 
for  other  purposes,"  approved  March  3,  1857,  shall  extend  to 
all  oaths,  affirmations  and  affidavits  required  or  authorized  by 
this  act. 

Eleventh.  The  parties  who  have  already  made  entries  under 


APPEALS   UNDER    TIMBER-CULTURE  ACTS.  267 

the  Timber-Culture  Acts  of  March  3,  1873,  and  March  13,  1874, 
of  which  the  act  of  June  14,  1878,  is  amendatory,  may  complete 
the  same  by  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  latter  act ; 
that  is,  they  may  do  so  by  showing,  at  the  time  of  making  their 
final  proof,  that  they  have  had  under  cultivation,  as  required  by 
the  act  of  June  14,  1878,  an  amount  of  timber  sufficient  to  make 
the  number  of  acres  required  thereby,  being  one-fourth  the  num- 
ber required  by  the  former  acts, 

32.  The  following  regulations  are  prescribed  pursuant  to  the 
fifth  section  of  the  act  of  June  14,  1878,  viz.: 

First.  The  register  and  receiver  will  not  restrict  entries  under 
this  act  to  one  quarter-section  only  in  each  section,  as  was  for- 
merly done  under  the  acts  to  which  this  is  amendatory,  but  may 
allow  entries  to  be  made  of  subdivisions  of  different  quarter- 
sections  ;  provided  that  each  entry  shall  form  a  compact  body, 
not  exceeding  160  acres,  and  that  not  more  than  that  quantity 
shall  be  entered  in  any  one  section. 

Second.  When  they  shall  have  satisfied  themselves  that  the 
land  applied  for  is  properly  subject  to  an  entry,  they  will  require 
the  party  to  make  the  prescribed  affidavit,  and  to  pay  the  fee 
and  that  part  of  the  commission  payable  at  the  date  of  entry. 

Third.  When  a  contest  is  instituted,  as  contemplated  in  third 
section  of  the  act  of  June  14,  1878,  the  contestant  will  be  allowed 
to  make  application  to  enter  the  land.  Should  the  contest  result 
in  the  cancellation  of  the  contested  entry,  the  contestant  may 
then  perfect  his  own,  but  no  preference  right  will  be  allowed 
unless  application  is  made  by  him  at  date  of  instituting  contest. 

Fo2trth.  In  all  cases  under  this  act  it  will  be  required  that  trees 
shall  be  cultivated  which  shall  be  of  the  class  included  in  the 
term  "  timber,"  the  cultivation  of  shrubbery  and  fruit  trees  not 
beinor  sufficient. 

PRESENTATION    OF   APPEALS. 

33.  Any  party  aggrieved  by  the  rejection  of  his  claim  has  a 
right  to  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  register  and  receiver  to 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  and  from  him 
may  still  further  appeal  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.     All 


268  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

appeals  to  the  Commissioner  must  be  within  thirty  days  from 
the  date  of  land  officer's  decision;  and  all  appeals  to  the  Secre- 
tary within  sixty  days  after  service  of  notice.  If  not  appealed, 
the  decision  is  by  law  made  final. 

II.  Timber  and  Stone  Lands. — The  laws  of  the  United  States 
permit  the  sale  of  lands  unfit  for  cultivation,  but  valuable  only 
or  chiefly  for  the  timber  and  stone  they  contain,  and  not  with- 
drawn from  ordinary  sale  as  mineral  lands ;  but  the  purchaser 
must  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  have  legally  declared 
his  intention  to  become  a  citizen.  The  minimum  price  of  such 
lands  is  to  be  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  vvith  the  usual 
fees,  and  the  purchaser  from  the  government  is  restricted  to  i6o 
acres  or  less. 

III.  Desert  Lands. — By  the  following  act  of  Congress  passed 
March  3,  1877,  entitled,  "An  act  for  the  sale  of  desert  lands,  in 
certain  States  and  Territories,"  provision  was  made  for  the  sale 
of  such  lands  as  could  only  be  made  valuable  by  irrigation : 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  HoiLse  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  Ajueinca  in  Congi-ess  assembled,  That  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  any  person  of 
requisite  age  "who  maybe  entitled  to  become  a  citizen,  and  who 
has  filed  his  declaration  to  become  such,"  and  upon  payment 
of  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  to  file  a  declaration,  under  oath, 
Avith  the  register  and  the  receiver  of  the  land  district  in  which  any 
desert  land  is  situated,  that  he  intends  to  reclaim  a  tract  of 
desert  land,  not  exceeding  one  section,  by  conducting  water 
upon  the  same  within  the  period  of  three  years  thereafter: 
Provided,  however,  That  the  right  to  the  use  of  water  by  the  per- 
son so  conducting  the  same  on  or  to  any  tract  of  desert  land  of 
640  acres  shall  depend  upon  bona  fide  prior  appropriation  ;  and 
such  right  shall  not  exceed  the  amount  of  water  actually 
appropriated  and  necessarily  used  for  the  purpose  of  irrigation 
and  reclamation ;  and  all  surplus  water  over  and  above  such  actual 
appropriation  and  use,  together  with  the  water  of  all  lakes,  rivers, 
and  other  sources  of  water  supply  upon  the  public  lands  and  not 
navigable,  shall  remain  and  be  held  free  for  the  appropriation 
and  use  of  the  public  for  irrigation,  mining,  and  manufacturing 


DESERT  LANDS  ACT.  269 

purposes  subject  to  existing  rights.  Said  declaration  shall 
describe  particularly  said  section  of  land  if  surveyed,  and  if 
unsurveyed  shall  describe  the  same  as  nearly  as  possible  without 
a  survey.  At  any  time  within  the  period  of  three  years  after 
filing  said  declaration,  upon  making  satisfactory  proof  to  the 
register  and  receiver  of  the  reclamation  of  said  tract  of  land  in 
the  manner  aforesaid,  and  upon  the  payment  to  the  receiver 
of  the  additional  sum  of  one  dollar  per  acre  for  a  tract  of  land 
not  exceeding  640  acres  to  any  one  person,  a  patent  for  the 
same  shall  be  issued  to  him :  Provided,  That  no  person  shall  be 
permitted  to  enter  more  than  one  tract  of  land  and  not  to  exceed 
640  acres,  which  shall  be  in  compact  form. 

Sec.  2.  That  all  lands,  exclusive  of  timber  lands  and 
mineral  lands,  which  will  not,  without  irrigation,  produce  some 
agricultural  crop,  shall  be  deemed  desert  lands  within  the 
meaning  of  this  act,  which  fact  shall  be  ascertained  by  proof  of 
two  or  more  credible  witnesses  under  oath,  whose  affidavits  shall 
be  filed  in  the  land  office  in  which  said  tract  of  land  may  be 
situated. 

Sec.  3.  That  this  act  shall  only  apply  to  and  take  effect  in 
the  States  of  California,  Oregon,  and  Nevada,  and  the  Territories 
of  Washington,  Idaho,  Montana,  Utah,  Wyoming,  Arizona,  New 
Mexico,  and  Dakota,  and  the  determination  of  what  may  be  con- 
sidered desert  land  shall  be  subject  to  the  decision  and 
reeulation  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

More  than  1,000,000  acres  of  these  lands  were  sold  before 
June  30,  1878,  a  period  of  fifteen  months  after  the  law  took  effect. 

Provision  will  probably  be  made  for  the  entry  of  these  desert 
lands  as  homestead  lands  under  the  same  provisions,  as  they 
will  in  most  cases  prove  valuable  as  wheat  lands  or  lor  root 
crops. 

IV.  Grazing  Lands. — Up  to  1880  grazing  lands  could  only  be 
purchased,  except  in  Texas,  or  from  the  great  land-grant  rail- 
ways, on  the  same  terms  as  other  agricultural  lands;  and,  as  a 
consequence,  in  the  thinly  settled  States  and  Territories,  the 
greater  part  of  the  herds  were  pastured  on  the  unsold  and 
generally    unsurveyed    government    lands.      As     these    were 


270  <^^-^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

gradually  encroached  upon  by  the  farmers,  die  stock-raisers  had 
begun  to  be  desirous  of  purchasing  their  pasturage  lands,  which 
being  usually  on  the  mountain  slopes  were  not  generally  con- 
sidered arable.  The  laws  in  regard  to  agricultural  lands  made 
this  almost  impossible  ;  but  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Congress  at 
its  recent  session  (i 879-1 880)  which  will  probably  obviate  the 
existing  difficulty.  It  provides  for  the  sale  of  grazing  lands 
(which  are  carefully  defined)  in  quantities  of  eight  square  miles 
or  less,  at  nominal  rates,  with  the  usual  fees. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


l^IiNixG  AXD  Mineral  Lands — The  United  States  Laws  and  Regulations 
OF  THE  Land  Office  in  regard  to  t:  ..i — State,  Territorial  and  Local 
Rules  or  Laws. 

V.  Mining  and  Mineral  Lands. — The  United  States  laws 
regulating  mining  lands  and  mineral  resources  have  been  very 
often  modified,  but  are  now  reduced  to  a  practical  basis ;  these 
laws,  however,  are  to  some  extent  modified  in  their  operations 
by  the  State  mining  laws,  and  the  local  regulations  in  the  mining 
districts.     They  are  at  this  time  as  follows : 

LAWS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

relative  to  mining  lands  and  mineral  resources,  reserved 

FROM    sale    under    THE    PRE-EMPTION    ACTS. 

[From  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States,  being  a  full  text  of  all  laws  now  in  force  concern- 
ing mining  rights.] 

Chapter  6. — Sec.  2318.  In  all  cases  land  valuable  for  minerals 
shall  be  reserved  from  sale  except  as  otherwise  expressly  directed 
by  law. — Sec.  5,  Jidy  d^,  1866. 

Sec.  2319.  All  valuable  mineral  deposits  in  lands  belonging  to 
the  United  States,  both  surveyed  and  unsurveyed,  are  hereby 
declared  to  be  free  and  open  to  exploration  and  purchase,  and 
the  lands  in  which  they  are  found  to  occupation  and  purchase,  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  those  who  have  declared  their 


MINING  AND   MINERAL   LANDS.  271 

intention  to  become  such,  under  regulations  prescribed  by  law, 
and  according  to  the  local  customs  or  rules  of  miners  in  the 
several  mining  districts,  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  and  not 
inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States. — Sec.  i,  May 
lo,  1872. 

EXTENT  OF  CLAIM. 

Sec.  2320.  Mining  claims  upon  veins  or  lodes  of  quartz  or 
other  rock  in  place,  bearing  gold,  silver,  cinnabar,  lead,  tin,  copper, 
or  other  valuable  deposits  heretofore  located,  shall  be  governed 
as  to  length  along  the  vein  or  lode  by  the  customs,  regulations, 
and  laws  in  force  at  the  date  of  their  location,  A  mining  claim 
located  after  the  loth  day  of  May,  1872,  whether  located  by  one 
or  more  persons,  may  equal,  but  shall  not  exceed  1,500  feet  in 
lencrth  alonof  the  vein  or  lode,  but  no  location  of  a  minino;  claim  shall 
be  made  until  the  discovery  of  the  vein  or  lode  within  the  limits  of 
the  claim  located.  No  claim  shall  extend  more  than  300  feet  on  each 
side  of  the  middle  of  the  vein  at  the  surface,  nor  shall  any  claim 
be  limited  by  any  mining  regulation,  to  less  than  twenty-five  feet 
on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the  vein  at  the  surface,  except 
where  adverse  rights  existing  on  the  loth  day  of  May,  1872, 
render  such  limitation  necessary,  .The  end  lines  of  each  claim 
shall  be  parallel  to  each      her. — Sec.  2,  May  10,  1872. 

RIGHTS    OF    CLAIMANTS. 

Sec.  2321.  Proof  of  citizenship  under  this  chapter  may  consist, 
in  the  case  of  an  individual,  of  his  own  affidavit ;  in  the  case  of 
an  association  of  persons  unincorporated,  of  the  affidavit  of  their 
authorized  agent,  made  on  his  own  knowledge  or  upon  informa- 
tion and  belief;  and  in  the  case  of  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  State  or  Territory  thereof, 
by  the  filing  of  a  certified  copy  of  their  charter  or  certificate  of 
incorporation. — Sec.  7,  May  10,  1872. 

VEINS HOW  CONTROLLED. 

Sec.  2322.  The  locators  of  all  mining  locations  heretofore  made, 
or  which  shall  hereafter  be  made,  or  any  mineral  vein,  lode,  or 
ledge,  situated  on  the  public  domain,  their  heirs,  and  assigns, 


272  ^^'^^'     U'ESTEHN   EMPIRE. 

where  no  adverse  claim  exists,  on  the  loth  day  of  May,  1S72,  so 
long  as  they  comply  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  with 
State,  Territorial,  and  local  regulations  not  in  conflict  with  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  governing  their  possessory  title,  shall 
have  the  exclusive  right  of  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the 
surface  included  within  the  lines  of  their  locations,  and  of  all  veins, 
lodes,  and  ledges  throughout  their  entire  depth,  the  top  or  apex  of 
which  lies  inside  of  such  surface  lines  extended  downward  verti- 
cally, although  such  veins,  lodes,  or  ledges  may  so  far  depart  from 
a  perpendicular  in  their  course  downward  as  to  extend  outside 
the  vertical  lines  of  such  surface  locations ;  but  their  right  of 
possession  to  such  outside  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges  shall  be 
confined  to  such  portions  thereof  as  lie  between  vertical  planes 
drawn  downward,  as  above  described,  through  the  end  lines  of 
their  locations,  so  continued  in  their  own  directions  that  such 
planes  will  intersect  such  exterior  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges ; 
and  nothing  in  this  section  shall  authorize  the  locator  or  possessor 
of  a  vein  or  lode  which  extends  in  its  downward  course  beyond 
the  vertical  lines  of  his  claim  to  enter  upon  the  surface  of  a  claim 
owned  or  possessed  by  another. — Sec.  3,  Alay  10,  1S72. 

tCnnelling. 

Sec.  2323.  Where  a  tunnel  is  run  for  the  development  of  a  vein 
or  lode,  or  for  the  discovery  of  mines,  the  owners  of  such  tunnel 
shall  have  the  right  of  possession  of  all  veins  or  lodes  within  3,000 
feet  from  the  face  of  such  tunnel  on  the  line  thereof  not  previously 
known  to  exist,  discovered  in  such  tunnel,  to  the  same  extent  as 
if  discovered  from  the  surface;  and  locations  on  the  line  of  such 
tunnel  of  veins  or  lodes  not  appearing  on  the  surface,  made  by 
other  parties  after  the  commencement  of  the  tunnel,  and  while 
the  same  is  being  prosecuted  with  reasonable  diligence,  shall  be 
invalid;  but  failure  to  prosecute  the  work  on  the  tunnel  for  six 
months  shall  be  considered  as  an  abandonment  of  the  riijht  to 
all  undiscovered  veins  on  the  line  of  such  tunnel. — Sec.  4,  May 
10,  1872. 

REQUIREMENTS    OF    LOCATION    AND    LABOR. 

Sec.  2324.  The  miners  of  each  mining  district  may  make  regu- 


REQUIREMENTS   OF  LOCATION  AND   LABOR.  273 

lations  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  with 
the  laws  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which  the  district  is  situated, 
eovernine  the  location,  manner  of  recordinsf,  amount  of  work 
necessary  to  hold  possession  of  a  mining  claim,  subject  to  the 
following  requirements :  The  location  must  be  distinctly  marked 
on  the  ground,  so  that  its  boundaries  can  be  readily  traced.  All 
records  of  mining  claims  hereafter  made  shall  contain  the  name 
or  names  of  the  locators,  the  date  of  the  location,  and  such  a 
description  of  the  claim  or  claims  located  by  reference  to  some 
natural  object  or  permanent  monument  as  will  identify  the  claim. 
On  each  claim  located  after  the  lodi  day  of  May,  1872,  and  until 
a  patent  has  been  issued  therefor,  not  less  than  ^100  worth 
of  labor  shall  be  performed  or  improvements  made  during 
each  year.  On  all  claims  located  prior  to  the  loth  day  of  May, 
1872,  ^10  worth  of  labor  shall  be  performed  or  improvements 
made  by  the  loth  day  of  June,  1874,  and  each  year  there- 
after, for  each  100  feet  in  length  along  the  vein  until  a  patent  has 
been  issued  therefor  ;  but  where  such  claims  are  held  in  common, 
such  expenditure  may  be  made  on  any  one  claim,  and  upon  a 
failure  to  comply  with  these  conditions,  the  claim  or  mine  upon 
which  such  failure  occurred  shall  be  open  to  relocation,  in  the 
same  manner  as  if.no  location  of  the  same  had  ever  been  made  : 
Provided,  That  the  original  locators,  their  heirs,  assigns,  or  legal 
representatives,  have  not  resumed  work  upon  the  claim  after 
failure  and  before  such  location.  Upon  the  failure  of  any  one  of 
several  co-owners  to  contribute  his  proportion  of  the  expenditures 
required  hereby,  the  co-owners  who  have  performed  the  laborer 
made  the  improvements  may,  at  the  expiration  of  the  year,  give 
such  delinquent  co-owner  personal  notice  in  writing  or  notice  by 
publication  in  the  newspaper  published  nearest  the  claim,  for  at 
least  once  a  week  for  ninety  days,  and  if,  at  the  expiration  of 
ninety  days  after  such  notice  in  writing  or  by  publication,  such 
delinquent  shall  fail  or  refuse  to  contribute  his  proportion  of  the 
expenditure  required  by  this  section,  his  interest  in  the  claim 
shall  become  the  property  of  his  co-owners  who  have  made  the 

required  expenditures. — Sec.  5,  May  10,  1872. 
18 


^^.  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

HOW  TO    SECURE    PATENT. 

Sec.  2325.  A  patent  for  any  land  claimed  and  located  for 
valuable  deposits  may  be  obtained  in  the  following  manner:  Any 
person,  association,  or  corporation  authorized  to  locate  a  claim 
under  this  chapter,  having  claimed  and  located  a  piece  of  land  for 
such  purposes,  who  has  or  have  complied  with  the  terms  of  this 
chapter,  may  file,  in  the  proper  land  office,  an  application  for  a 
patent,  under  oath,  showing  such  compliance,  together  with  a  plat 
and  field  notes  of  the  claim  or  claims  in  common,  made  by  or 
under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  Surveyor-General,  show- 
ing accurately  the  boundaries  of  the  claim  or  claims,  which  shall 
be  distinctly  marked  by  monuments  on  the  ground,  and  shall  post 
a  copy  of  such  plat,  together  with  a  notice  of  such  application  for 
a  patent,  in  a  conspicuous  place  on  the  land  embraced  in  such 
plat  previous  to  the  filing  of  the  application  for  a  patent,  and  shall 
file  an  affidavit  of  at  least  two  persons,  that  such  notice  has  been 
duly  posted,  and  shall  file  a  copy  of  the  notice  in  such  land 
ofiice,  and  shall  thereupon  be  entided  to  a  patent  for  the  land  in 
the  manner  following:  The  Register  of  the  land  office,  upon  the 
filing  of  such  application,  plat,  field  notes,  notices,  and  affidavits, 
shall  publish  a  notice  that  such  application  has  been  made,  for 
the  period  of  sixty  days,  in  a  newspaper  to  be  by  him  designated 
as  published  nearest  to  such  claim  ;  and  he  shall  also  post  such 
notice  in  his  office  for  the  same  period.  The  claimant,  at  the 
time  of  filing  this  application,  or  at  any  time  thereafter,  within 
the  sixty  days  of  publication,  shall  file  with  the  Register  a  certifi- 
cate of  the  United  States  Surveyor-General  that  $500  worth  of 
labor  has  been  expended  on  improvements  made  upon  the  claim 
by  himself  or  grantors  ;  that  the  plat  is  correct,  with  such  fiirther 
description  by  such  reference  to  natural  objects  or  permanent 
monuments  as  shall  identify  the  claim,  and  furnish  an  accurate 
description,  to  be  incorporated  in  the  patent.  At  the  expiration 
of  sixty  days  of  publication,  the  claimant  shall  file  his  affidavit, 
showing  that  the  plat  and  notice  have  been  posted  in  a  con- 
spicuous place  on  the  claim  during  such  period  of  publication. 
If  no  adverse  claim  shall  have  been  filed  with  the  Register  and 
the  Receiver  of  the   proper  land  office  at  the  expiration  of  the 


PLACER    CLAIMS.  27^ 

sixty  days  of  publication,  it  shall  be  assumed  that  the  applicant  is 
entitled  to  a  patent,  upon  the  payment  to  the  proper  officer  of 
^5  per  acre,  and  that  no  adverse  claim  exists ;  and  thereafter  no 
objection  from  third  parties  to  the  issuance  of  a  patent  shall  be 
heard,  except  it  be  shown  that  the  applicant  has  failed  to  comply 
with  the  terms  of  this  chapter. — Sec.  6,  May  lo,  1872. 

PROVISIONS  FOR  PLACER  CLAIMS. 

Sec.  2329.  Claims  usually  called  "placers,"  including  all  forms 
of  deposits,  excepting  veins  of  quartz  or  other  rock  in  place, 
shall  be  subject  to  entry  and  patent  under  like  circumstances 
and  conditions,  and  upon  similar  proceedings  as  are  provided 
for  vein  or  lode  claims ;  but  where  the  lands  have  been  previ- 
ously surveyed  by  the  United  States,  the  entry  in  its  exterior 
limits  shall  conform  to  the  legal  subdivisions  of  public  lands. — 
Sec.  12,  July  9,  1870. 

Sec.  2330.  Legal  subdivisions  of  forty  acres  may  be  subdivided 
into  ten-acre  tracts,  and  two  or  more  persons  or  associations  of 
persons,  having  contiguous  claims  of  any  size,  although  such 
claims  may  be  less  than  ten  acres  each,  may  make  joint  entry 
thereof,  but  no  location  of  a  placer  claim  made  after  the  9th 
day  of  July,  1870,  shall  exceed  160  acres  for  any  one  person  or 
association  of  persons,  which  location  shall  conform  to  the 
United  States  surveys ;  and  nothing  in  this  section  contained 
shall  defeat  or  impair  any  bona  fide  pre-emption  or  homestead 
claim  upon  agricultural  lands,  or  authorize  the  sale  of  the  im- 
provements of  any  bona  fide  settler  to  any  purchaser. — Sec.  i  2, 
July  9,  1870. 

Sec.  2331.  Where  placer  claims  are  upon  surveyed  lands,  and 
conform  to  legal  subdivisions,  no  further  survey  or  plat  shall  be 
required,  and  all  placer  mining  claims  located  after  the  loth  day 
of  May,  1872,  shall  conform  as  near  as  practicable  with  the 
United  States  system  of  public  land  surveys  and  the  rectangular 
subdivisions  of  such  surveys,  and  no  such  location  shall  include 
more  than  twenty  acres  for  each  Individual  claimant,  but  where 
placer  claims  cannot  be  conformed  to  legal  subdivisions,  survey 
and  plat  shall  be  made  as  on  unsurveyed  lands ;  and  where  by 


2^6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  segregation  of  mineral  land  in  any  legal  subdivision  a  quan- 
tity of  agricultural  land  less  than  forty  acres  remains,  such  frac- 
tional  portion  of  agricultural  land  may  be  entered  by  any  party 
qualified  by  law,  for  homestead  or  pre-emption  purposes. — Sec. 
lo,  May  lo,  1872. 

LIMITATIONS   AND    LIENS. 

Sec.  2332.  Where  such  person  or  association,  they  and  their 
grantors,  have  held  and  worked  their  claims  for  a  period  equal 
to  the  time  prescribed  by  the  statute  of  limitations  for  mining 
claims  of  the  State  or  Territory  where  the  same  may  be  situated, 
evidence  of  such  possession  and  working  of  the  claim  for  such 
period  shall  be  sufficient  to  establish  a  right  to  a  patent  thereto 
under  this  chapter,  in  the  absence  of  any  adverse  claim;  but 
nothing  in  this  chapter  shall  be  deemed  to  impair  any  lien  which 
may  have  attached  in  any  way  whatever  to  any  mining  claim  or 
property  thereto  attached  prior  to  the  issuance  of  a  patent. — 
Sec.  13,  Jtdy  9,  1870. 

PLACER    AND    LODE    CLAIMS    JOINTLY. 

Sec.  2333.  Where  the  same  person,  association  or  corpora- 
tion, is  in  possession  of  a  placer  claim,  and  also  a  vein  or  lode 
included  within  the  boundaries  thereof,  application  shall  be  made 
for  a  patent  for  the  placer  claim,  with  the  statement  that  it  in- 
cludes such  vein  or  lode ;  and  in  such  case  a  patent  shall  issue 
for  the  placer  claim,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  in- 
cluding such  vein  or  lode,  upon  the  payment  of  ^5  per  acre  for 
such  vein  or  lode  claim,  and  twenty-five  feet  of  surface  on  each 
side  thereof.  The  remainder  of  the  placer  claim,  or  any  placer 
claim  not  embracing  any  vein  or  lode  claim,  shall  be  paid  for  at 
the  rate  of  $2.50  per  acre,  together  with  all  costs  of  proceedings; 
and  where  a  vein  or  lode,  such  as  is  described  in  section  2320  of 
this  act,  is  known  to  exist  within  the  boundaries  of  a  placer 
claim,  an  application  for  a  patent  for  such  a  placer  claim  which 
does  not  include  an  application  for  the  vein  or  lode  claim,  shall 
be  construed  as  a  conclusive  declaration  that  the  claimant  of  the 
placer  claim  has  no  right  of  possession  of  the  vein  or  lode  claim ; 


FEES    TO   SURVEYORS.  277 

but  where  the  existence  of  a  vein  or  lode  In  a  placer  claim  is  not 
known,  a  patent  for  the  placer  claim  shall  convey  all  valuable 
and  other  mineral  deposits  within  the  boundaries  thereof. — Sec. 
1 1,  May  lo,  1872. 

FEES    TO    SURVEYORS. 

Sec.  2334.  The  Surveyor-General  of  the  United  States  may 
appoint  in  each  land  district  containing  mineral  lands  as  many 
competent  surveyors  as  shall  apply  for  appointment  to  survey 
mining  claims.  The  expenses  of  the  survey  of  vein  or  lode 
claims,  and  the  survey  and  subdivision  of  placer  claims  into 
smaller  quantities  than  i6o  acres,  together  with  the  cost  of  pub- 
lication of  notices,  shall  be  paid  by  the  applicants,  and  they  fhall 
be  at  liberty  to  obtain  the  same  at  the  most  reasonable  rates, 
and  they  shall  also  be  at  liberty  to  employ  any  United  States 
Deputy  Surveyor  to  make  the  survey.  The  Commissioner  of 
the  General  Land  Office  shall  also  have  power  to  establish  the 
maximum  charges  for  surveys  and  publication  of  notices  under 
this  chapter,  and  in  case  of  excessive  charges  for  publication,  he 
may  designate  any  newspaper  published  in  a  land  district  where 
mines  are  situated,  for  the  publication  of  mining  notices  in  such 
district,  and  fix  the  rates  to  be  charged  by  such  paper ;  and  to 
the  end  that  the  Commissioner  may  be  fully  informed  on  the 
subject,  each  applicant  shall  file  with  the  Register  a  sworn  state- 
ment of  all  charges  and  fees  paid  by  such  applicant  for  publica- 
tion and  surveys,  together  with  all  fees  and  money  paid  the 
Register  and  Receiver  of  the  land  office,  which  statement  shall 
be  transmitted,  with  the  other  papers  in  the  case,  to  the  Com- 
missioner of  the  General  Land  Office. — Sec.  12,  May  10,  1S72. 

PROOF   OF    CLAIMS. 

Sec.  2335.  All  affidavits  required  to  be  made  under  this  chap- 
ter may  be  verified  before  any  officer  authorized  to  administer 
oaths  within  the  land  district  where  the  claim  may  be  situated, 
and  all  testimony  and  proofs  may  be  taken  before  any  such 
officer,  and,  when  duly  certified  by  the  officer  taking  the  same, 
shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  if  taken  before  the  Req^is- 


2y%  OUR    WESTER. Y   EMPIRE. 

ter  and  Receiver  of  the  land  office.  In  cases  of  contest  as  to 
the  mineral  or  agricultural  character  of  land,  the  testimony  and 
proofs  may  be  taken  as  herein  provided,  on  personal  notice  of 
at  least  ten  days  to  the  opposing  party  ;  or  if  such  party  cannot 
be  found,  then  by  publication  of  at  least  once  a  week  for  thirty 
days  in  a  newspaper,  to  be  designated  by  the  Register  of  the 
land  office  as  published  nearest  to  the  location  of  such  land  ;  and 
the  Register  shall  require  proof  that  such  notice  has  been  given. 
— Sec.  13,  May  10,  1872. 


VEINS    CROSSING. 


Sec.  2336.  When  two  or  more  veins  intersect  or  cross  each 
othe'r,  priority  of  title  shall  govern,  and  such  prior  location  shall 
be  enutled  to  all  ore  or  mineral  contained  within  the  space  of 
intersection  ;  but  the  subsequent  location  shall  have  the  right  of 
way  through  the  space  of  intersection,  for  the  purposes  of  con- 
venient working  of  the  mine ;  and,  where  two  or  more  veins 
unite,  the  oldest  or  prior  location  shall  take  the  vein  below  the 
point  of  union,  including  all  the  space  of  intersecdon. — Sec.  14, 
May  10,  1872. 

SITES    FOR    MILLS. 

Sec.  2337.  Where  non-mineral  land  not  contiguous  to  the 
vein  or  lode  is  used  or  occupied  by  the  proprietor  of  such  vein 
or  lode  for  mining  or  milling  purposes,  such  non-adjacent  sur- 
face-ground may  be  embraced  and  included  in  an  application  for 
a  patent  for  such  vein  or  lode,  and  the  same  may  be  patented 
therewith,  subject  to  the  same  preliminary  requirements  as  to 
the  survey  and  notice  as  are  applicable  to  veins  or  lodes;  but  no 
location  hereafter  made  of  such  non-adjacent  land  shall  exceed 
five  acres,  and  payment  for  the  same  must  be  made  at  the  rate 
as  fixed  by  this  chapter  for  the  superfices  of  the  lode.  The 
owner  of  a  quartz-mill  or  reduction  works  not  owning  a  mine  in 
connection  therewith,  may  also  receive  a  patent  for  his  mill-site 
as  provided  in  this  section. — Sec.  15,  May  10,  1872. 

DRAINAGE,    EASEMENTS,    ETC. 

Sec.  2338.  As  a  condition  of  sale  in  the  absence  of  necessary 


HOMESTEADS   ON  MLYERAL   LANDS.  2/9 

legislation  by  Congress,  the  local  Legislature  of  any  State  or 
Territory  may  provide  rules  for  working  mines  involving  ease- 
ments, drainage,  and  other  necessary  means  to  their  complete 
development,  and  those  conditions  shall  be  fully  expressed  in 
the  patent. — Sec.  5,  July  26,  1866. 

VESTED    WATER    RIGHTS. 

Sec.  2339.  Whenever,  by  priority  of  possession,  rights  to  the 
use  of  water  for  mining,  agricultural,  manufacturing  or  other 
purposes,  have  vested  and  accrued,  and  the  same  are  recognized 
and  acknowledged  by  the  local  customs,  laws  and  decisions  of 
courts,  the  possessors  and  owners  of  such  vested  rights  shall  be 
maintained  and  protected  in  the  same ;  and  the  right  of  way  for 
the  construction  of  ditches  and  canals  for  the  purposes  herein 
specified,  is  acknowledged  and  confirmed ;  but  whenever  any 
person  in  the  construction  of  any  ditch  or  canal,  injures  or  dam- 
ages the  possession  of  any  settler  on  the  public  domain,  the 
party  committing  such  injury  or  damage  shall  be  liable  to  the 
party  injured  for  such  injury  or  damage, — Sec.  9,  y2dy  26,  1866. 

Sec.  2340.  All  patents  granted,  or  pre-emption  or  homesteads 
allowed,  shall  be  subject  to  any  vested  and  accrued  water  rights, 
or  rights  to  ditches  and  reservoirs  used  in  connection  with  such 
water  rights,  as  may  have  been  acquired  under  or  recognized  by 
the  preceding  section. — Sec.  17,  July  9,  1870. 

HOMESTEADS. 

Sec.  2341.  Wherever,  upon  the  lands  heretofore  designated 
as  mineral  lands,  which  have  been  excluded  from  survey  and 
sale,  there  have  been  homesteads  made  by  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  or  persons  who  have  declared  their  intention  to  become 
citizens,  which  homesteads  have  been  made,  improved,  and  used 
for  agricultural  purposes,  and  upon  which  there  have  been  no 
valuable  mines  of  gold,  silver,  cinnabar  or  copper  discovered, 
and  which  are  properly  agricultural  lands,  the  setders  or  owners 
of  such  homesteads  shall  have  a  right  of  pre-emption  thereto, 
and  shall  be  entided  to  purchase  the  same  at  the  price  of  $1.25 
per  acre,  and  in   quantity  not  to  exceed  160  acres,  or  they  may 


28o  <^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  chapter  five  of  this  title,  re- 
lating to  homesteads. — Sec.  lo,  July  26,  1866. 

AGRICULTURAL   LANDS. 

Sec.  2342.  Upon  the  survey  of  the  lands  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding section,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  may  designate  and 
set  apart  such  portions  of  the  same  as.  are  clearly  agricultural 
lands,  which  lands  shall  thereafter  be  subject  to  pre-emption  and 
sale  as  other  public  lands,  and  be  subject  to  all  the  laws  and 
regulations  applicable  to  the  same. — Sec.  1 1,  July  26,  1866. 

IN    GENERAL. 

Sec.  2343.  The  President  is  authorized  to  establish  additional 
land  districts,  and  to  appoint  the  necessary  officers  under  exist- 
ing laws  wherever  he  may  deem  the  same  necessary  for  the 
public  convenience  in  executing  the  provisions  of  this  chapter. — 
Sec.  7,  July  26,  1866. 

Sec.  2344.  Nothing  contained  in  this  chapter  shall  be  con- 
strued to  impair  in  anyway  rights  or  interests  in  mining  property 
acquired  under  existing  laws. — Sec.  I'^.Jitly  9,  1870;  Sec.  16, 
May  10,  1872. 

Sec.  2346.  No  act  passed  at  the  first  session  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth  Congress  granting  lands  to  States  or  corporations,  to  aid 
in  the  construction  of  roads  or  for  other  purposes,  or  to  extend 
the  time  of  grants  made  prior  to  the  30th  day  of  January,  1S65, 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  embrace  mineral  lands,  which  in  all 
cases  are  reserved  exclusively  to  the  United  States,  unless  other- 
wise specially  provided  in  the  act  or  acts  making  the  grant. — 
Sec.  10,  yamiary  30,  1865. 

COAL   LANDS. 

Sec.  2347.  Every  person  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
who  is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  who  has  declared  his 
intention  to  become  such,  or  any  association  of  persons  severally 
qualified  as  above,  shall,  upon  application  to  the  Register  of  the 
proper  land  office,  have  the  right  to  enter,  by  legal  subdivisions, 
any  quantity  of  vacant  coal  lands  of  the  United  States  not  other- 
wise appropriated  or  reserved  by  competent  authority,  not  ex- 


WHO    CAN  CLAIM  COAL   LANDS.  28 1 

ceeding  i6o  acres  to  each  Individual  person,  or  320  acres  to  such 
association,  upon  payment  to  the  Receiver  of  not  less  than  ten 
dollars  per  acre  for  such  lands,  where  the  same  shall  be  situated 
more  than  fifteen  miles  from  any  completed  railroad,  and  not 
less  than  twenty  dollars  per  acre  for  such  lands  as  shall  be  within 
fifteen  miles  of  such  road. — Sec.  i,  March  3,  1873. 

WHO    CAN    CLAIM, 

Sec.  2348.  Any  person  or  association  of  persons  severally 
qualified  as  above  provided,  who  have  opened  and  improved,  or 
shall  hereafter  open  and  improve,  any  coal  mine  or  mines  upon 
the  public  lands,  and  shall  be  in  actual  possession  of  the  same, 
shall  be  entitled  to  a  preference  right  of  entry,  under  the  pre- 
ceding section,  of  the  mines  so  opened  and  improved :  Provided, 
That  when  an  association  of  not  less  than  four  persons,  severally 
qualified  as  above  provided,  shall  have  expended  not  less  than 
^5,000  in  working  and  improving  any  such  mine  or  mines,  such 
association  may  enter  not  exceeding  640  acres,  including  such 
mining  improvements. — Sec.  2,  ibid. 

REGISTERING    CLAIMS. 

Sec.  2349.  All  claims  under  the  preceding  section  must  be 
presented  to  the  Register  of  the  proper  land  district  within  sixty 
days  after  date  of  actual  possession,  and  the  commencement  of 
improvements  on  the  land,  by  the  filing  of  a  declaratory  state- 
ment therefor ;  but  when  the  township  plat  is  not  on  file  at  the 
date  of  such  improvements,  filing  must  be  made  within  sixty 
days  from  the  receipt  of  such  plat  at  the  district  office  ;  and  where 
the  improvements  shall  have  been  made  prior  to  the  expiration 
of  three  months  from  the  3d  day  of  March,  1873,  sixty  days  from 
the  expiration  of  such  three  months  shall  be  allowed  for  the 
filing  of  a  declaratory  statement,  and  no  sale  under  the  provisions 
of  this  section  shall  be  allowed  until  the  expiration  of  six  months 
from  the  3d  day  of  March,  1873. — Sec.  3,  ibid. 

ENTRIES    AUTHORIZED. 

Sec.   2350.    The   three    preceding    sections  shall  be  held   to 


2S2  OUK     IVES  TERN   EMPIRE. 

authorize  only  one  entry  by  the  same  person  or  association  of 
persons ;  and  no  association  of  persons,  any  member  of  which 
shall  have  taken  the  benefit  of  such  sections,  either  as  an  indi- 
vidual or  as  a  member  of  any  other  association,  shall  enter  or 
hold  any  other  lands  under  the  provisions ;  and  all  persons 
claiming  under  section  2348,  shall  be  required  to  prove  their  re- 
spective rights  and  pay  for  the  lands  filed  upon  within  one  year 
from  the  time  prescribed  for  filing  their  respective  claims ;  and 
upon  failure  to  file  the  proper  notice,  or  to  pay  for  the  land 
within  the  required  period,  the  same  shall  be  subject  to  entry  by 
any  other  qualified  applicant. — Sec.  4,  ibid. 

CONFLICTING   CLAIMS. 

Sec.  2351.  In  case  of  conflicting  claims  upon  coal  lands  where 
the  improvement  shall  be  commenced  after  the  3d  day  of  March, 
1873,  priority  of  possession  and  improvement  followed  by  proper 
filing  and  continued  good  faith,  shall  determine  the  preference 
right  to  purchase.  And  also  when  improvements  have  already 
been  made  prior  to  the  3d  day  of  March,  1873,  division  of  the  land 
claimed  may  be  made  by  legal  subdivisions,  to  include  as  near  as 
may  be  the  valuable  improvements  of  the  respective  parties. 
The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  is  authorized  to 
issue  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for  carrying  into  effect  the 
provisions  of  this  and  the  four  preceding  sections. — Sec.  5,  ibid. 

Sec.  2352.  Nothing  in  the  five  preceding  sections  shall  be 
construed  to  destroy  or  impair  any  rights  which  may  have 
attached  prior  to  the  3d  day  of  March,  1873,  or  to  authorize  the  sale 
of  lands  valuable  for  mines  of  gold,  silver  or  copper. — Sec.  6,  ibid. 

THE  ACT  OF  1874. 

An  act  to  amend  the  act  entitled  "An  act  to  promote  the  development  of  the  mining  resources 

of  the  United  States,"  passed  May  lo,  1874. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  Hoiise  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  Anier'ica  in  Congress  assembled.  That  the  provi- 
sions of  the  fifth  section  of  the  act  entitled  'An  act  to  promote 
the  development  of  the  mining  resources  of  the  United  States," 
passed  May  lo,  1S74,  which  requires  expenditures  of  labor  and 


UNITED   STATES  LAND    OFFICE   RULES.  283 

improvements  on  claims  located  prior  to  the  passage  of  said 
act,  are  hereby  so  amended  that  the  time  for  the  first  annual 
expenditure  on  claims  located  prior  to  the  passage  of  said  act, 
shall  be  extended  to  the  ist  day  of  January,  1875. — Approved 
yune  6,  1874. 

THE  ACT  OF  1875. 

An  act  to  amend  section  two  thousand  three  liundred  and  twenty-four  of  the  Revised  Statutes, 
relating  to  the  development  of  the  mining  resources  of  the  United  States. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repi^esentatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  section 
2324  of  the  Revised  Statutes  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  amended 
so  that  where  a  person  or  company  has  or  may  run  a  tunnel  for 
the  purpose  of  developing  a  lode  or  lodes,  owned  by  said  person 
or  company,  the  money  so  expended  in  said  tunnel  shall  be 
taken  and  considered  as  expended  on  said  lode  or  lodes,  whether 
located  prior  to  or  since  the  passage  of  said  act ;  and  such  per- 
son or  company  shall  not  be  required  to  perform  work  on  the 
surface  of  said  lode  or  lodes  in  order  to  hold  the  same  as  re- 
quired by  said  act. — Approved  February  11,  1875. 

To  these  mining  laws  should  be  appended  the 

RULES    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES    LAND    OFFICE. 
(Under  the  A.ct  of  Congress  of  May  lo,  1872,  and  now  in  force.) 

1.  It  will  be  perceived  that  the  first  section  of  said  act  leaves 
the  mineral  lands  in  the  public  domain,  surveyed  and  unsurveyed, 
open  to  exploration,  occupation,  and  purchase  by  all  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  all  those  who  have  declared  their  intention 
to  become  such. 

LODE    CLAIMS    PREVIOUSLY    LOCATED. 

2.  By  an  examination  of  the  several  sections  of  the  foregoing 
act  it  wmII  be  seen  that  the  status  of  lode  claims,  XoztsX.^^  previotis 
to  the  date  thereof,  is  not  changed  with  regard  to  their  extent 
along  the  lode  or  width  of  surface,  such  claims  being  restricted  and 
governed  both  as  to  their  lateral  and  linear  extent  by  the  State, 
Territorial,  or  local  laws,  customs  or  regulations  which  were  in 


284  (^^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

force  in  their  respective  districts  at  the  date  of  such  locations,  in 
so  far  as  the  same  did  not  conflict  with  the  limitation  fixed  by 
the  mining  statute  of  July  26,  1866. 

ENLARGEMENT    OF    RIGHTS. 

3.  Mining  rights  acquired  under  such  previous  locations  are, 
however,  enlarged  by  said  act  of  May  10,  1872,  in  the  following 
respect,  viz. :  The  locators  of  all  such  previously  taken  veins  or 
lodes,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  so  long  as  they  comply  with  the 
laws  of  Congress,  and  with  State,  Territorial,  or  local  regulations 
not  in  conflict  therewith,  governing  mining  claims,  are  invested 
by  said  act  with  the  exclusive  possessory  right  of  all  the  surface 
included  within  the  lines  of  their  locations,  and  of  all  veins,  lodes, 
or  ledges  throughout  their  entire  depth,  the  top  or  apex  of  which 
lies  inside  of  such  surface  lines  extending  downward  vertically, 
although  such  veins,  lodes,  or  ledges  may  so  far  depart  from  a 
perpendicular,  in  their  course  downward,  as  to  extend  outside 
the  vertical  lines  of  such  locations  at  the  surface ;  it  beino-  ex- 
pressly  provided,  however,  that  the  right  of  possession  to  such 
outside  parts  of  said  veins  or  ledges  shall  be  confined  to  such 
portions  thereof  as  lie  between  vertical  planes  drawn  downward 
as  aforesaid,  through  the  end  lines  of  their  locations,  so  continued 
in  their  own  direction,  that  such  planes  will  intersect  such 
exterior  parts  of  such  veins,  lodes,  or  ledges ;  no  right  being 
granted,  however,  to  the  claimant  of  such  outside  portion  of  a 
vein  or  ledge  to  enter  upon  the  surface  location  of  another 
claimant. 

LIMITS    OF    THE    LAW. 

4.  It  is  to  be  distinctly  understood,  however,  that  the  law  limits 
the  possessory  rights  to  veins,  lodes,  or  ledges  othe)'  than  the  one 
named  in  the  original  location,  to  such  as  were  not  adversely 
claimed,  at  the  date  of  said  act  of  May  10,  1872,  and  that  where 
such  other  vein  or  ledge  was  so  adversely  claimed  at  that  date, 
the  right  of  the  party  so  adversely  claiming  is  in  no  way  impaired 
by  said  act. 

ANNUAL    LABOR. 

5.  From  and  after  the  date  of  said  act  of  Congress,  in  order  to 


NON-COMPLIANCE    WITH   THE   LAW.  285 

hold  the  possessory  title  to  a  mining  claim  previously  located, 
and  for  which  a  patent  has  not  been  issued,  the  law  requires  that 
ten  dollars  shall  be  expended  annually  in  labor  or  improvements 
on  each  claim  of  one  hundred  feet  on  the  course  of  the  vein  or 
lode  until  a  patent  shall  have  been  issued  therefor  ;  but  where  a 
number  of  such  claims  are  held  in  common,  upon  the  same  vein 
or  lode,  the  aggregate  expenditure  that  would  be  necessary  to 
hold  all  the  claims,  at  the  rate  of  ^lo  per  loo  feet,  may  be  made 
upon  any  one  claim,  a  failure  to  comply  with  this  requirement  in 
any  one  year  subjecting  the  claim  upon  which  such  failure 
occurred  to  relocation  by  other  parties,  the  same  as  if  no  pre- 
vious location  thereof  had  ever  been  made,  unless  the  claimants 
under  the  original  location  shall  have  resumed  work  thereon 
after  such  failure,  and  before  such  relocation. 


FAILURE    TO    COMPLY    WITH    THE    LAW. 


6.  Upon  the  failure  of  any  one  of  several  co-owners  of  a  vein, 
lode,  or  ledge  which  has  not  been  patented,  to  contribute  his  pro- 
portion of  the  expenditures  necessary  to  hold  the  claim,  or  claims 
so  held  in  ownership  in  common,  the  co-owners  who  have  per- 
formed the  labor,  or  made  the  improvements  as  required  by  said 
act,  may,  at  the  expiration  of  the  year,  give  such  delinquent  co- 
owner  personal  notice  in  writing,  or  notice  by  publication  in  the 
newspaper  publishecl  nearest  the  claim  for  at  least  once  a  week 
for  ninety  days;  and  if  upon  the  expiration  of  ninety  days  after 
such  notice  in  writing,  or  upon  the  expiration  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  days  after  the  first  newspaper  publication  ot  notice, 
the  delinquent  co-owner  shall  have  failed  to  contribute  his  pro- 
portion to  meet  such  expenditure  or  improvements,  his  interest 
in  the  claim,  by  law,  passes  to  his  co-owners  who  have  made  the 
expenditures  or  improvements  as  aforesaid. 

RIGHTS    UNDER    OLD    PATENTS. 

7.  Rights  under  patents  for  veins  or  lodes  heretofore  granted 
under  previous  legislation  of  Congress,  are  enlarged  by  this 
act,  so  as  to  invest  the  patentee,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  with  title 
to  all  veins,  lodes  or  ledges   throughout  their   entire  depth,  the 


286  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

top  or  apex  of  which  hes  within  the  end  and  side  boundary  lines 
of  his  claim  on  the  surface  as  patented,  extended  downward 
vertically,  although  such  veins,  lodes  or  ledges  may  so  far  de- 
part from  a  perpendicular  in  their  course  downward  as  to 
extend  outside  the  vertical  side  lines  of  the  claim  at  the  surface. 
The  right  to  possession  to  such  outside  parts  of  such  veins  or 
ledges  to  be  confined  to  such  portions  thereof  as  lie  between 
vertical  planes  drawn  downward  through  the  end  lines  of  the 
claim  at  the  surface,  so  continued  in  their  own  direction  that 
such  planes  will  intersect  such  exterior  parts  of  such  veins  or 
ledges  ;  it  being  expressly  provided,  however,  that  all  veins, 
lodes  or  ledges,  the  top  or  apex  of  which  lies  inside  such  sur- 
face locations,  other  than  the  one  named  in  the  patent,  which 
were  advej^scly  claimed  at  the  date  of  said  act,  are  excluded  from 
such  conveyance  by  patent. 

FINAL    DECISION. 

8.  Applications  for  patents  for  mining  claims  pending  the  date 
of  the  act  of  May  loth,  1S72,  may  be  prosecuted  to  final  decis- 
ion in  the  General  Land  Office  ;  and  where  no  adverse  rights 
are  affected  thereby,  patents  will  be  issued  in  pursuance  of  the 
provisions  of  said  act, 

EFFECT    OF    ACT    OF    1 872. 

9.  From  and  after  the  date  of  said  act,  any  person  who  Is  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  who  has  declared  his  intention 
to  become  a  citizen,  may  locate,  record  and  hold  a  mining  claim 
o{  fifteen  Jumdred  linear  feet  along  the  course  of  any  mineral 
vein  or  lode  subject  to  location  ;  or  an  association  of  persons, 
severally  qualified  as  above,  may  make  joint  location  of  such 
claim  of  fifteen  Jmndred feet,  but  in  no  event  can  a  location  of  a 
vein  or  lode  made  subsequent  to  the  act  exceed  fifteen  hundred 
feet  along  the  course  thereof,  whatever  may  be  the  number  of 
persons  composing  the  association. 

EXTENT  OF  SURFACE  GROUND. 

10.  With  regard  to  the  extent  of  surface  ground  adjoining  a 


EXTENT  OF  SURFACE    GROUND.  287 

vein  or  locle,  and  claimed  for  the  convenient  working  thereof,  the 
act  provides  that  the  lateral  extent  of  locations  of  veins  or  lodes 
made  after  its  passage  shall  in  no  case  exceed  three  Jiundred  feet 
on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the  vein  at  the  smface,  and  that  no 
such  surface  rights  shall  be  limited  by  any  mining  regulations  to 
less  than  twenty-five  feet  on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the  vein 
at  the  surface,  except  where  adverse  rights  existing  at  the  date 
of  said  act  may  render  such  limitations  necessary,  the  end  lines 
of  such  claims  to  be  in  all  cases  parallel  to  each  other. 

SURFACE     RIGHTS. 

11.  By  the  foregoing  it  will  be  perceived  that  no  lode  claim 
located  after  the  date  of  said  act  can  exceed  a  parallelogram 
fifteen  hundred  feet  in  length  by  six  hundred  feet  in  width,  but 
whether  surface  ground  of  the  width  can  be  taken  depends 
upon  the  local  regulations  or  State  or  Territorial  laws  in  force 
in  the  several  mining  districts ;  and  that  no  such  local  regula- 
tions or  State  or  Territorial  laws  shall  limit  a  vein  or  lode  claim 
to  less  than  fifteen  hundred  feet  along  the  course  thereof,  whether 
the  location  is  made  by  one  or  more  persons,  nor  can  the  sur- 
face rights  be  limited  to  less  than  fifty  feet  in  width,  unless  ad- 
verse claims  existing  on  the  loth  day  of  May,  1872,  render  such 
lateral  limitations  necessary. 

THEIR    OWN     LAWS. 

12.  It  is  provided  in  said  act  that  the  miners  of  each  district 
may  make  rules  and  regulations  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which  such  dis- 
tricts are  respectively  situated,  governing  the  location,  manner 
of  recording,  and  amount  of  work  necessary  to  hold  possession 
of  the  claim.  It  likewise  requires  that  the  location  must  be  so 
distinctly  marked  on  the  ground  that  its  boundaries  may  be 
readily  traced.  This  is  a  very  important  matter,  and  locators 
cannot  exercise  too  much  care  in  definin<r  their  locations  at  the 
outset,  inasmuch  as  the  law  requires  that  all  records  of  mining 
locations  made  subsequent  to  its  passage  shall  contain  the  name 
or  names  of  locators,  the  date  of  the  location,  and  such  a  de- 


288 


OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


scription  of -'the   claim  or  claims  located,  by  reference  to  some 
natural  object  or  permanent  monument,  as  will  identify  the  claim. 

RECORDING    CLAIMS. 

13.  The  said  act  declares  that  no  lode  claim  can  be  recorded 
until  after  the  discovery  of  a  vein  or  lode  within  the  limits  of  the 
ground  claimed ;  the  object  of  which  provision  is  evidently  to 
prevent  the  encumbering  of  the  district  mining  record  with  use- 
less locations  before  sufficient  work  has  been  done  thereon  to 
determine  whether  a  vein  or  lode  has  been  really  discovered 
or  not. 

WHAT     CLAIMANT    SHOULD    DO. 

14.  The  claimant  should,  therefore,  prior  to  recording  his  claim, 
unless  the  vein  can  be  traced  upon  the  surface,  sink  a  shaft,  or 
run  a  tunnel  or  drift  to  a  sufficient  depth  therein  to  discover  and 
develop  a  mineral-bearing  vein,  lode  or  crevice ;  should  deter- 
mine, if  possible,  the  general  course  of  such  vein  in  either  direc- 
tion from  the  point  of  discovery,  by  which  direction  he  will  be 
o-overned  in  marking  the  boundaries  of  his  claim  on  the  surface; 
and  should  give  the  course  and  distance  as  nearly  as  practicable 
from  the  discovery  shaft  on  the  claim  to  some  permanent,  well- 
known  points  or  objects,  such  for  instance,  as  stone  monuments, 
blazed  trees,  the  confluence  of  streams,  point  of  intersection  of 
well-known  gulches,  ravines  or  roads,  prominent  buttes,  hills, 
etc.,  which  may  be  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  and  which  will  serve 
to  perpetuate  and  fix  the  loc2ts  of  the  claim  and  render  it  sus- 
ceptible of  identification  from  the  description  thereof  given  in 
the  record  of  locations  in  the  district. 

NAMES    OF    ADJOINING    CLAIMS. 

15.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  data,  the  claimant  should  state 
the  names  of  adjoining  claims,  or,  if  none  adjoin,  the  relative 
positions  of  the  nearest  claims ;  should  drive  a  post,  or  erect  a 
monument  of  stones  at  each  corner  of  his  surface  ground,  and 
at  the  point  of  discovery,  or  discovery  shaft,  should  fix  a  post, 
stake  or  board,  upon   which  should  be  designated  the  name  of 


DETAILS— TUNNEL    RIGHTS.  280 

the  lode,  the  name  or  names  of  the  locators,  the  number  of  feet 
claimed,  and  in  which  direction  from  the  point  of  discovery,  it 
being  essential  that  the  location  notice  filed  for  record,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  foregoing  description,  should  state  whether  the  entire 
claim  of  fifteen  hundred  feet  is  taken  on  one  side  of  the  point 
of  discovery,  or  whether  it  is  partly  upon  one  and  partly  upon 
the  other  side  thereof,  and  in  the  latter  case,  how  many  feet  are 
claimed  upon  each  side  of  such  discovery  point. 

FILING    NOTICE. 

16.  Within  a  reasonable  time,  say  twenty  days  after  the  loca- 
tion shall  have  been  marked  on  the  ground,  notice  thereof,  accu- 
rately describing  the  claim,  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  should  be 
filed  for  record  with  the  proper  recorder  of  the  district,  who  will 
thereupon  issue  the  usual  certificate  of  location. 

HOLDING     POSSESSORY     RIGHT. 

I  7.  In  order  to  hold  the  possessory  right  to  a  claim  of  fifteen 
hundred  feet  of  a  vein  or  lode  located  as  aforesaid,  the  act  re- 
quires that  until  a  patent  shall   have  been  issued  therefor,  not. 
less  than  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  labor  shall  be  performed, 
or  improvements  made  thereon  during  each  year,  in  default  of 
which  the  claim  shall  be  subject  to  relocation  by  any  other  party 
having  the   necessary  qualifications,  unless  the  original  locator, 
his  heirs,  assigns,  or  legal  representatives,  have  resumed  work 
thereon,  after  such  failure  and  before  such  relocation. 

IMPORTANCE    OF    DETAILS. 

18.  The  importance  of  attending  to  these  details  in  the  man- 
ner of  location,  labor  and  expenditure,  will  be  more  readily  per- 
ceived when  it  is  understood  that  a  failure  to  give  the  subject 
proper  attention  may  invalidate  the  claim. 

TUNNEL    RIGHTS. 

19.  The  fourteenth  section  of  the  act  provides  that  where  a 
tunnel  is  run  for  the  development  of  a  vein  or  lode,  or  for  the 

»9 


200  <^^'^^'    ^^'E STERN   EMPIRE. 

discovery  of  mines,  the  owners  of  such  tunnel  shall  have  the 
right  of  possession  of  all  veins  or  lodes  within  three  thousand 
feet  from  the  face  of  such  tunnel  on  the  line  thereof,  not  previ- 
ously known  to  exist,  discovered  in  such  tunnel,  to  the  same 
extent  as  if  discovered  from  the  surface;  and  locations  on  the 
line  of  such  tunnel  of  veins  or  lodes  not  appearing  on  the  sur- 
face, made  by  other  parties  after  the  commencement  of  the  tun- 
nel, and  while  the  same  is  being  prosecuted  with  reasonable 
diligence,  shall  be  invalid,  but  failure  to  prosecute  the  work  on 
the  tunnel  for  six  months  shall  be  considered  as  an  abandonment 
of  the  right  to  all  undiscovered  veins  or  lodes  on  the  line  of 
said  tunnel. 

EFFECT    OF    FOURTEENTH    SECTION. 

20.  The  effect  of  this  section  is  simply  to  give  the  proprietors 
of  a  mining  tunnel,  run  in  good  faith,  the  possessory  right  to 
1,500  feet  of  any  blind  lodes  cut,  discovered  or  intersected  by  such 
tunnel,  which  were  not  previously  known  to  exist,  within  3,000  feet 
from  the  face  or  point  of  commencement  of  such  tunnel,  and  to 
prohibit  other  parties,  after  the  commencement  of  the  tunnel, 
from  prospecting  for  and  making  locations  of  lodes  on  the  line 
tJiereof  and  within  said  distance  of  3,000  feet,  unless  such  lodes 
appear  upon  the  surface,  or  were  previously  known  to  exist. 

CONSTRUCTION    OF   TERMS. 

21.  The  term  "face,"  as  used  in  said  section,  is  construed  and 
held  to  mean  the  first  working  face  formed  in  the  tunnel,  and  to 
signify  the  point  at  which  the  tunnel  actually  enters  cover,  it 
being  from  this  point  that  the  3,000  feet  are  to  be  counted,  upon 
which  the  prospecting  is  prohibited  as  aforesaid. 

PROPER    NOTICE. 

22.  To  avail  themselves  of  the  benefit  of  this  provision  of  law,  • 
the  proprietors  of  a  mining  tunnel  will  be  required,  at  the  time 
they  enter  cover,  as  aforesaid,  to  give  proper  notice  of  their 
tunnel  location,  by  erecting  a  substantial  post,  board  or  monu- 
ment, at  the  face  or  point  of  commencement  thereof,  upon  which 
should  be  posted  a  good  and  sufficient  notice,  giving  the  names 


PROPER   XOTICR— SWORN  STATEMENTS.  30 1 

of  the  parties  or  company  claiming  the  tunnel  right,  the  actual 
or  proposed  course  or  direction  of  the  tunnel,  the  height  and 
width  thereof,  and  the  course  and  distance  from  such  face  or 
point  of  commencement  to  some  permanent,  well-known  objects 
in  the  vicinity  by  which  to  fix  and  determine  the  loats  in  manner 
heretofore  set  forth  applicable  to  locations  of  veins  or  lodes; 
and  at  the  time  of  posting  such  notice  they  shall,  in  order 
that  miners  or  prospectors  may  be  enabled  to  determine  whether 
or  not  they  are  within  the  lines  of  the  tunnel,  establish  the 
boundary  lines  thereof  by  stakes  or  monuments  placed  along 
such  lines  at  proper  intervals,  to  the  terminus  of  3,000  feet  from 
the  face  or  point  of  commencement  of  the  tunnel,  and  the  lines  so 
marked  will  define  and  govern  as  to  the  specific  boundaries 
within  which  prospecting  for  lodes  not  previously  known  to  exist 
is  prohibited,  while  work  on  the  tunnel  is  being  prosecuted  with 
reasonable  diligence. 

SWORN    STATEMENTS. 

23.  At  the  time  of  posting  notice  and  marking  the  lines  of  the 
tunnel,  as  aforesaid,  a  full  and  correct  copy  of  such  notice  of 
location,  defining  the  tunnel  claim,  must  be  filed  for  record  with 
the  mining  recorcTer  of  the  district,  to  which  notice  must  be 
attached  the  sworn  statement  or  declaration  of  the  owners, 
claimants  or  projectors  of  such  tunnel,  setting  forth  the  facts  in 
the  case,  stating  the  amount  expended  by  themselves  and  their 
predecessors  in  interest  in  prosecuting  work  thereon,  the  extent 
of  the  work  performed,  and  that  it  is  bojia  fide  their  Intention  to 
prosecute  work  on  the  tunnel  so  located  and  described  with 
reasonable  diligence  for  the  development  of  a  vein  or  lode,  or 
for  the  discovery  of  mines,  or  both,  as  the  case  may  be. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

24.  This  notice  of  location  must  be  duly  recorded,  and  with 
the  said  sworn  statement  attached,  kept  on  the  recorder's  files 
for  future  reference. 

25.  By  a  compliance  with  the  foregoing,  much  needless 
difficulty  will   be  avoided,  and  the  way  for  the  adjustment  of 


202  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

leo-al  rights  acquired  in  virtue  of  said  fourth  section  of  the  act 
will  be  made  much  more  easy  and  certain, 

26.  This  office  will  take  particular  care  that  no  improper 
advantage  is  taken  of  this  provision  of  law  by  parties  making  or 
professing  to  make  tunnel  locations  ostensibly  for  the  purpose 
named  in  the  statute,  but  really  for  the  purpose  of  monopo- 
lizing the  land  lying  in  front  of  their  tunnels  to  the  detriment  of 
the  mining  interests  and  to  the  exclusion  oi  bona  fide  \)ro'=>y^Q.QXoxs 
or  miners ;  but  will  hold  such  tunnel  claimants  to  a  strict  com- 
pliance with  the  terms  of  the  act ;  and  as  reasonable  diligence  on 
their  part  in  prosecuting  the  work  is  one  of  the  essential  con- 
ditions of  their  implied  contract,  negligence  or  want  of  due 
diligence  will  be  construed  as  working  a  forfeiture  of  their  right 
to  all  undiscovered  veins  on  the  line  of  such  tunnel. 

GOVERNMENT    TITLE    TO    VEIN    OR    LODE    CLAIMS. 

27.  By  the  sixth  section  of  said  act,  authority  is  given  for 
granting  title  for  mines  by  patent  from  the  government,  to  any 
person,  association  or  corporation  having  the  necessary  qualifi- 
cations as  to  citizenship,  and  holding  the  right  of  possession  to  a 
claim  in  compliance  with  law. 

CORRECT   SURVEYS. 

28.  The  claimant  is  required  in  the  first  place  to  have  a  correct 
survey  of  his  claim  made  under  authority  of  the  Surveyor- 
General  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  wliich  the  claim  lies  ;  such 
survey  to  show  with  accuracy  the  exterior  surface  boundaries  of 
the  claim,  which  boundaries  are  required  to  be  distinctly  marked 
by  monuments  on  the  ground. 

POSTING    COPY    OF    PLAT. 

29.  The  claimant  is  then  required  to  post  a  copy  of  the  plat 
of  such  survey  in  a  conspicuous  place  upon  the  claim,  together 
with  the  notice  of  his  intention  to  apply  for  a  patent  therefor, 
\vhich  notice  will  give  the  date  of  posting,  the  name  of  the 
claimant,  the  name  of  the  claim,  mine  or  lode,  the  mining  district 
or  county ;  whether  the  location  is  of  record,  and  if  so,  where 


FIELD   NOTES— RIGHTS    TO    THE   PREMISES.  293 

the  record  may  be  found;  the  number  of  feet  claimed  along 
the  vein,  and  the  presumed  direction  thereof;  the  number  of 
feet  claimed  on  the  lode  in  each  direction  from  the  point  of 
discovery,  or  other  well-defined  place  on  the  claim ;  the  name  or 
names  of  adjoining  claimants  on  the  same  or  other  lodes,  or  if 
none  adjoin,  the  names  of  the  nearest  claims,  etc. 

FIELD    NOTES. 

30.  After  posting  the  said  plat  and  notice  upon  the  premises, 
the  claimant  will  file  with  the  proper  register  and  receiver  a  copy 
of  such  plat,  and  the  field  notes  of  survey  of  the  claim, 
accompanied  by  the  affidavit  of  at  least  two  credible  witnesses 
that  such  plat  and  notice  are  posted  conspicuously  upon  the 
claim,  giving  the  date  and  place  of  such  posting ;  a  copy  of  the 
notice  so  posted  to  be  attached  to  and  form  a  part  of  said 
affidavit. 

RIGHTS    TO    THE    PREMISES. 

31.  Attached  to  the  field  notes  so  filed,  must  be  the  sworn 
statement  of  the  claimant  that  he  has  the  possessory  right  to  the 
premises  therein  described,  in  virtue  of  a  compliance  by  himself 
(and  by  his  grantors,  if  he  claims  by  purchase)  with  the  mining 
rules,  regulations  and  customs  of  the  mining  district.  State  or 
Territory  in  which  the  claim  lies,  and  with  the  mining  laws  of 
Congress  ;  such  sworn  statement  to  narrate  briefly,  but  as  clearly 
as  possible,  the  facts  constituting  such  compliance,  the  origin  of 
his  possession,  and  the  basis  of  his  claim  to  a  patent. 

SUPPORT    OF    AFFIDAVIT. 

32.  This  affidavit  should  be  supported  by  appropriate  evidence 
from  the  mining  recorder's  office,  as  to  his  possessory  right  as 
follows,  viz. :  Where  he  claims  to  be  a  locator,  a  full,  true  and 
correct  copy  of  such  location  should  be  furnished,  as  the  same 
appears  upon  the  mining  records ;  such  copy  to  be  attested 
by  the  seal  of  the  recorder,  or,  if  he  has  no  seal,  then  he  should 
make  oath  to  the  same  being  correct,  as  shown  by  his  records. 
Where  the  applicant  claims  as  a  locator,  in  company  with  others, 
who  have  since  conveyed  their  interests  in  the  lode  to  him,  a  copy 


2Q4  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  the  original  record  of  location  should  be  filed,  toQ-ether  with 
an  abstract  of  title  from  the  proper  recorder,  under  seal  or  oath 
as  aforesaid,  tracing  the  co-locator's  possessory  rights  in  the 
claim,  to  such  applicant  for  patent.  Where  the  applicant  claims 
only  as  a  purchaser  for  valuable  consideration,  a  copy  of  the 
location  record  must  be  filed,  under  seal  or  upon  oath  as  afore- 
said, with  an  abstract  of  title  certified  as  above,  by  the  proper 
recorder,  tracing  the  right  of  possession  by  a  continuous  chain 
of  conveyances,  from  the  original  locators  to  the  applicant. 

DESTRUCTION    OF    RECORDS. 

2,^-  III  the  event  of  the  mining  records  In  any  case  having 
been  destroyed  by  fire  or  otherwise  lost,  affidavit  of  the  fact 
should  be  made,  and  secondary  evidence  of  possessory  title  will 
be  received,  which  may  consist  of  the  affidavit  of  the  claimant, 
supported  by  those  of  any  other  parties  cognizant  of  the  facts 
relative  to  his  location,  occupancy,  possession,  improvements, 
etc.;  and  in  such  case  of  lost  records,  any  deeds,  certificates  of 
location  or  purchase,  or  other  evidence  which  may  be  in  the 
claimant's  possession,  and  tend  to  establish  his  claim,  should  be 
filed. 

PUBLISHING    NOTICE. 

34.  Upon  the  receipt  of  these  papers  the  register  u^ill,  at  the 
expense  of  the  claimant,  publish  a  notice  of  such  application  for 
the  period  of  sixty  days,  in  a  newspaper  published  nearest  to 
the  claim,  and  will  post  a  copy  of  such  notice  in  his  office  for  the 
same  period. 

WHAT    NOTICE    MUST    EMBRACE. 

35.  The  notice  so  published  and  posted  must  be  as  full  and 
complete  as  possible,  and  embrace  all  the  data  given  in  the 
notice  posted  upon  the  claim. 

36.  Too  much  care  cannot  be  exercised  in  the  preparation  of 
these  notices,  inasmuch  as  upon  their  accuracy  and  completeness 
will  depend,  in  a  great  measure,  the  regularity  and  validity  of  the 
whole  proceeding. 

FILING    CERTIFICATE. 


7.  The  claimant,  either  at  the  time  of  filing  these  papers  with 


S UK  I 'E  YOK- GENERAL'S  INSTR UCTIONS.  20? 

the  Register  or  at  any  time  during-  the  sixty  days'  publication,  is 
required  to  file  a  certificate  of  the  Surveyor-General  that  not  less 
than  $500  worth  of  labor  has  been  expended  or  improvements 
made  upon  the  claim  by  the  applicant  or  his  grantors ;  that  the 
plat  filed  by  the  applicant  is  correct ;  that  the  field  notes  of  the 
survey,  as  filed,  furnish  such  an  accurate  description  of  the  claim 
as  will,  if  incorporated  into  a  patent,  serve  to  fully  identify  the 
premises ;  and  that  such  reference  is  made  therein  to  natural 
objects  or  permanent  monuments  as  will  perpetuate  and  fix  the 
locits  thereof. 

GENERAL    INSTRUCTIONS    FROM    SURVEYOR-GENERAL. 
*  . 

8.  It  will  be  the  more  convenient  way  to  have  this  certificate 


o 


indorsed  by  the  Surveyor-General,  both  upon  the  plat  and  field 
notes  of  the  survey  filed  by  the  claimant  as  aforesaid, 
''•39.  After  the  period  of  sixty  days  of  newspaper  publication 
has  expired,  the  claimant  will  file  his  affidavit,  showing  that  the 
plat  and  notice  aforesaid  remained  conspicuously  posted  upon 
the  claim  sought  to  be  patented,  during  said  sixty  days'  publi- 
cation. 

40.  Upon  the  filing  of  this  affidavit  the  Register  will,  if  no  ad- 
verse claim  was  filed  in  his  office  during  the  period  of  publication, 
permit  the  claimant  to  pay  for  the  land  according  to  the  area 
given  in  the  plat  and  field  notes  of  survey  aforesaid,  at  the  rate 
of  ^5  for  each  acre  and  ;^5  for  each  fractional  part  of  an  acre,  the 
Receiver  issuing  the  usual  duplicate  receipt  therefor;  after  which 
the  v/hole  matter  will  be  forwarded  to  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  Office,  and  a  patent  issued  thereon  if  found 
regular. 

41.  In  sending  up  the  papers  in  the  case,  the  Register  must 
not  omit  certifying  to  the  fact  that  the  notice  was  posted  in  his 
office  for  the  full  period  of  sixty  days,  such  certificate  to  state  dis-' 
tinctly  w^hen  such  posting  was  done,  and  how  long  continued. 

42.  The  consecutive  series  of  numbers  of  mineral  entries  must 
be  continued,  whether  the  same  are  of  lode  or  placer  claims. 

43.  The  Surveyor-General  must  continue  to  designate  all  sur- 
veyed mineral  claims,  as  heretofore,  by  a  progressive  series  of 
numbers,  beginning  with  lot  No.  i']  in  each  township;  the  claim 


296  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE, 

to  be  so  designated  at  date  of  filing  the  plat,  field  notes,  etc.,  in 
addition  to  the  local  designation  of  the  claim  ;  it  being  required 
in  all  cases  that  the  plat  and  field  notes  of  the  survey  of  a  claim 
must,  in  addition  to  the  reference  to  permanent  objects  in  the 
neighborhood,  describe  the  loais  of  the  claim  with  reference  to 
the  lines  of  public  surveys,  by  a  line  connecting  a  corner  of  a 
claim  with  the  nearest  public  corner  of  the  United  States  surveys, 
unless  said  claim  be  on  unsurveyed  lands  at  a  remote  distance 
from  such  public  corner ;  in  which  latter  case  the  reference  by 
course  and  distance  to  permanent  objects  in  the  neighborhood 
will  be  a  sufficient  designation  by  which  to  fix  the  locus  until  the 
public  survey  shall  have  been  closed  upon  its  boundaries. 

ADVERSE    CLAIMS. 

44.  The  seventh  section  of  the  act  provides  for  adverse  claims; 
fixes  the  time  within  which  they  shall  be  filed  to  have  legal  effect, 
and  prescribes  the  manner  of  their  adjustment. 

45.  Said  section  requires  that  the  adverse  claim  shall  be  filed 
during  the  period  of  publication  of  notice  ;  that  it  must  be  on  the 
oath  of  the  adverse  claimant ;  and  that  it  must  show  the  nature, 
the  boundaries,  and  the  extent  of  the  adverse  claim. 

46.  In  order  that  this  section  of  law  may  be  properly  carried 
into  effect,  the  following  is  communicated  for  the  information  of 
all  concerned : 

47.  An  adverse  mining  claim  must  be  filed  with  the  Register 
of  the  same  land  office  with  whom  the  application  for  patent  was 
filed,  or,  in  his  absence,  with  the  Receiver,  and  within  the  sixty 
days'  period  of  newspaper  publication  of  notice. 

48.  The  adverse  notice  must  be  duly  sworn  to  before  an  officer 
authorized  to  administer  oaths  within  the  land  district,  or  before 
the  Register  or  Receiver;  it  will  fully  set  forth  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  interference  or  conflict;  whedier  the  adverse  party 
claims  as  a  purchaser  for  a  valuable  consideration  or  as  a  locator  ; 
if  the  former,  the  original  conveyance,  or  a  duly  certified  copy 
thereof,  should  be  furnished;  or  if  the  transaction  was  a  mere 
verbal  one,  he  will  narrate  the  circumstances  attending  the  pur- 
chase, the  date  thereof,  and  the  amount  paid,  which  facts  should 


BOUNDARIES  AND   EXTENT  OF  CLAIMS.  2Q7 

be  supported  by  the  affidavit  of  one  or  more  witnesses,  if  any 
were  present  at  the  time ;  and  if  he  claims  as  a  locator,  he  must 
file  ^  duly  certified  copy  of  the  location  from  the  office  of  the 
proper  recorder. 

BOUNDARIES    AND    EXTENT    OF    CLAIMS. 

49.  In  order  that  the  '' boundaines'"  and  "■extent'''  of  the  claim 
may  be  shown,  it  will  be  incumbent  upon  the  adverse  claimant  to 
file  a  plat  showing  his  claim  and  his  relative  situation  and  position 
with  the  one  against  which  he  claims,  so  that  the  extent  of  the 
conflict  may  be  the  better  understood.  This  plat  must  be  made 
from  an  actual  survey  by  a  United  States  deputy  surveyor,  who 
will  officially  certify  thereon  to  its  correctness  ;  and  in  addition, 
there  must  be  attached  to  such  plat  of  survey  a  certificate  or 
sworn  statement  by  the  surveyor  as  to  the  approximate  value  of 
the  labor  performed  or  improvements  made  upon  the  claim  of 
the  adverse  party,  and  the  plat  must  indicate  the  position  of  any 
shafts,  tunnels,  or  other  improvements,  if  any  such  exist,  upon  the 
claim  of  the  party  opposing  the  application. 

50.  Upon  the  foregoing  being  filed  within  the  sixty  days  as 
aforesaid,  the  Register,  or  in  his  absence  the  Receiver,  will  give 
notice  in  writing  to  both  parties  to  the  contest  that  such  adverse 
claim  has  been  filed,  informing  them  that  the  party  who  filed  the 
adverse  claim  will  be  required  within  thirty  days  from  the  date 
of  such  filing  to  commence  proceedings  in  a  court  of  competent 
jurisdiction,  to  determine  the  question  of  right  of  possession,  and 
to  prosecute  the  same  with  reasonable  diligence  to  final  judgment, 
and  that  should  such  adverse  clajmant  fail  to  do  so,  his  adverse 
claim  will  be  considered  waived,  and  the  application  for  the  patent 
be  allowed  to  proceed  upon  its  merits. 

5 1 .  When  an  adverse  claim  is  filed  as  aforesaid,  the  Register  or 
Receiver  will  indorse  upon  the  same  the  precise  date  of  filing, 
and  preserve  a  record  of  the  date  of  notifications  issued  thereon  ; 
and  thereafter  all  proceedings  on  the  application  for  patent  will 
be  suspended,  with  the  exception  of  the  completion  of  the  publi- 
cation and  posting  of  notices  and  plat,  and  the  filing  of  the  neces- 
sary proof  thereof,  until  the  controversy  shall  have  been  adjudi- 
cated in  court,  or  the  adverse  claim  waived  or  withdrawn. 


2q8  our   western  empire. 

52.  The  proceedings  after  rendition  of  judgment  by  the  court" 
in  such  case,  are  so  clearly  defined  by  the  act  itself  as  to  render 
it  unnecessary  to  enlarge  thereon  in  this  place.  ^ 


PLACER    CLAIMS. 


53.  The  tenth  section  of  the  act  under  consideration  provides: 
"That  the  act  entitled  'An  act  to  amend  an  act  (jrantinof  the  rii/ht 
of  way  to  ditch  and  canal  owners  over  the  public  lands,  and  for 
other  purposes,'  approved  July  9,  1870,  shall  be  and  remain  in 
full  force,  except  as  to  the  proceedings  to  obtain  a  patent,  which 
shall  be  similar  to  the  proceeding  prescribed  by  secdon  six  and 
seven  of  this  act  for  obtaining  patents  for  vein  or  lode  claims ; 
but  where  said  placer  claims  shall  be  upon  surveyed  lands  and 
conform  to  legal  sub-divisions,  no  further  survey  or  plat  shall  be 
required,  and  all  placer  mining  claims  hereafter  located  shall  con- 
form, as  nearly  as  practicable,  with  the  United  States  system  of 
public  land  surveys  and  the  rectangular  sub-divisions  of  such 
surveys,  and  no  such  locations  shall  include  more  than  twenty 
acres  for  each  individual  claimant ;  but  where  placer  claims  can- 
not be  conformed  to  legal  sub-divisions,  survey  and  plat  shall  be 
made  as  on  unsurveyed  lands,"  etc. 

54.  The  proceedings  for  obtaining  patents  for  veins  or  lodes 
having  already  been  fully  given,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  repeat 
them  here ;  it  being  thought  that  careful  attention  thereto  by 
applicants  and  the  local  officers  will  enable  them  to  dct  under- 
standingly  in  the  matter,  and  make  such  slight  modifications  in  the 
notice,  or  otherwise,  as  may  be  necessary  in  view  of  the  different 
nature  of  the  two  classes  of  claims ;  placer  claims  being  fixed, 
however,  at  $2.50  per  acre,  or  fractional  part  of  an  acre. 

55.  The  twelfth  and  thirteenth  sections  of  said  act  of  July  9^ 
1870,  read  as  follows: 

56.  It  will  be  observed  that  that  portion  of  the  first  proviso  to 
the  said  twelfth  section,  which  requires  placer  claims  upon  sur- 
veyed lands  to  conform  to  legal  sub-divisions,  is  related  by  the 
present  statute  with  regard  to  claims  heretofore  located,  but  that 
where  such  claims  are  located  previous  to  the  survey  and  do  not 


PLACER   CLAIMS.  2QQ 

conform  to  leg-al  sub-divisions,  survey,  plat,  and  entry  thereof 
may  be  made  according  to  the  boundaries  fixed  by  local  rules, 
but  where  such  claims  do  conform  to  legal  sub-divisions,  the  entry 
may  be  effected  according  to  such  legal  sub-divisions  without  the 
necessity  of  further  survey  or  plat, 

57.  In  the  second  proviso  to  said  twelfth  section,  authority  is 
given  for  the  sub-division  of  forty-acre  legal  sub-divisions  into 
ten-acre  lots,  which  is  intended  for  the  greater  convenience  of 
miners  In  segregating  their  claims  both  from  one  another  and 
from  IntervenlnLT  ac:rlcultural  lands. 

58.  It  Is  held,  therefore,  that  under  a  proper  construction  of 
the  law,  these  ten-acre  lots  In  mining  districts  should  be  con- 
sidered and  dealt  with,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  legal  sub- 
divisions, and  that  an  applicant  having  a  legal  claim  which  con- 
forms to  one  or  more  of  these  ten-acre  lots,  either  adjoining  or 
cornering,  may  make  entry  thereof,  after  the  usual  proceedings, 
without  further  survey  or  plat. 

59.  In  cases  of  this  kind,  however,  the  notice  given  of  the 
application  must  be  very  specific  and  accurate  in  description,  and 
as  the  forty-acre  tracts  may  be  subdivided  into  ten-acre  lots, 
either  in  the  form  of  ten  by  ten  chains  or  of  parallelograms,  five 
by  twenty  chains,  so  long  as  the  lines  are  parallel  and  at  right 
angles  with  the  lines  of  public  surveys,  it  will  be  necessary  that 
the  notice  and  application  state  specifically  what  ten-acre  lots  are 
sought  to  be  patented.  In  addition  to  other  data  required  in  the 
notice. 

60.  Where  the  ten-acre  subdivision  is  in  the  form  of  a  square, 
it  may  be  described,  for  instance,  as  the  "  S.  E.  ^  of  the  S.  W. 
^  of  the  N.  W.  ^,"  or  if  In  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  as 
aforesaid,  it  may  be  described  as  the  "  W.  y^  of  the  W.  ^  of  the 
S.  W.  X  of  the  N.  W.  y^  (or,  the  N.  %  of  the  S.  y,  of  the  N. 

E,  ^4  of  the  S.  E.  ^)  of  section ,  township ,  range 

,"  and  as  the  case  may  be ;  but,  In  addition  to  this  de- 
scription of  the  land,  the  notice  must  give  all  the  other  data  that 
is  required  in  a  mineral  application  by  which  parties  may  be  put 
on  Inquiry  as  to  the  premises  sought  to  be  patented. 

61.  The  proceedings  necessary  for  the  adjustment  of  rights 


200  (^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

where  a  known  vein  or  lode  is  embraced  by  a  placer  claim,  are 
so  clearly  defined  in  the  eleventh  section  of  the  act  as  to  render 
any  particular  instructions  upon  that  point  at  this  time  un- 
necessary. 

62.  When  an  adverse  claim  is  filed  to  a  placer  application, 
the  proceedings  are  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  vein  or  lode 
claims  already  described. 

QUANTITY    OF    PLACER    GROUND    SUBJECT   TO    LOCATION. 

63.  By  the  twelfth  section  of  the  said  amendatory  act  of  July 
9,  1870,  (tliird  proviso,)  it  is  declared  "that  no  location  of  a 
placer  claim  hereafter  made  shall  exceed  1 60  acres  for  any  one 

♦person  or  association  of  persons,  which  location  shall  conform  to 
the  United  States  surveys,"  etc. 

64.  The  tenth  section  of  the  act  of  May  10,  1872,  provides 
that  "  all  placer  mining  claims  hereafter  located  shall  conform,  as 
near  as  practicable,  with  the  United  States  system  of  public  land 
surveys,  and  the  rectangular  subdivisions  of  such  surveys  ;  and 
no  such  locations  shall  include  more  than  twenty  acres  for  each 
individual  claimant." 

65.  The  foregoing  provisions  of  law  are  construed  to  mean 
that  after  the  9th  day  of  July,  1870,  no  location  of  a  placer  claim 
can  be  made  to  exceed  160  acres,  whatever  may  be  the  number 
of  locators  associated  together,  or  whatever  the  local  regulations 
of  the  district  may  allow ;  and  that  from  and  after  the  passage 
of  said  act  of  May  10,  1872,  no  location  made  by  an  individual 
can  exceed  twenty  acres,  and  no  location  made  by  an  associa- 
tion of  individuals  can  exceed  1 60  acres,  which  location  of  1 60 
acres  cannot  be  made  by  a  less  number  than  eight  bona  fide 
locators,  but  that  whether  as  much  as  twenty  acres  can  be  located 
by  an  individual,  or  160  acres  by  an  association,  depends  entirely 
upon  the  mining  regulations  in  force  in  the  respective  districts 
at  the  date  of  the  location  ;  it  being  held  that  such  mining  regu- 
lations are  in  no  way  enlarged  by  said  acts  of  Congress,  but 
remain  intact  and  in  full  force  with  re^jard  to  the  size  of  loca- 
tions,  in  so  far  as  they  do  not  permit  locations  in  excess  of  the 
limits  fixed  by  Congress,  but  that  where  such  regulations  permit 


MAKING   PROOF  OF  PLACER    CLAIMS.  ^01 

locations  in  excess  of  the  maximums  fixed  by  Congress  as  afore- 
said, they  are  restricted  accordingly. 

66.  The  regulations  hereinbefore  given  as  to  the  manner  of 
making  locations  on  the  ground,  and  placing  the  same  on  record, 
must  be  observed  in  the  case  of  placer  locations,  so  far  as  the 
same  are  applicable ;  the  law  requiring,  however,  that  where 
placer  claims  are  upon  surveyed  public  lands,  the  locations  must 
hereafter  be  made  to  conform  to  legal  subdivisions  thereof. 

6"].  With  regard  to  the  proofs  necessary  to  establish  the  pos- 
sessory right  to  a  placer  claim,  the  said  thirteenth  section  of  the 
act  of  July  9,  1870,  provides  that  "where  said  person  or  associa-i 
tion,  they  and  tlieir  grantors,  shall  have  held  and  worked  their 
said  claims  for  a  period  equal  to  the  time  prescribed  by  the 
statute  of  limitations  for  mining  claims  for  the  State  or  Territory 
where  the  same  may  be  situated,  evidence  of  such  possession 
and  working  of  the  claims  for  such  period  shall  be  sufficient  to 
establish  a  right  to  a  patent  thereto  under  this  act,  in  the  absence 
of  any  adverse  claim." 

68.  This  provision  of  law  will  greatly  lessen  the  burden  of 
proof,  more  especially  in  the  case  of  old  claims  located  many 
years  since,  the  records  of  which  in  many  cases  have  been  de-' 
stroyed  by  fire,  or  lost  in  other  ways  during  the  lapse  of  time, 
but  concerning  the  possessory  right  to  which  all  controversy  or 
litiofation  has  lonof  been  settled. 

69,  When  an  applicant  desires  to  make  proof  of  possessory 
right  in  accordance  with  this  provision  of  law,  you  will  not  re- 
quire him  to  produce  evidence  of  location,  copies  of  conveyance, 
or  abstracts  of  title,  as  in  other  cases,  but  will  require  him  to  fur- 
nish a  duly  certified  copy  of  the  statute  of  liniitations  for  mining 
claims  for  the  State  or  Territory,  together  with  his  sworn  state- 
ment, giving  a  clear  and  succinct  narration  of  the  facts  as  to  the 
origin  of  his  title,  and  likewise  as  to  the  continuation  of  his  pos- 
session of  the  mining  ground  covered  by  this  application  ;  the 
area  thereof;  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  mlnino-  that  has  been 
done  thereon  ;  whether  there  has  been  any  opposition  to  his  pos- 
session or  litigation  with  regard  to  his  claim,  and  if  so,  when  the 
same  ceased;  whether  such  cessation  was  caused  b)'  compromise 


"202  Oi'R    IVES  TERN   EMPIRE. 

or  by  judicial  decree  ;  and  any  additional  facts,  within  the  claim- 
ant's knowledge,  having  a  direct  bearing-  upon  his  possession 
and  bona  fides  which  he  may  desire  to  submit  in  support  of 
his  claim. 

70.  There  should  likewise  be  filed  a  certificate  under  seal  of 
the  court  having  jurisdiction  of  mining  cases  w^ithin  the  judicial 
district  embracincf  the  claim,  that  no  suit  or  action  of  an\  char- 
acter  whatever,  involving  the  right  of  possession  to  any  portion 
of  the  claim  applied  for  is  pending,  and  that  there  has  been  no 
litigation  before  said  court  affecting  the  title  to  said  claim  or  any 
■part  thereof,  for  a  period  equal  to  the. time  fixed  by  the  statute 
of  limitations  for  mining  claims  in  the  State  or  Territory  as  afore- 
said, other  than  that  which  has  been  finally  decided  in  favor  of 
the  claimant. 

71.  The  claimant  should  support  his  narrative  of  facts  relative 
to  his  possession,  occupancy,  and  improvements,  by  corrobora- 
tive testimony  of  any  disinterested  person  or  persons  of  credi- 
bility, who  may  be  cognizant  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  are 
capable  of  testifying  understandingly  in  the  premises. 

72.  It  will  be  to  the  advantage  of  claimants  to  make  their 
proofs  as  full  and  complete  as  practicable. 

DEPUTY   SURVEYORS CHARGES — FEES    OF    REGISTERS    AND    RECEIVERS,    ETC. 

'j^.  The  twelfth  section  of  the  said  act  of  May  10,  1872,  pro- 
vides for  the  appointment  of  surveyors  of  mineral  claims,  author- 
izes the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  to  establish 
the  rates  to  be  charged  for  surveys  and  for  newspaper  publica- 
tions, prescribes  the  fees  allowed  to  the  local  officers  for  receiv- 
ing and  acting  upon  applications  for  mining  patents  and  for 
adverse  claims  thereto,  etc. 

74.  The  Surveyor-General  of  the  several  districts  will,  in  pur- 
suance of  said  law,  appoint  in  each  land  district  as  many  compe- 
tent deputies  for  the  survey  of  mining  claims  as  may  seek  such 
appointment ;  it  being  distinctly  understood  that  all  expenses  of 
these  notices  and  surveys  are  to  be  borne  by  the  mining  claim- 
ants, and  not  by  the  United  States ;  the  system  of  making  de- 
posits for  mineral  surveys,  as  required  by  previous  instructions, 


DEPUTY  SURVEYORS  AXD    THEIR    DUTIES.  ^n? 

being-  hereby  revoked  as  regards  field  work,  the  claimant  having 
the  option  of  employing  any  deputy  surveyor  within  such  district 
to  do  his  work  in  the  field. 

75.  Without  regard  to  the  plaiting  of  the  claim  and  other 
office  work  in  the  Surveyor-General's  office,  that  officer  will  make 
an  estimate  of  the  cost  thereof,  which  amount  the  claimant  will 
deposit  with  any  Assistant  United  States  Treasurer,  or  desig- 
nated depositary,  in  favor  of  the  United  States  Treasurer,  to  be 
passed  to  the  credit  of  the  fund  created  by  "  individual  deposi- 
tors for  surveys  of  the  public  lands,"  and  file  with  the  Surveyor- 
General  duplicate  certificates  of  such  deposit,  in  the  usual 
manner. 

76.  The  Surveyor-General  will  endeavor  to  appoint  mineral 
deputy  surveyors  as  rapidly  as  possible,  so  that  one  or  more 
may  be  located  in  each  mining  district,  for  the  greater  conven- 
ience of  miners. 

']'].  The  usual  oath  will  be  required  of  these  deputies  and 
their  assistants  as  to  the  correctness  of  each  survey  executed 
by  them. 

78.  The  law  requires  that  each  applicant  shall  file  with  the 
Register  and  Receiver  a  sworn  statement  of  all  charges  and  fees 
paid  by  him  for  publication  of  notice  and  for  survey,  together 
with  all  fees  and  moneys  paid  the  Register  and  Receiver,  which 
sworn  statement  is  required  to  be  transmitted  to  this  office,  for 
the  information  of  the  Commissioner. 

79.  Should  it  appear  that  excessive  or  exorbitant  charges  have 
been  made  by  any  surveyor  or  any  publisher,  prompt  action  will 
be  taken  with  the  view  of  correctinof  the  abuse. 

80.  The  fees  payable  to  the  Register  and  Receiver,  for  filing 
and  acting  upon  applications  for  mineral  land  patents,  made 
under  said  act  of  May  10,  1872,  are  five  dollars  to  each  officer, 
to  be  paid  by  the  applicant  for  patent  at  the  time  of  filing,  and 
the  like  sum  of  five  dollars  is  payable  to  each  officer  by  an 
adverse  claimant  at  the  time  of  filing  his  adverse  claim. 

Si.  All  fees  or  charges  under  this  act,  or  the  acts  of  which  it 
is  amendatory,  may  be  paid  in  United  States  currency. 

82.  The  Register  and    Receiver  will,  at   die   close  of   each 


304  (^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

month,  forward  to  this  office  an  abstract  of  mining  applications 
filed,  and  a  register  of  receipts,  accompanied  with  an  abstract  of 
mineral  lands  sold. 

83.  The  fees  and  purchase-money  received  by  Registers  and 
Receivers  must  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Receiver's  monthly  and  quarterly  account,  charging  up  in 
the  dlsburslno;-  account  the  sums  to  which  the  Reijister  and 
Receiver  may  be  respectively  entitled  as  fees  and  commissions, 
with  limitations  in  recrard  to  the  le^al  maximum. 

84.  The  thirteenth  section  of  the  said  act  of  May  10,  1S72, 
provides  that  all  affidavits  required  under  said  act,  or  the  act  of 
which  it  is  amendatory,  may  be  verified  before  any  officer 
authorized  to  administer  oaths  within  the  land  district  where  the 
claims  may  be  situated,  in  which  case  they  will  have  the  same 
force  and  effect  as  if  taken  before  the  Register  or  Receiver,  and 
that  in  cases  of  contest  as  to  the  mineral  or  agricultural  character 
of  land,  the  testimony  and  proofs  may  be  taken  before  any  such 
officer  on  personal  notice  of  at  least  ten  days  to  the  opposing 
party,  or.  If  said  party  cannot  be  found,  then,  after  publication  of 
notice  for  at  least  once  a  week  for  thirty  days,  in  a  newspaper  to 
be  designated  by  the  Register  as  published  nearest  to  the  location 
of  such  land,  proof  of  such  notice  must  be  made  to  the  Register. 

85.  The  instructions  heretofore  issued  with  regard  to  disprov- 
ing the  mineral  character  of  lands,  are  accordingly  modified  so 
as  to  allow  proof  upon  that  point  to  be  taken  before  any  officer 
authorized  to  administer  oaths  within  the  land  district,  and  that 
where  the  residence  of  the  parties  who  claim  the  land  to  be 
mineral  Is  known,  such  evidence  may  be  taken  without  publica- 
tion, ten  days  after  the  mineral  claimants  or  affiants  shall  have 
been  personally  notified  of  the  time  and  place  of  such  hearing ; 
but  in  cases  where  such  affiants  or  claimants  cannot  be  served 
with  personal  notice,  or  where  the  land  applied  for  is  returned 
as  mineral  upon  the  township  plat,  or  where  the  same  is  now  or 
may  hereafter  be  suspended  for  non-mineral  proof,  by  order  of 
this  office,  then  the  party  who  claims  the  right  to  enter  the  land 
as  agricultural  will  be  required,  at  his  own  expense,  to  publish  a 
notice  once  each  week  for  five  consecutive  weeks  in  the  news- 


MILL-SITES.  205 

paper  of  largest  circulation  published  in  tlie  county  In  which  said 
land  is  situated;  or,  if  no  newspaper  is  published  within  such 
county,  then  in  a  newspaper  published  in  an  adjoining  county, 
the  newspaper  in  either  case  to  be  designated  by  the  Register, 
which  notice  must  be  clear  and  specific,  embracing  the  points 
required  in  notices  under  instructions  from  this  office,  of  March 
20,  1S72,  and  must  name  a  day  after  the  last  day  of  publication 
of  said  notice,  when  testimony  as  to  the  character  of  the  land 
will  be  taken,  statincr  before  what  mas^istrate  or  other  officer 
such  hearing  will  be  had,  and  the  place  of  such  hearing. 


MILL-SITES. 


86.  The  fifteenth  section  of  said  act  provides,  "That  where 
non-mineral  land,  not  contiguous  to  the  vein  or  lode,  is  used  or 
occupied  by  the  proprietor  of  such  vein  or  lode  for  mining  or 
milling  purposes,  such  non-adjacent  surface-ground  may  be 
embraced  and  included  in  an  application  for  a  patent  for  such 
vein  or  lode,  and  the  same  may  be  patented  therewith,  subject 
to  the  same  preliminary  requirements  as  to  survey  and  notice  as 
are  applicable  under  this  act  to  veins  or  lodes :  Provided,  That 
no  location  hereafter  made  of  such  non-adjacent  land  shall  ex- 
ceed five  acres,  and  payment  for  the  same  must  be  made  at  the 
same  rate  as  fixed  by  this  act  for  the  superfices  of  the  lode. 
The  owner  of  the  quartz-mill  or  reduction  works,  not  owning  a 
mine  in  connection  therewith,  may  also  receive  a  patent  for  his 
mill-site  as  provided  in  this  section. 

87.  To  avail  themselves  of  this  provision  of  law,  parties  hold- 
ing the  possessory  right  to  a  vein  or  lode,  and  to  a  piece  of  land 
not  contiguous  thereto,  for  mining  or  milling  purposes,  not  ex- 
ceeding the  quantity  allowed  for  such  purposes  by  the  local 
rules,  regulations  or  customs,  the  proprietors  of  such  vein  or 
lode  may  file  in  the  proper  land  office  their  application  for  a 
patent,  under  oath,  in  manner  already  set  forth  herein,  which 
application,  together  with  the  plat  and  field  notes,  may  include, 
embrace  and  describe,  in  addition  to  the  vein  or  lode,  such  non- 
contiguous mill-site  ;  and  after  due  proceeding  as  to  notice,  etc., 
a  patent  will  be  issued  conveying  the  same  as  one  claim. 


20 


3o6  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

SS.  In  making  the  survey  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  the  lode  claim 
should  be  described  in  the  plat  and  field  notes  as  "Lot  No.  -^"i, 
A,"  and  the  mill-site  as  "  Lot  No.  2)1^  I^-"  or  whatever  may  be  its 
appropriate  numerical  designation  ;  the  course  and  distance  from 
a  corner  of  the  mill-site  to  a  corner  of  the  lode  claini  to  be  in- 
variably given  in  such  plat  and  field  notes,  and  a  copy  of  the 
plat  and  notice  of  application  for  patent  must  be  conspicuously 
posted  upon  the  mill-site  as  well  as  upon  the  vein  or  lode  for  the 
statutory  period  of  sixty  days.  In  making  the  entry,  no  separate 
receipt  or  certificate  need  be  issued  for  the  mill-site,  but  the 
whole  area  of  both  lode  and  mill-site  will  be  embraced  in  one 
entry,  the  price  being  ^5  for  each  acre  and  fractional  part  of  an 
acre  embraced  by  such  lode  and  mill-site  claim. 

89.  In  case  the  owner  of  a  quartz  mill  or  reduction  works  is 
not  the  owner  or  claimant  of  a  vein  or  lode,  the  law  permits  him 
to  make  application  therefor  in  the  same  manner  prescribed 
herein  for  mining  claims,  and  after  due  notice  and  proceedings, 
in  the  absence  of  a  valid  adverse  filing,  to  enter  and  receive  a 
patent  for  the  mill-site  at  said  price  per  acre. 

90.  In  every  case  there  must  be  satisfactory  proof  that  the 
land  claimed  as  a  mill-site  is  not  mineral  in  character,  which 
proof  may,  where  the  matter  is  imquestioned,  consist  of  the 
sworn  statement  of  the  claimant,  supported  by  that  ot  one  or 
more  disinterested  persons  capable  from  acquaintance  wMth  the 
land  to  testify  understandingly. 

91.  The  law  expressly  limits  mill-site  locations  made  from  and 
after  its  passage  to  five  acres,  but  whether  so  much  as  that  can 
be  located  depends  upon  the  local  customs,  rules  or  regulations. 

92.  The  Registers  and  Receivers  will  preserve  an  unbroken 
consecutive  scries  of  numbers  for  all  mineral  entries. 

PROOF    OF    CITIZENSHIP    OF    MIXING    CLAIMANTS. 

93.  The  proof  necessary  to  establish  the  citizenship  of  appli- 
cants for  mining  patents,  whether  under  the  present  or  past 
enactments,  it  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  seventh  section 
of  the  act  under  consideration,  may  consist,  in  the  case  of  an  in- 
dividual claimant,  of  his  own  affidavit  of  the  fact ;  in  the  case  of 


STATE  AND    OTHER  LOCAL    MINING  LAWS.  ^Q/ 

an  association  of  persons  not  incorporated,  of  the  affidavit  of 
their  authorized  agent,  made  on  his  own  knowledge  or  upon  in- 
formation and  beHef  that  the  several  members  of  said  association 
are  citizens  ;  and  in  the  case  of  an  incorporated  company,  organ- 
ized under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  the  laws  of  any 
State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States,  by  the  filing  of  a  certi- 
fied copy  of  their  charter  or  certificate  of  incorporation. 

94.  These  affidavits  of  citizenship  may  be  taken  before  the 
Register  or  Receiver,  or  any  other  officer  authorized  to  adminis- 
ter oaths  within  the  district. 

STATE    AND    OTHER    LOCAL    MINING    LAWS. 

Repeated  allusions  are  made  in  these  mining  laws  and  rules  of 
the  United  States  Government,  to  the  State  and  other  local  laws 
and  regulations,  as  restricting,  or  otherwise  modifying,  the  action 
of  the  United  States  laws.  With  the  chano-es  which  have  been 
made  in  the  government  laws  within  the  last  six  or  eight  years, 
and  the  perfection  they  have  reached  through  careful  observation 
of  their  action,  there  is  far  less  necessity  for  these  local  laws  than 
there  was,  a  few  years  ago,  and  we  cannot  learn  that  in  Utah, 
Montana,  or  the  Black  Hills,  any  such  laws  or  rules  have  been 
established.  In  California,  and  in  Nevada,  almost  every  county 
or  mining  district  had  its  own  mining  laws  ;  Nevada  had  also  a 
State  law,  but  California  did  not.  Oregon,  Idaho,  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  have  their  State  or  Territorial  laws, 
the  last  named  Territory,  from  its  peculiar  situation,  having  a 
somewhat  lengthy  code.  We  give  below  these  State,  Territorial, 
and  District  laws,  so  far  as  they  are  to  be  obtained,  as  they  are 
of  great  importance  to  the  mine-owners,  and  those  who  are 
intending  to  purchase  mining  property. 

STATUTE    OF    NEVADA    CONCERNING    MINING    CLAIMS. 

The  followincr  are  the  main  sections  of  a  statute  of  the  State 
of  Nevada  approved  February  27,  1866: 

Section  i.  Any  six  or  more  persons  wh'o  are  males  of 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards,  holding  mining 
claims   in   any  mining  district,  or  who   hold  mineral  lands  not 


.qS  our   western  empire. 

within  the  boundaries  of  any  estabHshed  mining-  district,  may 
form  a  new  mining  district  embracing  said  claims,  at  a  meeting 
of  such  persons  to  be  called  by  posting  for  five  days  in  at  least 
five  conspicuous  places  within  the  limits  of  such  proposed  new 
district,  notices  in  writing  stating  the  place  and  time  for  holding 
such  meeting,  describing  as  near  as  may  be  the  limits  of  such 
proposed  new  district,  and  signed  by  not  less  than  five  of  such 
persons.  At  said  meeting  all  males  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  and  upward  holding  mining  claims,  or  any  interest  therein, 
within  said  limits,  may  vote,  and  by  a  majority  vote  determine 
whether  said  new  mining  district  shall  be  established,  and  its 
boundaries,  which  shall  be  within  the  limits  named  in  said  notices  ; 
and  thereafter  the  persons  so  qualified  and  holding  mining  claims 
in  such  newly  established  district  shall  proceed  to  select  a  name 
therefor  and  elect  a  district  recorder,  who  shall  be  qualified  as 
aforesaid.  He  shall  perform  all  the  duties  required  of  him  by 
law.  and  shall,  within  thirty  days  after  qualifying,  file  and  record 
in  his  office  a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  said  meeting.  No 
district  formed  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  divided 
by  any  county  line.  Mining  districts  now  existing  may  be  con- 
tinued. 

Sec.  2  2.  On  and  after  the  second  Saturday  of  July,  1866,  all 
locations  of  minincj  claims  shall  be  made  in  the  followinof  manner  : 
On  a  monument  not  less  than  three  feet  high,  firmly  established 
in  a  conspicuous  place  on  the  claim,  there  shall  be  placed  a 
plainly-written  notice  embracing  a  description  of  the  ground 
claimed,  the  date  of  location,  the  name  of  the  claim,  the  name 
of  the  company,  and  the  names  of  the  locators,  with  the  number 
of  feet  claimed  by  each,  and  a  copy  of  said  notice,  accompanied 
by  a  written  request  for  a  survey  of  said  claim  by  the  district 
recorder,  shall,  within  thirty  days  after  the  making  of  such  loca- 
tion, be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  district  recorder  of  the  district 
in  which  said  claim  is  located  ;  and  in  case  there  be  no  legally 
authorized  district  recorder  in  and  for  the  district,  or  the  claim  be 
outside  of  the  limits  of  an  organized  mining  district,  then,  and  in 
that  case,  said  notice  may  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  county 
recorder  of  the  county  in   which  said  claim  is  located;  and   a 


NEVADA   MINING   LAWS.  3O9 

written  request  for  a  survey  by  the  county  surveyor  shall  be 
served  upon  the  county  surveyor  within  a  reasonable  time  there- 
after; the  county  surveyor,  or  his  deputy,  shall  perform  all  the 
duties  required  of  a  district  recorder  by  the  provisions  of  this 
act.  He  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  his  transactions  in  such  cases, 
and  for  such  services  he  may  charge  and  receive  the  same  fees 
allowed  by  law  for  his  services  in  like  cases.  Within  thirty  days 
after  the  making  of  such  location  there  shall  be  done  on  said 
claim,  as  assessment  work,  to  hold  the  same  up  to  and  including 
the  day  preceding  the  first  Saturday  of  the  then  following 
August,  excavation  involving  the  removal  of  fifty  cubic  feet  of 
earth  or  loose  material,  or  five  cubic  feet  of  solid  rock,  for  each 
two  hundred  feet  in  the  claim  ;  and,  as  soon  as  may  be  thereafter, 
said  district  recorder  shall  survey  the  same  and  record  the  notice 
of  survey  as  provided  in  section  14  of  this  act ;  and  said  district 
recorder  shall  file  and  record  a  certificate  in  regard  to  the  assess- 
ment work,  which  shall  be  substantially  in  the  following  form : 

DISTRICT, COUNTY,  NEVADA, DAY  OF  MONTH  OF  YEAR. 


This  is  to  certify  that  on   the claim   governed   by  the 

company,  surveyed  on date,  there  has  been  done 


by  or  on  behalf  of  said  company  sufficient  work  to  hold  said 
claim  up  to  the  first  Saturday  of  August  next. 

,  District  Recorder. 

Sec.  23.  Any  person  may  locate  mining  claims  in  favor  of 
others,  but  no  person  shall  be  entitled  to  hold  by  location  more 
than  two  hundred  feet  of  any  one  ledge,  except  by  virtue  of  discov- 
ery of  the  same,  for  which  he  shall  be  endtled  to  hold  two  hundred 
feet  additional.  In  the  case  of  locations  made  as  extensions,  the 
location  of  two  hundred  feet  by  virtue  of  discovery  is  allowed. 
No  claim  shall,  in  the  aggregate,  exceed  in  extent  two  thousand 
feet  on  any  one  ledge. 

Sec.  24.  Any  location  made  on  a  ledge  by  authority  of  this 
act  shall  be  deemed  to  include  all  the  dips,  spurs,  angles,  and 
variations  of  said  ledge.  The  locators  of  any  ledge  shall  be 
entitled   to  hold  one  hundred   feet  on   each   side  of  it,   except 


210  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

where  they  would  by  so  doing  invade  the  territory  of  a  claim 
previously  located. 

Sec.  31.  On  the  first  Saturday  of  August,  1866,  at  which  time 
the  first  assessment  year  shall  begin,  this  act.  shall  supersede  all 
district  mining  laws,  and  thereafter  said  laws  shall  be  considered 
as  repealed :  Provided,  Any  and  all  rights  heretofore  acquired 
under  and  by  virtue  of  such  distinct  mining  laws  shall  be  deter- 
mined in  accordance  with  said  mininor  laws  existinor  at  the  time 
when  said  rights  were  acquired.  During  the  period  extending 
from  and  including  the  ist  day  of  May,  1866,  to  and  including 
the  day  immediately  preceding  the  first  Saturday  of  the  following 
August,  no  claim  shall  become  subject  to  relocation  by  reason  of 
the  non-performance  of  assessment  work.  Locations  may  be 
made  under  this  act  at  any  time  on  and  after  the  second  Saturday 
of  July,  1866,  at  which  time  the  district  recorders  elected  under 
this  act  shall,  if  qualified,  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties, 
and  on  and  after  said  second  Saturday  of  July,  no  location  shall 
be  made  under  district  mining  laws. 

Sec.  32.  The  doing  of  assessment  work,  or  the  payment  of 
assessment  dues,  shall  not  be  required  in  order  to  hold  a  claim 
during  any  assessment  year,  if  during  the  year  next  preceding 
such  assessment  year  there  has  been  done  on  said  claim,  by  or 
on  behalf  of  the  claimants  thereof,  an  amount  of  work  costing,  at 
a  fair  valuation,  not  less  than  fifty  cents  for  each  foot  in  said 
claim ;  but  in  all  other  cases  assessment  work  shall  be  done  or 
assessment  dues  shall  be  paid  as  provided  in  this  act.  Assess- 
ment dues  shall  be  paid  for  every  assessment  year  by  the  parties 
holding  the  claim  to  the  district  recorder  elected  under  this  act, 
before  the  first  Saturday  of  August,  commencing  the  assessment 
year  for  which  they  are  paid,  except  as  otherwise  provided  in  this 
section. 

Sec.  33.  Except  as  otherwise  provided  in  section  32,  every 
niininof  claim  located  and  held  under  district  mining  laws,  on 
which,  before  the  i  st  day  of  May,  1 866,  there  has  been  work  done 
involving  the  excavation  of  fifty  cubic  feet  of  earth  or  loose 
matter,  or  five  cubic  feet  of  solid  rock,  for  each  200  feet  in  such 
claim,  shall  be  subject  to  assessment  dues.     On  every  mining 


REGULATIONS   OF   VIRGINIA   DISTRICT.  31 1 

claim  located  and  held  under  district  mining  laws,  on  which  such 
work  has  not  been  done  before  the  ist  day  of  May,  1866,  assess- 
ment work  shall  be  done  on  or  before  the  day  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  first  Saturday  of  August,  1866.  The  doing  of  such 
assessment  work  or  the  paying  of  such  assessment  dues  shall 
enable  the  owner  of  said  claim  to  hold  the  same  for  the  next 
ensuing  assessment  year,  commencing  on  the  first  Saturda)'  of 
August,  1866. 

Sec.  34.  The  assessment  work  done  within  the  thirty  days  after 
the  location  of  a  claim  under  this  act,  as  provided  in  section  22, 
shall  hold  the  same  only  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  assessment 
year  following  the  date  of  said  locaUon,  and  for  such  next  en- 
suing assessment  year  and  for  every  year  thereafter,  except  as 
provided  in  section  32  of  this  act,  such  claim  shall  be  subject  to 
assessment  dues. 

Sec.  45.  The  extraction  of  gold  or  other  metals  from  alluvial  or 
diluvial  deposits,  generally  called  placer  mining,  shall  be  subject 
to  such  regrulations  as  the  miners  in  the  several  minine  districts 
shall  adopt. 

18. REGULATIONS    OF   THE   VIRGINIA    DISTRICT,    NEVADA. 

The  followinpf  are  the  regulations  of  the  district  of  Virginia 
City,  Nevada,  adopted  September  14,  1859: 

Article  i.  All  quartz  claims  hereafter  located  shall  be  200 
feet  on  the  lead,  including  all  its  dips  and  angles. 

Art,  2.  All  discoverers  of  new  quartz  veins  shall  be  entitled  to 
an  additional  claim  for  discovery. 

Art.  3.  All  claims  shall  be  designated  by  stakes  and  notices 
at  each  corner. 

Art.  4.  All  quartz  claims  shall  be  worked  to  the  amount  of 
^10  or  three  days  work  per  month  to  each  claim,  and  the  owner 
can  work  to  the  amount  of  ^40  as  soon  after  the  location  of  the 
claim  as  he  may  elect ;  which  amount  being  worked  shall  exempt 
him  from  working  on  said  claim  for  six  months  thereafter. 

Art.  5.  All  quartz  claims  shall  be  known  by  a  name  and  in 
sections. 

Art.  6.  All  claims  shall  be  properly  recorded  within  ten  days 
from  the  time  of  location. 


212  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Art.  7.  All  claims  recorded  in  die  Gold  Hill  record,  and  lying 
in  the  \'irginia  district,  shall  be  recorded  free  of  charge  in  the 
record  of  \'irginia  district,  upon  the  presentation  of  a  certificate 
from  the  recorder  of  the  Gold  Hill  district,  certifying  that  said 
claims  have  been  duly  recorded  in  said  district ;  and  said  claims 
shall  be  recorded  within  thirty  days  after  the  passage  of  this 
article. 

Art.  9.  Surface  and  hill  claims  shall  be  100  feet  square,  and 
be  designated  by  stakes  and  notices  at  each  corner. 

Art.  10.  All  ravine  and  gulch  claims  shall  be  100  feet  in  length, 
and  in  width  extend  from  bank  to  bank,  and  be  designated  by  a 
stake  and  notice  at  each  end. 

Art.  1 1 ,  All  claims  shall  be  worked  within  ten  days  after  water 
can  be  had  sufficient  to  work  said  claims. 

Art.  I  2.  All  ravine,  gulch,  and  surface  claims  shall  be  recorded 
within  ten  days  after  location. 

Art.  13.  All  claims  not  worked  according  to  the  laws  of  this 
district  shall  be  forfeited  and  subject  to  relocation. 

Art.  14.  There  shall  be  a  recorder  elected,  to  hold  his  office 
for  the  term  of  twelve  months,  who  shall  be  entitled  to  the  sum 
of  fifty  cents  for  each  claim  located  and  recorded. 

Art.  15.  The  recorder  shall  keep  a  book  with  all  the  laws  of 
this  district  written  therein,  which  shall,  at  all  times,  be  subject  to 
the  inspection  of  the  miners  of  said  district;  and  he  is  further- 
more required  to  post  in  two  conspicuous  places  a  copy  of  the 
laws  of  said  district. 

19. REGULATIONS    OF    REESE    RIVER    DISTRICT,    NEVADA. 

The  following  are  the  reguladons  of  the  Reese  River  District, 
Nevada : 

Section  i.  The  district  shall  be  known  as  the  Reese  River 
Mining  District,  and  shall  be  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit:  On  the 
north  by  a  distance  of  ten  miles  from  the  overland  telegraph  line, 
on  the  east  by  Dry  creek,  on  the  south  by  a  distance  of  ten  miles, 
from  the  overland  telegraph  line,  and  on  the  west  by  Edward's 
creek,  where  not  conflicting  with  any  new  districts  formed  to  date. 

Sec.  2.  There  shall  be  a  minincr  recorder  elected  on  the  ist 

o 


REGULATIONS   OF  REESE  RIVER  DISTRICT.  213 

day  of  June  next  for  this  district,  who  shall  hold  office  for  one 
year  from  the  17th  of  July  next,  unless  sooner  removed  by  a  new 
election,  which  can  only  be  done  by  a  written  call,  signed  by  at 
least  fifty  claim-holders,  giving  notice  of  a  new  election  to  be 
held,  after  said  notice  shall  have  been  posted  and  published  for  at 
least  twenty  days  in  some  newspaper  published  in  or  nearest  this 
district ;  and  the  recorder  shall  be  a  resident  of  this  district. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  recorder  to  keep  in  a  suitable 
book  or  books  a  full  and  truthful  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
all  public  meetings  ;  to  place  on  record  all  claims  brought  to  him 
for  that  purpose,  when  such  claim  shall  not  interfere  with  or  affect 
the  rights  and  interests  of  prior  locators,  recording  the  same  in 
the  order  of  their  date,  for  which  service  he  shall  receive  ^i  for 
each  claim  recorded.  It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  recorder  to 
keep  his  books  open  at  all  times  to  the  inspection  of  the  public  ; 
he  shall  also  have  the  power  to  appoint  a  deputy  to  act  in  his 
stead,  for  whose  official  acts  he  shall  be  held  responsible.  It  shall 
also  be  the  duty  of  the  recorder  to  deliver  to  his  successor  in 
office  all  books,  records,  papers,  etc.,  belonging  to  or  pertaining 
to  his  office. 

Sec.  4.  All  examinations  of  the  record  must  be  made  in  the 
full  presence  of  the  recorder  or  his  deputy. 

Sec.  5.  Notice  of  a  claim  of  location  of  mining  ground  by  any 
individual,  or  by  a  company,  on  file  in  the  recorder's  office,  shall 
be  deemed  equivalent  to  a  record  of  the  same. 

Sec,  6.  Each  claimant  shall  be  entitled  to  hold  by  location  two 
hundred  feet  on  any  lead  in  the  district,  with  all  the  dips,  spurs, 
and  angles,  offshoots,  outcrops,  depths,  widths,  variations,  and  all 
the  mineral  and  other  valuables  therein  contained,  the  discoverer 
of  and  locator  of  a  new  lead  being  entitled  to  one  claim  extra  for 
discovery. 

Sec.  7.  The  locator  of  any  lead,  lode,  or  ledge  in  the  district 
shall  be  entitled  to  hold  on  each  side  of  the  lead,  lode,  or  ledge 
located  by  him  or  them  one  hundred  feet;  but  this  shall  not  be 
construed  to  mean  any  distinct  or  parallel  ledge  within  the  two 
hundred  feet  other  than  the  one  originally  located. 

Sec,  8,  All  locations  shall  be  made  by  a  written  notice  posted 


21^  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

upon  the  ground,  and  boundaries  described,  and  all  claimants' 
names  posted  on  the  notice. 

Sec.  9.  Work  done  on  any  tunnel,  cut,  shaft,  or  drift,  in  good 
faith,  shall  be  considered  as  being  done  upon  the  claim  owned 
by  such  person  or  company. 

Sec.  10.  Every  claim  (whether  by  individual  or  company)  lo- 
cated shall  be  recorded  within  ten  days  after  the  date  of  location. 

Sec.  1 1.  All  miners  locatincj  a  minincj  claim  in  this  district  shall 
place  and  maintain  thereon  a  good  and  substantial  monument 
or  stake,  with  a  notice  thereon  of  the  name  of  the  claim,  the 
names  of  the  locators,  date  of  location,  record,  and  extent  of 
claim.  It  is  hereby  requested  that  owners  in  claims  already  lo- 
cated do  comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  section. 

Sec.  12.  The  recorder  shall  go  upon  the  ground  with  any  and 
all  parties  desiring  to  locate  claims,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  re- 
ceive for  such  service  one  dollar  for  each  and  every  name  in  a 
location  of  two  hundred  feet  each. 

Sec.  13.  It  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  mining  recorder, 
upon  the  written  application  of  twenty-five  miners,  to  call  a  meet- 
ing of  the  miners  of  the  district  by  giving  a  notice  of  twenty 
days  through  some  newspaper  published  in  the  Reese  river 
district,  which  notice  shall  state  the  object  of  the  meeting  and 
the  place  and  time  of  holding  the  same. 

Sec.  14.  The  laws  of  this  district  passed  July  17,  1S62,  are 
hereby  repealed. 

Sec.  15.  These  laws  shall  take  effect  on  and  after  the  4th  day 
of  June,  1864.  ^ 

20. QUARTZ    STATUTE   OF   THE    STATE    OF   OREGON. 

Section  i.  7  hat  any  person,  or  company  of  persons,  estab- 
lishing a  claim  on  any  quartz  lead  containing  gold,  silver,  copper, 
tin,  or  lead,  or  a  claim  on  a  vein  of  cinnabar,  for  the  purpose  of 
mining  the  same,  shall  be  allowed  to  have,  hold,  and  possess  the 
land  or  vein,  with  all  its  dips,  spurs,  and  angles,  for  the  distance 
of  three  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  seventy-five  feet  in  width  on 
each  side  of  such  lead  or  vein. 

Sec.  2.  To  establish  a  valid  claim  the  discoverer  or  person 


QUARTZ    STATUTE    OF  OREGON.  315 

wishing  to  establish  a  claim  shall  post  a  notice  on  the  lead  or 
vein,  with  name  or  names  attached,  which  shall  protect  the  claim 
or  claims  for  thirty  days  ;  and  before  the  expiration  of  said  thirty 
days  he  or  they  shall  cause  the  claim  or  claims  to  be  recorded 
as  hereinafter  provided,  and  describing,  as  near  as  may  be,  the 
claim  or  claims,  and  their  location  ;  but  continuous  working  of 
said  claim  or  claims  shall  obviate  the  necessity  of  such  record. 
If  any  claim  shall  not  be  worked  for  twelve  consecutive  months 
it  shall  be  forfeited  and  considered  liable  to  location  by  any  per- 
son or  persons,  unless  the  owner  or  owners  be  absent  on  account 
of  sickness,  or  in  the  service  of  their  country  in  time  of  war. 

Sec.  3.  Any  person  may  hold  one  claim  by  location,  as  here- 
inafter provided,  upon  each  lead  or  vein,  and  as  many  by  pur- 
chase as  the  local  laws  of  the  miners  in  the  district  where  such 
claims  are  located  may  allow ;  and  the  discoverer  of  any  new 
lead  or  vein,  not  previously  located  upon,  shall  be  allowed  one 
additional  claim  for  the  discovery  thereof.  Nothing  in  this  sec- 
tion shall  be  so  construed  as  to  allow  any  person  not  the  dis- 
coverer to  locate  more  than  one  claim  upon  any  one  lead  or 
vein. 

Sec.  4.  Every  person,  or  company  of  persons,  after  establish- 
ing such  claim  or  claims,  shall,  within  one  year  after  recording 
or  taking  such  claim  or  claims,  work  or  cause  to  be  worked  to 
the  amount  of  fifty  dollars  for  each  and  every  claim,  and  for 
each  successive  year  shall  do  the  same  amount  of  work,  under 
penalty  of  forfeiture  of  said  claim  or  claims:  Provided,  That  any 
incorporate  company  owning  claims  on  any  lead  or  vein  may  be 
allowed  to  work  upon  any  one  claim  the  whole  amount  required 
as  above  for  all  the  claims  they  may  own  on  such  lead  or  vein. 

Sec.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  clerk  of  any  county, 
upon  the  receipt  of  a  notice  of  a  miners'  meeting  organizing  a 
miners'  district  in  said  county,  with  a  description  of  the  boun- 
daries thereof,  to  record  the  same  in  a  book  to  be  kept  in  his 
office  as  other  county  records,  to  be  called  a  "book  of  record  of 
mining  claims ;"  and,  upon  the  petition  of  parties  interested,  he 
may  appoint  a  deputy  for  such  district,  who  shall  reside  in  said 
district  or  its  vicinity,  and   shall  record  all  mining  claims  and 


2i6  OUR     WESTER X    EMPIRE. 

water  rights  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  presented  for  record; 
and  shall  transmit  a  copy  of  such  record  at  the  end  of  each 
month  to  the  county  clerk,  who  shall  record  the  same  in  the 
above-mentioned  book  of  record,  for  which  he  shall  receive  one 
dollar  for  each  and  every  claim.  It  shall  further  be  the  duty  of 
said  county  clerk  to  furnish  a  copy  of  this  law  to  his  said  deputy, 
who  shall  keep  the  same  in  his  office,  open  at  all  reasonable  times 
for  the  inspection  of  all  persons  interested  therein. 

Sec.  6.  Miners  shall  be  empowered  to  make  local  laws  in  re- 
lation to  the  possession  of  water  rights,  the  possession  and 
working  of  placer  claims,  and  the  survey  and  sale  of  town  lots 
in  mining  camps,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  7.  That  ditches  used  for  mining  purposes,  and  mining 
flumes  permanently  affixed  to  the  soil,  be  and  they  are  hereby 
declared  real  estate  for  all  intents  and  purposes  whatever. 

Sec.  8.  That  all  laws  relative  to  the  "sale  and  transfer  of  real 
estate,  and  the  application  of  the  liens  of  mechanics  and  laborers 
therein,  be  and  they  are  hereby  made  applicable  to  said  ditches 
and  flumes:  Provided,  That  all  interests  in  mining  claims  known 
as  placer  or  surface  diggings  may  be  granted,  sold,  and  conveyed 
by  bill  of  sale  and  delivery  of  possession  as  in  cases  of  the  sale 
of  personal  property  :  Provided  further,  That  the  bills  of  sale  or 
conveyances  executed  on  the  sale  of  any  placer  or  surface 
mining  claim  shall  be  recorded  within  thirty  days  after  the  date 
of  such  sale,  in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk  of  the  county  in 
which  such  sale  is  made,  in  a  book  to  be  kept  by  the  county 
clerk  for  that  purpose,  to  be  called  the  record  of  conveyances 
of  mininof  claims. 

Sec.  9.  Mortgages  of  interests  in  placer  or  surface  mining 
claims  shall  be  executed,  acknowledged,  recorded,  and  foreclosed 
as  mortgages  of  chattels. 

Sec.  10.  The  county  clerk  shall  be  entitled  to  a  fee  of  one 
dollar  each  for  every  conveyance  or  mortgage  recorded  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act. 

21. QUARTZ  STATUTE  OF  IDAHO. 

The  following  is  the  statute  of  Idaho  in  regard  to  quartz 
claims : 


QUARTZ  STATUTE    OF   IDAHO.  2 17 

Sec.  I.  That  any  person  or  persons  who  may  hereafter  dis- 
cover any  quartz  lead  or  lode  shall  be  entitled  to  one  claim  thereon 
by  right  of  discovery,  and  one  claim  each  by  location. 

Sec.  2.  That  a  quartz  claim  shall  consist  of  two  hundred  feet 
in  length  along  the  lead  or  lode  by  one  hundred  feet  in  breadth, 
covering  and  including  all  dips,  spurs,  and  angles  within  the 
bounds  of  said  claim,  as  also  the  right  of  drainage,  tunnelling, 
and  such  other  privileges  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  working 
of  said  claim. 

Sec.  3.  The  locator  of  any  quartz  claim  on  any  lead  or  lode 
shall,  at  the  time  of  locating  such  claim,  place  a  substantial  stake, 
not  less  than  three  inches  in  diameter,  at  each  end  of  said  claim, 
on  which  shall  be  a  written  notice  specifying  the  name  of  the 
locator,  the  number  of  feet  claimed,  together  with  the  year,  month, 
and  day  when  the  same  was  taken. 

Sec.  4.  All  claims  shall  be  recorded  in  the  county  recorder's 
office,  within  ten  days  from  the  time  of  posting  notice  thereon  : 
Provided,  That  w^hen  the  claim  located  is  more  than  thirty 
miles  distant  from  the  county  seat  the  time  shall  extend  to  fifteen 
days. 

Sec.  5.  Quartz  claims  recorded  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  section  4  of  this  act  shall  entitle  the  person  so 
recording  to  hold  the  same  to  the  use  of  himself,  his  heirs  and 
assigns :  Provided,  That  within  six  months  from  and  after  the 
date  of  recording  he  shall  perform,  or  cause  to  be  performed, 
thereon  work  amountino-  in  value  to  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars. 

Sec.  6.  Any  person  or  persons  holding  quartz  claims  in 
pursuance  of  this  act  shall  renew  the  notice  required  in  section 
3  at  least  once  in  twelve  months,  unless  such  claimant  is  occupy- 
in  ij  and  workinof  the  same. 

Sec.  7.  The  conveyances  of  quartz  claims  heretofore  made 
by  bills  of  sale  or  other  instruments  of  writing,  with  or  without 
seals,  shall  be  construed  in  accordance  with  die  local  mining 
rules,  regulations,  and  customs  of  miners  in  the  several  mining 
districts,  and  said  bills  of  sale  or  instruments  of  writing  con- 
cerning quartz  claims  without  seals  shall  \>it  prima  facie  evidence 


ojs  our  western  empire. 

of  sale,  as  if  such  conveyance  had  been  made  by  deed  under 
seal. 

Sec.  8.  Conveyances  of  quartz  claims  shall  hereafter  require 
the  same  formalities  and  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  rules  of 
construction  as  the  transfer  and  conveyance  of  real  estate. 

Sec.  9.  The  location  and  pre-emption  of  quartz  claims  here- 
tofore made  shall  be  established  and  proved  when  there  is  a 
contest  before  the  courts,  by  the  local  rules,  customs,  and 
reo-ulations  of  the  miners  in  each  mininof  district  where  such 
claim  is  located,  when  not  in  confhct  with  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  or  the  laws  of  this  Territory. 

Sec.  10.  This  act  to  take  effect  and  to  be  in  force  from  and 
after  its  approval  by  the  governor. 

Approved  February  4,  1864. 

23. STATUTE    OF   ARIZONA. 

The  following  is  the  statute  of  Arizona  on  the  registry  and 
government  of  mines  and  mineral  deposits,  with  the  exception 
of  the  sections  providing  the  manner  in  which  the  rights  of  miners 
shall  be  enforced  by  the  courts : 

Sec.  I.  All  mining  rights  on  the  public  lands  of  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  rights  acquired  by  discovery  on  the  lands  of 
private  individuals,  are  possessory  in  their  character  only,  and 
such  possessory  rights  shall  be  limited,  regulated,  and  governed 
as  hereinafter  provided. 

Sec.  15.  Every  mining  claim  or  pertenencia  is  declared  to 
consist  of  a  superficial  area  of  200  yards  square,  to  be 
measured  so  as  to  include  the  principal  mineral  vein  or  mineral 
deposits,  always  having  reference  to  and  following  the  dip  of  the 
vein  so  far  as  it  can  or  may  be  worked,  with  all  the  earth  and 
minerals  therein.  But  any  mining  district  organized  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  this  chapter  may  prescribe  the  dimensions 
of  said  mining  claim  or  pertenencia  for  such  district:  Provided^ 
That  in  no  case  the  dimensions  so  prescribed  shall  exceed  the 
number  of  yards  allowed  by  this  section  ;  mid  further  provided, 
That  no  such  minino-  district  shall  diminish  the  extent  of  the 
territorial  claim  to  one  pertenencia,  as  defined  in  this  section. 


MINING   REGUIATIONS    OF  ARIZONA.  3IQ 

Sec.  16.  Any  person  discovering  or  opening  a  vein  or  other 
mineral  deposit  in  this  Territory,  not  actually  worked  or  legally 
owned  by  other  parties  or  registered  in  accordance  with  this 
chapter,  shall  by  properly  denouncing  and  registering  the  same 
be  entitled  to  claim  and  hold  a  possessory  right  to  a  tract  of  land 
to  the  extent  of  two  mining  claims  or  pertenencias,  including  the 
said  vein  or  mineral  deposit,  and  conforming  as  nearly  as  possible 
to  the  general  direction  thereof,  each  to  be  measured  200  yards 
long  by  200  yards  wide,  the  direction  of  the  lines  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  person  claiming. 

Sec.  1 7.  If  two  or  more  persons  are  associated,  and  have 
formed  a  company  for  the  exploration  and  working  of  mines, 
and  one  or  several  shall  make  discoveries  of  mineral  deposits  in 
consequence  thereof,  said  company  so  engaged  in  exploration 
shall  be  entitled  to  denounce  and  register  one  discovery  claim 
only  upon  each  lode. 

Sec.  18.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  claimants  of  a  mine  or 
mineral  lands  to  locate  and  tak^  possession  of  public  lands  for  a 
mill  site  and  other  necessary  works  connected  therewith,  which 
shall  not  exceed  one-quarter  section,  containing  a  stream  or 
other  water  suitable  for  the  purpose.  They  shall  have  a  right  to 
place  a  dam  or  other  obstructions  on  such  stream,  and  to  divert 
its  water  for  the  above  uses  and  purposes.  They  shall,  within 
the  time  and  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  this  chapter  for  the 
registration  and  denouncement  of  mines,  proceed  to  denounce 
and  register  the  same  with  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court,  and 
they  shall  be  known  as  auxiliary  lands.  And  if  within  three 
years  from  the  day  their  notice  of  claim  is  so  recorded  they  shall 
expend  in  fitting  the  same  for  a  mill,  or  in  placing  a  mill  or 
reduction  works  thereon,  the  sum  of  $100,  the)-  may  cause  the 
record  of  such  work  to  be  made  and  proceedings  for  confirming 
their  title  to  be  instituted  as  provided  in  section  29  of  this 
chapter,  with  like  effect,  and  receive  a  certificate  of  title  as 
thereon  provided,  conforming  as  nearly  as  they  can  to  the  require- 
ments of  that  section.  Instead  of  the  work  required  by  section 
32  of  this  chapter  they  shall  use  the  machinery  or  other  works 
erected  upon  said  land  for  mining  purposes  at  least  thirty  days 


220  0^'^    U'ESTEHN  EMPIRE. 

in  each  year.  Such  claims  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  provisions 
of  this  chapter  which  are  applicable  to  mining  rights,  and  maybe 
abandoned  and  relocated.  All  rights  to  auxiliary  lands  acquired 
under  the  laws  of  any  mining  district  before  this  act  takes  effect 
shall  be  valid,  and  the  owners  of  the  same,  upon  complying  with 
the  provisions  of  this  section,  may  take  the  like  proceedings  to 
confirm  their  titles,  with  a  like  effect. 

Sec.  19.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  claimants  of  mining  claims, 
mineral  lands,  and  auxiliary  tracts,  to  at  once  define  the  extent 
and  boundary  of  them  as  nearly  as  possible,  by  good  substantial 
monuments  or  other  conspicuous  marks.  In  the  presence  of  the 
recorder  of  the  mining  district,  or  of  some  witness  who  shall 
prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  recorder  that  the  same  has  been 
done,  and  to  post  up  a  public  notice  of  their  claim  at  the  opening 
of  the  principal  vein,  and  to  have  them  properly  registered  and 
recorded  within  three  months  from  the  time  of  first  claiming  them 
at  the  office  of  the  mining  district  recorder  according  to  the 
provisions  of  this  chapter.  Such  record  shall  give  a  faithful 
description  of  the  veins,  mineral  deposits,  and  tracts  of  lands,  the 
character  and  bearing  of  the  veins  or  deposits,  and  their  con- 
nection with  natural  monuments  or  conspicuous  objects  In  the 
vicinity. 

Sec.  20.  No  person  shall  change  his  original  monuments  or 
boundaries  of  mineral  or  other  lands,  but  If  a  subsequent 
investigation  makes  this  convenient  or  necessary,  and  It  can  be 
done  v.'ithout  prejudice  to  other  parties,  then  such  change  shall 
take  place  by  the  sanction  of  the  judge  of  the  probate  court, 
provided  they  are  properly  recorded,  and  the  new  boundaries 
and  monuments  fixed  at  once  when  the  orlo^Inal  ones  are  re- 
moved. 

Sec.  21.  All  minerals,  woods,  waters,  earths,  and  vegetation 
found  within  the  boundaries  of  any  tract  of  land  registered  and 
claimed  for  mining  shall  be  exclusively  used  by  him  or  them  who 
are  legally  entitled  to  the  possession  of  the  land  wherein  or 
whereon  they  are  situated,  so  long  as  they  are  used  for  mining 
purposes  onl\- :  Provided,  That  no  one  shall  have  the  right  to 
prevent  transient  persons  from  using  the  waters  along  the  pub- 


MINING   REGULATIONS   OF  ARIZONA.  221 

lie  highwa^^s,  where  they  were  provided  by  nature  in  natural 
tanks,  springs,  streams,  or  otherwise,  rior  from  making  such 
equitable  disposition  of  the  waters  as  the  legislature  shall  pre- 
scribe. 

Sec.  2  2.  No  person  shall  have  the  right  to  impede  or  incon- 
venience travelling  by  fencing  up  the  public  roads,  filling  them 
up  with  rubbish,  or  undermining  them  so  as  to  endanger  their 
safety,  neither  shall  any  one  change  their  established  direction 
without  sanction  of  the  proper  authorities. 

Sec.  23.  Whenever  two  or  more  persons  or  parties  explore 
and  prospect  one  and  the  same  vein,  and  at  or  about  the  same 
time  but  at  different  places,  and  without  knowledge  of  each 
other,  then  he  or  they  who  shall  prove  first  occupancy  shall  have 
the  right  of  first  location,  taking  the  principal  point  of  excavation 
as  the  centre  of  their  claim  or  claims  on  each  side  along  the 
general  direction  of  such  vein  or  deposit.  The  other  parties 
shall  proceed  by  the  same  laws  after  the  others  have  fixed  their 
boundaries.  Should  there  be  left  vacant  ground  between  the 
different  parties,  then  it  shall  be  at  the  option  of  the  first  dis- 
coverers so  to  change  their  boundaries  as  shall  best  suit  them, 
and  have  them  recorded  accordingly.  Any  other  parties  shall 
locate  in  the  order  of  the  time  of  their  arrival  on  the  vein  or 
mineral  deposit. 

Sec.  24.  Whenever  two  or  more  parties  shall  select  the  same 
mine  or  mineral  deposit  for  exploration,  and  the  parties  first  on 
the  ground,  knowing  the  other  parties  to  be  at  work,  shall  fail  to 
give  warning,  either  verbally  or  in  writing,  of  their  priority  claim 
on  such  vein  or  deposit,  then  that  portion  of  the  mine  situated 
between  the  main  excavations  of  the  tw^o  parties  shall  be  equally 
divided  between  them,  irrespective  of  the  number  of  members 
each  company  may  have :  Provided,  That  the  intervening  por- 
tions shall  not  exceed  the  quantity  of  land  allowed  by.  the  pro- 
visions of  this  chapter. 

Sec.  25.  The  laws    and    proceedings    of  all   mining,  districts 

established  in  this  Territory  for  the  denouncement,  registration, 

and    regulation    of   mines,   mining  claims,   mineral    lands,   and 

auxiliary  lands,  prior  to  the  day  this  act  takes  effect,  are  hereby 
21 


222  ^'^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

lecralized  and  declared  to  be  as  valid  and  bindinof  in  all  courts  of 
law  as  if  enacted  by  this  legislative  assembly,  to  the  extent  and 
under  the  conditions  and  restrictions  herein  contained. 

I.  All  rights,  claims,  and  titles  to  any  veins,  mineral  lands,  or 
mineral  deposits,  and  auxiliary  lands,  acquired  before  this  act 
takes  effect,  under,  by  virtue  of,  and  in  conformity  to  the  laws  of 
said  mining  districts,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  valid  and  legal, 
and  shall  be  respected  and  enforced  in  all  courts  of  this  Terri- 
tory, when  sustained  by  the  evidence  herein  provided  ;  but  no 
amount  of  work  done  thereon  shall  be  construed  to  give  a  per- 
petual title  thereto,  but  shall  give  such  title  only  and  such  rights 
and  privileges  as  are  provided  in  section  29  of  this  chapter;  and 
no  person  who  was  at  the  time  of  the  location  of  his  claim  an 
inhabitant  of  this  Territory  shall  forfeit  his  claim  because  he  was 
not  a  resident  also  of  the  mining  district  in  which  his  said  claim 
was  located.  And  no  such  right,  claim,  or  title  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  abandoned  provided  the  claimant  shall  within  six 
months  from  the  day  this  act  takes  effect  file  with  the  clerk  of 
the  probate  court  of  the  county  in  which  his  claim  is  situated  a 
brief  description  of  the  same,  giving  the  name  of  the  district  in 
which  the  lode  is  situated,  and  of  the  lode  or  lodes,  and  the  ex- 
tent of  his  claim  thereon,  with  a  declaration  that  he  intends  to 
retain  and  work  the  same  according  to  law,  unless  such  claim 
has  been  forfeited  and  subject  to  re-location  under  the  laws  of 
such  minine  district  before  this  act  takes  effect. 

II.  All  records  and  all  papers  required  by  the  laws  of  said 
mining  districts  to  be  deposited  with  the  recorders  of  said  dis- 
tricts for  record  shall  be  received  as  evidence  of  their  contents 
in  all  courts  of  this  Territory,  and  shall  not  be  rejected  for  any 
defects  in  their  form,  when  their  contents  may  be  understood, 
but  shall  be  valid  to  the  extent  provided  by  said  mining  laws, 
except  as  hereinbefore  restricted :  Provided,  That  such  records 
and  papers  are  deposited  with  or  recorded  by  the  clerk  of  the 
probate  court  of  the  county  in  which  said  mining  district  is 
located,  and  within  three  months  from  the  time  this  act  takes 
effect-;  and  if  said  records  or  papers  are  lost  or  mutilated,  or  if 
such  recorder  of  a   mining  district  shall   neglect  or  refuse  to 


MINING   REGULATIONS   OF  ARIZONA.  ^23 

deposit  the  same  as  aforesaid,  an  affidavit  of  their  contents  made 
by  any  person  interested  therein,  or  certified  or  sworn  copies 
thereof,  may  be  so  recorded,  and  shall  have  the  like  effect. 

III.  All  conveyances  of  mines,  mining  rights,  mineral  and 
auxiliary  lands  made  prior  to  the  time  this  act  takes  effect  shall 
be  valid  and  binding  to  pass  the  title  of  the  grantor  thereof, 
although  defective  in  form  and  execution,  if  their  contents  can 
be  understood,  and  as  such  shall  be  received  and  regarded  in  all 
courts  of  this  Territory:  Provided,  That  such  conveyances  shall 
be  deposited  with  or  recorded  by  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court 
of  the  county  where  said  mines  are  situated,  within  three  months 
from  the  time  this  act  takes  effect,  and  if  lost  or  mutilated,  copies 
or  affidavits  of  their  contents,  executed  as  aforesaid,  may  be 
recorded  as  provided  above. 

Sec.  26.  Every  recorder,  register,  clerk,  or  other  recording 
officer,  of  every  such  mining 'district,  or  who  has  at  any  time 
acted  as  such  recording  officer,  within  three  months  after  this 
act  takes  effect,  shall  deposit  with  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court 
of  the  county  in  which  said  district  or  greater  part  thereof  is 
situated,  all  records  which  he  has  so  kept,  and  all  papers 
deposited  in  his  hands  for  record,  and  papers  so  made  or 
deposited  w'ith  his  predecessors  in  said  office,  which  are  in  his 
hands  as  aforesaid,  or  he  shall  so  deposit  certified  copies  of  the 
same.  And  such  records  and  other  papers  shall  be  securely 
kept  by  such  clerk,  open  in  office  hours  to  public  inspection, 
and  copies  of  the  same  duly  certified  by  him  shall  be  received  in 
all  courts  of  justice,  and  have  the  same  effect  as  the  originals. 
And  any  such  recorder,  register,  or  other  recording  officer  of 
each  mining  district  who  shall  heglect  or  refuse  to  comply  with 
the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  be  liable  in  damages  to  the 
party  injured  thereby,  and  shall  be  liable  to  be  punished  by  the 
judge  of  probate  of  the  county  in  which  said  mining  district,  or 
the  greater  part  thereof,  is  situated,  for  contempt,  by  fine  not 
exceeding  ^5,000  and  imprisoned  not  more  than  one  year,  and 
shall  be  incapable  of  holdinor  any  such  office  and  mining  claim. 

Sec.  27.  IMining  districts  now  existing  may  be  continued,  or 
new  mining  districts  may  be  established  in  the  manner  and  for 
the  purposes  hereinafter  provided. 


324 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


I.  The  recorder  of  every  mining  district  now  existing-  shall  at 
the  same  time  that  he  deposits  the  records  of  said  districts  with 
the  clerk  of  the  probate  court,  as  the  last  preceding  section  re- 
quires, take  an  oath  before  the  judge  of  said  court  that  he  will 
faithfully  perform  the  duties  of  his  office  until  another  recorder 
shall  be  elected  and  qualified  in  his  place,  which  oath  shall  be 
recorded  by  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court.  He  shall  record  in 
a  book  to  be  kept  by  him  for  that  purpose  all  notices  of  claims 
or  rights  to  veins,  mineral  deposits,  mineral  lands,  and  auxiliary 
lands  which  may  be  left  with  him  to  be  recorded,  and  shall  note 
on  all  papers  which  may  be  received  by  him  to  be  recorded,  the 
time  when  they  were  so  received  by  him,  and  they  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  recorded  from  that  time.  He  shall,  when  requested 
by  any  such  claimant,  go  with  him  to  his  claim  and  see  that  the 
same  is  measured  by  metes  and  bounds,  and  marked  by  substan- 
tial monuments  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  shall  make  a 
record  of  the  same,  and  of  the  time  when  it  was  done,  and  cer- 
tify it  to  be  correct,  or  shall  make  a  record  and  certificate  of  the 
same  on  the  evidence  of  a  credible  witness,  who  was  present 
when  the  same  was  done,  and  is  cognizant  of  the  facts,  and 
whose  name  shall  be  entered  on  the  record.  He  shall,  when  re- 
quested by  any  such  claimant,  go  with  him  to  his  claim  and  ex- 
amine any  shaft  that  may  be  sunk  by  him,  or  tunnels  that  may 
be  opened  to  the  same,  and  make  measurements  of  the  same, 
and  a  record  and  certificate  as  aforesaid ;  and  he  shall  in  like 
manner  examine,  measure,  or  estimate,  and  make  and  record  a 
certificate  of  any  work  which  is'required  by  law  to  be  done  by  a 
claimant.  And  the  said  recording  officer  shall,  quarterly,  file 
with  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court  of  the  county  in  which  said 
district  is  located  a  copy  by  him  certified  of  all  records  made  by 
him  for  the  three  months  last  preceding,  which  shall  be  duly 
recorded  by  said  clerk,  and  a  copy  of  said  record  duly  certified 
by  him  shall  be  evidence  of  its  contents  in  all  courts  of  this 
Territory.  And  such  recording  officer  shall  be  liable  to  all  the 
penalties  provided  in  the  preceding  section  if  he  shall  neglect  or 
refuse  to  perform  any  of  the  acts  and  duties  required  of  him  by 
this  section,  but  shall  not  be  required  to  perform  any  such  ser- 


MINING  REGULATIONS   OF  ARIZONA.  325 

vice  until  his  fees  for  the  same,  to  be  fixed  by  the  mining  dis- 
tricts, are  paid  him,  if  he  requests  it.  And  if  any  paper  deposited 
with  him  for  record  is  required  to  be  recorded  by  the  clerk  of 
the  probate  court,  he  shall  at  the  time  said  paper  is  so  deposited 
with  him  take  and  receive  the  fee  fixed  by  law  for  recording- 
such  paper  by  said  clerk,  and  pay  the  said  clerk  said  fee  when 
he  deposits  said  paper  with  him  to  be  recorded  as  aforesaid.  All 
such  mining  districts  may  make  laws  not  inconsistent  with  the 
laws  of  the  Territory,  may  elect  officers  for  the  government  of 
such  districts,  and  fix  their  compensation,  but  all  such  acts  and 
proceedings  shall  be  recorded,  and  all  records  and  papers 
thereof  filed  with  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court  as  aforesaid. 

II.  Any  number  of  persons,  not  less  than  twelve,  owning 
mining  claims  in  any  mining  district,  or  in  any  contiguous  mining 
districts,  or  who  have  discovered  and  may  wish  to  denounce  a 
mine  or  mineral  lands,  not  witliin  the  limits  of  any  established 
mining  district,  may  proceed  to  make  a  new  mining  district  at  a 
meeting  of  persons  holding  claims  in  such  district  so  to  be  estab- 
lished, and  of  claimants  in  any  districts  to  be  divided  or  to  be 
included  therein.  They  shall  cause  a  notice  in  writing,  and 
specifying  the  limits  of  said  contemplated  district,  signed  by 
them,  to  be  posted  In  three  conspicuous  places  in  said  district, 
and  if  any  part  of  an  established  district  is  to  be  Included  therein, 
by  leaving  a  copy  of  said  notice  with  the  recorder  of  said  district 
at  least  ten  days  before  the  day  of  said  meeting.  At  said 
meeting  all  persons  holding  claims  as  aforesaid  may  vote,  and 
may  determine  by  a  majority  vote  of  those  present  whether  said 
new  district  shall  be  established,  and  Its  limits,  but  within  the 
boundaries  named  in  the- notice  for  said  meeting,  and  thereupon 
the  persons  holding  claims  In  such  newly  established  district 
shall  proceed  to  select  a  name,  and  make  laws  therefor,  and 
elect  a  recorder,  who  shall  be  qualified  as  aforesaid,  who  shall 
perform  all  the  duties  and  be  subject  to  all  the  liabilities  provided 
in  this  chapter  for  such  officers,  and  shall  file  with  the  clerk  of 
the  probate  court  as  aforesaid  a  record  of  the  proceedings  ot  this 
and  all  subsequent  meetings  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner 
herein  provided. 


226  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Sec.  28.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  claimants  of  mineral  tracts 
to  sink  at  least  one  shaft  of  thirty  feet  in  depth,  or  to  run  a 
tunnel  of  fifty  feet  in  length,  in  the  body  of  the  vein  or  in  the 
adjoining  rock,  so  as  to  test  the  vein  from  the  surface,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  character  and  capacity  of  such 
mineral  deposit,  within  the  space  of  one  year  from  the  day  of 
first  taking  possession  thereof,  and  they  shall  notify  the  recorder 
of  the  mining  district  that  said  shaft  or  other  work  is  completed, 
and  that  they  intend  working  the  vein  or  mineral  deposit.  And 
the  recorder  shall  examine  said  work  in  person,  and  make  and 
record  a  certificate  of  the  result  of  such  examination,  which 
shall  contain  a  statement  of  the  condition  and  quality  of  the  vein 
or  mineral  deposit,  the  amount  of  labor  performed,  and  a 
general  view  of  the  results  obtained.  Said  report  shall  be 
accompanied  by  three  specimens  taken  from  different  parts  of 
the  work,  which  said  specimens,  with  a  copy  of  the  record  so 
made  by  him,  shall  be  filed  by  him  within  the  time  required  by 
this  act  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court.  And  said 
clerk  shall  make  a  record  of  the  same.  Such  specimens  shall 
be  numbered  and  described  by  him,  and  be  preserved  for  the 
use  of  the  mineralogical  professorship  of  the  University  of  Ari- 
zona. 

Sec.  29.  The  judge  of  the  probate  court,  at  any  time  within 
thirty  days  after  the  record  made  by  the  clerk  of  said  court,  as 
provided  in  the  preceding  section,  upon  complaint  in  writing 
made  to  him  by  such  claimants,  describing  fully  their  claims, 
stating  the  labor  performed  by  them,  and  the  certificate  thereof, 
and  that  the  registration  of  the  same  has  been  made  as  required 
by  law,  and  requesting  that  their  title  thereto  may  be  confirmed, 
shall  cause  a  summons,  under  the  seal  of  his  court,  to  be  issued, 
requiring  all  persons  interested  to  appear  at  a  day  named  there- 
in, and  which  shall  not  be  less  than  sixty  days  from  the  day  the 
same  was  issued,  and  show  cause  why  the  title  of  such  com- 
plainants and  claimants  should  not  be  confirmed,  a  copy  of 
which  complaint  and  summons,  duly  attested  by  the  clerk  of  the 
probate  court,  shall  be  published  twice  in  the  territorial  news- 
paper, and  be  kept  posted  in  the  office  of  said  clerk  from  the 


PERFECTING    TITLE    TO  MINING    CLAIMS.  327 

day  of  issuing  the  same  to  the  return  day  thereof;  and  if  no 
person  shall  appear  on  such  return  day  to  contest  the  right  of  the 
claimants  to  such  claims,  the  judge  of  probate  shall  examine  all 
the  records  filed  in  the  office  of  his  clerk  relating  to  such  claims, 
and  if  he  finds  that  the  said  claimants  have  in  all  respects  com- 
plied with  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  he  shall  make  a  decree 
in  substance  that  the  complainants  have  complied  with  the  laws 
of  this  Territory  relating  to  the  denouncement  and  registradon 
of  mines,  have  acquired  a  perfect  title  to  their  claims  (describing 
the  same)  until  the  ist  day  of  January,  a.  d.  1868,  and  forever 
after  unless  abandoned  by  them.  And  the  said  clerk  shall  give 
the  said  claimant  a  copy  of  such  decree,  under  the  seal  of  the 
court,  which  shall  be  conclusive  evidence  of  title  in  any  pro- 
ceedings relating  to  such  claims,  until  they  are  abandoned.  And 
unless  the  persons  adversely  interested  and  contesting  the  title 
of  the  complainants  shall  appear  on  the  day  named  in  said  com- 
plaint, and  proceed  as  hereinafter  provided,  they  shall  be  forever 
barred  from  contesting  the  title  of  said  complainants  to  such 
claims.  And  if  the  contestants  shall  so  appear  they  shall  on 
that  day  or  some  day  to  be  fixed  by  said  judge  proceed  to  file  an 
answer,  setting  forth  their  claim  and  case,  and  the  proceedings 
shall  then  be  conducted  in  conformity  to  the  provisions  of  this 
chapter  and  the  code  of  civil  practice.  And  whenever  a  final 
decree  is  made  thereon,  determining  the  title  to  said  claim  or 
mine,  by  said  judge,  or  by  any  other  court  on  appeal,  the  said 
judge  shall  cause  a  record  to  be  made  in  the  office  of  his  clerk 
of  such  decree,  and  a  certified  copy  thereof  may  be  made  as 
aforesaid,  with  the  like  effect.  And  any  claimants  of  mineral 
lands  who  before  this  act  takes  effect  have  in  any  way  or  under 
any  law  acquired  a  title  to  such  mineral  lands,  after  filing  with 
the  clerk  of  the  court  their  evidence  of  title  and  description  of 
claim  as  required  by  this  chapter,  may  cause  an  examination  of 
the  shaft  sunk  by  them  or  other  work  done  by  them  to  be  made 
as  aforesaid,  and  take  the  like  proceedings  for  the  confirmation 
of  their  titles,  with  the  same  effect:  Provided,  This  section  shall 
not  apply  except  when  the  complainants  are  in  possession  of 
such  mine  or  mining  rights,  claiming  title  thereto. 


228  OUR    IVE STERN  EMPIRE. 

Sec.  30.  By  reason  of  the  Indian  wars  and  iinsetded  condidon 
of  the  country,  the  time  within  which  a  shaft  is  required  to  be 
sunk,  or  other  labor  performed  on  a  claim,  shall  not  commence 
until  two  years  from  the  day  this  act  takes  effect,  and  all  the  pro- 
visions of  this  chapter  relating  thereto  are  suspended  for  that 
time ;  but  any  claimant  may  sink  a  shaft  or  do  such  other  labor, 
and  at  any  time  after  the  record  of  their  claims  with  the  probate 
court,  and  thereupon  institute  proceedings  to  confirm  their  titles, 
and  be  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  provided  for  in 
this  chapter. 

Sec.  31.  No  single  person  or  company  shall  be  compelled  to 
sink  shafts  or  make  other  improvements  on  more  than  one  of  the 
tracts  of  land  claimed  by  him  or  them  for  the  same  vein  or 
mineral  deposit ;  and  any  number  of  claimants  on  the  same  vein 
or  mineral  deposit,  who  may  unite  for  said  purpose,  shall  be 
allowed  to  concentrate  labor,  capital,  and  energy  to  any  one 
single  point  which  to  him  or  them  shall  be  the  best  suited  to  as- 
certain to  the  best  advantage  the  general  character,  quality,  and 
capacity  of  that  particular  vein  or  mineral  deposit,  and  may  take 
the  like  proceedings  to  confirm  their  titles. 

Sec.  32.  After  the  work  required  by  section  28  of  this  chapter 
has  been  performed,  and  the  record  thereof  made  as  therein  pro- 
vided, two  years  shall  be  allowed  the  claimants  of  mineral  lands 
to  develop  the  same,  and  procure  machinery  and  provide  for 
workinor  the  same;  and  durincr  that  time  the  same  shall  not  be 
considered  abandoned,  althou^rh  no  work  be  done  thereon  :  Pro- 
vided,  That  in  such  an  event,  they  shall  annually,  and  before  the  ist 
day  of  June  in  each  year,  file  with  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court 
an  affidavit  signed  by  them  that  they  have  not  abandoned  such 
claims,  but  intend,  in  good  faith,  to  work  them  ;  and  said  term  of 
two  years  shall  not  commence  until  the  ist  day  of  January,  a.  d. 
1868.  And  after  the  expiration  of  said  term  of  two  years,  it  shall 
be  obligatory  upon  claimants  to  such  mineral  lands  to  hold  actual 
possession  of  them  and  work  the  vein,  which  obligation  shall  be 
considered  as  complied  with  by  doing  at  least  thirty  days'  work 
thereon  in  each  year;  but  if  such  claimants  are  prevented  from 
working  such  vein  by  the  hostility  of  Indians  or  other  good  cause, 


MINING    ON  PRIVATE   LANDS.  ^20 

rendering  said  working  difficult  or  dangerous,  diey  may,  by  au- 
thority of  the  judge  of  probate  first  obtained,  be  reHeved  from 
performing  labor  thereon  from  time  to  time,  but  for  not  more 
than  one  year  at  any  one  time,  during  the  continuance  of  such 
cause. 

Sec.  '^;^.  Any  person  who  may  discover  a  mineral  vein  or  de- 
posit as  aforesaid,  which  is  not  included  within  a  mining  district, 
or  which  may  be  in  a  mining  district  in  which  there  is  no  legally 
authorized  recorder,  may  acquire  title  thereto,  and  to  auxiliary 
lands,  by  giving  notice  as  aforesaid,  and  recording  the  same  with 
the  clerk  of  the  probate  court  of  the  county  in  which  the  same 
is  situated,  and  may  take  the  same  proceedings,  with  the  like 
effect,  with  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court  that  are  required  to  be 
taken  with  the  recorder  of  a  minincr  district. 

Sec.  34.  Discoverers  of  mines  on  lands  in  the  legal  ownership 
or  possession  of  others,  and  not  public  lands,  before  doing  the 
work  of  sinking  the  shaft  required  by  section  28  of  this  chapter, 
shall  pay  to  such  parties  such  compensation  for  the  use  of  the 
same  as  may  be  awarded  by  the  judge  of  probate  upon  complaint 
of  either  party,  or  shall  give  bond  to  such  parties  for  payment 
of  the  same,  and  sureties  to  be  approved  by  said  judge;  and 
whenever  it  becomes  necessary  or  advantageous  to  construct 
tunnels  for  the  purpose  of  drainage,  venulation,  or  the  better 
hauling  of  ores  or  other  subterraneous  products  or  minin^^ 
materials,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  party  or  parties  to  construct 
such  tunnel  or  drift  through  all  private  and  public  property: 
Provided,  That  all  damages  arising  from  such  subterranean  works 
to  the  other  parties,  to  be  determined  as  provided  above,  shall 
be  paid  by  the  parties  for  whose  benefit  such  tunnelling  is  done, 
to  be  paid  before  such  work  is  commenced,  or  security  given  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  judge  of  probate  for  the  payment  of  the 
same  ;  but  no  damages  shall  be  paid  on  public  lands  when  claims 
for  such  lands  shall  be  set  up  after  such  tunnel  shall  have  been 
projected  or  actually  in  process  of  construction  :  Provided,  That 
the  lapse  of  time  between  projection  and  actual  Vvork  shall  not 
exceed  ninety  days,  and  tliat  the  tunnelling  parties  give  timely 
notice  of  their  project  to  any  new  claimant  of  the  so  affected 
ground. 


oon  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


Sec  35.  Whenever  such  tunnel  as  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
section  shall  intersect  or  traverse  mineral  deposits,  or  run  along 
lodes  claimed  and  held  by  other  parties,  then  it  shall  be  at  the 
option  of  the  owners  of  such  other  mineral  deposits  either  to  pay 
one-half  of  the  expense  of  excavation  for  the  distance  that  such 
tunnel  runs  through  their  mineral  deposits,  and  secure  the  whole 
of  the  ores  excavated,  or  to  divide  the  ores  with  the  tunnelling 
parties,  the  latter  paying  all  expenses  of  excavation  ;  or,  it  shall 
be  optional  with  either  party  to  abandon  all  claim  to  the  ores 
excavated. 

Sec.  36.  If,  in  the  construction  of  such  subterranean  works, 
new  veins  or  deposits  are  encountered  in  ground  not  claimed  or 
owned  by  other  parties,  they  shall  become  the  property  of  the 
party  for  whom  such  tunnel  is  constructed,  and  shall  be  denounced 
and  registered  as  is  required  of  new  mines,  and  shall  be  governed 
by  the  same  laws  as  are  prescribed  in  this  chapter. 

Sec.  2)1'  Any  claimant  or  claimants  not  complying  with  any  of 
the  foreo;oinor  conditions  and  obliorations,  shall  forfeit  all  rioht  to 
any  such  recorded  or  unrecorded  claims  to  mineral  and  auxiliary 
tracts  ;  and  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  him  or  them  to  register  such 
claims  anew  within  a  period  of  three  years  after  such  forfeiture. 
All  such  tracts  shall  be  free  for  working  and  registry  to  any  but 
those  excepted  in  this  section. 

Sec.  38.  All  veins  and  mineral  deposits  situated  on  public 
lands,  which  have  not  been  worked  and  occupied  from  the 
time  of  the  acquisition  of  the  Territory  by  the  United  States  up 
to  the  time  of  the  passage  of  this  chapter,  except  as  herein  pro- 
vided, shall  be  considered  as  abandoned  and  subject  to  registry 
and  denouncement. 

Sec.  39.  All  veins  and  mineral  deposits  that  have  been  or  may 
be  abandoned  hereafter  shall,  in  all  cases  and  respects,  be  gov- 
erned by  the  laws  regulating  the  opening  and  working  of  new 
veins  and  deposits,  as  prescribed  in  this  chapter. 

Sec.  40.  Whenever  any  mine,  vein,  or  mineral  deposit  shall 
have  been  abandoned  or  forfeited  in  accordance  with  the  provi- 
sions of  this  chapter,  and  registered  anew  by  other  parties,  it  shall 
be  obligatory  upon  such  parties  to  give  the  former  owners  warning 


ABANDONED   MINING    CLAIMS.  301 

thereof,  so  as  to  remove  from  the  tract,  within  the  space  of  three 
months,  anything  he  or  they  may  think  vahiable  or  useful.  Such 
warning  shall  be  given  in  the  nearest  newspaper  published  in  the 
Territory,  and  by  posting  it  at  three  of  the  most  conspicuous 
places  in  the  county  where  the  mine  is  situated.  Three  months 
after  the  expiration  of  such  warning,  any  and  all  buildings, 
furnaces,  arrastras,  metals,  and  every  other  species  of  property 
which  may  still  remain  on  the  ground  of  such  mine,  vein,  or 
mineral  deposit  shall  become  the  undisputed  property  of  the  new 
claimant,  without  compensation  of  any  kind  to  any  person  what- 
ever. 

Sec.  41.  Any  person  taking  possession  of  or  entering  upon  a 
mining  claim  or  auxiliary  lands,  registered  according  to  the  pro- 
visions of  this  chapter,  and  before  it  is  abandoned,  shall  be  ousted 
therefrom  in  a  summary  manner  by  the  order  of  the  probate 
judge,  and  the  malfeaser  shall  be  adjudged  to  pay  all  damages 
and  costs  consequent  thereon. 

Sec.  51.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  persons  who  may  discover  and 
claim  mining  rights  or  mineral  lands,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
may  define  the  boundary  of  their  claim  or  claims  to  any  lode  or 
mine  as  required  by  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  to  lay  off  and 
define  the  boundary  of  one  pertenencia,  as  required  by  the  pro- 
visions of  this  chapter,  adjoining  their  claim  or  claims,  which  shall 
be  the  property  of  the  Territory  of  Arizona.  And  at  the  same 
time  that  they  present  their  notice  of  claim  or  claims  to  be  recorded 
by  the  recorder  of  the  mining  district,  they  shall  also  present  to 
such  recorder  the  claim  of  said  Territory.  And,  If  said  discoverers 
and  claimants  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  present  to  such  recorder 
the  claim  of  said  Territory  as  aforesaid,  they  shall  forever  forfeit  all 
claim  to  the  mine  or  ledge  so  discovered  by  them.  Any  record- 
ing officer  recording  the  claim  or  claims  of  such  discoverers  and 
claimants,  when  the  claim  of  said  Territory  is  not  filed  therewith 
as  aforesaid,  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  penalties  provided  in 
section  26  of  this  chapter.  Such  claim  shall  be  recorded  as  pro- 
vided in  this  chapter  for  like  claims,  but  no  work  shall  be  required 
to  be  done  thereon,  nor  shall  it  be  considered  to  be  abandoned 
so  long  as  it  is  the  property  of  the  Territory ;  and  if  sold,  the 


232  O^"^     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

time  within  which  the  purchaser  shall  be  required  to  work  said 
claim  shall  commence  from  the  day  of  sale,  except  when  the  time 
is  suspended  as  before  provided.  Every  clerk  of  the  probate 
court,  as  soon  as  he  records  the  said  claim,  shall  send  a  copy  of 
his  record  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Territory,  and  no  fees  shall  be 
charged  by  any  recording  officer  in  any  matter  relating  to  said 
claim.  'And  the  Territorial  treasurer  may,  at  any  time  after  six 
months  from  the  day  he  receives  such  record  as  aforesaid,  and  at 
such  time  and  place  as  in  his  opinion  will  be  most  for  the  interest 
of  the  Territory,  cause  such  claim  to  be  sold  at  auction  to  the 
highest  bidder;  but  every  such  sale  shall  be  at  least  twice  adver- 
tised in  the  Territorial  newspaper,  and  be  held  at  his  office,  or 
the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  probate  court,  or  the  recorder  of 
the  mining  district  of  the  county  where  the  claim  is  situated. 
And  the  treasurer  is  authorized  to  make  a  deed  of  the  same  to 
the  purchaser  in  the  name  of  the  Territory;  and  the  amount 
received  by  him  shall  be  added  by  him  to  any  fund  now  or  here- 
after provided  for  the  protection  of  the  people  of  the  Territory 
of  Arizona  against  hostile  Indians,  and  be  expended  as  provided 
by  law.  And  after  all  such  expenses  as  are  incurred  by  the  Terri- 
torial authorities  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  or  bringing  into 
subjection  all  hostile  Indian  tribes  in  this  Territory  are  liquidated, 
then  all  remaining  or  accruing  funds,  out  of  all  or  any  sales  of 
Territorial  mining  claims,  shall  be  applied  as  a  sinking  fund  for 
school  purposes. 

Sec.  52.  The  extraction  of  gold  from  alluvial  and  diluvial 
deposits,  generally  termed  placer  mining,  shall  not  be  considered 
mining  proper,  and  shall  not  entitle  persons  occupied  in  it  to  the 
provisions  of  this  chapter,  nor  shall  any  previous  section  of  this 
chapter  be  so  construed  as  to  refer  to  the  extraction  of  gold  from 
the  above-mentioned  deposits. 

Sec.  53.  This  chapter  shall  be  in  force  and  take  effect  from 
and  after  the  ist  day  of  January,  a.  d.  1865. 


MIXIXG   LAWS    OF  COLORADO.  ^^^ 


MINING    LAWS    OF    COLORADO. 


AN   ACT   CONCERNING    MINES. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  of  Colorado: 

EXTENT    OF    LODE    CLAIM. 

Section  i.  The  length  of  any  lode  claim  hereafter  located  may 
equal  but  not  exceed  1,500  feet  along  the  vein. 

DIMENSIONS. 

Sec.  2.  The  width  of  lode  claims  hereafter  located  in  Gilpin, 
Clear  Creek,  Boulder  and  Summit  counties,  shall  be  seventy-five 
feet  on  each  side  of  the  centre  of  the  vein  or  crevice  ;  and  in  all 
other  counties  the  width  of  the  same  shall  be  150  feet  on  each 
side  of  the  centre  of  the  vein  or  crevice:  Provided,  That  here- 
after any  county  may,  at  any  general  election,  determine  on  a 
greater  width,  not  exceeding  300  feet  on  each  side  of  the  centre 
of  the  vein  or  lode,  by  a  majority  of  the  legal  votes  cast  at  said 
election  ;  and  any  county,  by  such  vote  at  such  election,  may 
determine  upon  a  less  width  than  above  specified. 

CERTIFICATE    OF    LOCATION. 

Sec.  3.  The  discoverer  of  a  lode  shall,  within  three  months 
from  the  date  of  discovery,  record  his  claim  in  the  office  of  the 
recorder  of  the  county  in  which  such  lode  is  situated  by  a  loca- 
tion certificate,  which  shall  contain:  ist,  the  name  of  the  lode; 
2d,  the  name  of  the  locator ;  3d,  the  date  of  location  ;  4th,  the 
number  of  feet  in  length  claimed  on  each  side  of  the  centre  of 
the  discovery  shaft;  5th,  the  general  course  of  the  lode  as  near 
as  may  be. 

WHEN    VOID. 

Sec.  4.  Any  location  certificate  of  a  lode  claim  which  shall  not 
contain  the  name  of  the  lode,  the  name  of  the  locator,  the  date 
of  location,  the  number  of  lineal  feet  claimed  on  each  side  of  the 
discovery  shaft,  the  general  course  of  the  lode,  and  such  descrip- 
tion as  shall  identify  the  claim  with  reasonable  certainty,  shall 
be  void. 

DISCOVERY   SHAFT. 

Sec.  5.  Before   filing  such   location   certificate  the   discoverer 


334  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

shall  locate  his  claim  by  first  sinking  a  discovery  shaft  upon  the 
lode  to  the  depth  of  at  least  ten  feet  from  the  lowest  part  of  the 
rim  of  such  shaft  at  the  surface,  or  deeper,  if  necessary  to  show 
a  well-defined  crevice.  Second,  by  posting  at  the  point  of  dis- 
covery on  the  surface,  a  plain  sign  or  notice  containing  the  name 
of  the  lode,  the  name  of  the  locator,  and  the  date  of  discovery. 
Third,  by  marking  the  surface  boundaries  of  the  claim. 

STAKING. 

Sec.  6.  Such  surface  boundaries  shall  be  marked  by  six  sub- 
stantial posts,  hewed  or  marked  on  the  side  or  sides  which  are 
in  toward  the  claim,  and  sunk  in  the  ground,  to  wit:  One  at 
each  corner  and  one  at  the  centre  of  each  side  line.  Where  it 
is  practically  impossible  on  account  of  bed-rock  or  precipitous 
ground  to  sink  such  posts,  they  may  be  placed  in  a  pile  of  stones. 

OPEN    CUTS,    ETC. 

Sec.  7.  Any  open  cut,  cross  cut  or  tunnel  which  shall  cut  a 
Jode  at  the  depth  of  ten  feet  below  the  surface,  shall  hold  such 
lode  the  same  as  if  a  discovery  shaft  were  sunk  thereon,  or  an 
adit  of  at  least  ten  feet  along  the  lode,  from  the  point  where  the 
lode  may  be  in  any  manner  discovered,  shall  be  equivalent  to  a 
discovery  shaft. 

TIME. 

Sec.  8.  The  discoverer  shall  have  sixty  days  from  the  time  of 
uncovering  or  disclosing  a  lode  to  sink  a  discovery  shaft  thereon. 

CONSTRUCTION    OF    CERTIFICATE. 

Sec.  9.  The  location  or  location  certificate  of  any  lode  claim 
shall  be  construed  to  include  all  surface  ground  within  the  sur- 
face  lines  thereof  and  all  lodes  and  ledo-es  throughout  their 
entire  depth,  the  top  or  apex  of  which  lies  inside  of  such  lines 
extended  downward,  vertically,  with  such  parts  of  all  lodes  or 
ledges  as  continue  to  dip  beyond  the  side  lines  of  the  claim,  but 
shall  not  include  any  portion  of  such  lodes  or  ledges  beyond  the 
end  lines  of  the  claim,  or  at  the  end  lines  continued,  whether  by 
dip  or  otherwise,  or  beyond  the  side  lines  in  any  other  manner 
than  by  the  dip  of  the  lode. 


RE- LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS,  y^ 

CANNOT    r.F,    FOLLOWED. 

Sec.  io.  If  the  top  or  apex  of  a  lode  in  its  longitudinal  course 
extends  beyond  the  exterior  lines  of  the  claim  at  any  point  on 
the  surface,  or  as  extended  vertically  downward,  such  lode  may 
not  be  followed  in  its  longitudinal  course  beyond  the  point  where 
it  is  intersected  by  the  exterior  lines. 

RIGHT    OF   WAY   AND    RIGHT    OF    SURFACE. 

Sec.  II.  All  mining  claims  now  located,  or  which  may  here- 
after be  located,  shall  be  subject  to  the  right  of  way  of  any  ditch 
or  flume  for  mining  purposes,  or  any  tramway  or  pack-trail, 
whether  now  in  use  or  which  may  be  hereafter  laid  out  across 
any  such  location:  Provided  alzuays,  That  such  right  of  way  shall 
not  be  exercised  against  any  location  duly  made  and  recorded 
and  not  abandoned  prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  ditch  or 
flume,  tramway,  or  pack-trail,  without  consent  of  the  owner, 
except  by  condemnation,  as  in  case  of  land  taken  for  public 
highways.  Parol  consent  to  the  location  of  any  such  easement, 
accompanied  by  the  completion  of  the  same  over  the  claim,  shall 
be  sufficient  without  writings.  And  provided  fiwthcr,  That  such 
ditch  or  flume  shall  be  so  constructed  that  the  water  from  such 
ditch  or  flume  shall  not  injure  vested  rights  by  flooding  or 
otherwise. 

Se'c.  12.  When  the  right  to  mine  is  in  any  case  separate  from 
the  ownership  or  right  of  occupancy  to  the  surface,  the  owner  or 
rightful  occupant  of  the  surface  may  demand  satisfactory  security 
from  the  miner,  and  if  it  be  refused,  may  enjoin  such  miner  from 
working  until  such  security  is  given.  The  order  for  injunction 
shall  fix  the  amount  of  the  bond. 

RE-LOCATION    OF    CLAIMS. 

Sec.  13.  If  at  any  time  the  locator  of  any  mining  claim  here- 
tofore or  hereafter  located,  or  his  assigns,  shall  apprehend  that 
his  original  certificate  was  defective,  erroneous,  or  that  the  re- 
quirements of  the  law  had  not  been  complied  with  before  filing; 
or  shall  be  desirous  of  chancrinor  his  surface  boundaries ;  or  of 
taking  in  any  part  of  an  overlapping  claim  which  has  been  aban- 
doned ;  or  in  case  the  original  certificate  was  made  prior  to  the 


036  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

passage  of  this  law,  and  he  shall  be  desirous  of  securing  die  bene- 
fits of  this  act,  such  locator  or  his  assigns  may  file  an  addi- 
tional certificate,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  act :  Prozndcd, 
That  such  relocation  does  not  interfere  with  the  existing  rights 
of  others,  at  the  time  of  such  relocation  ;  and  no  such  relocation, 
or  the  record  thereof,  shall  preclude  the  claimant  or  claimants 
from  proving  any  such  tide  or  titles  as  he  or  they  may  have 
held  under  previous  location. 

PROOF   OF    DEVELOPMENT. 

Sec.  14.  The  amount  of  work  done,  or  Improvements  made 
during  each  year,  shall  be  that  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the 
United  States. 

FORM    OF    AFFIDAVIT. 

Sec.  15.  Within  six  months  after  any  set  time,  or  annual 
period  herein  allowed  for  the  performance  of  labor  or  making 
improvements  upon  any  lode  claim,  the  person  on  whose  behalf 
such  outlay  was  made,  of  some  person  for  him,  shall  make  and 
record  an  affidavit  in  substance  as  follows : 

State  of  Colorado,  ') 

r  SS 

County  of j     * 

Before  nie,  the  subscriber,  personally  appeared who,  being 

duly  sworn,  saith  that  at  least dollars'  worth  of  work  or  im- 
provements were  performed  or  made  upon  [here  describe  the  claim  or  part  of 

claim]  situate  in mining  district,  county  of State 

of  Colorado.     Such  expenditure  was  made  by  or  at  the  expense  of 

owners  of  said  claim,  for  the  purpose  of  said  claim. 

[Jurat.]  (Signature.) 

And  such  signature  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  per- 
formance of  such  labor. 

Vl^ORKING    OVER    OLD    CLAIMS. 

Sec.  16.  The  relocation  of  abandoned  lode  claims  shall  be  by 
sinking  a  new  discovery  shaft  and  fixing  new  boundaries  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  it  were  the  location  of  a  new  claim  ;  or  the 
relocator  may  sink  the  original  discovery  shaft  ten  feet  deeper 
than  it  was  at  the  tim.e  of  abandonment,  and  erect  new  or  adopt 
the  old  boundaries,  renewing  the  posts  if  removed  or  destroyed. 
In  either  case  a  new  location-stake    shall   be  erected.     In  any 


RECORD   FOR    CLAIM.  337 

case,  whether  the  whole  or  part  of  an  abandoned  claim  is  taken, 
the  location  certificate  may  state  that  the  whole  or  any  part  of 
the  new  location  is  located  as  abandoned  property. 

RECORD    FOR    CLAIM. 

Sfx.  17.  No  location  certificate  shall  claim  more  than  one 
location,  whether  the  location  be  made  by  one  or  several  locators. 
And  if  it  purport  to  claim  more  than  one  location,  it  shall  be 
absolutely  void,  except  as  to  the  first  location  therein  described. 
And  if  they  are  described  together,  so  that  it  cannot  be  told 
which  location  is  first  described,  the  certificate  shall  be  void  as 

to  all. 

Sec.  18.  All  acts  or  parts  of  acts  in  conflict  with  this  act  are 
hereby  repealed. 

Sec.  19.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  June  15, 
1874. 

Approved  February  13,  1874. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  ACT. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  of  Colorado: 

JURISDICTION'    OF   AUTHORITIES. 

Sec.  I.  In  all  actions  pending  in  any  district  court  of  this 
Territory,  wherein  the  tide  or  right  of  possession  to  any  mining 
claim  shall  be  in  dispute,  the  said  court,  or  the  judge  thereof, 
may,  upon  application  of  any  of  the  parties  to  such  suit,  enter 
an  order  for  the  underground  as  well  as  the  surface  survey  of 
such  part  of  the  property  in  dispute  as  may  be  necessary  to  a 
just  determination  of  the  question  involved.  Such  order  shall 
designate  some  competent  surveyor,  not  related  to  any  of  the 
parties  to  such  suit,  or  in  anywise  interested  in  the  result  of  the 
same ;  and  upon  the  application  of  the  party  adverse  to  such 
application,  the  court  may  also  appoint  some  competent  surveyor, 
to  be  selected  by  such  adverse  applicant,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  attend  upon  such  survey,  and  observe  the  method  of  making 
the  same ;  said  second  survey  to  be  at  the  cost  of  the  party 
asking  therefor.  It  shall  also  be  lawful  in  such  order  to  specify 
the  names  of  witnesses  named  by  either  party,  not  exceeding 
three  on  each  side,  to  examine  such  property,  who  shall  here- 

22 


o-,s  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

upon  be  allowed  to  enter  into  such  property  and  examine  the 
same  ;  said  court,  or  the  jud<je  thereof,  may  also  cause  the  re- 
moval of  any  rock,  debris,  or  other  obstacle  in  any  of  the  drifts 
or  shafts  of  said  property,  when  such  removal  is  shown  to  be 
necessary  to  a  just  determination  of  the  questions  involved: 
Provided,  kozuevcr,  That  no  such  order  shall  be  made  for  survey 
and  inspection,  except  in  open  court  or  in  chambers,  upon 
notice  of  application  for  such  order  of  at  least  six  days,  and  not 
then  except  by  agreement  of  parties  or  upon  the  affidavit  of  two 
or  more  persons  that  such  survey  and  inspection  is  necessary  to 
the  just  determination  of  the  suit,  which  affidavits  shall  state  the 
facts  in  such  case,  and  wherein  the  necessity  for  survey  exists  ; 
nor  shall  such  order  be  made  unless  it  appears  that  the  party 
asking  dierefor  has  been  refused  the.  privilege  of  survey  and  in- 
spection by  the  adverse  party. 

WRITS    RESTORING   POSSESSION. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  district  courts  of  this  State,  or  any  judge 
thereof,  sitdng  in  chancery,  shall  have,  in  addidon  to  the  power 
already  possessed,  power  to  issue  writs  of  injunction  for  affirma- 
tive relief,  having  the  force  and  effect  of  a  writ  of  restitudon, 
restoring  any  person  or  persons  to  the  possession  of  any  mining 
property  from  which  he  or  they  may  have  been  ousted,  by  force 
and  violence,  or  by  fraud,  or  from  which  they  are  kept  out  of 
possession  by  threats,  or  whenever  such  possession  was  taken 
from  him  or  them  by  entry  of  the  adverse  party  on  Sunday  or  a 
legal  holiday,  or  w^hile  the  party  in  possession  was  temporarily 
absent  therefrom.  The  granting  of  such  writ  to  extend  only  to 
the  right  of  possession  under  the  facts  of  the  case  in  respect  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  possession  was  obtained,  leaving  the 
parties  to  their  legal  rights  on  all  other  questions  as  though  no 
such  writ  had  issued. 

PENALTIES    FOLLOWIXr.    UNLAWFUL    ENTRY. 

Sec.  3.  In  all  cases  where  two  or  more  persons  shall  associate 
themselves  together  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  possession 
of  any  lode,  gulch  or  placer  claim,  then  in  the  actual  possession 
of  another,  by  force  and  violence,  or  threats   of  violence,  or  by 


FORCE    OF    VIOLENCE.  '-jjo 

Stealth,  and  shall  proceed  to  carry  out  such  purpose  by  makingr 
threats  against  the  party  or  parties  in  possession,  or  who  shall 
enter  upon  such  lode  or  mining-  claim  for  the  purpose  aforesaid, 
or  who  shall  enter  upon  or  into  any  lode,  gulch,  placer  claim, 
quartz-mill  or  other  mining  property,  or  not  being  upon  such 
property,  but  within  hearing  of  the  same,  shall  make  any  threats, 
or  make  use  of  any  language,  signs  or  gestures,  calculated  to 
intimidate  any  person  or  persons  at  work  on  said  property  from 
continuing  to  work  thereon  or  therein,  or  to  intimidate  others 
from  engaging  to  work  thereon  or  therein,  every  such  person  so 
offending  shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  in  a  sum  not  to 
exceed  $250,  and  be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  not  less  than 
thirty  days  nor  more  than  six  months  ;  such  fine  to  be  discharged 
either  by  payment  or  by  confinement  in  said  jail  until  such  fine 
is  discharged  at  the  rate  of  $2.50  per  day.  On  trials  under  this 
section,  proof  of  a  common  purpose  of  two  or  more  persons  to 
obtain  possession  of  property,  as  aforesaid,  or  to  intimidate 
laborers  as  above  set  forth,  accompanied  or  followed  by  any  of 
the  acts  above  specified  by  any  of  them,  shall  be  sufficient  evi- 
dence to  convict  any  one  committing  such  acts,  although  the  par- 
ties may  not  be  associated  together  at  the  time  of  committing 
the  same. 

FORCE    OR    VIOLENCE. 

Sec.  4.  If  any  person  or  persons  shall  associate  and  agree  to 
enter  or  attempt  to  enter  by  force  of  numbers,  and  the  terror 
such  numbers  are  calculated  to  inspire,  or  by  force  and  violence, 
or  by  threats  of  violence  against  any  person  or  persons  in  the 
actual  possession  of  any  lode,  gulch  or  placer  claim,  and  upon 
such  entry  or  attempted  entry,  any  person  or  persons  shall  be 
killed,  said  persons,  and  all  and  each  of  them  so  entering  or 
attempting  to  enter,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree,  and  punished  accordingly.  Upon  the  trial  of  such  cases, 
any  person  or  parties  cognizant  of  such  entry,  or  attempted  entry, 
who  shall  be  present,  aiding,  assisting,  or  in  anywise  encouraging 
such  entry,  or  attempted  entry,  shall  be  deemed  a  principal  in 
the  commission  of  said  offence. 


2^Q  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Sec.  5.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  In  force  from  and 
after  its  passage. 

Approved  February  13,  1874. 

THE  ACT  OF  1877. 

An  Act  to  provide  for  the  Drainage  of  Mines,  and  to  regulate  the  Liabilities  of  Miners,  Mine- 
Owners  and  Mill-Men  in  certain  cases,  and  to  repeal  all  Territorial  acts  on  the  subject. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Colorado : 

DRAINAGE. 

1830. — Sec.  I.  Whenev,er  contiguous  or  adjacent  mines  upon 
the  same  or  upon  separate  lodes  have  a  common  ingress  of 
water,  or  from  subterraneous  communication  of  the  water  have 
a  common  drainage,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  owners,  lessees 
or  occupants  of  each  mine  so  related  to  provide  for  their  pro- 
portionate share  of  the  drainage  thereof. 

PENALTY    FOR    NON-COMPLIANCE. 

1 83 1. — Sec.  2.  Any  parties  so  related  failing  to  provide  as 
aforesaid  for  the  drainage  of  the  mines  owned  or  occupied  by 
them,  thereby  imposing  an  unjust  burden  upon  neighboring 
mines,  whether  owned  or  occupied  by  them,  shall  pay  respec- 
tively to  those  performing  the  work  of  drainage  their  proportion 
of  the  actual  and  necessary  cost  and  expense  of  doing  such 
drainage,  to  be  recovered  by  an  action  in  any  court  of  competent 
jurisdiction. 

COMMON    INTERESTS. 

1832. — Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  all  mining  corporations 
or  companies,  and  all  individuals  engaged  in  mining,  who  have 
thus  a  common  interest  in  draining  such  mines,  to  unite  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  the  same,  under  such  common  name  and 
upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as  may  be  agreed  upon ;  and 
every  such  association  having  filed  a  certificate  of  Incorporation, 
as  provided  by  law,  shall  be  deemed  a  corporation,  with  all  the 
rights,  incidents  and  liabilities  of  a  body  corporate,  so  far  as  the 
same  may  be  applicable. 

SUBJECT    TO   ACTION. 

1833. — Sec.  4.  Failing  to  mutually  agree,  as  indicated  In  the 
preceding  section  for  drainage  jointly,  one  or  more  of  the  said 


ACTION   TO   RECOVER— WATER  RIGHTS.  ,41 

parties  may  undertake  the  work  of  drainage,  after  giving  reason- 
able notice ;  and  should  the  remaining  parties  then  fail,  neglect 
or  refuse  to  unite  in  equitable  arrangements  for  doing  the  work, 
or  sharing  the  expense  thereof,  they  shall  be  subject  to  an  action 
therefor  as  already  specified,  to  be  enforced  in  any  court  of  com- 
petent jurisdiction. 

ACTION    TO    RECOVER. 

1834. — Sec.  5.  When  an  action  is  commenced  to  recover  the 
cost  and  expenses  for  draining  a  lode  or  mine,  it  shall  be  lawful 
for  the  plaintiff  to  apply  to  the  court,  if  in  session,  or  to  the 
judge  thereof  in  vacation,  for  an  order  to  inspect  and  examine 
the  lodes  or  mines  claimed  to  have  been  drained  by  the  plaintiff; 
or  some  one  for  him  shall  make  affidavit  that  such  inspection  or 
examination  is  necessary  for  the  proper  preparation  of  the  case 
for  trial;  and  the  court  or  judge  shall  grant  an  order  for  the 
underground  inspection  and  examination  of  the  lode  or  mines 
described  in  the  petition.  Such  order  shall  designate  the 
number  of  persons,  not  exceeding  three,  besides  the  plaintiff  or 
his  representative,  to  examine  and  inspect  such  lode  and  mines, 
and  take  the  measurement  thereof,  relating  to  the  amount  of 
water  drained  from  the  lode  or  mine,  or  the  number  of  fathoms 
of  around  mined  and  worked  out  of  the  lode  or  mines  claimed 
to  have  been  drained,  the  cost  of  such  examination  and  inspection 
to  be  borne  by  the  party  applying  therefor.  The  court  or  judge 
shall  have  power  to  cause  the  removal  of  any  rock,  debris,  or 
other  obstacles  in  any  lode  or  vein,  when  such  removal  is  shown 
to  be  necessary  to  a  just  determination  of  the  question  involved: 
Provided,  That  no  such  order  for  inspection  and  examination 
shall  be  made,  except  in  open  court  or  at  chambers,  upon  notice 
of  application  for  such  order  of  at  least  three  days,  and  not  then 
except  by  agreement  of  parties,  nor  unless  it  appears  that  the 
plaintiff  has  been  refused  the  privilege  of  making  the  inspection 
and  examination  by  the  defendant  or  defendants,  or  his  or  their 
agent. 

WATER    RIGHTS. 

1835. — Sec.  6.  That  hereafter,  when  any  person  or  persons, 
or  corporation,  shall  be  engaged  in  mining  or  milling,  and  in  the 


342  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

prosecution  of  such  business  shall  hoist  or  raise  water  from 
mines  or  natural  channels,  and  the  same  shall  flow  away  from 
the  premises  of  such  persons  or  corporations,  to  any  natural 
channel  or  gulch,  the  same  shall  be  considered  beyond  the 
control  of  the  party  so  hoisting  or  raising  the  same,  and  may  be 
taken  and  used  by  other  parties  the  same  as  that  of  natural 
water-courses. 

1836. — Sec.  7.  After  any  such  water  shall  have  been  so  raised, 
and  the  same  shall  have  flown  into  any  such  natural  channel, 
gulch  or  draw,  the  party  so  hoisting  or  raising  the  same  shall 
only  be  liable  for  injury  caused  thereby,  in  the  same  manner  as 
riparian  owners  along  natural  water-courses. 

EXPLANATORY. 

1837. — Sec.  8.  The  provisions  of  this  act  shall  not  be  construed 
to  apply  to  incipient  or  undeveloped  mines,  but  to  those  only 
which  shall  have  been  opened,  and  shall  clearly  derive  a  benefit 
from  beinof  drained. 

EVmENCE. 

1838. — Sec.  9.  In  trial  of  cases  arising  under  this  act  the 
court  shall  admit  evidence  of  the  normal  stand  or  position  of 
the  water  while  at  rest  in  an  idle  mine,  also  the  observed 
prevalence  of  a  common  water-level  or  a  standing  water-line  in 
the  same  or  separate  lodes;  also  the  effect,  if  any,  the  elevating 
or  depressing  the  water  by  natural  or  mechanical  means  in  any 
given  lode  has  upon  elevating  or  depressing  the  water  in  the 
same,  contiguous  or  separate  lodes  or  mines  ;  also  the  effect  which 
draining  or  ceasing  to  drain  any  given  lode  or  mine  had  upon 
the  water  in  the  same,  or  contiguous  or  separate  lodes  or  mines, 
and  all  other  evidence  which  tends  to  prove  the  common  ingress 
or  subterraneous  communication  of  water  into  the  same  lode  or 
mine,  or  contiguous  or  separate  lodes  or  mines. 

Approved  March  16,  1877. 

TAXES. 

Section  3,  Article  10,  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of 
Colorado,  reads  as  follows: 

'All  taxes  shall  be  uniform  upon  the  same  class  of  subjects 


MINING  LAWS   OF  NEW  MEXICO.  34^ 

within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  authority  levying  the  tax,  and 
shall  be  levied  and  collected  under  eeneral  laws,  which  shall 
prescribe  such  regulations  as  shall  secure  a  just  valuation  for 
taxation  of  all  property,  real  and  personal:  Provided,  That  mines 
and  mining  claims  bearing  gold,  silver,  and  other  precious  metals, 
(except  the  net  proceeds  and  surface  improvements  thereof,) 
shall  be  exempt  from  taxation  for  the  period  of  ten  years  from 
the  date  of  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  and  thereafter  may 
be  taxed  as  provided  by  law.  Ditches,  canals,  and  flumes  owned 
and  used  by  individuals  or  corporations  for  irrigating  lands 
owned  by  such  individuals  or  corporations,  or  the  individual 
members  thereof,  shall  not  be  separately  taxed,  so  long  as  they 
shall  be  owned  and  used  exclusively  for  such  purpose." 

MINING  LAWS  OF  NEW  MEXICO. 

An  Act  to  Regulate  the  Manner  of  Locating  Mining  Claims,  and  for  Other  Purposes. 

CONTENTS. 

Sec.  I.  Location — bounds  to  be  marked;  notice  of  name  of 
locator  ;  make  record  in  three  months. 

Sec.   2.  Record  books  must  be  provided. 

Sec.  3.  Value  of  labor  on  mining  claims  defined. 

Sec.  4.  Locations  heretofore  made,  there  being  no  adverse 
claims,  may  file  claim  within  six  months. 

Sec.  5.  Ejectment  in  mining  claims  and  real  estate. 

Sec.  6.  Repeals  former  acts. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico : 

Sec.  I.  That  any  person  or  persons  desiring  to  locate  a 
miningclalm  upon  a  vein  or  lode  of  quartz  or  other  rock  in  place — 
bearing  gold,  silver,  cinnabar,  lead,  tin,  copper  or  other  valuable 
deposit,  must  distinctly  mark  the  location  on  the  ground  so  that 
Its  boundaries  may  be  readily  traced  ;  and  post  in  some  con- 
spicuous place  on  such  location,  a  notice  in  writing,  stating 
thereon  the  name  or  names  of  the  locator  or  locators,  his  or 
their  intention  to  locate  the  mining  claim,  giving  a  description 
thereof  by  reference  to  such  natural  object  or  permanent  monu- 


344  O^-^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ment  as  will  identify  the  claim  ;  and  also  within  three  months 
after  postin<j;-  such  notice,  cause  to  be  recorded  a  copy  thereof  in 
the  office  of  the  recorder  of  the  county  in  which  the  notice  is 
posted ;  and  it  is  provided  that  no  other  record  of  such  notice 
shall  be  necessary. 

Sec.  2.  In  order  to  carry  out  the  intent  of  the  preceding- 
section,  it  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  probate  judges  of 
the  several  counties  of  this  Territory,  and  they  are  hereby 
required  to  provide,  at  the  expense  of  their  respective  counties, 
such  book  or  books  as  maybe  necessary  and  suitable  in  which  to 
enter  the  record  hereinbefore  provided  for.  The  fees  for  record- 
ing such  notices  shall  be  ten  cents  for  every  one  hundred  words. 

Sec.  3.  That  in  estimating  the  worth  of  labor  required  to  be 
performed  upon  any  mining  claim,  to  hold  the  same  by  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  regulation  of  mines,  the  value  of  a 
day's  labor  is  hereby  fixed  at  the  sum  of  four  dollars  :  Provided, 
however.  That  in  the  sense  of  this  statute,  eight  hours  of  labor 
actually  performed  upon  the  mining  claim  shall  constitute  a  day's 
labor. 

Sec.  4.  All  locations  heretofore  made  in  good  faith,  to  which 
there  shall  be  no  adverse  claims,  the  certificate  of  which  locations 
have  been  or  may  be  filed  for  record  and  recorded  in  the 
recorder's  office  of  the  county  where  the  location  is  made,  within 
six  months  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  are  hereby  confirmed 
and  made  valid.  But  where  there  may  appear  to  be  any  such 
adverse  claim,  the  said  location  shall  be  held  to  be  the  property 
of  the  person  having  the  superior  title  or  claim,  according  to  the 
laws  in  force  at  the  time  of  the  making  of  the  said  locations. 

Sec.  5.  An  action  of  ejectment  will  lie  for  the  recovery  of  the 
possession  of  a  mining  claim,  as  well  as  of  any  real  estate, 
where  the  party  suing  has  been  wrongfully  ousted  from  the 
possession  thereof,  and  the  possession  wrongfully  detained. 

Sec.  6.  That  "  an  act  concerning  mining  claims,"  approved 
January  i8th,  1865,  and  an  act  amendatory  thereof,  approved 
January  3d,  1866;  also,  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  amend  certain 
acts  concerning  mining  claims  in  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico, 
approved   January    ist,    1872;    be    and    the   same    are    hereby 


STATE    AND    TERRITORIAL   LANDS.  ^45 

repealed :  Provided,  That  no  locations  completed  or  commenced 
under  said  acts  shall  be  invalidated,  or  in  anywise  affected,  by 
such  repeal. 

Sec.  7,  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  full  force  from 
and  after  its  passage.  ' 

Approved  January  ii,  1876. 


CHAPTER  V. 


State  and  Territorial  Lands — Agricultural  College,  University,  and 
School  Lands — The  Quantity,  Prices,  and  Terms  of  Purchase — Other 
State  Lands — Lands  Granted  to  Benevolent  Institutions — Desert  and 

♦  Swamp  Lands — The  Texas  Land  System — Railroad  Lands.   ■ 

Emigrants  to  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Arkansas, 
Nevada,  or  California,  may  find  that  some  of  the  lands  held  by 
tlie  State  are  more  eligibly  situated,  or  for  one  reason  or  another 
more  desirable,  than  the  government  lands,  while  the  prices  are 
so  moderate  as  not  to  be  beyond  their  reach.  What  are  these 
State  lands  ?     They  are  : 

1.  The  public  school  lands,  which,  in  all  the  newer  States  and 
Territories,  are  two  sections,  the  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth, 
1,280  acres  in  each  township,  which  has  been  surveyed  in 
these  States  and  Territories.  These  are  often  very  valuable 
lands.  They  are  usually  sold  for  from  ^4  to  ^6  per  acre,  payable 
with  interest  at  seven,  eight,  or  ten  per  cent.,  in  ten  annual  instal- 
ments. By  selecting  those  which  have  a  stream  flowing  through 
them,  or  a  spring,  the  purchaser  may  often  become  the  owner  of 
a  very  valuable  property.  The  quantity  of  these  lands  is  from 
2,500,000  to  5,000,000  acres. 

2.  University  and  Agrictdtural  College  Lands  or  Scrip  for 
them. — Congress  has  granted  a  quantity  of  lands,  usually  about 
46,000  acres,  or  the  privilege  of  locating  that  quantity  of  land  on 
any  government  lands,  usually  in  the  State  or  Territory,  to  each 
new  State  and  Territory,  for  the  founding  and  maintenance  of  a 
State  or  Territorial  University.      These   lands  are  located  by 


346  OCR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

State  or  Territorial  officers,  and  do  not  always  rate  quite  as  higli 
as  the  school  lands,  though  they  may  be  as  valuable.  They  are 
sold  at  present,  in  most  of  the  States  and  Territories,  at  from  ^3 
to  $6  per  acre.  The  Agricultural  College  lands  or  scrip  are 
granted  only  to  the  States,  under  the  law  of  1862,  The  grant  is 
of  30,000  acres  for  each  Senator  and  Representative  in  Congress 
when  the  grant  is  made  ;  the  scrip  issued  for  it  having  the  privi- 
lege of  location  in  any  State  or  Territory  where  there  are  govern- 
ment lands  unsold.  This  land  scrip  of  the  various  States  is  often 
in  the  market,  and  is  purchasable  at  various  rates,  from  ;^2  to  'p^ 
per  acre.  There  are  also  grants  from  Congress  of  lands  for 
the  building  of  State  prisons,  for  insane  hospitals,  institutions  for 
deaf  mutes,  blind  and  idiotic  children,  etc.  Some  of  the  States 
have  also  received  from  Congress  grants  of  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lands,  and  of  desert  lands,  which  had  been  long  in  the 
market  without  sellino-.  Some  of  these  lands  are  of  excellent 
quality,  and  with  slight  expense  for  drainage  or  irrigation  will 
be  very  productive. 

There  are  also  bounty  land  warrants  capable  of  location  on 
any  government  lands,  the  scrip  for  which  was  granted  to  soldiers 
of  the  war  of  181 2,  the  Florida  war,  Mexican  war,  or  the  late 
civil  war.  These,  which  usually  realized  to  the  original  owners 
but  about  fifty  or  sixty  cents  per  acre,  are  now  held  at  from  ^3  to 
^4.50  per  acre,  but,  for  some  purposes,  are  well  worth  the  money. 

In  California,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  there  are  lands  yet 
held  under  Mexican  titles,  sometimes  of  great  extent,  but  these 
are,  for  the  most  part,  pasturage  lands.  There  is  always  a  liability 
to  a  conflict  of  titles  in  relation  to  these,  and  therefore  they  are 
less  desirable  than  grovernment  lands  in  which  the  title  is  absolute 
and  without  a  flaw  on  which  to  base  a  litigation. 

When  the  Republic  of  Texas  was  annexed  to"  the  United  States 
and  became  the  State  of  Texas,  her  public  lands  were  not  given 
up  to  the  United  States  Government,  as  all  the  other  public  lands 
had  been,  but  were  retained  by  the  State  for  the  purposes  of  edu- 
cation, internal  improvements,  etc.  From  the  proceeds  of  these 
lands  the  State  has  built  several  railroads,  has  laid  the  foundation 
•^or  a  very  large  school  fund,  and  endowed  a  university,  asylums, 


TEXAS  LANDS— HOW  SOLD.  24/ 

etc.  The  school  fund  now  amounts  to  ^3,500,000,  and  when  the 
school  lands  are  all  sold  will  probably  approach  $18,000,000. 
The  Land  Commissioner  of  the  State  oives  the  foUowInof  account 
of  the  three  methods  by  which  the  public  lands  are  furnished  to 
settlers  at  prices  below  those  of  most  of  the  other  States  and 
Territories.  It  should  be  understood,  however,  that  not  all  of 
these  lands  are  of  the  best  quality : 

"  Persons  desiring-  to  secure  homes  in  Texas  can  do  so  cither 
(i)  by  settlement  under  the  homestead  donation  law,  (2)  by 
locating  a  certificate,  or  (3)  by  purchase  from  the  State  of 
common  school,  university  or  asylum  lands. 

"  Under  the  first  mode,  every  head  of  a  family  who  has  no  other 
homestead  can  acquire  title  to  1 60  acres,  and  each  single  person 
of  eighteen  years  of  age  can  secure  eighty  acres,  by  settling  on 
the  same  and  occupying  and  improving  It  for  three  consecutive 
years.  Application  must  be  made  to  the  surveyor  of  the  county 
in  which  the  party  desires  to  settle.  The  fees  for  surveying,  and 
returning  field  notes  to  the  general  land  office  are  from  $10  to 
$15.  After  three  years'  occupancy,  proof  of  which  fact  must  be 
made,  patent  will  issue  to  the  settler  or  his  vendor.  Patent 
fee,  $5. 

"  Under  the  second  mode,  land  certificates  or  warrants  can  be 
located  upon  any  vacant  and  unappropriated  public  land.  These 
certificates  are  of  two  characters,  viz.:  'Straights'  and  'alter- 
nates.' The  '  straights '  are  those  issued  to  early  settlers  as 
headrights  or  for  service  in  the  Texas  revolution,  and  to  some 
railroad  and  ditch  companies,  and  are  located  without  any  reser- 
vation for  public  schools.  These  certificates  are  worth  from 
fifteen  cents  to  thirty-five  cents  per  acre,  according  to  quantity 
— the  lar2;-est  brincrinof  the  lowest  fiq-ure.  'Alternates'  are 
issued  to  railroads  and  other  works  of  internal  improvements, 
and  require  the  survey  of  double  the  amount  of  land  called  for 
by  the  certificate.  This  is  divided  in  two  equal  parts,  one-half  of 
which  patents  to  the  owner,  and  the  remainder  is  reserved  for 
common  schools.  These  certificates  can  be  bought  for  about  ten 
cents  per  acre. 

"  The  State  does  not  sell  any  certificates,  and  they  can  only  be 


2^.8  <^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

bought  from  the  persons  or  corporations  to  whom  they  were 
issued.  Under  either  of  the  above  modes  first-class  land  must 
not  be  expected  in  the  older  and  settled  counties,  but  must  be 
sought  in  the  west  and  northwest. 

"  By  the  third  mode,  viz.,  purchase,  choice  homes  may  be 
secured.  Within  the  settled  and  organized  counties  of  the  State 
there  are  about  12,800,000  acres  of  common  school  lands,  219,- 
000  acres  of  university,  and  407,615  acres  of  asylum  lands. 
These  are  all  for  sale  on  ten  years'  time;  the  university  and 
asvlum  lands  to  actual  settlers  in  tracts  of  80  to  160  acres,  at  a 
minimum  price  of  $1.50  per  acre;  the  common  school  lands  in 
tracts  of  160  acres  to  three  sections,  or  1,920  acres,  at  a  mini- 
mum of  ^i  per  acre.  These  lands  are  among  the  finest  in  the 
State,  and  are  to  be  found  in  almost  every  organized  county. 
Application  for  purchase  must  be  made  to  the  county  surveyor, 
in  whose  office  will  be  found  a  map.  and  general  description  of 
the  lands  of  his  county." 

We  come  next  to  railroad  lands.  The  great  enterprises  which 
were  proposed  for  opening  highways  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  for  encouraging  the  settlement  of  lands  far 
beyond  the  frontiers,  were  too  vast  to  be  undertaken  by  private 
corporations  without  government  aid  in  some  shape.  When,  in 
the  midst  of  our  civil  war,  It  became  desirable  to  initiate  a  system 
of  railways,  which  should  connect  the  Mississippi  valley  with  the 
Pacific  coast,  it  was  found  necessary  not  only  to  grant  lands 
along  the  line,  alternate  sections,  to  a  width  of  ten  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  track  or  road-bed,  but,  as  these  lands  could  not 
be  made  readily  available,  the  government  loaned  its  credit, 
issuing  bonds  to  the  amount  of  ^54,700,000,  and  taking  bonds 
of  the  roads  in  return.  On  these  bonds  the  United  States  eov- 
ernment  has  paid  interest  beyond  what  has  been  repaid,  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  $26,000,000.  Similar  aid  was  subsequcndy 
granted  in  the  way  of  bonds,  though  in  smaller  amounts,  to  the 
Kansas  Pacific,  the  Western  Pacific,  and  the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific 
Railroads  to  the  amount  of  nearly  $10,000,000  more,  and  Interest 
to  the  amount  of  $4,500,000  has  been  paid  on  these  bonds  by 
the  government,  so  that  these  roads  have  been  furnished  with 


RAILROAD   LAND- GRANTS.  ^.g 

bonds  and  interest  by  the  United  States  to  the  amount  of  over 
$96,000,000,  besides  the  land-grants,  which  amounted  on  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  and  their  branches  to  about  9,018,000 
-acres. 

But  the  grants  of  land  for  aid  in  railroad  construction  were, 
by  no  means,  confined  to  these  roads  which  received  bonds ; 
other  roads  projected  because  of  the  success  of  the  first  trans- 
continental railway,  made  their  plans  and  surveys  with  termini  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  and  demanded  both  land  and  bonds,  and  received 
the  former,  but  not  the  latter.  The  Northern  Pacific  was  the 
largest  and  boldest  of  these  enterprises,  and  as  deserving  as  any 
one  of  them.  It  proposed  to  extend  its  line  from  Duluth,  on 
Lake  Superior,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river,  with  several 
branches,  its  general  course  being  between  the  45th  and  47th 
parallels.  It  has  a  land-grant  of  about  6,000,000  acres,  in 
alternate  sections,  on  both  sides  of  its  road-bed,  and  is  now 
operating  more  than  800  miles  of  its  road. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said,  that  all  the  railroads  in  Minnesota, 
Dakota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Arkansas,  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  Utah,  Nevada,  Arizona,  California,  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington, and  Idaho  are  land-grant  railroads,  either  as  branches  of 
the  great  trunk  roads,  or  by  direct  grant  under  their  own  cor- 
porate titles.  After  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  and  the 
Northern  Pacific,  the  most  important  of  these  are  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  and  its  branches  and  leased  roads,  the 
Wabash  and  its  connections,  the  Burlington  and  Missouri 
River,  the  Kansas  Pacific,  the  Denver  Pacific,  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  with  its  branches  and  extensions,  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas,  the 
St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern,  the  Memphis  and  Little 
Rock,  and  the  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith,  the  Texas  Pacific,  the 
Southern  Pacific,  the  Western  Pacific,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  the 
St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco,  the  Oregon  Central,  and  the  Oregon 
and  California,  the  Utah  Central,  Utah  Southern,  and  the  Utah 
and  Northern.  The  Texas  railroads  are  also  land-grant  railroads, 
but  obtain  their  lands  within  that  State  from  the  State  itself,  and 
not  from  the  National  Government.     These  roads  have,  in  all, 


-,eO  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


not  far  from  35,000,000  acres  already  patented  to  them,  and  nearly 
as  much  more  yet  to  come  when  surveyed  and  when  their  Ihies 
arc  completed. 

Each  road  has  its  schedule  of  prices,  its  plan  of  payment  by 
instalments,  and  its  rate  of  interest  for  its  lands.  The  prices 
for  the  lands  on  the  line  of  the  same  road  vary  according-  to  their 
location,  their  distance  from  markets,  the  character  of  the  land, 
and  the  lenor'th  of  the  credit  mven. 

It  is  perhaps  sufficient  to  say  in  regard  to  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  except  in  Texas,  that  the 
railroads  sell  their  lands  at  prices  ranging  from  ^2  or  $2.50  to 
^10  or  $12  per  acre,  according  to  the  location,  distance  from 
markets  and  from  neighbors,  quality  of  soil,  necessity  of  irriga- 
tion, and  general  productiveness.  They  usually  have  schedules 
of  terms,  according  to  the  length  of  credit  given  on  the  lands  ; 
thus,  at  eleven  years'  credit,  a  first  payment  of  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five  per  cent.,  with  interest  in  advance  on  the  remainder,  and 
interest  annually  in  advance  ;  the  second  payment  on  the  princi- 
pal being  on  the  third  or  fourth  year,  and  subsequently  annual 
payments  of  principal  and  interest  until  the  whole  is  paid  up. 
Generally,  in  these  long  credits,  the  price  per  acre  is  about  ten 
per  cent,  more  than  on  shorter  credits.  A  contract  to  give  a 
deed  is  issued  about  the  third  year,  but  no  warranty  deed  is 
given  till  the  last  payment  has  been  made.  They  have  also 
schedules  for  six  years,  for  three  years,  or  some  of  them  for  two^ 
and  for  cash  ;  in  these,  the  price  is  ten  per  cent,  lower  than  in  the 
first,  the  interest  is  not  paid  till  it  has  accrued,  and  there  are  other 
small  discounts.  Where  cash  is  paid  in  full  at  the  time  of  pur- 
chase, a  discount  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  is  made  by  some  roads 
and  thirty-three  and  one-third  per  cent,  by  others.  Timber  lands 
are  held  at  a  higher  price  than  prairie  lands,  varying,  however, 
in  different  States  and  Territories.  A  purchaser  can  buy  on 
these  terms  640  acres  in  one  piece  or  less,  as  he  pleases.  He 
may  \niy  more  than  this  quantity  if  he  chooses,  but  the  govern- 
ment or  even  sections  (the  railroad  lands  are  all  odd  sections) 
surround  this  on  all  sides,  so  that  his  lands  will  be  a  mile  apart, 
unless  he  can  buy  the  government  section  between,  which  he 


I/O  IF  RAILROAD   LANDS  ARE   SOLD. 


351 


may  do  if  it  Is  not  taken  up  by  pre-emption,  or  purchase,  or 
bounty  land-warrants,  or  altogether.  The  government  does  not 
sell  or  pre-empt  its  lands  (except  desert  lands)  in  greater  quan- 
tities than  160  acres,  but  it  will  take  bounty  land-warrants  or 
agricultural  college  scrip  for  them  at  the  rate  of  $1.25  per  acre, 
its  price  being  for  these  lands  within  railroad  limits  $2.50  per 
.acre,  so  that  a  warrant  for  160  acres  will  buy  but  80  acres  of 
these  lands. 

Most  of  the  roads,  in  their  circular  to  immigrants,  present  a 
schedule  like  the  following,  which,  though  taken  from  the  Atchi- 
son, Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway,  substantially  represents  them 
all,  except  in  its  discount  for  a  full  cash  payment,  which  is  thirty- 
three  and  one-third,  while  most  of  the  others  are  but  twenty- 
five  per  cent. 

TERMS   OF  SALE. 

ELEVEN  years'  CREDIT, 

Terms  No.  i — Is  on  eleven  years'  credit,  with  seven  per  cent, 
interest.  The  first  payment  at  date  of  purchase  is  one-tenth  of 
the  principal  and  seven  per  cent,  interest  on  the  remainder.  At 
the  end  of  the  first  and  second  year,  only  the  interest  at  seven 
per  cent,  is  paid ;  the  third  year  and  each  year  thereafter,  one- 
tenth  of  the  principal  is  paid  with  seven  per  cent,  annual  interest 
on  the  balance  until  the  whole  is  paid. 

EXAMPLE. 

160  acres,  at  ^5  an  acre,  bought  April  i,  1S79,  the  payments  would   be  as 
follows: 


Date  of  Payments. 


Apr 
Apr 
Apr 
Apr 
Apr 
Aj)r 
Apr 
Apr 
Apr 
Apr 
Apr 
Apr 


1879,  (date  of  purchase) 

18S0 

1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

1888 

1889 

1890 


Principal. 


$80    00 


80  00 

80  00 

80  00 

80  00 

80  00 

So  GO 

80  00 

80  00 

So  00 


Interest. 


$50    40 
50    40 

44  80 
39  20 
Zl  60 
28  00 
22  40 
16  So 
1 1  20 

5  60 


Total  of  payments  at  end  of  1 1  years 


ISSoo  00  [§352  80 


Total. 

$130 

40 

50 

40 

50 

40 

124 

80 

119 

20 

113 

60 

108 

00 

102 

40 

96 

80 

91 

20 

S5 

60 

80 

00 

Si. 152 

80 

352 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


SIX    YEARS     CREDIT. 
20  per  cent,  discount. 

Terms  No.  2 — Is  on  six  years'  credit,  with  seven  per  cent, 
•interest.  The  first  payment  at  date  of  purchase  is  one-sixth  of 
the  principal  and  seven  per  cent,  interest  on  the  remainder. 
The  second  payment  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  is  only  interest. 
Afterwards  one-sixth  of  the  principal  is  paid  and  seven  per  cent, 
annual  interest  on  the  remainder  until  the  whole  is  paid.  We 
make  a  discount  from  the  appraised  price  of  twenty  per  cent., 
and  the  payments  will  come  as  per 

EXAMPLE. 

160  acres,  at  $5  an  acre,  bought  April  i,  1S79,  would  amount  to  $Soo. 
Twenty  per  cent,  off  would  reduce  it  to  $640,  and  the  payments  would  be  as 
follows : 


Date  of  Payments. 


April  I,  1879,  (date  of  purchase)  . 

April  I,  1880 

April  I,  18S1 

April  I,  1882 

April  I,  18S3 

April  I,  1884 

April  I,  1885 

Total  of  payments  at  end  of  6  years 


Principal. 

Interest. 

$106    67 

.^37  33 

37  33 

106    67 

29  86 

106    67 

22  39 

106    67 

14  93 

106  66 

7  46 

106  66 

$149  30 

$640    GO 

Total. 


;^I44  00 

37  32> 
136  53 
129  06 

121  60 
114  12 

106  66 

^789  30 


TWO    YEARS     CREDIT. 
30  per  cent,  discount. 


Ter7ns  No.  3 — Three  payments.  In  consideration  of  the  pur- 
chaser's paying  one-third  of  the  principal  at  time  of  purchase, 
with  ten  per  cent,  interest  on  the  remainder,  and  the  balance  in 
two  annual  payments,  we  make  a  discount  from  the  appraised 
price  of  THIRTY  per  cent,,  and  the  payments  will  come  as  per 

EXAMPLE. 

160  acres,  at  $5  an  acre,  bought  April  i,  1879,  would  amount  to  $800. 
Thirty  per  cent,  off  would  reduce  it  to  $560,  and  the  payments  would  be  as 
follows : 


Date  of  Payments. 


April  I,  1879 ■     •      • 

April  I,  1880 

April  I,  1 88 1 

Total  of  payments  at  end  of  2  years 


Principal. 

Interest. 

$186    67 
186    67 

186  66 

;^37  33 
18  67 

$560  00 

$56  00 

Total. 


^224    GO 

205    34 
_i86  66 

$616    GO 


ATCIIISOX,    TOP£.KA  AND   SANTA   FE   RAILWAY  LANDS. 


1   "   -1 

o:)3 


CASH    PURCHASE. 

Zy/i   V^"^  cent,  discount. 

Tei'ms  No.  4. — This  is  a  sale  where  the  whole  amount  of  pur- 
chase money  is  paid  down  and  deed  given.  For  cash,  we  make 
a  discount  of  thirty-three  and  one-third  per  cent,  from  the 
appraised  price. 


EXAMPLE. 

April  I,  1S79,  i^°  acres,  at    $5  per  acre ^Soo  00 

Cash  discount  of  ■^:if]'i  per  cent,  off 266  67 

Total  amount  of  payment ^533  33 

or  less  than  half  the  amount  at  eleven  years'  credit. 

If  payments  are  all  made  in  advance  of  maturity  and  deed 
taken,  purchasers  on  long  credit  will  be  allowed  a  liberal  dis- 
count. 
?RKE  AND  LOCATION  OF  THE  COMPANY'S  LANDS   IN  KANSAS. 


Counties. 

Wabaunsee 

Morris 

Chase 

Marion 

Butler 

Harvey 

Sedgwick 

McPherson 

Reno 

Rice 

Barton 

Rush 

Pawnee 

Edwards 

Ford 

Pratt 

Hodgeman 


Acres. 

P 

rice,  per 

acre 

11,688.94 

$3 

50  to 

5 

50 

27,069.13 

2 

50  to 

6 

50 

123,650.50 

2 

50  to 

9 

00 

90,422.87 

4 

00  to 

9 

00 

38,746.02 

5 

00  to 

9 

00 

44,961.54 

5 

00  to 

10 

00 

42,566.41 

5 

00  to 

10 

00 

29.837-59 

5 

00  to 

7 

50 

202,038.77 

4 

00  to 

8 

00 

86,467.10 

3 

00  to 

8 

00 

196,013.43 

3 

00  to 

7 

00 

57.403-67 

3 

00  to 

6 

00 

127,858.52 

3 

00  to 

7 

00 

91,716.63 

3 

00  to 

6 

00 

95,721.10 

4 

00  to 

8 

00 

12,612.04 

2 

00  to 

4 

00 

74,099.55 

4 

00  to 

8 

00 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  makes  its  prices,  especially  in 
Dakota  and  Montana,  including  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Red 
river  of  the  North,  and  the  excellent  lands  of  Northern  INIon- 
tana,  somewhat  lower,  ranging  from  $2.50  to  $8.50  on  credits 
of  six  years,  or  will  take  its  own  preferred  stock  at  par  in  pay- 
ment, a  privilege  which  three  or  five  years  ago  was  equivalent 
23 


,,,  OUR     WESTERN   EMPJRE. 

to  seventy-five  per  cent,  discount,  but  this  stock  has  now  ap- 
preciated, though  still  quoted  at  fifty-four  to  fifty-six.  The  immi- 
crrant  on  this,  and  we  believe  on  all  the  Minnesota  and  Dakota 
railroads,  receives  also  material  reductions  of  fare  for  himself  and 
family,  and  specially  low  rates  of  freight  for  the  transportation 
of  his  household  goods,  live-stock,  and  farming  implements,  and 
this,  whether  he  buys  the  company's  lands  or  government  land. 
The  freights  of  grain  and  other  produce  on  this  road  going  east- 
ward are  also  very  low.  The  rates  of  interest  on  Minnesota 
and  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  lands  are  seven  per  cent. ;  on  the 
Iowa  Railroad  lands  they  are  only  six  per  cent.,  but  on  the  long 
credits  the  price  of  the  lands  are  advanced  ten  per  cent. 

In  Texas  the  prices  of  railroad  lands  are  considerably  cheaper, 
rancT^ing  from  ^2  to  ^5  per  acre  on  long  time,  and  seldom  exceed- 
ino-  ^2  when  they  are  paid  for  in  two  or  three  years.  In  the 
northwest  counties,  where  there  is  so  much  drought  that  the 
lands  are  only  suitable  for  grazing,  they  can  be  bought  at  lower 
prices  than  these,  especially  if  taken  in  large  quantities. 

West  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  the  Union  Pacific,  Central, 
Western,  and  Southern  Pacific  and  their  branches  and  connec- 
tions, prices  are  higher,  and  terms  (there  being  little  or  no  com- 
petition) are  more  rigorously  enforced.  The  following  extract 
from  the  latest  circular  of  these  roads  explains  itself.  Some  of 
these  lands  are  well  worth  the  price  asked  for  them  ;  others  are 
nearly  worthless  ;  but  as  the  buyer  is  requested  to  select  for  him- 
self, and  the  company  refuses  to  make  selections  or  take  any 
risk,  there  is  no  ground  for  com[)laint: 

No  Sale  Before  Patent. — The  general  rule  of  the  company  Is 
to  sell  no  land  before  a  patent  has  been  issued  to  the  company. 
This  protects  the  purchaser  against  the  danger  of  getting  a  bad 
title,  and  the  company  against  the  suspicion  of  taking  advantage 
of  the  lo-norant. 

Railroad  Title. — The  company  holds  under  a  patent  direct 
from  the  Federal  Government,  and  its  tide  is  thus  free  from  the 
dangers  that  beset  all  titles  that  have  passed  through  a  number 
of  individuals.  No  suit  will  be  instituted  against  the  railroad 
t'tlc  on   account  of  minor   heirs,  undivided   interests,  defective 


CENTRAL,    WESTERN  AND   SOUTHERN  PACIEIC  LANDS.  355 

acknowledgments,  or  those  common  flaws  to  be  found  in  a  long 
succession  of  conveyances. 

Settlement  Before  Patent. — The  company  invites  settlers  to  go 
on  the  lands  before  patents  are  issued  or  the  road  is  completed  ; 
and  intends,  in  such  cases,  to  sell  to  them  in  preference  to  any 
other  applicants,  and  at  prices  based  upon  the  value  of  the  land 
without  the  improvements  put  upon  it  by  the  settlers.  It  makes 
no  definite  contract  with  any  individual  upon  this  basis,  but  it 
treats  all  fairly.  It  will  not  sell  to  somebody  else,  merely  be- 
cause the  latter  offers  a  higher  price.  It  will  not  sell  to  any  one 
land  that  may  be  required  by  it  for  railroad  purposes,  such  as 
places  for  depots,  stations,  etc.,  or  for  town  sites.  Any  person 
desiring  to  settle  upon  vacant  railroad  land,  after  survey  and 
before  it  is  patented,  should  address  a  letter  to  the  Land  Agent 
of  the  company,  requesting  a  copy  of  a  blank  application  for  the 
purchase  of  land.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  one  of  these  appli- 
cations as  filled  in,  the  words  and  figures  here  enclosed  in 
brackets  occupying  spaces  which  are  blank  in  the  printed  form, 
and  which  the  applicant  should  fill  in  to  suit  his  own  case : 

APPLICATION.      SOUTHERN    PACIFIC   RAILROAD  COMPANY.      LAND   DEPARTMENT. 

[Bakersfield,  Nov.  ist,  1876.] 
The  undersigned  hereby  applies  to  purchase  the  [northwest  quarter]  of  sec- 
tion  [6]   of  township   [30  south]   range  [25  east]   [Mount   Diablo]   base  and 
meridian,  in  [Kern]  County,  California,  containing  [160]  acres. 
Residence  [2  miles  south  of  Bakersfield]. 
Post-office  address  [Bakersfield,  Kern  County,  California]. 

John  Smith. 

The  value  of  the  application  depends  entirely  upon  the  care 
and  correctness  with  which  the  blanks  are  filled  in.  If  tHe  num- 
bers are  wrong,  or  if  the  signature  cannot  be  read,  or  if  the  post- 
office  address  is  not  given  with  entire  clearness,  the  applicant 
must  not  blame  anybody  but  himself  if  the  application  does  not 
benefit  him.  Every  letter  in  the  signature  should  be  so  plain 
that  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  it.  A  scratch  may  be 
intelligible  to  a  personal  friend,  who,  knowing  from  whom  to 
expect  a  letter,  and  w^hat  to  expect  in  it,  may  understand  that 
which  would  be  illemble  to  others.     Five  minutes  of  extra  time 

O 


356  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

is  all  that  is  necessary  for  getting  the  application  right.  The 
address  given  should  be  the  permanent  address,  where  the  ap- 
plicant can  be  reached  at  any  time ;  and  if,  after  giving  it,  he 
should  move,  he  should  then  send  his  new  address,  mentioning 
in  his  letter  the  township  and  range  of  the  land  for  which  he  has 
applied,  so  that  the  new  address  can  be  put  with  the  application, 
which  is  filed  according  to  the  township  and  range  in  which  it  is 
situated.  If  he  wants  several  pieces  of  land  in  the  same  town- 
ship, he  should  include  all  in  one  application  ;  if  he  wants  land  in 
different  townships,  then  there  should  be  a  different  application 
for  each  township. 

The  Land  Agent  will  send  a  receipt  for  the  application,  and  if 
then  the  applicant  will,  without  unreasonable  delay,  permanently 
occupy  and  cultivate  the  land,  he  can  expect  to  have  preference 
over  all  other  applicants  ;  but  his  claim  will  not  be  entitled  to 
any  consideration  if  he  does  not  show  his  good  faith  by  occupa- 
tion and  cultivation,  or  improvement.  The  company  will  give  a 
preference  to  settlers  over  speculators. 

If  the  settler  goes  upon  the  land  before  survey,  he  should  de- 
scribe it  as  nearly  as  possible,  and  so  soon  as  the  survey  is  made, 
send  the  description  to  the  Land  Agent. 

An  application  for  land  confers  no  vested  right  or  privilege  on 
the  applicant.     It  is  merely  a  notice  that  he  wishes  to  buy. 

The  filing  of  an  application  does  not  carry  with  it  the  right  or 
permission  to  cut  wood  or  timber  from  the  lands  of  the  company, 
except  for  fire-wood  for  the  domestic  uses  of  the  actual  occupants 
of  the  tract  applied  for,  or  for  fencing  and  improving  it. 

Applicants,  or  other  persons,  who  shall  be  detected  in  cutting 
wood  oir  timber  on  railroad  lands,  except  for  the  purposes  above 
specified,  or  in  selling  or  carrying  it  away,  will  be  prosecuted  with 
the  utmost  severity  of  the  law. 

Land  Policy  of  Company. — The  policy  of  the  company  has 
always  been,  and  is  now,  to  encourage  the  settlement  of  its  lands 
in  small  tracts,  by  persons  who  will  live  on  and  cultivate  them. 
To  this  end  settlers  are  invited  to  make  applications  to  buy  and  to 
occupy  and  put  to  use  the  vacant  lands  until  such  time  as  they 
shall  be  ready  for  sale.     If  the  settler  desires  to  buy,  the  company 


SOUTHERN   PACIFIC   RAILWAY  LANDS.  25/ 

gives  him  the  first  privilege  of  purchase  at  the  fixed  price,  which, 
in  every  case,  shall  only  be  the  value  of  the  land,  without  regard  to 
the  improvements.  It  must  be  understood  that  the  application  of 
a  speculator,  or  of  a  person  who  does  not  improve  or  occupy  the 
land,  will  not,  although  received  first,  take  precedence  or  priority 
of  that  of  the  settler  whose  application  may,  perhaps,  be  filed 
last  of  all.  The  actual  settler,  in  good  faith,  will  be  preferred 
always,  and  the  land  will  be  sold  to  him  as  against  every  other 
applicant.  The  company  also  wishes  it  to  be  known  that  a  mere 
application  to  buy  land,  unaccompanied  by  actual  improvement  or 
settlement,  confers  no  right  or  privilege  whi-ch  should  prevent  an 
actual  settler  from  taking  it,  if  vacant,  into  possession,  and  culti- 
vating and  improving  it. 

When  there  are  two  or  more  applicants  for  the  same  tract  of 
land,  an  adjudication  of  their  respective  claims  will  be  made  by 
the  Land  Agent,  upon  due  notice  given  to  the  parties,  and  the 
right  to  buy,  at  the  graded  price,  will  be  awarded  to  the  applicant 
who  shall  be  deemed  to  have  the  most  equitable  claim.  Should 
the  applicants,  or  either  of  them,  pay  no  attention  to  the  notice, 
or  fail  to  be  present  in  person,  or  by  representative,  at  the  time 
and  place  mentioned  in  it,  they  shall  be  considered  to  have  aban- 
doned their  applications,  and  all  right  or  claim  to  purchase;  and 
the  land  will  then,  at  the  option  of  the  railroad  company,  be  open 
for  purchase  by  any  person  to  whom  the  company  may  choose 
to  sell. 

Careful  regard  is  paid  to  the  requirements  of  the  law  in  every 
particular,  so  as  to  protect  the  officers  of  the  company  against 
complaints  for  the  past  and  distrust  for  the  future.  The  cultiva- 
tion of  confidence  is  necessary  for  the  company. 

No  deed  will  be  made  until  the  entire  price  shall  have  been 
paid. 

Payment  in  Coin. — All  sales  are  made  for  gold  coin,  which  may 
be  paid  in  person,  or  sent  by  express,  or  by  a  banker's  check  on 
a  bank  in  San  Francisco.  The  company  does  not  deal  in  ex- 
change, or  take  any  risk  of  loss  in  transmission.  The  collection 
of  orders  upon  business  men  in  San  Francisco,  or  of  checks  upon 
city  banks   drawn    by  farmers    or   country  merchants,  is  oltcn 


258  <^^^^     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

attended  with  much  delay  and  vexation,  and  therefore  such 
orders  or  checks  will  not  be  received  ;  but  a  check  drawn  by  any 
solvent  country  bank  upon  a  San  Francisco  bank,  with  which  it 
has  funds,  is  good.  No  paper  is  made  out  until  after  payment. 
No  contract  is  made  to  accept  work  of  any  kind  as  payment.  If 
the  purchaser  is  in  the  employment  of  the  company,  he  should 
get  his  money  and  come  with  it  to  the  Land  Ofhce.  It  is  useless 
for  him  to  bother  with  offers  to  grade,  cut  wood,  or  do  something 
in  compensation  for  land.  The  departments  have  separate  ac- 
counts. 

The  company  does  not  give  free  transportation  to  persons 
who  wish  to  examine  or  buy,  or  who  have  bought  land.  Nor 
after  purchase  does  it  carry  their  building  material,  furniture  or 
cattle,  free.  In  this  as  in  other  respects,  the  land  and  transporta- 
tion departments  of  the  company  manage  their  business  on  the 
cash  basis  and  on  separate  accounts. 

Prices. — The  lands  are  not  uniform  in  price,  but  are  offered  at 
various  figures  from  $2.50  upwards  per  acre;  usually  land 
covered  with  tall  timber  is  held  at  ^5  per  acre,  and  that  with 
pine  at  ^10.  Most  is  for  sale  at  from  $2.50  to  ^5.  It  is  im- 
possible to  give  the  prices  by  sections  or  minor  subdivisions  in 
this  pamphlet.  Special  inquiry  must  be  made  as  to  each  piece. 
The  purchaser  must  pay  for  the  acknowledgment  of  the  three 
signatures  to  the  deed — the  law  now  allows  one  dollar  for  each 
signature — and  he  must  pay  for  recording,  usually  about  $2.50 
for  each  deed. 

Grading  Lands. — When  lands  are  ready  to  be  sold,  the  com- 
pany sends  a  man  well  acquainted  with  the  quality  of  soil  and 
skilled  in  determining  the  kind  of  agricultural  product  to  which 
it  is  best  adapted,  as  also  in  determining  its  true  market  value, 
to  look  at  the  various  sections  and  tracts.  After  personal  ex- 
amination, he  ofrades  the  land  as  beinij  first,  second  or  third 
quality  of  farming,  vineyard,  timber  or  grazing  land,  and  reports 
the  value  of  each  piece.  His  report  is  examined,  and,  if  found 
correct,  a  price  is  established.  The  price  is  generally  that  of 
unimproved  land  of  the  same  quality  in  the  immediate  vicinity  at 
the  time  of  the  grading.     In  ascertaining  the  value,  any  improve- 


SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  LANDS.  ^^q 

ments  that  a  settler  or  other  person  may  have  on  the  land  will 
not  be  taken  into  consideration,  neither  will  the  price  of  the  land 
be  increased  in  consequence  of  them.  Further,  there  is  but  one 
price — that  fixed  by  the  company — and  land  will  be  sold  at  that 
rate  to  those  who  In  equity  have  the  best  right  to  buy,  even  if 
others  should  offer  more  per  acre  than  the  amount  asked.  Set- 
tlers are  thus  assured  that,  in  addition  to  being  accorded  the  first 
privilege  of  purchase  at  the  graded  price,  they  will  also  be  pro- 
tected in  their  improvements. 

When  Time  Alloived. — Land  is  sold  on  contract  allowing  time 
for  payment  of  a  part  of  the  purchase  money — if  the  tract  be 
eighty  acres  or  more  and  if  it  have  no  timber.  If  it  be  less  than 
eighty  acres,  or  if  it  be  covered  with  timber,  no  sale  will  be  made 
except  upon  full  payment  of  cash  before  the  execution  of  any 
paper.  The  rule  of  the  company  is  to  make  no  contracts  for 
sale  of  land  before  the  patent  for  it  has  been  received. 

Terms  of  Time  Sales. — All  contracts  for  the  sale  of  land  on 
time  are  made  in  uniform  manner.'  The  terms  are  the  same  in 
every  case.  The  purchaser  must  pay  one-fifth  of  the  price  and 
also  interest  for  one  year  on  the  balance  before  he  can  get  a  con- 
tract; he  must  then  pay  the  interest  in  advance  at  the  beginning 
of  each  subsequent  year,  till  the  fifth  year  is  up,  and  then  pay  his 
principal  and  take  his  deed.  No  instalments  are  accepted,  but 
if  his  interest  is  not  delinquent  he  can  at  any  time  pay  the 
principal  and  get  his  deed.  This  system  protects  the  company 
against  complication  of  accounts,  gives  the  purchaser  an  abun- 
dance of  time  for  making  payments,  and  enables  him  to  select  his 
own  day  within  five  )ears  for  closing  up  the  transaction.  As 
stated,  payment  in  full  of  the  purchase  money  can  be  made  at 
any  time,  but  after  interest  has  been  paid,  no  part  of  it  will  be 
refunded.  This  is  done  in  order  to  avoid  confusion  in  keeping 
the  accounts.  The  purchaser  can  draw  interest  on  his  money  in 
a  savings  bank  till  the  end  of  the  year,  if  he  sees  fit. 

No  longer  credit  than  five  years  is  allowed  in  any  case. 

In  many  cases  in  wdiich  purchases  have  been  made  on  credit, 
the  buyers  have  made  enough  from  the  crops  of  a  single  year  to 
pay  for  the  land. 


26o  ^^'-^     JVESTERiV  EMPIRE. 

Let  US  suppose  that  the  purchaser  takes  i6o  acres  at  ^5  per 
acre,  under  contract  dated  January  ist,  1877.  The  total  price  is 
$800.  If  he  wants  to  buy  on  time,  he  must  pay  in  advance  one- 
fifth  of  the  principal,  $160,  and  ^64  as  interest  at  10  per  cent,  on 
the  $640  of  the  remainder,  or  $224  in  all,  cash,  on  the  day  when 
the  contract  is  made.  Then  he  must  pay  ^^64  interest  on  the  ist 
of  January,  1878,  and  as  much  more  on  the  same  days  in  1879, 
1S80  and  1881  ;  and  on  the  ist  of  January,  1882,  he  must  pay 
the  $640  remainder  of  the  principal,  and  then  he  is  cntided  to 
his  deed. 

On  land  sold  under  contract  the  purchaser  must  cut  no  wood 
save  for  domestic  purposes,  or  for  fencing-  the  tract  bought,  until 
he  has  made  his  last  payment.  All  contracts  may  be  assigned 
by  the  purchaser. 

When  the  contract  is  made,  the  purchaser  must  from  that  date 
see  that  the  land  is  assessed  to  him,  and  must  pay  all  the  taxes 
and  assessments  of  every  kind  levied  on  the  land  for  public 
purposes. 

Kind  of  Deed. — The  company  gives  what  is  known  as  a 
bargain  and  sale  deed,  the  form  customary  in  California.  It 
warrants  to  the  purchaser  that  he  gets  the  entire  tide  acquired 
by  the  company  from  the  Federal  government,  and  is  signed  by 
the  president  and  secretary  of  the  company  and  two  trustees. 

Select  for  Yourself — No  officer  of  the  railroad  selects  land  for 
another  person,  nor  could  such  selection  be  made  without  ex- 
posing the  company  to  vexatious  complaints.  Everybody  who 
intends  to  buy  should,  if  possible,  visit  and  examine  the  land, 
for  nobody  knows  so  well  what  he  wants,  or  at  least  nobody  can 
safely  assume  the  responsibility  of  deciding  for  him. 

Rent. — The  company  will  lease  its  vacant  grazing  or  agri- 
cultural lands  by  the  year,  or  for  a  term  of  years,  but  reserves 
the  right  of  selling  its  grazing  lands  so  leased  at  any  time,  or 
its  agricultural  lands  at  the  end  of  any  crop  year,  repaying  to 
the  lessee  a  share  of  the  rent  money  proportioned  exacdy  to 
the  area  sold,  the  time  of  the  sale  and  the  duration  of  the  lease. 
The  lessee  must  not  cut  any  timber  except  for  firewood  for 
domestic  purposes.  The  conditions  are  distincdy  stated  in  the 
lease. 


WHERE    THE  RAILWAY  LANDS  ARE.  26l 

The  rent  must  always  be  paid  in  coin,  and  in  advance. 

Railroad  Lands. — Lands  granted  by  Mexico,  lands  which  have 
been  sold  by  the  United  States,  or  pre-empted  or  taken  by 
homestead,  in  accordance  with  law,  before  the  railroad  title 
attached,  and  lands  which  have  been  reserved  as  mineral,  are  not 
"  vacant  Federal  lands  "  as  that  term  is  used  here,  and  do  not 
pass  to  the  company. 

The  lands  given  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  by 
Congress,  extend  from  San  Jose,  by  way  of  Gilroy,  Hollister, 
San  Benito  Pass,  Huron,  Goshen,  Tehachapi  Pass,  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Gorgonio  Pass,  to  Fort  Yuma,  and  also  from  Tehachapi 
Pass,  eastward  to  the  Needles,  on  the  Colorado  river. 

The  San  Francisco  and  San  Jose  Railroad  has  been  incorporated 
with  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  having  been  constructed  on 
part  of  the  route  before  the  bill  granting  the  franchise  and  land 
to  the  latter  road  was  passed. 

The  land-grant  from  San  Jose  to  Fort  Yuma  is  690  miles  long, 
and  covers  all  the  unreserved  odd  sections  within  thirty  miles  of 
the  road  on  each  side.  It  would  not  take  more  than  twenty 
miles  from  the  road  if  all  had  been  unreserved;  but  portions  of 
Santa  Clara,  Santa  Cruz,  Monterey,  San  Benito,  Ventura,  Los 
Angeles  and  S^n  Bernardino  and  other  counties  were  held 
under  Mexican  o^rant  or  were  otherwise  reserved  from  the 
company,  which  will  not  get  the  full  12,800  acres  for  each 
mile,  even  by  going  to  the  full  distance  of  thirty  miles  from  the 
road. 

The  railroad  grant  on  the  section  between  San  Jose  and  Tres 
Pinos,  fifty-one  miles  long,  covers  nearly  all  of  Santa  Clara  and 
Santa  Cruz  counties,  parts  of  Merced,  Fresno  and  Monterey, 
and  small  portions  of  Alameda,  San  Joaquin  and  Stanislaus. 
Most  of  these  lands,  however,  w^ere  previously  covered  with 
Mexican  grants,  or  were  otherwise  legally  occupied,  and 
the  company  has  little  land  for  sale  in  those  counties,  and 
most  of  that  little  is  in  the  mountains,  and  at  present  difficult  of 
access. 

It  should  be  understood  that  the  railroad  companies,  except 
perhaps  in  Texas,  have  no  mining  lands  to  sell.     These  are  all 


362  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

carefully  reserved  by  the  United  States  government,  and  where 
land  which  had  been  patented  to  them,  proved  to  be  mineral  or 
mining  land,  before  they  had  sold  it,  the  government  claimed  it 
and  has  given  them  other  lands  in  the  place  of  it. 

The  minin^if  laws  and  refrulations,  which  we  have  oriven  in  full 
in  a  previous  chapter,  explain  fully  the  only  methods  of  procuring 
mininof  lands  direct  from  the  Qrovernment.  There  is  nothin^jf 
to  prevent  an  immigrant  from  buying  an  interest  in  a  mine,  and 
in  the  land  in  which  or  under  which  it  is  situated,  from  those  who 
hold  it,  but  an  interest  in  a  mine  is  not  necessarily  an  interest  in 
the  land  above  it.  A  bill  now  before  Congress  provides  that 
land  may  be  sold  in  tracts  containing  eight  square  miles  or  less, 
for  grazing  purposes,  subject  to  the  condition  that  if  a  mine 
passes  underneath  it,  the  rights  of  the  miners  shall  not  be 
prejudiced  by  this  occupancy  of  the  surface. 

We  have  alluded  in  previous  chapters  to  the  opportunities 
which  are  often  offered  to  buy  partially  improved  farms  and  cat- 
tle or  sheep  ranches.  This  opportunity  occurs  so  frequently 
that  the  imniigrant  who  has  two  or  three  thousand  dollars  of 
capital  will  often  find  it  better  to  purchase  one  of  these  farms, 
than  to  take  up  new  land  by  any  of  the  methods  offered  in  this 
chapter.  It  is  not  at  all  to  the  discredit  of  the  fertility,  climate, 
or  productiveness  of  any  of  these  States  or  Territories  that  so 
many  farms  should  be  for  sale.  The  causes  which  lead  to  it  are 
usually  these :  a  man  with  very  little  capital  has  taken  up  a  farm 
or  sheep  or  cattle  ranche,  either  by  pre-emption  or  under  the 
Homestead  or  Timber-Culture  Acts,  or  has  bought  of  the  railroad 
lands,  and  being  perhaps  not  a  good  manager,  or  having  a  large 
family  and  meeting  with  misfortunes  in  his  crops,  finds  himself 
in  debt,  and  unable  to  extricate  himself  and  keep  his  farm.  Per- 
haps he  has  bought  too  much  land,  and  the  cost  of  breaking  it 
up  and  his  annual  payments  on  it  swallow  up  all  he  can  make, 
and  he  becomes  discoura<):ed.  He  will  find  that  if  he  mortiraees 
his  land,  the  interest  will  eat  up  the  whole  value  of  the  farm,  and, 
being  sold  out  under  foreclosure,  he  has  nothing  left,  and  has  to 
hire  himself  out  as  a  laborer.  If  he  can  sell  the  farm,  the  pay- 
ments yet  to  be  made  can  be  met  by  the  purchaser,  and  though 


BUYING   PARTIALLY  IMPROVED   FARMS.  263 

he  receives  less  than  he  has  expended  in  money  and  labor  upon 
the  land,  yet  he  is  out  of  debt  and  can  move  on  to  the  frontier 
where,  taking  a  farm  under  the  Homestead  Act  or  Timber-Culture 
Act,  and  building  a  sod  house,  he  can  have  a  better  chance  to 
retrieve  his  fortunes.  Meanwhile,  the  immigrant  who  buys  finds 
the  land  ready  broken  for  crops,  and  perhaps  the  crops  for  the 
season  sown,  so  that  within  four  or  six  months  he  can,  if  the  sea- 
son is  favorable,  realize  from  his  crop  nearly  what  the  farm  has 
cost  him. 

These  farms  can  generally  be  bought  at  a  reasonable  price, 
because  there  are  so  many  in  the  market.  They  should  not  be 
bought  at  a  high  price  for  two  reasons  :  first,  that  in  most  regions 
there  is  some  uncertainty  about  the  crop  from  drought,  grass- 
hoppers, Colorado  beetles,  worms,  or  excess  of  rain  ;  and  second, 
that  the  first  crop,  especially  of  grain  or  roots  and  tubers,  is 
usually  larger  than  those  which  succeed  it. 

By  caution  in  buying,  the  immigrant  will  generally  do  well, 
and  by  careful  and  thorough  cultivation  he  may  find  his  partially 
improved  farm  a  source  of  great  wealth. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


Farming  Life — The  Amount  of  Capital  Needed — Management  of  a  Farm 
AT  THE  West — The  Best  Farming  Regions — What  Crops  are  Best — How- 
Farming  CAN  BE  MADE  MOST  PrOFITAHLE. 

Having  in  previous  chapters  shown  the  immigrant  how  to 
reach  the  West,  how  to  select  his  land  or  location,  and  the 
various  methods  by  which  he  may  become  the  owner  and  pos- 
sessor of  a  farm  or  other  landed  estate,  we  are  now  read\-  to 
assist  him  in  settling  upon  his  land  and  making  his  first  crops. 
In  the  case  of  immigrants  from  Europe  this  is  particularly  neces- 
sary; for  though  it  is  very  possible  that  the  immigrant  may,  in 
his  own  country,  and  under  the  circumstances  existing  there,  be 
as  good  a  farmer  as  can  be  found,  yet  the  circumstances  here 
are  so  different  in  the  character  of  the  soil,  the  climate  and  sea- 


364  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

sons,  the  amounl:  of  rain-fall,  and  the  crops  most  in  demand,  that 
he  will  find  that  he  has  much  of  his  business  to  learn  anew. 

The  first  thing  to  be  decided  is,  what  descripdon  of  crops  he 
would  prefer  to  cultivate,  and  this  point  should  be  setded  before 
he  sets  out  for  the  West,  whether  his  previous  home  had  been 
in  Europe  or  in  the  Atlantic  States.  If  he  desires  to  raise  the 
small  grains,  and  perhaps  root  crops,  he  must  still  decide  whether 
he  will  grow  winter  or  spring  wheat  and  rye.  For  spring  wheat 
and  the  other  small  grains,  as  well  as  for  root  crops,  there  is  no 
region  so  good  as  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana,  and  perhaps 
Iowa  and  Southern  Dakota,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
Washingto.n  and  Oregon  west  of  those  mountains.'^'  The  spring 
wheat  of  Montana  surpasses  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
In  an  average  season  it  weighs  sixty-nine  pounds  to  the  bushel, 
sixty  pounds  being  the  standard,  and  with  ordinary  care  in  cifl- 
tivation  thirty-five  to  forty  bushels  to  the  acre,  many  entire  crops 
exceeding  this  large  yield.  Dakota  and  Minnesota  and  Oregon 
and  Washington  Territory  are  not  far  behind.  Iowa  grows 
some  winter  wheat,  though  the  spring  wheat  largely  predomi- 
nates;  but,  probably  on  account  of  less  thorough  cultivation, 
neither  the  yield  nor  the  weight  are  equal  to  those  of  the  north- 
ernmost tier  of  States  and  Territories.  There  is  one  other  rea- 
son alleged  for  the  excellence  of  the  grain  crops  of  this  northern 
region,  which  includes  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Red  river  of  the 
North ;  it  is  that  the  surface  frost  thaws  very  early  in  the  spring, 
but  that  at  the  depth  of  three  and  one-half  or  four  inches  the 
earth  is  still  frozen,  and  that  when  the  seed  is  sown  this  deeper 
frost,  thawing  gradually,  keeps  the  roots  of  the  grain  moist  and 
develops  them  more  moderately  and  surely  than  can  be  done  in 
any  other  way. 

There  is  this  further  advantage  in  regard  to  Northern  Minne- 
sota, Dakota,  and  Eastern  Montana,  that  the  crops  can  be 
quickly  and  cheaply  marketed  over  the  Northern  Pacific  and  its 

*  For  all  this  northern  region  spring  wheat  is  a  very  certain  crop,  winicr  wheat  an  exceed- 
ingly uncertain  one.  During  the  long  and  severe  frosts,  the  roots  of  the  winter  wheat  are 
frozen,  or  winter-killed,  and  in  many  instances  it  docs  not  recover  its  vitality.  Some  winter 
wheat  is  sown  in  Minnesota,  Northern  Dakota,  and  more  in  Iowa,  but  it  proves  very  nearly  a 
failure,  while  the  spring  wheat  yields  from  twenty-one  to  forty  bushels,  or  even  more,  to  the  acre. 


WINTER    WHEAT,   MAIZE  AND   SORGHUM.  .5^ 

branches,  and  that  they  can  be  sent  to  Europe  direct,  and  will 
ordinarily  bring  largely  remunerative  prices  there.  Root  crops 
of  all  kinds  yield  enormously  over  the  whole  of  this  region.  The 
immigrant  who  wishes  to  preserve  this  abundant  productiveness 
of  his  lands,  should  do  two  or  three  things  which  very  many  of 
the  farmers  there  do  not  do ;  he  should  plow  deeply ;  the  soil  is 
from  five  to  ten  feet,  or  even  more,  in  depth,  and  will  yield  con- 
tinuous large  crops,  if  the  ground  is  plowed  to  a  depth  of  from 
eighteen  inches  to  two  and  a  half  feet,  but  this  should  be  done 
in  the  fall,  and  with  a  thorough  harrowing,  in  the  spring  the  soil 
w^ill  be  in  fine  condition  for  a  crop.  He  should  rotate  his  crops, 
not  after  the  five  years'  plan  adopted  in  England  and  on  the 
continent,  but,  perhaps,  one  year  of  grain,  one  of  root  crops,  and 
one  of  clover.  Alfalfa,  Hungarian  grass  or  millet,  thus  allowing 
the  constituents  withdrawn  from  the  soil  to  be  replaced.  He 
should  also  keep  horses  and  mules  for  his  work,  oxen  and  cows, 
sheep  and  swine,  and  though  it  is  a  general  matter  of  belief  with 
the  settlers  on  these  new  lands  that  they  need  no  manuring,  he 
will  not  find  his  crops  at  all  diminished,  if  he  uses  upon  his  lands 
all  the  manure,  liquid  as  well  as  solid,  produced  by  his  animals, 
and  he  can  consume  a  part  of  his  crops  at  home,  and  turn  them 
into  products  which  will  pay  him  better  than  to  sell  them  direct. 
If  our  Immigrant  prefers  to  raise  winter  wheat,  Indian  corn, 
sorghum  (though  the  early  varieties  of  the  sorghum  will  do  well 
almost  to  the  Canada  border,  while  the  latter  and  larger  varie- 
ties yield  more  bountifully  in  the  central  belt),  he  will  find 
Southern  Iowa,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Kansas  and  Wyoming  his 
best  region  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  Northern  and 
Central  California,  some  districts  of  Nevada,  Utah  and  Western 
Colorado,  west  of  these  mountains.  Here,  too,  most  of  the  root 
crops,  and  many  special  crops,  such  as  the  castor-oil  bean,  pearl 
millet,  Egyptian  rice  corn,  sweet  potatoes,  alfalfa,  and  Hungarian 
grass  do  well.  Especially  can  we  commend  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska and  Eastern  Colorado  for  the  winter  wheat  and  Indian 
corn  crops,  among  the  States  and  Territories  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  But  we  must  caution  immigrants,  even  in  these 
States,  that  they  should  not  press  forward  beyond  the  line  of 


■,(56  OCR    IVESTEKN  EMPIRE. 

eeneral  advance  in  tliclr  settlement  of  these  farmlncf  lands. 
That  line  is  moving-  westward  at  about  the  rate  of  fifteen  miles  a 
year  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  but  it  is  not  well  for  the  immi- 
grant to  go  to  the  front  at  first,  for  these  reasons:  As  we  go 
westward  from  the  Missouri  river  to  the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  amount  of  rainfall  diminishes,  and  there  is  dan- 
ger of  drought,  which  would  be  fatal  to  corn,  though  the  wheat, 
ripening  earlier,  might  not  be  so  much  affected  by  it.  The  rain- 
fall is  increasing-  as  the  line  of  cultivation  moves  westward, 
because  the  spring  rains  are  absorbed  where  the  hard  surface  or 
crust  has  been  broken  ;  but  where  the  soil  has  been  beaten  solid 
for  hundreds  of  years  under  the  hoofs  of  millions  of  buffalo,  all 
the  rain  which  falls  either  runs  off  or  is  speedily  evaporated. 
The  deeply-plowed  lands  drink  in  the  rain,. and  the  vegetation 
which  springs  up  gathers  the  moisture  from  dew  and  showers 
and  suffers  it  to  be  more  slowly  evaporated  and  return  in  rain. 
We  know,  that  taking  one  year,  with  another,  the  rainfall  which 
ten  years  ago,  on  these  unbroken  lands,  west  of  the  QSth  meri- 
dian, was  only  10.5  or  1 1  inches  annually,  has  steadily  increased, 
till  in  1879  it  was  17  or  17.5  inches.  Even  with  this  amount 
some  of  the  crops  would  be  the  better  for  irrigation  ;  but  with 
the  prospect  of  an  increasing  rainfall  each  year  the  settler  can 
bide  his  time.  Two  thinors  can  be  said  in  regard  to  the  danorer 
from  drought  in  this  region  of  very  moderate  rainfall :  first,  that 
though  the  amount  of  rain  is  perhaps  somewhat  less  than  could 
be  desired,  it  always  falls  just  at  the  right  time  to  help  the  crops, 
and  is  not  so  violent  or  copious  as  to  uproot  or  injure  them ; 
second,  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Arkansas,  where  much  of  this 
land  is  situated,  there  is  a  remarkable  provision  of  nature  to 
prevent  injury  to  plants  and  grains  ;  the  river  and  its  branches, 
though  fed  in  the  spring  by  mountain  torrents,  never  overflows 
its  banks,  but  its  valley,  which  is  alluvial,  is  underlaid  at  a  depth 
of  eight  or  ten  feet  by  a  close,  solid  clay,  and  the  water  spreads 
out  and  flows  under  the  surface  of  this  loam  and  above  the  clay, 
saturating  the  loam  with  moisture.  The  soil  of  this  valley  re- 
tains its  moisture  even  when  there  is  no  rain  for  three  months 
or  more,  and  the  crops  do  not  suffer  from  drought.     The  valley 


DKY  LANDS  AND    IRRIGATION.  367 

of  the  Platte,  in  Nebraska,  is  somewhat  similarly  protected  from 
drought.  With  the  increasing  rainfall  that  portion  of  these 
States  east  of  the  meridian  of  99"^  west  from  Greenwich,  is  not 
now  in  any  gi"eat  danger  from  drought ;  while  the  lands  west  of 
that  meridian  which  are  cultivated  can  generally,  at  moderate 
expense,  be  provided  with  irrigating  canals.  In  Eastern  Colo- 
rado the  lands  are  still  more  elevated  than  in  Kansas,  ranging 
from  5,000  to  6,500  or  7,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Portions  of 
this  land  are  too  high  for  corn  crops  to  be  raised  with  certainty, 
as  the  cool  nights  and  somewhat  early  frosts  may  prevent  its 
ripening ;  but  most  of  it  will,  when  irrigated,  yield  most  astonish- 
ing crops  of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  and  potatoes. 

The  immigrant  who  does  not  come  as  a  member  of  a  colony, 
or  under  the  direction  of  an  emigration  company,  will  hardly 
find  it  advisable  to  farm  lands  requiring  irrigation  unless  he  has 
a  considerable  capital  to  invest.  The  first  cost  of  irrigating 
canals  or  ditches  is  considerable  for  a  sino"le  individual,  and  can 
better  be  borne  by  a  colony,  where  there  are  a  considerable 
number  to  use  the  water  thus  obtained.  Still,  Avhere  a  man  has 
sufficient  capital  to  take  up  a  square  mile  (640  acres)  of  the  so- 
called  desert  land,  which  can  now  be  purchased  by  the  payment 
of  ^160  down  and  $640  more  at  the  end  of  three  years,  construct 
his  irrigating  ditch,  which  may  cost  him  from  ^1,000  to  $3,000, 
according  to  location,  stock  his  farm  and  break  up  one-half  of 
his  land,  which  will  cost  him  $2,000  more,  or  $2,500  with  his 
cabin  and  corrals,  he  can  rely  with  considerable  certainty  upon 
gathering  crops  from  this  320  acres  under  cultivation  before  the 
expiration  of  the  three  years  from  the  time  of  taking  the  land, 
of  a  net  value  of  not  less  than  $25,000  on  an  outlay  of  not  more 
than  $7,500  or  $8,000  at  the  outside,  and  he  will  have  his  land 
clear  and  his  irrigating  canals  ready  for  further  operations.  Some 
farmers  on  these  lands  have  done  much  better  than  this.'-'-  The 
advantage  of  irrigation  is  that  the  crop  is  always  certain.     If  the 

*  In  Northern  Colorado,  Californi.i,  and  perhaps  some  of  the  other  States  and  Territories,  land 
and  irrigation  comjianies  have  been  formed,  often  with  Englisli  capital,  which  buy  large  tracts 
of  land,  construct  irrigating  canals,  sometimes  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  sell  the  land 
with  the  guaranty  of  water  for  irrigation  at  from  5 '3  to  $15  per  acre.  Many  purchasers  have 
found  this  plan  profitable. 


-63  .      OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

rainfall  is  greater  than  usual,  less  irrigation  is  required ;  if  It  is 
less  than  usual,  more  water  can  be  turned  on,  and  these  lands 
which,  when  watered,  are  the  richest  and  most  fertile  in  the 
West,  respond  with  a  great  crop  every  year. 

Of  course  irrigation  does  not  entirely  preclude  the  dangers 
from  the  insect  pests,  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust  or  grasshop- 
per, and  the  Colorado  beetle  or  potato  bug;  but  it  is  a  partial 
preventive  to  the  ravages  of  both,  and  the  farmers  of  those 
regions  have  learned  how  to  prevent  serious  evils  from  their 
depredations,  by  early  and  deeper  plowing,  ditches,  fire-pits,  and 
the  protection  of  the  grouse  or  prairie  hens  from  indiscriminate 
slaughter. 

The  enterprising  farmer  will  find  farming  greatly  facilitated, 
when  his  land  is  once  broken,  by  the  use  of  agricultural 
machinery  and  improved  methods  of  cultivation.  We  cannot 
urge  upon  him  too  strongly  the  necessity  of  deeper  plowing  than 
is  generally  practised,  and  thorough  harrowing  and  cultivation. 
For  these  purposes,  and  especially  on  prairie  lands,  he  will  find 
it  wise,  if  he  can,  to  procure  the  best  kind  of  gang-plows,  and 
those  which  will  turn  the  deepest  furrows,  the  best  harrows,  cul- 
tivators and  horse-hoes.  And  having  procured  good  agricultural 
machines,  he  must  take  good  care  of  them,  not  exposing  them  to 
the  weather  to  rust  and  crack  and  fall  to  pieces  when  not  in  use. 

If  the  farmer  keeps  as  much  stock  as  he  should,  say  for  a  farm 
of  1 60  acres  or  twice  that  quantity,  a  pair  of  stout,  strong  and 
serviceable  horses,  a  pair  of  good  mules,  one  or  two  yoke  of 
oxen  (better  two  than  one),  two  or  three  good  milch  cows  and  half 
a  dozen  pigs,  and  cultivates  ten  or  twenty  acres  in  forage  grasses, 
such  as  Alfalfa,  Hungarian  grass,  millet  or  Egyptian  rice-corn,  he 
will,  if  he  manages  well,  accumulate  manures  which  will  restore  to 
the  soil  the  elements  which  his  wheat,  barley,  oats  and  corn  have 
taken  from  it,  and  though  his  neighbors  may  laugh  at  him  for 
doing  so,  his  enormous  crops  will  show  that  he  is  wise  in  putting 
his  fertilizers  on  even  prairie  soils. 

But  to  return  to  the  new  aofricultural  machines:  The  erains 
and  root  crops  are  sown  so  much  better  and  so  much  more 
rapidly  by  the  use  of  some  of  the  drills   or  seed-sowers,  and  the 


AGRICULTURAL    MACHINES  NECESSARY.  ^60 

farmer  who  uses  them  has  so  much  more  opportunity  to  diversify 
his  crops,  and  make  those  accurate  experiments  in  regard  to 
improved  seeding  and  the  cultivation  of  new  crops,  as  well  as  to 
employ  profitably  his  teams  in  work  for  others,  that  they  very 
soon  pay  for  themselves.  He  must  not,  however,  forget  that  his 
crops  need  careful  cultivation,  and  that  weeds  grow  in  the  West 
as  well  as  in  the  East.  His  Indian  corn,  his  sorghum  and  his 
root  crops,  as  well  as  most  special  crops  he  may  cultivate,  will 
need,  certainly  two  or  three  times  in  the  season,  careful  cultiva- 
tion with  the  horse-hoe.  His  fruit  trees  and  small  fruits  will 
yield  much  better  for  being  carefully  cared  for,  and  the  insect 
pests  destroyed  before  they  have  had  time  to  destroy  the  fruit  or 
foliage  of  the  trees.  If  he  cultivates  hops,  pea-nuts,  beans,  broom- 
corn,  tobacco,  castor  beans,  sweet  potatoes,  flax,  hemp,  jute,  or 
any  other  special  crop,  on  a  moderate  scale,  devoting  a  few  acres 
to  them,  he  will  find  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  these  crops  exhaust 
the  soil  and  require,  for  success,  the  free  use  of  the  manures  he 
has  been  accumulating ;  and  as  rich  soil  is  almost  invariably  a 
weedy  soil,  he  will  require  for  these  crops  a  more  earnest  and 
constant  conflict  with  weeds  than  with  most  others. 

Very  early,  in  this  middle  belt  of  States  and  Territories,  does 
the  harvest  commence.  The  hay  crop  is  not  so  important  here 
as  in  the  East,  and  not  so  important  as  it  will  be  a  few  years  hence. 
If  the  farmer  has  any  considerable  crop  of  the  small  grains  he 
must  of  course  use  the  harvester  in  gathering  them — his  own,  if 
he  can  possibly  afford  to  buy  one ;  if  not,  a  hired  machine. 
Threshing  machines,  with  all  the  attachments  for  winnowing, 
assorting  and  sacking  the  grain,  are  very  often  owned  by  men 
who  go  from  farm  to  farm,  and  thresh  and  sack  the  grain.  The 
eye  of  the  master  should  be  on  all  these  operations  to  avoid 
waste  and  carelessness,  and  to  see  to  it  that  all  the  grain  is 
o^athered,  threshed  and  delivered. 

In  harvesting  the  corn  and  sorghum  crops,  the  practice  is  very 
general,  now,  of  gathering  the  ears  of  corn  first  and  then  cutting 
and  stripping  the  stalks,  the  leaves  being  cured  for  fodder,  and 
the  stalks  bound  and  sent  immediately  to  the  sugar  mill,  the 
heads  of  the  sorghum  and  rice-corn  being  cut  off  after  tlic}-  are 
24 


270  ^^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

bundled  ;■•'  when  the  corn  or  sorghum  seeds  are  just  ripe  and 
not  too  hard,  the  stalks  yield  the  largest  quantity  of  crystallizable 
sugar. 

The  husking  and  shelling  of  the  corn,  both  now  performed  by 
machinery,  the  digging  of  the  potatoes,  also  effected  by  a 
machine,  the  gathering  of  the  other  root  crops  and  fruit,  make 
the  farmer's  life  in  these  early  autumn  da)'s  a  very  busy  one. 
No  sooner  is  the  ground  freed  from  the  crops  of  the  season  than 
the  autumnal  plowing,  especially  for  winter  grains,  commences. 
In  these  regions  more  attention  should  be  paid  to  a  rotation  of 
crops  than  is  generally  practised.  It  may  not  be  feasible  or 
desirable  to  attempt  the  five  years'  rotation  which  is  recommended 
by  the  best  English  farmers — but  root  crops  should  succeed 
grain,  and  clover  or  the  forage  grasses  the  root  crops,  and  even 
on  the  best  soils,  deep  plowing,  a  moderate  use  of  manures,  or 
the  occasional  plowing  in  of  a  green  crop  will  be  found  to  yield 
ample  returns  in  the  crops  which  follow. 

It  is  a  fact  which  should  be  carefully  considered  by  all  intelli- 
gent farmers,  that  even  on  these  new  lands,  each  year  of  cultiva- 
tion of  the  cereals  produces  a  smaller  yield  to  the  acre.  Montana 
and  Dakota  now  boast  their  thirty  or  thirty-five  bushels  of  wheat  to 
the  acre,  but  Minnesota  and  Kansas,  even  with  their  large  amount 
of  new^  lands,  do  not  average  quite  twenty-one  bushels  ;  wiiile  Iowa 
and  Missouri,  with  lands  somewhat  longer  cultivated,  cannot  report 
more  than  from  eleven  to  fifteen  bushels ;  and  Arkansas,  with 
her  careless  culture,  produces  an  average  of  but  six  bushels. 
This  falling  off  in  the  yield  per  acre  of  the  wheat  crop  is  equally 
marked  in  the  States  east  of  the  Mississippi — Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois.  Michigan  is,  at  present,  an  exception,  because  her  lands 
are  newer. 

The  reason  of  this  rapidly  diminishing  yield  is  not  mysterious 
or  inexplicable..  The  soil  of  the  prairies  is  only  scratched  to  a 
depth  of  three  or  four  inches;  there  is  no  rotation  of  crops; 
both  the  grain  and  the  straw  are  removed  from  the  soil ;  except, 

*The  seeds  or  heads  of  both  the  sorghum  and  the  rice-corn,  aside  from  their  value  for  sow- 
ing the  next  season,  are  nearly  or  quite  equal  to  coin  as  food  for  animals,  cither  whole  or  ground, 
and  are  eagerly  sought  for  by  them. 


QUANTITY  OF  SEED    TO    THE   ACRE.  371 

that  In  some  sections,  the  latter  Is  burned,  either  to  get  rid  of  It 
or  as  fuel  for  the  steam-threshers  and  other  Implements,  and  the 
alkalies  and  earths  thus  taken  from  the  soil,  and  not  returned  to 
it  in  any  way,  Impoverish  it.  The  remedies  are  deep  plowing, 
restoration  to  the  soil  of  what  the  crops  have  taken  from  it, 
and  a  rotation  of  crops.  The  great  Dalrymple  farms  of  north- 
eastern Dakota,  ten  years  hence  under  the  present  mode  of  culti- 
vation, will  not  yield  ten  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  There  Is 
no  excuse  for  thus  wasting  the  goodly  heritage  which  the  Almighty 
has  bestowed  upon  us. 

On  one  other  point  there  is  need  of  improvement,  viz.:  in  the 
quantity  of  grain  sown  to  the  acre.  Under  the  old  system  of 
sowing  it  broadcast,  there  was  great  waste ;  two  bushels  or  two 
and  a-half  of  seed-wheat  was  reofarded  as  the  smallest  amount 
which  should  be  used  In  sowinor  an  acre.  The  new  method  of 
drilling  the  wheat  has  materially  reduced  the  quantity  deemed 
necessary,  but  It  is  still  too  large.  In  Minnesota  and  Kansas 
eighty  to  eighty-five  pounds  of  seed,  equal  to  forty  or  forty-three 
quarts,  per  acre,  is  the  usual  allowance.  Yet,  there  Is  no  state- 
ment connected  with  agriculture,  and  especially  with  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  cereals,  more  capable  of  absolute  mathematical  demon- 
stration than  this,  that  the  quantity  of  seed  now  used  is  about 
five  times  larger  than  is  necessary.  The  seed,  whether  of  wheat, 
barley,  or  oats,  should  be  carefully  selected,  the  finest  and  largest 
ears  being  culled,  and  those  from  seed  which  has  shown  the  most 
disposition  to  tiller  or  expand,  so  as  to  produce  the  greatest 
number  of  stalks  from  one  seed;  and  the  ground  being  thoroughly 
harrowed  and  pulverized,  the  seed  should  be  drilled  In  at  the  dis- 
tance of  ten  inches  apart  each  way  (twelve  inches  apart  if  they 
can  be  sown  the  last  of  August  or  the  first  of  September)  ;  the 
amount  of  seed  being  dependent  upon  the  date  of  sowing  of  the 
winter  grains.  The  earlier  the  sowing,  the  smaller  the  amount 
q{  seed  required  ;  the  more  perfect  and  extensive  tke  tillering,  the 
better  the  resistance  to  the  winter's  cold,  and  the  earlier  and 
larger  the  crop.  This  is  no  idle  theory,  but  the  result  of  twenty 
years'  careful  experiment  by  Major  F.  F.  Hallett,  of  Manor  Farm, 
Kemptown,  England,  one  of  the  most  successful  wheat-growers 


V- 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


of  that  country.  By  a  careful  selection,  running  through  a  long 
series  of  years,  Major  Hallett  succeeded  in  producing  and  ex- 
hibited to  the  British  Association  from  a  single  grain  of  the  ordi- 
nary red  wheat,  plants  which  produced  ninety-four  stems,  each 
crowned  with  its  ear  of  wheat,  and  from  a  single  ear  of  this  wheat 
I  24  grains,  or  a  total  production  of  over  10,000  grains  from  one.''' 
This  extraordinary  result  is  not  reached  by  any  increase  in  the 
amount  of  manures  (all  wheat  land  is  manured  in  England,  and 
the  ordinary  crop  is  about  thirty-four  bushels  to  the  acre),  or  by 
any  new  process  of  tillage,  but  by  the  careful  selection  of  the 
best  and  most  productive  seed,  now  known  both  in  England  and 
this  country  as  "  Hallett's  pedigree  wheat,"  early  sowing,  and  the 
sowing  of  the  grains  at  a  distance  of  twelve  by  twelve  inches  apart. 
By  these  means  Major  Hallett,  sowing  his  wheat  the  last  week  in 
August,  and  sowing  but  five  pints  to  the  acre,  was  able  to  obtain  a 
yield  of  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre,  in  extensive  wheat  fields,  for 
a  series  of  years.  He  states  that  for  every  week  of  delay  after 
the  middle  of  September  there  should  be  an  addition  of  from 
three  to  four  quarts  of  seed,  but  every  week's  delay  increases  the 
danorer  of  winter-killincr  diminishes  the  amount  of  tillerine,  and 
the  probable  quantity  of  the  crop  per  acre.  Wheat  sown  about 
the  first  of  September  comes  up  in  seven  days ;  about  the 
first  of  October,  in  fourteen  days;  the  first  of  November,  in 
twenty-one  days ;  the  first  of  December,  not  under  twenty-eight 
days.  These  figures  would  be  rather  exceeded  than  diminished 
in  the  West. 

We  recapitulate :  the  essentials  to  great  success  in  the  raising 
of  cereals  in  the  West  are  :  deep  plowing  ;  the  restoration  to  the 
soil  of  the  elements  taken  from  it,  either  by  manuring,  plowing 
in  of  green  crops,  or  the  turning  up  of  a  new  stratum  of  soil ; 
rotation  of  crops  ;  In  the  cultivation  of  winter  grains,  a  very  careful 
selection  of  the  best  and  most  productive  seed ;  early  sowing, 
not  later  than. the  first  of  September;  and  sowing  by  drill,  each 
grain  being  ten  or  twelve  inches  distant  from  each  other,  to  give 


*This  result  of  increasing  the  proiluclion  hy  tillering  was  not  confined  to  wheat,  for  Major 
Hallett  exhibited  to  the  British  Association  at  the  same  meeting  a  plant  of  barley  from  a  single 
grain  with  no  stems,  and  a  plant  of  oats  from  a  single  grain  with  S7  stems. 


ADVANTAGES   OF  A   LARGE    YIELD,  2/3 

it  opportunity  to  tiller.  The  seed  per  acre  thus  sown  should 
not  exceed  from  six  to  eight  quarts  to  the  acre,  and  the  yield 
should  be  more  than  double  what  it  now  is,  and  should  not 
diminish  from  year  to  year. 

Some  western  farmers  may  say  that  it  Is  of  no  use  to  increase 
the  production  of  grain,  for  the  market  is  often  glutted,  and  the 
prices  are  not  remunerative.  The  folly  of  such  a  position  is 
easily  demonstrated,  for  in  the  first  place,  the  market  is  not 
glutted  with  the  best  quality  of  grain,  it  is  only  the  poorer  quali- 
ties which  are  salable  only  at  low  prices ;  there  may  be  a  fluctua- 
tion in  prices  in  different  years,  but  the  best  grain  is  not  raised 
at  a  loss  in  any  year.  In  the  next  place,  suppose  that  it  is  not 
desirable  to  increase  the  quantity  of  grain  raised,  is  it  not  easier 
and  every  way  better  to  raise  6,000  bushels  from  100  acres,  than 
the  same  quantity  from  300  acres  ?  If  your  farm  consists  of 
320  acres,  and  you  can  raise  6,000  bushels  of  wheat  from  100 
acres,  can  you  not  put  the  other  220  acres  in  oats,  barley,  Indian 
corn,  sorghum,  or  root  crops,  and  thus  realize  triple  profits  on 
your  land?  Even  if  wheat  is  down  to  eighty-five  cents  a  bushel, 
as  It  was  two  or  three  years  ago,  doesn't  it  pay  better  to  realize 
^51  an  acre  from  it  with  the  same  labor  than  to  realize  only  $17  ? 

Our  cereal  crops  are  so  important  to  our  national  wealth  and 
prosperity,  that  we  have  felt  justified  in  devoting  considerable 
space  to  the  consideration  of  the  methods  by  which  their  produc- 
tion per  acre  can  be  greatly  Increased,  and  we  believe  that  our 
readers  will  appreciate  our  labors  in  this  direction. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  immlofrant  farmer  who  has  decided  to 
try  farming  in  the  milder  and  more  tropical  southern  belt  of 
States  and  Territories.  He  seeks  a  home  in  Arkansas,  Western 
Louisiana,  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  or  Southern  California. 
If  he  comes  from  Europe  he  finds  a  climate  and  crops  to  which 
he  has  hitherto  been  wholly  unaccustomed.  This  is  also  true  of 
immigrants  from  Illinois  or  the  Ohio  valley,  in  our  own  country; 
but  a  large  proportion  of  the  American  immigrants  into  Arkansas, 
Texas,  etc.,  are  from  the  Southern  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States, 
where  the  climate,  crops,  etc.,  do  not  essentially  differ  from  those 
of  Texas  and  the  States  and  Territories  adjacent.     The  farmer 


374  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

who  miofrates  to  this  reo-Ion  can  have  a  much  wider  choice  of 
crops  than  the  northern  farmer ;  whether  he  can  or  will  find  his 
labor  better  remunerated  remains  to  be  proved.  Arkansas, 
Texas,  and  Southern  California  are  the  three  sections  in  this 
region  in  one  of  which  the  farmer  will  be  most  likely  to  settle, 
for  Louisiana  is  not  sufficiently  healthy  for  settlers  from  a  north- 
ern climate,  and  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  as  well  as  Northwest 
Texas,  have  too  little  rain-fall  to  be  attractive  to  farmers  gen- 
erally. 

It  is  not  indispensable  if  an  emigrant  settles  in  Arkansas  or 
Texas,  that  he  should  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  culture 
of  cotton,  or  indeed  that  he  should  grow  it  at  all.  Much  less 
should  he  reason  that  because  rice  and  cane-sugar  are  produced 
there  he  must  necessarily  cultivate  those  crops. 

These  States  have  lands  adapted  to  a  great  variety  of  crops,  and 
when  all  the  circumstances  are  taken  into  account,  perhaps  one 
crop  is  as  profitable  as  another.  If  the  emigrant  selects  his 
farm  in  any  of  the  coast  counties,  he  will  find  the  land  some- 
what high  priced,  but  he  can  raise  sea-island  or  long  staple  cotton, 
and  if  he  cultivates  his  crop  skilfully  he  ought  to  make  at  least 
a  bale  to  the  acre  of  this  valuable  product ;  or  he  can  grow  rice 
or  sugar  cane,  though  for  the  latter  he  will  require  a  large 
capital  for  his  sugar  works.  The  middling,  or  short  staple  cotton, 
can  be  grown  here,  though  not  so  profitably  as  fifty  or  sixty 
miles  north,  as  the  land  is  too  valuable  ;  nor  is  this  land  well 
adapted  to  wheat,  but  all  the  subtropical  fruits  as  well  as  most 
of  those  of  more  temperate  climates,  and  most  of  the  root  crops 
can  be  cultivated  with  great  profit  from  the  early  date  at  which 
they  ripen.  Two  crops  of  sweet  or  Irish  potatoes  can  be  raised 
in  the  long  season,  and  the  first  will  be  at  least  six  weeks  earlier 
than  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis.  Strawberries,  raspberries, 
peaches,  grapes,  plums,  as  well  as  bananas,  olives,  figs,  oranges, 
lemons,  guavas  and  all  market  garden  vegetables  grow 
luxuriantly,  and  arc  all  from  six  to  eight  weeks  earlier  than  in 
the  North.  The  trade  in  these  articles  of  produce,  between  the 
coast  counties  of  Texas  and  St.  Louis  and  Chicago,  is  large  and 
constantly  increasing. 


CRCPS   IN   TEXAS.  075 

If  the  emigrant  prefers  a  farm  seventy  or  eighty  miles  back 
from  the  coast,  he  is  in  Eastern  Texas  in  the  "  timber  country," 
where  he  can  engage  if  he  chooses  in  the  lumber  business  with 
a  good  opportunity  to  make  money;  and  the  land  here  is  fair 
for  cotton,  excellent  for  corn,  and  yields  moderate  crops  of 
wheat.  In  Central  Texas,  at  this  distance  from  the  coast  he  will 
find  the  best  cotton  lands  in  the  State,  and  if  he  will  give  his 
undivided  attention  to  his  crop  he  can  raise  two  bales  of  cotton 
to  the  acre;  but  he  must  not  let  the  weeds  overrun  it,  nor  the 
worms  destroy  it.'-'  The  easy-going  planters  around  him  will 
not  set  him  a  good  example  in  these  respects.  Their  shallow 
plowing  without  manure,  their  scant  and  slovenly  cultivation,  and 
careless  picking,  yields  from  half  to  three-fifths  of  a  bale  to 
the  acre,  and  with  an  indolence  born,  or  at  least  nurtured  by  the 
protracted  heat  of  the  ^  long  season,  they  are  content  with  this 
result ;  and  it  is  no  more  than  fair  to  say  that  our  energetic 
immigrant,  after  a  fewyears'  experience  of  the  enervating  inHuence 
of  the  climate,  will  very  possibly  fall  into  the  same  careless 
ways. 

A  hundred  miles  or  more  north  from  the  Gulf  coast,  in  North- 
eastern and  Central  Texas,  is  a  good  region  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  cereals.  Indian  corn  grows  well  and  yields  fairly  every- 
where in  Texas,  except  in  the  arid  lands  in  the  northwest  of  the 
State  ;  but  the  lands  of  which  we  are  now  speaking  yield  good 
crops  of  wheat,  oats,  barley  and  millet  as  well  as  corn.  Texas 
is  not,  however,  one  of  the  great  cereal-producing  States.  Her 
wheat  crop  is  not  more  than  sufficient  in  ordinary  years  for  the 
consumption  of  her  own  people.  A  moderate  amount  of  fiour 
and  wheat  (2,212  barrels  of  the  former  and  4,614  bushels  of  the 
latter  in  1879)  are  exported,  but  the  importation  of  wheat  is 
more  than  twenty  times,  and  of  flour  about  twelve  times  as  much. 
There  is  no  good  and  sufficient  reason  why,  in  these  more 
elevated  lands,  where  the  heat  is  not  so  enervating,  the  quantity 
of  all  the  cereals  annually  produced  should  not  be  ten  or  twenty 

*  A  Mr.  S.  C.  White,  of  Jasper,  Texas,  claims  to  have  discovered  and  have  practised  for  seven- 
teen years  a  metliod  by  which  his  growing  cotton  is  rendered  perfectly  -worm-proof,  and  offers  all 
an  opportunity  of  testing  his  process.  The  discovery,  if  it  proves  to  be  one,  will  be  invaluable 
ibr  the  cotton  crop. 


^-5  <^^'^^'     ^VESTERN   EMPIRE. 

times  what  It  Is ;  corn  is  a  crop  so  admirably  adapted  to  these 
lands,  and  the  demand  for  it  at  New  Orleans  on  the  one  side, 
and  throuehout  Arizona  on  the  other,  as  well  as  the  laro-e  home 
market,  should  make  this  a  favorite  crop  with  the  immigrants. 
The  production  of  wheat,  barley  and  oats  also  might  easily  be 
increased  almost  indefinitely. 

Good  corn  land  is  also  good  land  for  sorghum,  and  both  can 
be  planted  in  February,  and  if  two  crops  are  not  produced  from 
the  same  fields  in  a  year,  as  they  might  be,  of  the  earlier  varie- 
ties, it  is  entirely  practicable  to  have  the  sorghum  planted  at 
different  times,  so  as  to  have  the  juice  extracted  from  the  stalks 
and  boiled  down  into  syrup  in  those  months  when  other  labor  is 
not  driving.  Another  very  important  consideration  in  favor 
of  this  mode  of  cultivation  is  that  the  leaves  and  seeds  make  an 
excellent  fodder  for  milch  cows,  as  well  as  other  cattle,  when  the 
heat  of  summer  has  dried  the  grasses.  The  millets  yield  a  large 
amount  of  forage  and  almost  as  much  suo;ar  as  the  sorehum. 

Root  crops  also  yield  largely  in  this  region  of  Texas,  and  there 
is  the  great  advantage  that  the  best  qualities  of  Irish  potatoes  as 
well  as  sweet  potatoes  can  be  ripened  so  early  as  to  be  put  in 
the  Northern  markets  full  six  weeks  earlier  than  those  grown  in 
Illinois  or  Iowa,  and  so  bring  a  better  price.  It  is  claimed,  and 
we  presume  correctly,  that  of  both  kinds  of  potatoes  two  crops 
can  be  raised  on  the  same  land  every  year.  Of  other  miscel- 
laneous products  named  in  the  consideration  of  the  productions 
of  the  central  belt,  all  can  be  produced  with  equal  advantage 
here  by  proper  care  and  good  farming,  and  the  crops  will  be 
largely  remunerative.  But  Texas  lands,  especially  after  several 
years'  cropping,  and  mere  scratching  the  surface  with  a  light  plow, 
will  not  yield  large  crops  without  deep  plowing  and  thorough, 
not  lavish,  manuring.  It  may  as  well  be  said  here  as  anywhere 
that,  except  in  the  cotton  and  grain  region  of  Central  Texas,  the 
soil  though  fair  is  not  of  the  first  class,  and  will  very  soon  run 
down  without  careful  cultivation  and  a  moderate  use  of  fertil- 
izers. Fortunately,  some  of  the  best  of  these,  after  farm-yard 
manures,  plaster  of  Paris,  some  of  the  marls,  and  alkaline  earths, 
salt,  etc.,  are  easily  accessible  in  the  neighborhood  of  most  of 


PROSPECTS  IN  ARKANSAS.  -,7- 

the  farms,  while  guano,  fish  guano,  and  the  natural  and  artificial 
phosphates  can  be  purchased  at  a  moderate  price.  The  soil 
does  not  leach,  and  fertilizers  are  retained  for  a  considerable 
time,  so  that  often  the  second  crop  after  their  application  is 
better  than  the  first. 

The  other  portions  of  the  State,  as  well  as  part  of  South- 
western Texas,  are  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  to  cultivation  ; 
still,  much  of  these  could  be  cultivated  and  would  yield  large  crops 
if  they  were  irrigated  ;  most  of  the  region  of  Northwestern  Texas 
is  capable  of  successful  irrigation,  either  from  the  Pecos  or  the 
Rio  Grande  or  their  affluents,  or  where  these  cannot  supply  water, 
by  artesian  wells,  and  thus  irrigated,  it  would  prove  the  most  pro- 
ductive land  in  the  State.  But  irrigation  costs  money,  and,  while 
the  State  has  so  much  unimproved  land  of  moderate  fertility  for 
sale  at  such  low  prices,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  lands  which 
require  irrigation  will  be  taken  up  except  in  rare  instances. 

Arkansas  has  little  or  no  land  adapted  to  rice  or  cane  sugar 
crops ;  but  her  cotton  lands  in  the  Mississippi,  Red,  Arkansas, 
and  White  river  bottoms,  and  her  corn  lands  on  the  higher  levels, 
are  very  productive,  Arkansas  is  awakening  from  the  lethargy 
which  has  so  long  bound  her,  and  though  she  has  as  yet  but  few 
immigrants,  industrious  and  enterprising  men  would  find  her 
lands  on  many  accounts  desirable.  Race  and  slavery  antipathies 
are  dying  out ;  the  new  school  laws  are  being  put  in  operation 
with  great  success ;  the  lands  are  rich  and  cheap,  and  markets 
generally  accessible.  The  days  of  careless  and  slovenly  tillage 
of  the  soil  are  fast  passing  away.  Twenty  thousand  enterpris- 
ing, clear-headed,  and  skilful  farmers,  intelligent  and  upright  in 
character,  could  almost  revolutionize  the  State  and  make  it  a 
refjion  which  would  be  as  desirable  a  home  for  immicrrants  as 
any  other  of  the  Western  States,  But  the  twenty  thousand 
should  come  in  groups  of  considerable  size,  and  plant  villages 
or  settlements,  which  may  become  models  to  rouse  a  spirit  of 
emulation  on  the  part  of  those  already  there. 

The  farming  lands  of  Arizona  mostly  lie  along  the  Gila  and  its 
tributaries,  though  there  are  some  good  lands  farther  north  which 
are  irrigated.     The  Rio  Colorado  and  its  affluents,  the  Colorado 


^-S  OUK     IVESTERN    EMPIRE. 

Chiquito,  Flax  river,  and  in  the  northeast  the  San  Juan,  run 
through  canons  so  deep  as  to  drain  very  effectually  the  moisture 
from  the  7?icsas  or  table  lands.  Still,  irrigation  is  possible  on 
many  of  these  lands,  and  would  make  them  very  productive, 
while  the  occasional  protracted  storms,  might  by  cultivation,  be 
made  to  give  place  to  a  larger  and  more  equally  distributed  rain- 
fall. The  mineral  wealth  of  Arizona  will  call  a  population  thither 
sufficient  to  make  irrigation  practicable,  and  then  as  in  former 
ao^es.  this  reeion  will  show  its  thrivincj  farms,  its  beautiful  vil- 
lages,  and  its  populous  cities.  In  the  central  part  of  the  terri- 
tory, not  far  from  Prescott,  the  Maricopis  Indians  raise  large 
crops  of  w^heat  of  such  excellence  that  it  commands  the  highest 
price  in  San  Francisco,  in  competition  with  the  best  California 
wheat. 

Southern  California  is  the  garden  of  the  State.  Vast  crops 
of  wheat  and  barley  are  grown  here,  and  the  vineyards,  olive- 
yards,  and  plantations  of  pomegranates,  almonds,  Madeira  nuts, 
etc.,  give  the  country  an  almost  tropical  appearance.  Cotton 
does  not  succeed  so  well  as  other  crops  here  on  account  of  the 
long  dry  season. 

The  climate  is  delightful,  and  is  regarded  as  particularly  bene- 
ficial to  those  suffering  from  pulmonary  diseases  if  they  come 
before  the  disease  has  progressed  too  far.  Although  much  of 
the  land  is  taken  up  in  very  extensive  ranches,  there  are  still, 
especially  along  the  route  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway,  many 
desirable  farming  lands,  both  of  the  government  and  the  railway 
grants. 


*'WHAT  A    THOUSAND   DOLLARS   CAN  DOr 


379 


CHAPTER   VII. 

AVestern  Farming  Continued — What  Capital  is  Necessary  for  a  Comfort- 
able Beginning  on  a  New  Farm  at  the  West — A  Larger  Amount  Needed 
IN  some  States  or  Territories  than  in  others — Advice  to  those  who 

ARE  UNABLE  AT  FIRST  TO   BUY  AND  StOCK  A  FaRM  —  INCIDENTS    OF    FaRM-LiFE 

— Renting  Land  unadvisadle — Great  Farms  objectionaele — The  Home- 
stead AND  other  Exemptions  in  ihe  different  States. 

In  a  former  chapter  we  have  referred  briefly  to  the  amount  of 
capital  needed  for  successful  farming ;  but  we  cannot  too  strongly 
impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  immigrant,  the  necessity  of  a  mod- 
erate capital,  if  he  proposes  to  own  and  develop  a  farm  at  once. 

It  is  possible  for  an  immigrant  to  bring  his  family,  unless  it  is 
a  very  large  one,  and  most  of  his  children  too  young  to  work 
effectively,  to  any  of  the  newer  districts  of  Dal:ota,  Montana, 
Nebraska  and  perhaps  Kansas  and  Minnesota,  or  to  Washing- 
ton Territory  or  Oregon,  if  after  reaching  his  destination  he  has 
$i,ooo;  but  he  can  only  do  this  by  securing  his  land  under  the 
Homestead  or  Timber-Culture  Acts,  or  pre-empting  it,  or  buying 
on  long  credit  of  a  railroad  company,  emigration  company  or 
school  lands  of  the  State,  which  are  usually  sold  payable  in  ten 
annual  instalments.  Even  then  it  will  in  all  probability  be  a  very 
severe  struggle  for  him  for  the  first  four  or  five  years,  especially 
if  there  should  be  any  bad  years,  from  a  long  and  severe  winter, 
a  very  late  spring,  drought,  grasshoppers  or  other  insect  plagues. 
In  Texas  or  Arkansas  he  may  do  better  as  the  land  is  cheaper, 
but  the  cheap  lands  are  generally  less  productive,  and  a  large 
part  of  Texas  suffers  from  occasional  droughts. 

The  following  statement  of  "what  can  be  done  with  $i,ooo  by 
an  industrious,  energetic  farmer  in  the  Arkansas  Valley  in  Kan- 
sas," is  put  forth  by  the  Land  Department  of  the  Atchison,  To- 
peka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway.  It  is  nearer  the  truth  than  any 
statement  we  have  seen  published  by  any  railroad  or  emigration 
company,  but  it  is  rather  highly  colored,  nevertheless.  This  was 
published  in  the  autumn  of  1S79,  and  there  may  be,  even  in  so 
short  a  time,  some  changes  in  the  prices.     It  should  be  said  also 


380  O^^^     WESTERN  EMTIRE. 

that  these  lands  are  not  more  fertile  than  other  lands  in  Kansas 
and  elsewhere,  and  are  occasionally  subject  to  drought.  The 
programme  as  there  laid  down,  if  the  emigrant  has  but  the  ^1,000, 
requires  incessant  and  very  severe  labor,  and  the  margin,  which 
leaves  nothing  for  furniture,  is  much  too  meagre  for  the  support  of 
a  family  for  fifteen  months  or  more,  and  will  require  some  other 
sources  of  income  or  the  incurrinof  of  indebtedness.  But  here  is 
the  statement: 

*'  First  payment  on  1 60  acres  of  railroad  land,  on  six  years'  time, 
at  the  rate  of  $4.80  per  acre,  will  be  $1  72. So  ;  house  of  two  rooms 
and  small  kitchen,  $250;  team  and  harness,  $180;  breaking- 
plough,  $22;  harrow,  $10;  cow,  $30;  interest  payment  on  land 
one  year  from  purchase,  $44.80 ;  total,  $709.60 — leaving  a  bal- 
ance of  $290.40  for  seed  and  support  of  family  until  crop  can  be 
raised.  Nearly  every  family  coming  to  Kansas  to  make  a  home 
have  more  or  less  furniture,  farming  implements,  etc.,  which  they 
can  rarely  sell  to  advantage.  By  inquiring  of  our  nearest  agent, 
they  can  ascertain  the  cost  of  chartering  a  car  to  destination,  or 
rate  per  100  pounds,  and  if  the  amount  they  will  sacrifice  on  the 
sale  of  their  goods  is  greater  than  the  cost  of  transporting  it  to 
their  new  home,  they  can  readily  see  it  will  pay  to  bring  these 
things  along,  and  they  will  find  them  very  useful,  if  money  with 
which  to  lay  in  a  new  supply  is  scarce. 

"  The  cost  of  starting  on  a  new  farm  in  a  new  country  of  course 
depends  largely  on  the  size  of  the  family,  and  the  economy, 
energy  and  perseverance  of  the  farmer,  but  no  man  with  a  family 
should  come  to  the  Arkansas  valley  with  less  than  $1,000  to 
start  with.  For  a  man  of  limited  means,  it  is  most  advisable  to 
come  in  the  early  spring,  say  in  February  or  March.  A  week  or 
two  will  get  his  house  up,  and  his  family  settled,  and  then  he  is 
ready  for  business.  No  time  is  wasted  in  clearing  the  land  of 
stumps  and  stones;  it  lies  all  ready  for  the  plow,  entirely  free 
from  either,  and  the  farmer  commences  at  once  turnincr  over  the 
sod.  In  a  few  weeks  cnouoh  sod  will  be  broken  to  enable  him 
to  put  in  a  fair  crop  of  barley,  rye  or  broom  corn  ;  the  latter  does 
well  on  sod,  and  is  one  of  the  best  paying  crops  in  the  State. 
Enough  vegetables  can  be  raised  for  family  use  the  first  year. 


"WHAT  A    THOUSAND    DOLLARS   CAN  DO."  381 

A  few  hogs  and  chickens  kept  through  the  summer  will,  when 
added  to  the  spring  crops  and  vegetables,  carry  an  industrious 
and  economical  family  through  to  the  following  spring.  If  ready 
cash  is  scarce  the  first  year,  work  can  generally  be  had  for  a  team 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  by  this  means  a  hard-working  man  can 
earn  a  little  now  and  then,  to  carry  him  along  while  making  his 
own  improvements,  until  his  first  crop  has  matured. 

"After  the  spring  crops  have  been  put  in  the  ground,  enough 
new  ground  can  be  broken  during  the  summer,  which,  when  added 
to  that  already  in  spring  crops,  will  enable  him  to  put  in  at  least 
fifty  acres  of  fall  wheat.  He  will  not  be  able  to  buy  a  grain  drill 
of  his  own  the  first  year,  but  he  can  secure  the  use  of  one  from 
a  neighboring  farmer,  and  pay  for  its  use  by  a  day  or  two's  work 
with  his  team.  In  harvesting  his  wheat,  in  June  following,  the 
same  course  will  have  to  be  pursued  as  in  drilling,  2.  c,  by  ex- 
changing labor.  This  wheat  crop,  when  harvested  and  marketed, 
gives  him  the  ready  money  with  which  to  meet  current  expenses, 
make  necessary  additions  to  his  stock  of  implements,  improve- 
ments on  his  farm,  and  provide  enough  for  the  next  payment  on 
his  land. 

"  This  makes  two  crops  raised  from  the  same  land  within  fifteen 
months  from  the  time  of  his  commencement  on  his  new  farm. 
The  quick  returns  that  can  be  secured  in  so  short  a  time,  is  what 
makes  it  possible  for  men  with  limited  means,  but  with  industri- 
ous habits,  to  secure  a  farm  and  home  of  their  own. 

"After  harvesting  his  first  crop  of  wheat,  the  farmer  begins  to 
realize  the  reward  of  his  toil.  Each  year  adds  to  the  number 
of  acres  cultivated,  and  to  the  productiveness  of  the  farm,  and 
the  occupant  is  usually  able,  by  the  third  year,  to  pay  up  on  his 
land  and  take  a  deed.  By  this  time,  by  dint  of  hard  work, 
frugality  and  some  self-denial,  he  has  made  himself  a  comfort- 
able home,  all  his  own,  and  nearly  all  paid  for  from  the  products 
of  his  farm,  which  will  in  a  few  )'cars  become  valuable  in  conse- 
quence of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  country — yet  it  was  secured, 
and  a  start  made  on  it,  including  cost  of  house,  stock,  imple- 
ments, etc.,  with  a  capital  of  less  than  ;^  1,000.  If  the  farmer  is  a 
man  of  taste,  he  will  at  the  end  of  five  years  have  his  farm  all 


-,g2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

surrounded  and  divided  by  a  beautiful  Osage  orange  hedge 
fence,  and  groves  of  forest  trees,  fruit-bearing  orchards,  small 
fruits  of  all  kinds,  and  flowers  and  ornamental  shade  trees  will 
surround  his  home.  All  these  improvements,  that  in  the  East- 
ern States  would  have  required  a  heavy  outlay  of  money  and 
many  years  of  time,  are  here  secured  in  a  very  short  time  at  a 
nominal  cost. 

"The  new  settler  is  not  obliged  to  spend  any  money  in  fencing 
his  farm.  The  herd-law  protects  his  fields,  and  he  can  devote 
all  his  time  to  the  breaking  of  sod  and  growing  of  crops.  Fences 
can  be  grown  with  Osage  orange  that  will  turn  stock  in  four 
years,  and  costing  only  the  farmer's  own  labor  in  caring  for 
them. 

"If  the  settler  can  find  on  the  alternate  sections  of  the  lands 
along  the  railroad,  any  desirable  lands  as  yet  unsold,  he  can  pre- 
empt 1 60  acres  for  very  small  fees,  to  be  paid  for  at  the  end  of 
thirty-three  months,  for  $2.50  per  acre,  the  sum  of  $400  and  some 
fees  to  the  amount  of  ^20  or  ^25,  or  he  can  take  up  80  acres  in 
Homestead  and  80  more  under  the  Timber-Culture  Act ;  the 
fees  for  both  being  about  ^30  or  ^36,  but  he  will  not  obtain  a 
clear  title  under  from  five  to  eight  years.  By  securing  his  land 
by  one  of  these  methods  his  payments  will  at  first  not  exceed 
$30  or  $36,  and  so  he  will  have  from  $136  to  $142  more  for  the 
support  of  his  family,  making  his  entire  sum  $425  to  $431  for 
their  support  for  fifteen  or  oftener  twenty  months,  aside  from 
what  vegetables  and  other  produce  he  can  raise  in  that  time. 
From  this  small  sum  must  be  deducted  what  he  has  to  pay  for 
furniture  or  the  freight  of  it  if  he  has  brought  it  with  him,  and 
also  probably  for  pigs  and  poultry,  though  a  part  of  this  can 
come  out  of  the  item  of  interest  payment  on  land  one  year  from 
purchase,  $44.80." 

We  think  it  might  be  possible  for  an  energetic,  industrious 
farmer,  who  is  a  good  manager,  to  live  with  his  family,  and  plow, 
sow,  and  stock  his  farm  on  $1,000,  till  he  can  realize  from  his 
crops,  if  he  pre-empts  his  land,  or  secures  it  under  the  Home- 
stead or  Timber-Culture  Act;  but  buying  railroad  land,  even 
on  six  years'  time,  it  would  be  impossible,  unless  he  had  other 


"WHAT  A    THOUSAND   DOLLARS   CANNOT  DO."  ^gj 

sources  of  Income,  or  overworked  himself  and  his  team.  The 
item  of  "$250  for  house  of  two  rooms  and  small  kitchen,"  might 
be  diminished  by  living  in  a  sod-house  or  a  dug-out,  but  this  is 
not  pleasant. 

With  an  additional  $500  many  of  the  difficulties  would  be 
avoided.  Care  and  economy  would  still  be  necessary,  and 
there  would  be  many  privations  and  inconveniences  to  be 
endured,  but  if  he  is  not  visited  by  drought,  grasshoppers,  or 
other  insect  or  animal  pests,  and  neither  the  cattle  disease,  nor 
cyclones,  nor  prairie  fires  visit  him  during  the  first  three  years 
after  his  immigration,  he  may,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  have  a 
good  farm  all  his  own,  and  within  two  years  more  be  so  situated 
as  to  enjoy  life,  though  only  on  condition  of  hard  and  steady 
labor. 

The  disasters  to  which  we  have  alluded,  though  sufficiently 
distressing  at  any  time,  are  peculiarly  severe  and  ruinous  when 
they  fall  upon  a  farmer  who  is  just  looking  forward  to  harvest- 
ing his  first  full  crop.  In  a  few  days,  perhaps  in  a  few  hours, 
his  crops  of  grain  and  of  vegetables  are  swept  away  and  not  a 
vestige  of  them  left;  or  under  the  blaze  of  a  summer's  sun,  un- 
tempered  by  clouds  or  rain,  his  arid  fields  have  failed  to  yield  a 
harvest ;  or  the  insect  and  rodent  tribes,  banded  together  for  the 
destruction  of  his  crops,  have  destroyed  alike  what  is  above  and 
what  is  under  the  surface;  or  more  terrible  still,  the  prairie  fire 
rushes  irresistibly  over  cabin,  hay-ricks,  and  stacks  of  grain, 
scarce  permitting  himself  and  family  to  escape,  scorched  and 
blistered,  from  their  burning  home ;  or,  once  more,  the  swift 
moving  storm  plowing  through  the  young  and  thriving  village, 
involves  scores  or  hundreds  in  a  common  disaster;  houses, 
barns,  churches,  forest  trees,  the  growing  grain  or  the  gathered 
crops,  are  alike  torn  and  scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven, 
and  it  is  much,  if  many  lives,  but  an  hour  before  joyous  and  full 
of  hope  and  activity,  are  not  also  destroyed.  Disasters  by  flood 
are  infrequent  in  the  West,  though  they  sometimes  occur  along 
the  upper  affluents  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  tributaries  of  the 
Missouri. 

Yet,  while  these  disasters  visit    the  western    settler    only  at 


,84  ^^'^     IVESTERiV   EMPIRE. 

irregular  and  sometimes  distant  intervals,  and  cannot  always  be 
guarded  against  by  any  known  precaution,  their  possibility  is  to 
be  taken  into  the  account,  as  a  drawback  upon  what  might 
otherwise  be  a  perilous  prosperity,  and  as  the  farmer  attains  a 
better  position,  he  will  do  well  to  seek,  if  he  can,  to  become  the 
owner  of  a  second  farm  (not  falling  into  the  error  of  trying  to 
hold  too  much  land)  differently  located,  and,  if  possible,  adapted 
to  a  different  kind  of  culture.  If  his  first  is  a  grain  farm,  his 
second  may  be  devoted  to  root  crops,  or  sorghum,  or  forage 
grasses,  or  to  some  of  the  specialties  already  noticed  ;  if  the  first 
is  on  a  prairie  or  in  a  valley,  the  second  may  be  on  a  hill-side, 
in  the  timber,  or  at  least  by  the  banks  of  a  stream,  or  he  may 
gradually  work  into  the  rearing  of  cattle  or  sheep,  or  horses  or 
mules.  The  cyclone  or  the  prairie  fire  may  spare  one  if  the 
other  is  swept  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction  ;  or  if  the  grass- 
hopper or  locust,  the  weevil  or  the  cutworm,  the  caterpillar,  or 
the  gopher  and  mole  destroy  his  grain  or  root  crops  on  one 
farm,  there  may  be  something  left  on  the  other.  The  young 
man  with  but  little  capital,  but  with  no  one  dependent  upon  him, 
can,  of  course,  commence  farming  with  a  small  sum,  but  he  will 
find  his  account,  after  purchasing  or  securing  his  land,  and 
breaking  it  up  and  sowing  his  crop,  in  hiring  out  to  some  farmer 
in  the  vicinity,  and  working  his  way  up  to  competence,  in  five  or 
six  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  may  be  the  owner  of  a 
good  farm  and  farm-buildings,  mainly  the  result  of  his  own  labor 
during  those  years. 

To  those  possessing  somewhat  larger  means,  say  ^4,000  or 
$5,000,  a  better  plan  is  to  buy  a  partially  improved  farm,  from 
some  of  those  settlers  who  are  constantly  disposed  to  obey  the 
policeman's  injunction,  and  "  move  on."  In  many  instances  these 
settlers  have  either  pre-empted  their  lands,  secured  them  under 
the  Homestead  Act,  or  bought  of  the  railroad  companies,  and  in 
either  case,  have  become  embarrassed  from  some  cause,  and 
unable  to  make  the  desired  payments,  and  so  they  are  disposed 
to  sell  out,  and  moving  to  the  extreme  frontier  try  again.  Some 
of  this  class  have  thus  moved  on,  by  successive  stages,  from 
Eastern  Iowa  or  Missouri  to  the  frontier  of  Kansas,  Nebraska, 


BUYING   AN  IMPROVED   FARM.  385 

Dakota,  or  even  into   Montana,  Wyoming,  or  Utah.      If  their 
land  is  a  homestead  claim,  it  is  worth  only  the  improvements,  as 
they  have  no  tide,  and  leaving  it  before  the  five  years  are  up,  the 
fee  simple  reverts  to  the  United  States  government,  and  can  be 
entered  anew,  either  as  a  homestead,  or  by  pre-emption,  or  pur- 
chase at  government  price.     If  pre-empted  by  the  original  setder 
there  is  probably  a  sum  due  to  perfect  the  title.     The  purchaser 
should  see  to  it  that  there  are  no  liens  on  the  property  for  taxes 
or  judgments,  but  that  his  title  is  perfectly  free  from  cloud.    Gen- 
erall)',  a  purchase  of  this  kind  can  be  made  for  considerably  less 
than  it  has  cost,  at  the  ordinary  price  of  labor.     The  cabin  and 
other  buildings  will  probably  be  poor  or  indifferent,  and  there 
may  be  no  fences,  or  very  imperfect  ones,  but  this  is  not  of  much 
consequence,  as  the  herd  law,  in  most  of  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories, protects  the  setders'  crops,  and  better  buildings  are  not 
expensive  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
land  has  been  broken  by  the  plow  and  harrowed,  and  has  yielded 
one,  two,  or  three  crops,  and  there  may  be  a  growing  crop  on  it 
at  the  time.     The  first  crop,  with  the  superficial  plowing  so  gen- 
erally practised,  is  generally  the  best  one,  but  the  purchaser  can,, 
and  v/ill  if  he  is  wise,  put  in  his  plow  for  his  next  crop  "  beam   • 
deep,"  and  turn  up  fresh  and  virgin  soil   for  a  more  plentiful, 
harvest. 

A  farm  of  i6o  acres,  conveniently  situated,  and  near  a  railroad 
or  navigable  river,  may  be  purchased  in  this  way  with  clear  tide, 
cabin,  sheds  for  stock,  eighty  acres  under  cultivation,  and  with 
perhaps  a  growing  crop,  the  necessary  live-stock,  wagons,  harness 
(the  latter  a  little  the  worse  for  wear),  and  plows,  hoes,  rakes, 
and  other  agricultural  implements,  though  hardly  much  agricul- 
tural machinery,  in  Dakota,  Western  Nebraska,  Western  Kansas, 
Colorado,  Wyoming,  or  Montana,  or  in  Oregon  or  Washington 
Territory  for  $800  or  $1,000.  In  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Eastern 
Nebraska,  or  Eastern  Kansas,  or  in  California,  and  probably  in 
Texas,  it  would  cost  about  twice  as  much,  but  the  buildings  and 
fences  would  be  better. 

There  are  two  courses,  either  of  which  the  man  who  has  a 
family  and  has  but  litde  more  than  money  enough  to  take  him 

25 


386  OUR    WESTER. \    EMPIRE. 

and  them  to  their  destination  may  choose;  for  without  the  $i,ooo  or 
$1,500  lie  cannot  buy  a  farm,  nor  support  his  family  on  it  while 
waiting-  for  his  first  or  second  crop,  even  if  the  land  were  given 
him  outright. 

He  may  rent  a  farm  with  a  cabin  and  the  land  broken,  agree- 
ing to  give  half  the  first  full  crop  for  the  rent  the  first  year,  and 
$1  to  $1.50  per  acre  thereafter,  but  he  must  still  have  money  to 
buy  his  furniture,  agricultural  implements,  and  necessary  live- 
stock, and  to  support  his  family  till  his  first  crop  comes  in.  This 
will  require  at  least  $450,  and  that  amount  is  more  than  he  proba- 
bly has. 

Or  he  can  hire  out  his  own  services  to  some  large  farmer,  and 
those  of  such  members  of  his  family  as  are  able  to  work,  and  secur- 
ing a  homestead  claim,  erect  his  humble  cabin,  and  after  four  or 
five  years  of  hard  work,  he  may  succeed  in  getting  his  farm  clear 
of  debt,  but  not  well  stocked,  nor  very  well  cultivated.  The  pri- 
vations he  and  his  family  must  undergo  before  he  reaches  this 
point,  and  indeed  for  two  or  three  years  after,  w  ill  be  very  painful 
and  severe,  but  in  the  end,  perhaps,  they  will  feel  paid  for  their 
sacrifices. 

Hard  as  this  life  is,  for  so  lon^f  a  time,  it  is  much  better  than 
renting  a  farm,  and  yet  very  many  are  to  be  found  who  are 
anxious  to  rent  lands.  Indeed,  so  much  are  farms  in  demand 
for  rent,  that  as  we  have  noticed  elsewhere,  Englishmen  of 
fixed  incomes,  retired  army  or  navy  officers,  clergymen,  and 
retired  civil  officers  have  come  to  this  country  in  very  con- 
siderable numbers,  purchased  railroad  and  other  new  lands, 
hired  them  broken  with  the  plow,  erected  cheap  cabins,  and 
rented  them,  deriving  a  much  better  interest  for  their  money 
from  the  rental,  than  they  could  realize  in  England.  In  many 
instances  these  foreign  purchasers  become  the  possessors  of 
large  tracts  of  land,  and  thus  lay  the  foundation  for  a  landed 
aristocracy  in  the  future. 

Renting  farms  is  not  a  good  practice  In  our  Western  Empire. 
It  is  not  wise  for  those  who  hire  the  farms,  and  it  will  in  the  end 
prove  injurious  to  the  owners  If  they  settle  In  the  vicinity  of 
their    lands.      The    policy    of    our    government    and    of    our 


RENTING  FARMS    UNWISE.  ^S/ 

institutions  is  to  have  the  land  held  in  small  parcels,  not  more 
than  1 60  acres,  by  as  many  holders  as  possible,  one  requisite 
beine  that  these  landholders  shall  be  citizens  of  the  United 
States  or  have  declared  their  intention  to  become  such.  One 
result  of  these  settlements  with  small  farms  is  the  speedy 
establishment  of  schools,  churches,  newspapers,  and  all  the 
appliances  of  an  intelligent,  high  and  pure  civilization. 

The  rented  lands,  especially  with  absentee  landlords,  contribute 
nothing  to  this.  The  farmer  who  rents  his  farm  of  a  wealthy  land- 
lord is  not,  except  in  States  where  a  poll-tax  is  exacted,  a  tax-payer, 
and  has  no  special  interest  in  the  promotion  of  schools  or  general 
intelligence ;  the  building  up  of  a  village,  and  the  improvement 
of  the  moral  character  of  the  community,  and  its  subordination 
to  law,  are  matters  which  do  not  concern  him.  His  only  object 
is  to  get  as  much  from  his  farm  as  possible,  and  spend  as  little 
on  it  as  is  consistent  with  that  object ;  for  renting  as  practised  in 
the  West  tends  to  demoralize  a  man  and  to  bring  out  his  greed, 
selfishness  and  meanness,  and  indeed  all  his  worst  traits. 

We  have  already  referred  briefly  to  the  evils  attendant  on 
farming  on  a  large  scale;  but  we  cannot  speak  too  strongly  in 
reprobation  of  it  in  its  effect  on  the  future  welfare  of  those 
portions  of  the  West  where  it  prevails.  California  has  suffered 
the  most  from  these  overgrown  farms  or  ranches,  and  Texas 
and  Colorado  have  also  been  materially  hindered  in  their  growth 
by  them,  and  now  Western  Minnesota,  Northern  Dakota  and 
Montana,  are  in  danger  of  injury  from  the  same  tendency  to 
own  vast  tracts  of  farmincr  lands. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  after  its  disaster  of  1873, 
disposed  of  its  lands  already  patented  to  it  at  $2  to  $2.50  per 
acre  and  received  its  preferred  stock  and  its  bonds  at  par  in 
paynicnt.  As  these  were  for  a  time  held  at  very  low  prices, 
several  men  of  large  wealth  who  knew  the  value  of  these  lands 
took  the  opportunity  of  procuring  large  tracts,  paying  for  them  in 
bonds  and  stock,  and  thus  secured  immense  properties  at  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  per  acre.  These  lands  have  been 
generally  sown  in  wheat  and  other  easily  cultivated  crops,  and 
25,000  to  35,000  acres  in  wheat  has  been  a  not  unusual  crop  on 


,38  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

some  of  these  great  farms,  and  some  of  the  wheat-fields  of 
Southern  California  have  been  very  nearly  as  large.  This  brings 
in  a  large  revenue  to  the  proprietors,  $200,000  or  $300,000 
annually  for  the  present,  but  the  objections  to  it  are  these: 

1.  The  soil  is  not  properly  tilled;  the  plowing  is  of  the  shal- 
lowest, merely  scratching  the  ground  ;  the  same  crop  is  sown 
on  each  field  year  after  year,  and  the  yield  per  acre  diminishes 
every  year.  The  grain  is  all  sent  away,  the  straw  and  refuse 
burned  in  large  heaps.  Nothing  is  left  to  feed  the  soil  or  re- 
place what  is  taken  from  it. 

2.  There  are  no  villages,  no  schools,  no  trade  built  up,  noth- 
ing to  encourage,  and  everything  to  discourage  permanent  set- 
tlement. The  proprietor  chooses  to  cultivate  his  own  land,  and 
desires  no  neiorhborincr  small  landholders. 

3.  This  mode  of  cultivation  encourages  tramps  and  wandering 
farm  laborers,  and  discouraofes  families  and  homes.  Each  divi- 
sion  of  the  great  farm  has  its  superintendent,  who  has  his  head- 
quarters during  the  farming  season  in  his  division,  with  excellent 
stables  for  his  numerous  horses  and  sheds  for  the  airricultural 
machinery.  There  are  rude  temporary  cabins  where  the  travel- 
ling laborers  sleep  at  night  well  packed  together,  and  a  large 
cabin  where  the  cookino-  is  done  for  the  entire  division.  The 
men  who  come  from  all  quarters  are  hired  by  the  day  or  week, 
and  dismissed  as  soon  as  their  work  is  done.  The  superintend- 
ent and  foremen  are  in  the  saddle  all  day  through  the  plowing, 
harrowincT  sowino"  and  harvestinor  and  threshine,  overseeing 
their  workmen  and  dismissing  them  at  once  if  they  are  not  thor- 
oughly efficient.  When  the  work  is  completed,  the  men  are 
sent  off  without  a  word,  and  their  future  welfare  is  not  a  matter 
of  consideration  with  any  of  the  employers,  who  do  not  even 
know  the  names  of  their  men. 

4.  These  vast  farms,  often  comprising  two,  three,  or  four 
townships,  are  utterly  opposed  to  the  genius  of  our  institutions, 
and  prevent  diat  healthy  growth  of  population,  manufactures, 
mechanism,  and  the  industrial  progress  which  has  made  our 
country  what  it  is.  Even  the  machinery,  the  horses,  the  pro- 
visions are  purchased  in  large  distant  cities.     Small  farms  with 


HOMESTEAD   PJiOVlSIONS.  ,80 

flourishing  villages  close  at  hand,  a  thrifty  trade,  manufactures 
struggling  into  existence,  and  the  hearty  feeling  of  good-will 
on  the  part  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood,  the  desire 
"to  live  and  let  live,"  furnish  a  much  better  basis  for  a  new  and 
enterprising  State,  than  these  overgrown  estates  in  which  are 
developed  the  worst  features  of  large  proprietorship,  without  any 
of  its  redeeming  traits. 

Most  of  the  States  and  Territories  have  homestead  exemption 
laws  which  protect  the  struggling  and  impecunious  young  farmer 
from  the  danger  of  attachment  of  his  farm,  or  house,  or  house- 
hold goods,  by  summary  process.  Some  of  the  States  have 
probably  gone  too  far  in  these  exemption  laws,  and  have  opened 
the  way  for  cunning  and  unprincipled  men  to  defraud  their  cred- 
itors easily ;  but,  as  a  general  rule,  these  laws  are  not  abused. 
It  is  a  question  with  many  wise  political  economists  whether  it 
would  not  be  better  to  abolish  all  stay  laws,  and  all  laws  for  the 
collejction  of  debts,  and  make  credits  depend  solely  upon  the 
character  of  the  purchaser.  Were  this  rule  tried,  we  think  there 
mio^ht  be  some  men  who  would  find  it  difficult  to  obtain  much 
credit. 

We  give  the  Homestead  Exemption  law  of  Minnesota  as  a 
fair  average  of  these  laws  throughout  the  West.  Kansas,  Ne- 
braska, and  Dakota  exempt  i6o  acres  instead  of  eighty,  while 
Iowa  exempts  but  forty;  Arizona,  California,  Idaho,  and  Texas 
exempt  homestead  or  dwelling  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
$5,000,  and  furniture,  books,  tools,  live-stock  to  a  limited  amount 
besides.  Other  States  and  Territories  vary  in  amount  from 
$1,000  to  $2,500  or  $3,000  on  the  homestead,  with  other  ex- 
emptions. 

The  following  are  the  provisions  of  the  Minnesota  law : 

"  That  a  homestead  consisting  of  any  quantity  of  land,  not  ex- 
ceeding eighty  acres,  and  the  dwelling-house  thereon  and  its 
appurtenances,  to  be  selected  by  the  owner  thereof,  and  not 
included  in  any  incorporated  town,  city,  or  village,  or  instead 
thereof,  at  the  option  of  the  owner,  a  quantity  of  land  not  exceed- 
ing in  amount  one  lot,  being  within  an  incorporated  town,  city, 
or  village,  and  the  dwelling-house  thereon  and  its  appurtenances, 


2go  OUR    WESTEKX   EMPIRE. 

owned  and  occupied  by  any  resident  of  diis  State,  shall  not  be 
subject  to  attachment,  levy,  or  sale,  upon  any  execution  or  any 
other  process  issuing  out  of  any  court  within  this  State.  This 
section  shall  be  deemed  and  construed  to  exempt  such  home- 
stead in  the  manner  aforesaid  during-  the  time  it  shall  be  occu- 
pied by  the  widow  or  minor  child  or  children  of  any  deceased 
person  who  was,  when  living,  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  this  act." 
The  same  law  provides,  in  addition,  that  furniture  shall  be 
exempt  to  the  amount  of  $500;  animals,  with  food,  and  farming 
utensils,  $300  ;  provisions,  tools,  the  books  or  instruments  of  pro- 
fessional men,  etc.,  $400. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Immigrant  as  a  Cattle-breeder  and  Stock-raiser — Methods  of  Stock- 
breeding  IN  Different  States  and  Territories^The  Texas  Cattle 
RANCHE — The  Ranche  in  California,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Montana — 
Cattle-breeding  in  New  Mexico,  Utah,  Arizona  —  In  Washington, 
Oregon,  Nevada,  and  Idaho — Minnesota,  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas, 
Missouri,  and  Arkansas  as  Cattle-breeding  States — Lands  best  Adapted 
to  this  Pursuit — Different  Methods  Advisable  in  Different  Sections 
— Scenes  in  a  Cattle-ranche — "The  Bulls  of  Trinity  " — The  Cow-boys 
OR  Herders:  their  Care  of  their  Herds — Their  isolated,  half-savage 
IjIfe — Rounding  up — Rranding — The  Capital  Necessary  for  Success — 
How  A  Poor  Man  can  acquire  a  Cattle-ranche  in  Time — Statistics  of 
the  Cost  of  a  moderately  large  Ranche. 

Our  Immigrant,  like  the  sons  of  Jacob,  has  "  had  his  trade  or 
occupation  about  cattle  from  his  youth  until  now,"  and  he  desires 
in  migrating  to  this  Western  Empire  to  continue  in  the  business 
with  which  he  is  familiar ;  or  he  has  heard  wonderful  tales  of  the 
great  success  and  wealth  gained  in  cattle-farming,  and  he  believes 
that  a  similar  success  Is  within  his  reach,  if  he  follows  the  busi- 
ness. This  latter  view  of  the  case  is  one  more  likely  to  be  enter- 
tained by  one  who  emigrates  from  one  of  our  Eastern  States 
than  by  a  European,  for  our  Yankee  Is  a  universal  genius  and 
believes  himself  capable  of  doing  anything  and  everything  which 
any  man  has  ever  done — and  generally,  It  must  be  acknowledged, 


Cattle-breeding  in  ten  as.  ,gj 

he  is  successful  in  what  he  undertakes — while  the  European  im- 
migrant g-enerally  prefers  to  follow  the  particular  line  of  busi- 
ness to  which  he  has  been  trained. 

How,  or  under  what  circumstances,  can  the  immigrant  go  into 
the  business  of  stock-raising  as  it  is  conducted  here,  with  a  fair 
prospect  of  success  ?  There  are  several  other  questions  to  be 
answered  before  we  can  reply  definitely  to  this.  These  ques- 
tions arc:  i.  Where  does  he  propose  to  establish  his  cattle 
farm?  2.  What  amount  of  capital  has  he?  3.  Has  he  any  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  the  business?  4.  Is  he  informed  as  to 
the  methods  used  in  stock-raising?  5.  Is  he  qualified  to  take 
the  management  of  a  large  cattle-ranche  owned  by  a  joint-stock 
company  and  conduct  it  successfully  ? 

A  cattle-ranche  or  cattle-farm  in  Texas  is  one  thine ;  one  in 
Colorado,  or  Montana,  or  Wyoming  is  quite  another.  If  our 
immigrant  proposes  to  start  a  cattle-farm  in  Texas,  he  will  require 
less  capital  than  for  such  an  enterprise  farther  north  ;  for  his 
cattle  will  cost  less  money,  he  need  not  buy  much  land,  certainly 
not  at  the  beginning,  his  buildings  can  be  fewer  and  less  costly, 
he  has  no  occasion  for  barns  or  shelter  corrals,  his  herders  or 
cow-boys  will  be  mainly  Mexicans,  and  their  wages  will  be  lower, 
and  aside  from  the  expense  of  rounding  up  and  branding  his 
cattle,  with  a  herder  for  each  1,000  or  1,500  head,  they  will  take 
care  of  themselves,  and  he  need  not  see  them  oftener  than  once 
a  year. 

To  counterbalance  these  advantacfes,  however,  the  cfeneral  run 
of  Texas  stock  is  decidedly  inferior  in  quality ;  they  are  long- 
horned,  not  of  large  size,  very  wild,  and  do  not  take  on  flesh  readily. 
They  cost  less  when  two  or  three  years  old,  and  when  ready  for 
market  bring  a  lower  price,  both  alive  and  as  beef  carcasses.  The 
cattle  from  Kansas,  Colorado,  Wyoming  and  particularly  from 
Montana,  are  larger,  of  better  breeds,  not  wild,  fat  readily  and 
will  bring  much  higher  price  both  alive  and  as  dressed  beef. 
They  require  somewhat  more  care,  and  a  more  intelligent  class 
of  herders,  and  should  have  some  preparation  made  for  shelter 
and  for  fodder  during  the  wintry  weather,  but  do  not  always  get 
it.     The  cost  of  rearing  steers,  in  the  large  way,  in  Texas  is  only 


2Q2  OUR    WESTERN    EMRIRE. 

about  forty  to  fifty  cents  per  head  per  annum  ;  in  the  central  and 
northern  tiers  of  States  and  Territories,  it  ranges  from  60  cents  to 
«^i.io:  but  this  difference  is  more  than  made  up  in  their  greater 
market  vahie.  As  to  the  capital  required,  this  depends,  even  in 
Texas,  very  much  upon  the  ability  or  inability  of  the  stock-raiser 
to  buy  and  fence  his  land.  Land  is  very  cheap  in  Texas  ;  grazing 
lands  can  be  bought  for  from  10  cents  to  $1  per  acre — but  from 
3,000  to  5,000  acres  are  required  for  1,000  head  of  cattle,  and  the 
fencing  of  this  from  $1 ,500  to  $2,500,  the  fence  being  at  first  a  single 
board  and  a  barbed  wire — which  will  be  sufficient  to  turn  cattle. 
If  the  stock-raiser  prefers  to  pasture  on  the  range  he  must  have 
for  1,000  cattle  at  least  six  herdsmen,  whose  washes  will  be  from 
;^i,200  to  $1,500  and  their  cabins  and  keeping. 

Eight  hundred  cows,  each  with  a  calf,  will  cost  about  $10,000, 
and  it  will  be  best  to  invest  not  less  than  $2,000  more  in  Durham 
or  Holstein  bulls  in  order  to  improve  the  breed.  The  house, 
stable  and  pens,  even  of  the  rudest  kind,  will  cost  $1,000,  and  the 
horses,  saddles,  wagons  and  supplies  not  less  than  $1,000  more. 
If  the  immigrant  buys  and  fqnces  his  land,  he  will  have  to  invest 
from  $18,500  to  $21,500  at  the  start.  If  he  buys  no  land  except 
a  homestead  and  pastures  on  the  unimproved  lands,  he  will  be 
able  to  get  along  with  r'out  $4,500  less,  say  from  $14,000  to 
$17,000  in  all. 

For  three  years  the  returns  will  be  small.     The  stock-raiser 

will  keep  his  heifer  calves,  and  sell  a  few  of  his  steers  when  they 

are  a  year  old,  though  it  pays  better  to  keep  them  till  they  are 

two  or  three  years  old.      His  stock  will  be  improving  in  quality 

every  year,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years  he  will  have  a  mixed  herd 

of  1,200  to  1,500  head,  and  can  thereafter,  unless  his  herd  should 

be  attacked  by  cattle  plague  or  some  other  disease,  sell  off  every 

year  from  $6,000  to  $8,000  worth  of  cattle  and  yet  increase  his 

herd  each  year  ;  but  he  will  have  to  buy  his  land  and  fence  it, 

if  he  has  not  already  done  so,  and  increase  the  number  of  his 

employes. 

But,  says  the  immigrant,  can  I  not  start  in  the  business  of  cattle- 
raising  with  less  than  $15,000  or  $20,000?     Yes,  if  you  are  a 

single  marl,  and  have  decided  to  settle  in  Texas.     You  may  begin 


STOCK'- KA/SLVG    IN  COLORADO.  y^-> 

with  a  small  grazing-  farm,  500  acres  or  more,  and  purchase  but 
100  cows  and  calves  and  attend  to  these  yourself,  milking  a 
part  of  your  cows,  making  some  butter  and  keeping  a  dozen  or 
twenty  pigs.  But  even  with  this  small  beginning,  you  cannot 
start  on  much  less  than  $4,500  to  $5,000.  There  are  other 
methods  by  which  an  immigrant  with  a  still  smaller  capital  may 
succeed  in  stock-raising  in  other  States  and  Territories,  but  in 
Texas  intimate  association  with  the  rough  herders  would  be  too 
unpleasant  to  be  endured  by  most  men,  and  there  are  few  or  no 
joint-stock  companies  which  would  employ  a  foreign  manager 
on  their  great  ranches.  It  might  be  possible  to  commence,  as 
some  of  the  present  "  cattle  kings  "  in  that  State  did,  twenty-five 
or  thirty  years  ago,  with  little  or  no  capital,  but  times  and  circum- 
stances are  changed,  and  there  are  not  now  so  many  stray  cattle 
without  owners  who  can  claim  them,  as  there  were  in  war  times. 
The  business  was  not  then  organized  or  systematized,  and  wages 
as  well  as  cattle  are  much  higher  than  they  were  then.  There 
are  very  few  instances  in  Texas  where  the  large  stock-raisers 
make  any  account  of  the  milk.  Most  of  them  buy  their  butter  or 
go  without  it.  In  Kansas,  even  where  the  herds  of  cattle  are  mod- 
erately large,  a  part  of  the  cows  are  kept  for  their  milk,  and  dairying 
is  often  carried  on  in  connection  with  stock-raising.  Here  a  man 
may  begin  with  a  few  cows  and  calves  and  gradually  build  up  a 
cattle-ranche  and  dairy-farm  at  the  same  time.  On  the  frontier 
it  is  still  possible  to  raise  stock  without  owning  an  acre  of  land, 
or  at  most  only  a  homestead  claim.  In  Eastern  and  Northern 
Colorado  and  in  Wyoming,  many  of  the  cattle-ranches,  are  on  a 
large  scale,  and  while  their  proprietors  (in  some  instances  joint- 
stock  companies)  purchase  considerable  tracts  of  land,  they  also 
avail  themselves  largely  of  the  unimproved  and  unsurveyed  Gov- 
ernment lands.  Even  the  great  Hermosillo  Ranche,  now  owned 
by  the  Colorado  Cattle  Company,  besides  its  91,000  acres  of 
purchased  lands,  pastures  nearly  500,000  acres  more  of  unsur- 
veyed lands  on  the  adjacent  mountain  slopes,  .\.s  a  rule,  stock- 
raising  in  Colorado  only  pays  well  when  conducted  on  a  large 
scale.  The  great  parks,  as  well  as  the  mountain  slopes,  afford 
fine  pasturage,  and  Colorado  beef  has  the  highest  reputation. 


2^  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


The  man  who  attempts  to  start  a  cattle-ranche  with  less  than 
i,ooo  head,  and  with  a  capital  of  less  than  520,000  or  c;25,ooo, 
will  hardly  find  it  profitable.  And  while  this  is  the  lowest  limit, 
$100,000,  $200,000,  or  even  $500,000  can  be  invested  with  great 
advantage  and  profit  in  the  business.  We  have  spoken  of  the 
joint-stock  companies  for  stock-raising.  Persons  of  moderate 
capital,  but  who  have  money  which  can  lie  for  two  or  three  years 
without  much  return,  in  the  hope  of  an  ample  one  after  that  time, 
may  find  this  a  desirable  mode  of  investment.  It  is  not  difficult 
for  men  who  have  been  accustomed  to  the  care  of  cattle,  and 
who  have  a  little  capital  of  their  own,  to  obtain  a  situation  on 
these  large  ranches,  where  purchasing  and  branding  a  few  cattle, 
they  can  have  them  pastured  free  on  the  ranche,  and  securing 
for  themselves  a  quarter  or  half  section  of  land,  can,  by  degrees, 
erect  the  necessary  cabins  and  corrals,  break  up  their  land,  and 
sow  it  with  forage  grasses  or  root  crops,  and  keeping  up  two  or 
three  of  their  cows,  they  have  their  own  butter  and  milk,  fat  some 
pigs,  and  at  the  end  of,  say,  five  years,  have  a  fair  stock  of  cattle 
to  start  their  own  ranche,  and  if  the  location  has  been  well  selected, 
with  abundant  water,  they  can  probably  secure,  when  needed,  suffi- 
cient land  to  pasture  their  stock,  at  very  moderate  prices.  The 
herder's  life  is,  however,  a  very  lonely  one,  and  a  man  who  has  a 
family  will  find  it  very  distressing  to  him  and  them,  to  lead  a  life 
of  such  isolation  and  with  so  few  comforts.  There  is  indeed  a 
prospect  of  a  moderate  competence  in  the  future,  but  that  future 
seems  so  far  off,  and  meanwhile  his  children,  if  he  has  any,  are 
growing  up  without  opportunities  of  education,  and  without  the 
refining  inlluences  of  social  life. 

Cattle-ranches  of  larq-e  extent  cannot  exist  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  large  villages  ;  they  require  too  much  room  ;  some  of 
them  occupy  an  entire  county,  and  except  the  necessary  dwellings 
and  offices  at  the  home  of  the  proprietor,  where  there  may  be 
also  a  post-office,  there  will  be  in  the  whole  county  no  settle- 
ment aside  from  the  isolated  cabins  of  the  herders,  and,  of  course, 
neither  schools  nor  churches. 

The  life  of  the  herder  is  not  without  its  perils,  and  those  more 
serious  than  are  usually  supposed.     These  perils  are  of  various 


y. 


PERILS   OF   THE   HERDER'S  LIFE.  og^ 

kinds :  where,  as  in  Texas,  California,  and  New  Mexico  the  cattle 
are  largely  of  the  long-horned,  half-wild  Mexican  breeds,  the 
bulls  and  steers  are  dangerous,  especially  when  the  herder  or 
any  one  else  meets  them  in  large  numbers,  and  wdien  excited  by 
thirst  or  rage. 

The  poet-novelist,  Bret  Harte,  has  immortalized  in  his  "Gabriel 
Conroy,"  "the  bulls  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,"  a  ranche  of  South- 
ern California.  Arthur  Poinsett,  one  of  his  heroes,  and  a  lawyer, 
visits  the  proprietress  of  the  ranche.  Donna  Dolores,  on  business, 
and  while  waiting  for  her  answer  to  his  propositions,  wanders  out 
upon  the  grazing  lands  on  foot,  and  suddenly  finds  vast  herds 
of  the  bulls  and  steers  of  the  ranche  comino-  toward  him  from 
all  directions.  They  are  not  ferocious  or  fierce ;  they  will  even 
retreat  for  a  little  distance  when  he  faces  them  resolutely,  but 
meantime  others  are  coming  up  at  his  back;  he  is  surrounded, 
and  by  a  stolid  but  determined  herd,  who  will  trample  him  under 
foot,  without  rage  or  excitement.  There  is  apparently  no  hope. 
But  just  at  the  crisis  of  his  fate,  he  is  rescued  by  the  lady  who, 
mounted  on  a  powerful  horse,  rides  directly  at  the  qncoming 
herds,  and  causes  them  to  swerve  on  either  side,  and  saves  him, 
though  he  had  already  fallen,  in  terror  and  despair.  The  Colo- 
rado herds  are  fiercer  and  stronofer  than  these  Texan  and  Cali- 
fornia  bulls,  but  perhaps  not  so  wild.  If  the  herder  is  well 
mounted,  he  is  not  in  much  danger,  except  in  rounding  up  dme, 
when  the  excited  animals,  worried  by  pursuit,  will  sometimes 
turn  upon  their  pursuer,  and  unless  the  lasso  is  quickly  and 
deftly  fiung,  and  both  horse  and  rider  are  wary  and  alert,  will 
gore  and  toss  them  to  death  in  a  moment. 

But  this  peril  from  the  herd  itself  is  by  no  means  the  only 
danger  to  which  the  herder  is  exposed.  West  of  the  divide  or 
highest  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  grizzly  bear  roams 
monarch  among  the  beasts  of  prey,  and  has  a  decided  appetite 
for  fresh  beef.  If  he  is  very  hungry,  he  will  pull  down  a  steer  or 
cow,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  herder.  He  is  said  to  be  terri- 
fied by  the  yells  of  the  herders,  but,  when  ravenous,  he  will  not 
hesitate  to  attack  men  as  well  as  beasts,  and  his  great  muscular 
power,  his  terrible  claws,  and  his  remarkable  vitality,  render  him 


2o5  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

a  most  formidable  antagonist.  It  is  very  dangerous  to  attack 
him  smgle-handed.  The  cougar  or  panther,  and  the  jaguar  or 
American  tiger,  are  also  ready  to  prey  upon  the  herd,  whenever 
they  can  approach  it  from  some  rocky  shelter  or  leafy  covert,  and 
if  wounded  are  desperate  and  dangerous  foes  to  encounter. 

Ordinarily,  as  we  have  said,  except  in  the  most  elevated  pas- 
ture lands  of  Colorado,  the  amount  of  snow  and  the  severity  of 
the  cold  is  not  sufficient  to  render  it  necessary  to  corral  and  feed 
the  cattle,  and  they  run  at  large,  browsing  the  native  buffalo  and 
gama  grass,  and,  though  rather  thin  in  the  spring,  they  fatten 
rapidly  in  the  spring,  and  in  the  early  summer  are  almost  too  fat 
to  be  driven  any  considerable  distance.  But,  at  intervals  of  eight 
or  ten  years,  there  come  winters  of  great  severity ;  deep  snows 
occur  every  week ;  the  streams  are  frozen,  and  even  the  bunch 
grass,  which  rises  stiff  and  strong,  from  two  and  a-half  feet  to 
■three  feet  above  the  soil,  cannot  reach  above  the  level  of  the 
snows,  and  the  cattle  are  liable  to  starve. 

The  prudent  stock-raiser  has  made  provision  for  such  sea- 
sons ;  his  wild  hay  is  stacked  near  the  corrals,  and  groves  of 
everofreens  shelter  the  stock  from  the  drivino;  storms  ;  where  the 
herds  are  so  large  that  they  cannot  all  be  under  cover,  such  pro- 
tection as  is  possible  is  afforded  them,  and  especially  is  a  supply 
of  water  secured  to  them  by  artificial  lakes,  artesian  wells, 
troughs  and  pools  fed  by  hydraulic  rams  or  by  windmill-pumps. 
But  unfortunately  the  number  of  prudent  stock-raisers  is  not 
very  large,  and  there  is  a  terrible  destruction  of  cattle.  During 
this  period  the  labors  of  the  herder  are  very  severe.  In  the 
fierce,  driving  storms  he  must  be  constantly  in  the  saddle,  en- 
deavoring to  bring  the  terrified  and  excited  herd  under  his  care, 
into  safer  and  more  sheltered  positions ;  as  the  snows  grow 
deeper  and  the  trail  more  difiicult  to  find,  the  cattle,  wild  with 
fright,  plunge  to  one  side  or  the  other,  and  are  at  once  buried  in 
the  drifts,  and  the  herder  must  plunge  in  after  them  till  some- 
times the  horse  and  rider  are  too  weary  to  regain  the  track  and 
both  sink  down  and  perish.  On  such  occasions  these  rude, 
rough  men  often  manifest  a  heroism  and  fidelity  to  the  interests 
of  their  employers,  an  unflinching  courage,  which  goes  to  certain 


STOCK-RAISING   IN  CALIFORNIA.  ^Q? 

-death,  with  a  spirit  worthy  of  the  noblest  of  the  martyrs  of 
ancient  or  modern  times  ;  nameless  heroes,  whose  faithful  ser- 
yice  and  unflinching  self-sacrifice  shall  yet  be  found  recorded  in 
the  archives  of  heaven. 

When  the  sun  has  again  resumed  his  sway,  and  the  winter 
snows  are  melted,  the  gray  wolf,  the  coyote  and  the  vultures 
have  their  abundant  feasts  off  the  carcasses  of  the  dead  cattle, 
and  before  mid-summer  their  bones  lie,  bleached  and  white,  on 
all  the  hills. 

In  Montana,  and  to  some  extent  in  Washinorfon  and  Oreeon, 
the  business  of  stock-raising  has  fallen  into  good  hands.  Most 
of  the  ranches  are  large,  they  are  carried  on  by  joint-stock  com- 
panies, limited,  or  by  a  partnership  with  a  large  capital,  and 
employing  the  best  men  to  be  found  as  managers.  The  cattle 
are  of  high  grade  and  are  larger,  fatter,  and  more  tender  of  fiesh 
than  those  of  any  other  region  of  the  West.  The  excellent  and 
nutritious  bunch-grass  and  the  white  sage  bush  after  frost,  have 
much  to  do  with  this  peculiar  excellence  of  the  Montana  beeves. 

Some  of  the  largest  ranches  there  have  shelter,  and  wild  rice 
or  other  hay  for  their  cattle  when  the  winter  is  severe ;  but  in 
many  of  the  valleys  where  the  snow  does  not  lie  deep  and  the 
bunch-grass  is  tall  and  stiff,  they  are  not  sheltered,  but  keep  out 
all  winter  and  do  not  ordinarily  lose  much  flesh.  In  the  spring 
and  summer  the  only  complaint  in  regard  to  Montana  cattle  is 
that  they  are  too  fat.  They  can  be  exported  to  England  by 
way  of  the  Northern  Pacific  and  Duluth  without  special  fattening 
and  at  a  very  large  profit. 

In  California  there  are  but  few  of  the  old  Mexican-Spanish 
ranches  left.  A  better  race  of  cattle  have  taken  the  place  of  the 
long-horned,  raw-boned,  lean  Mexican  catde,  and  the  proprietors 
of  large  herds  are  not  now  the  dignified,  rather  pompous,  but 
easy-going  hidalgos  of  thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago,  but  wide- 
awake, keen-eyed  Americans,  Germans  or  Englishmen,  whose 
cattle  can  boast  of  a  pedigree  in  the  herd-book,  and  whose 
object  is  to  make  fortunes  out  of  the  cattle  trade.  Tlie  number 
of  cattle  raised  in  California,  thoueh  laree,  is  not  much  in  excess 
of  the  local  and  inter-state  demand,  and  beeves  arc  not  shipped 


29o  '^'-'^^   irr.STERX  empire. 

thence  to  other  countries  to  any  orreat  extent.  They  number 
probably  about  i,Soo,ooo  head,  of  which  about  one-third  are 
milch  cows,  and  dairy-farming  is  rapidly  increasing  in  importance. 
The  character  of  the  stock  is  very  high,  and  some  of  the  best  im- 
ported cattle  on  this  continent  are  to  be  found  in  California. 
Both  the  bulls  and  cows  are  in  demand  in  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories east  of  the  State,  for  stockinor  new  ranches. 

Kansas  and  Nebraska,  especially  the  former,  have  been  more 
famous  in  the  past  for  pasturing  and  fattening  Texas  cattle 
driven  thither  for  that  purpose,  and  shipping  them  when  fattened 
over  their  railways  to  the  East,  than  for  the  management  of 
large  herds  of  their  own  ;  but  this  practice  is  less  prevalent  now 
than  some  years  ago,  as  the  Texas  cattle  are  now  fattened  to  a 
considerable  extent  at  home,  and  shipped  either  as  live-stock  by 
steamer  to  Europe,  or  slaughtered  and  sent  packed  in  refriger- 
ating rooms  on  the  steamers  to  Europe  or  to  New  York.  Kan- 
sas has  now  nearly  1,300,000  head  of  catde,  of  which  about  one- 
third  are  milch  cows,  and  Nebraska  about  700,000  in  the  same 
proportions,  v/hile  Texas  with  her  7,000,000  of  cattle  has  not  over 
800,000  milch  cows.  'The  western  half  of  both  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska is  well  adapted  to  stock-raising,  and  with  the  facilities  for 
shipping  their  stock  to  market  over  nine  or  ten  nearly  parallel 
railways,  the  business  can  be  conducted  with  large  profit.  Iowa 
and  Missouri  have  each  nearly  2,500,000  head  of  cattle,  of  which 
in  Iowa  more  than  800,000  are  milch  cows,  and  in  Missouri 
about  675,000. 

Wyoming  has  large  and  increasing  herds,  and  is  probably 
somewhat  better  adapted  to  catde  than  to  sheep.  Besides  her 
own  extensive  ranges  of  pasture,  the  Wyoming  stock-raisers 
have  for  some  years  driven  large  herds  into  the  North  Park  of 
Colorado,  Vvhere  the  pasturage  is  excellent. 

Utah  and  Nevada  have  some  good  grazing  lands,  and  are 
turning  attention  to  catde-raising,  and  the  number  of  herds, 
though  small,  is  increasing.  New  Mexico  is  peculiarly  adapted 
to  sheep-culture,  but,  though  dry,  is  also  a  good  region  for  cattle, 
as  are  also  portions  of  Arizona.  In  the  lofty  7ncsas  or  table- 
lands from  which  still  more  lofty  spires  and  peaks  Hft  their  heads 


-     "THE    ROUND    Urr  ,Qg 

Into  the  region  of  perpetual  snow,  the  melting  snows  form  lakes 
and  pools  whose  waters  can  be  made  to  irrigate  the  lands  below, 
and  these  lands,  6,000,  7,000  and  even  9,000  feet  above  the  sea, 
furnish  excellent  grazing  for  cattle. 

In  all  those  States  and  Territories  where  there  are  laro-e  herds 
which  pasture  upon  the  unsurveyed  government  or  State  lands, 
being  turned  out,  as  the  phrase  is,  upon  the  range,  they  mingle 
with  other  herds  and  stray  away  often  many  miles.  The  herders 
do  what  they  can  to  keep  them  together;  but  there  is  a  neces- 
sity once  a  year  for  a  "■  rotmd  up','  which,  if  the  herd  is  very 
large,  may  last  two  or  three  weeks.  This  is  a  great  occasion  for 
the  herders  and  the  cattle  men,  of  whom  a  considerable  number 
are  employed  as  extra  hands.  These  are  all  experts  in  horse- 
manship and  in  the  use  of  the  lasso  or  lariat,  and  they  have  need 
of  all  their  skill  very  often.  In  Texas,  New  Mexico,  the  Indian 
Territory,  Arizona,  and  formerly  in  Southern  California,  where 
the  cattle  were  very  wild,  the  herders,  after  gathering  the  herds 
together  from  over  a  wide  circuit,  rode  into  the  crov.^ded  masses 
of  cattle  and  lassoed  every  steer  or  cow  which  had  the  brand  of 
their  employer  upon  it  and  drew  them  out  into  a  herd  by  them- 
selves. The  calves  followed  their  dams,  and  each  herd  was 
guarded  and  separated  from  the  other  till  they  could  be  driven 
to  their  corrals  or  their  own  particular  herding-ground.  Occa- 
sionally a  bull,  bullock,  or  steer,  or  a  cow  unaccustomed  to  this 
rude  treatment,  and  afraid  her  calf  was  to  be  taken  from  her, 
would  show  fight,  and,  with  head  lowered,  would  attempt  to  gore 
or  toss  the  horse  or  his  rider,  from  whose  unerring  aim  the 
instrument  of  torture  had  been  flung,  but  the  horses  trained  to 
their  work  were  too  active  and  alert  to  be  in  much  danger,  and 
both  they  and  their  riders  enjoyed  the  sport. 

The  herd  being  thus  separated  from  the  herds  of  other  owners, 
two  other  important  duties  remained  to  be  performed  ;  the  calves 
were  to  be  branded,  which  was  effected  by  driving  them  with  the 
cows  through  a  passage  so  narrow  that  but  one  animal  could 
pass  through  at  a  time,  and  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the  passage 
the  brander,  his  branding-iron  heated  to  redness  In  a  blazing 
pile  of  logs  at  his  back,  pressed  it  down  upon  the  back  of  the 


400  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

calf.  Every  proprietor  lias  his  own  peculiar  brand,  which  Is 
recorded  in  the  county  records. 

The  next  thing  to  be  done  is  to  select  the  three  or  four-year 
old  steers  to  be  sent  to  market,  and,  if  any  of  the  cows  and  calves 
are  to  be  sold,  they  also  are  withdrawn  from  the  herd.  The  se- 
lection of  these  animals  for  sale  is  easy  or  difficult,  according  to 
the  degree  of  wildness  which  they  manifest ;  sometimes  they  are 
readily  and  easily  culled  out,  but  at  other  times  the  lasso  is  re- 
quired, and  there  is  a  protracted  struggle,  before  a  refractory 
steer  will  take  his  place  where  he  belongs. 

Where,  as  in  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  and  to  some 
extent  in  Montana  and  California,  dairy-farming  is  connected 
with  stock-raising,  and  the  herds  are  much  smaller,  it  is  possible 
'  for  a  man  who  is  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  business  to 
conduct  a  good  stock  and  dairy  farm,  beginning,  we  will  say,  with 
forty  or  fifty  cows  and  two  or  three  bulls,  with  as  many  yearling 
or  two-year  old  steers  as  he  can  find  pasture  for,  with  a  capital 
at  first  of  not  more  than  ^6,000.  For  this  purpose  he  should 
buy  a  quarter-section,  pre-empt  another,  take  another  under  the 
Homestead  Act,  and  another  still  under  the  Timber-Culture  Act, 
if  on  the  plains,  looking  out  for  the  springs,  and  if  he  makes  a 
wise  selection  he  will  have  the  land  between  the  springs  for  a 
free  range  for  some  years.  He  will  need  to  put  considerable 
money  into  fixtures  for  a  dairy  farm,  to  select  his  cows  from 
Alderney  and  Jersey  grades  if  he  can  find  them  ;  if  not,  Ayrshires 
or  Holsteins  ;  and  he  should  have  at  least  one  Alderney  and  per- 
haps one  Holstein  bull. 

He  should  sow  forage  grasses  largely  and  keep  his  dairy  cows 
near  the  homestead,  feeding  them  freely  as  the  pastures  become 
dry.  He  will  be  able  to  sell  his  steers  at  the  end  of  one  or  two 
years  if  in  good  condition  for  a  very  large  profit,  and  well-made 
butter  and  cheese  always  commands  high  prices  throughout  these 
States  and  Territories. 

An  industrious  and  skilful  dairy  farmer  beginning  in  this  mod- 
erate way  can,  in  ten  years,  have  as  large  a  dairy  as  he  will  wish 
to  manage,  and  sell  every  year  from  ^3,000  to  ^6,000  worth  of 
choice  stock  witl'iout  impairing  the  value  of  his  herd,  and  within 


DAIRY  AND  STOCK  FARMING    COMBINED.  ^^OI 

that  time  lie  can  buy  all  the  land  he  needs  to  pasture,  and,  hav- 
ing it  under  fence,  he  need  employ  no  herders,  and  with  his 
other  farming  can  raise  good  crops  of  grain  and  increase  his 
production  every  year. 

Except  as  we  have  indicated  in  previous  pages,  however,  there 
is  very  little  opportunity  for  a  man  with  little  or  no  capital  to 
engage  in  stock- farming  with  any  reasonable  prospect  of  profit. 
If  he  is  an  expert  in  the  management  of  cattle  he  may  obtain  a 
situation  as  manager  on  one  of  the  joint-stock  ranches,  and, 
under  a  plan  recently  tried  in  Montana,  he  will  eventually  be- 
come wealthy.  This  plan,  as  described  by  Mr,  Zimri  L.  White, 
is  as  follows:  one  or  several  capitalists  purchase  a  herd  of  cattle 
of  as  good  quality  as  possible  and  put  them  in  charge  of  a  man- 
ager in  whom  they  have  confidence ;  he  finds  a  suitable  range 
and  undertakes  the  payment  of  all  the  expenses  of  corrals,  cabins, 
wages  of  herders,  the  hay  provision,  etc.  (the  range  is  free,  being 
on  unsurveyed  lands).  The  capitalists  retain  their  title  in  the 
original  herd,  but  the  manasfer  makes  sales  from  the  increase  of 
the  stock,  and  if  he  chooses  may  buy  from  the  proceeds  yearling 
or  two-year  old  steers  to  fat  and  sell  at  the  end  of  one  or  two 
years.  When  he  has  paid  back  to  the  investors  the  sum  they 
originally  put  in,  he  becomes  the  owner  of  one-third  of  the  herd 
and  of  the  business,  and  receives  thereafter  one-third  of  the  net 
profits  after  paying  the  expenses.  In  ten  years'  time  a  man 
whose  abilities  and  integrity  qualify  him  for  the  position  can 
become  wealthy. 
26 


402  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Sheep-farming  and  Wool-growing — The  Best  Regions  and  the  Best 
Breeds — The  Most  Direct  Routes  thither — The  Methods  of  Sheep- 
farming  IN  OUR  Western  Empire — Capital  Required  in  Different  Sec- 
tions— The  Shepherds — Antagonism  of  the  Herders  and  Shepherds — 
Improving  the  Breeds — Wintering  the  Sheep — Water  in  Abundance  a 
Necessity — Destruction  of  the  Herds  from  Thirst — Snowing  Under — 
Fatal  Effects  of  a  Severe  Norther — The  Shepherd's  Life  more  Isolated 
and  with  less  Excitement  than  that  of  the  Herder  or  Cow-coy — Its 
Risks  and  Dangers— How  to  Buy  and  Stocr  a  Sheep-ranche — The  Amount 
of  Capital  Necessary — The  Cost  and  the  Profits — The  Enemies  of  the 
Sheep — How  a  Poor  Man  can  become  a  Sheep-master. 

The  Increasing  attention  which  has  been  given  within  the  past 
ten  or  twenty  years  to  sheep-farming  In  Great  Britain,  as  w^ell  as 
on  the  continent,  and  the  fact  that  In  the  Austrahan  colonies,  the 
Sguth  African  colonies,  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  It  Is  one 
of  the  chief  branches  of  agricultural  industry,  will  almost  neces- 
sarily inspire  In  the  minds  of  emigrants  from  Great  Britain  or 
the  continent  of  Europe  the  desire  to  engage  in  it  here.  In 
Europe  sheep-farming,  except  on  a  very  small  scale,  cannot  be 
conducted  by  any  but  wealthy  proprietors.  The  land,  especially 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  is  In  few  hands,  and  is  so  valuable  that 
a  sufficiency  of  it  for  a  large  sheep-farm  Is  beyond  the  means  of 
the  small  farmer.  Sheep-pastures,  which  rent  at  from  ;^8  to  ^25 
per  acre,  are  certainly  beyond  the  reach  of  men  of  small  means, 
especially  if  they  reckon  as  they  do  in  Colorado,  In  their  lavish 
way,  that  they  need  to  have  a  range  of  five  acres  to  a  sheep,  in 
order  to  change  their  flocks  from  one  pasture  to  another. 

The  large  and  constantly  increasing  importation  of  sheep  and 
mutton  for  food  purposes  into  Great  Britain  from  Australia, 
Canada,  South  y\frlca,  and  the  United  States,  reduces  the  price 
of  mutton  there  so  low  that  the  farmers  cannot  raise  sheep  for 
their  flesh,  and  the  vast  increase  in  the  production  of  wool,  and 
the  marked  appreciation  in  its  quality  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  as  well  as  in  other  countries,  keeps  down  the  price  of 
that  staple. 


't-^ 


:!TY   \ 


CAPITAL   NEEDED   FOR   SHEEP-FARMING.  403 

Let  US  then  consider  whether  the  immipfrant  comlne  to  the 
West  from  any  part  of  Europe,  or  from  our  own  Atlantic  States, 
with  a  small  capital  can  enter  upon  sheep-farming  with  any  fair 
prospect  of  success  ;  and  if  so,  in  what  region  it  will  be  best  for 
him  to  locate,  and  what  breeds  of  sheep  he  will  fmd  it  most 
profitable  to  rear. 

Let  us  say,  at  the  commencement  of  this  discussion,  that  to 
the  man  who  has  not  at  least  5^2,000  at  his  command,  profitable 
sheep-farm.ing,  except  as  an  employe  of  others,  is  well-nigh  impos- 
sible ;  and  even  with  that  much  capital,  it  is  only  practicable  in  a 
very  few  of  the  States  or  Territories,  and  with  a  much  smaller  flock 
than  would  suit  the  ambition  of  most  of  our  sheep-masters.  For 
starting  on  a  small  scale,  Kansas,  Texas,  and  Colorado  have  some 
great  advantages  and  some  disadvantages.  Perhaps  Kansas  is, 
on  the  whole,  the  best  for  these  small  sheep-farms.  Texas  has 
cheaper  land  and  more  free  range,  but  Kansas  has  enough  for 
all  present  necessities.  The  Texas  sheep  are  yet  so  largely  of 
the  Mexican  breeds,  that  they  yield  but  three  or  four  pounds  of 
wool  at  a  shearing;  the  Kansas  sheep  have  been  improved  till  they 
will  average  over  five  pounds,  perhaps  nearly  six,  and  their  wool 
commands  a  somewhat  better  price  in  the  market.  The  Texas 
sheep  are  subject  to  the  scab,  which  gives  them  great  torture, 
and  sometimes  kills  them  ;  they  suffer  somewhat  also  from  foot- 
rot,  though  not  nearly  as  much  as  some  years  ago.  In  Kansas 
there  is  no  foot-rot,  and  very  little  of  the  scab. 

But,  perhaps,  the  best  testimony  we  can  have  from  either 
State  is  that  furnished  by  the  simple  testimony  of  practical  wool- 
growers,  who  give  their  account  of  their  success  without  any 
motive  to  make  out  a  case  worse  or  better  than  the  facts  will 
warrant.  These  statements  will  be  far  more  satisfactory  to  the 
intending  immigrant  who  desires  to  become  a  sheep-master,  than 
any  theoretical  estimates  which  can  be  figured  out,  because  they 
are  what  has  been  accomplished  by  men  of  average  skill  as  wool- 
growers,  and  men  perhaps  no  more  skillful  than  those  who  desire 
to  engage  In  the  business.  In  Texas,  with  its  vast  flocks  of  sheep 
(about  7,000,000  the  present  year),  the  sheep-masters  do  not 
encourage  small  sheep-farms,  because  they  are  apt  to  be  in  the 


404  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

way  of  their  great  free-ranges,  and,  as  they  allege,  on  account  of 
the  greater  profit  and  advantage  of  handling  them  in  large  flocks  ; 
but  it  is  well  to  note  what  these  sheep-masters  say  of  the  busi- 
ness. Col.  John  James,  a  sheep-master  for  thirty  years,  and 
occupying  an  extensive  tract  west  of  San  Antonio,  writes  that 
that  region  known  as  Western  Texas  is  well  adapted  for  Merino 
sheep.  "  We  have  not  tried  fairly,"  he  says,  "  to  raise  the  finer 
and  heavier  mutton  sheep.  We  know  they  do  not  herd  well,  or 
as  well  as  the  Merinos,  and  a  great  deal  of  expense  is  saved  by 
being  able  to  run  them  in  large  flocks.  The  finer-wooled  sheep 
pay  the  best.  We  know  no  other  disease  among  them  except 
the  scab/'' which  is  not  hard  to  cure,  nor  is  the  expense  heavy  to 
do  so.  We  think  that  the  scab  will  not  originate  in  that  country 
if  the  sheep  are  properly  cared  for  and  kept  out  of  dirty  pens. 
We  have  now  an  excellent  scab  law,  and  that  disease  will  be 
so  generally  controlled  that  we  will  not  hear  much  of  it  from 
this  time  forward.  We  run  our  sheep  in  flocks  of  from  i,ooo  to 
1,500,  generally  as  high  as  the  last  named  figure,  and  we  use 
Mexicans  for  shepherds,  and  pay  them  $12  a  month,  and  rations 
which  cost  about  <6  a  month  more.  The  cost  of  livinc;-  on  a 
ranche  may  be  rated  somewhat  as  to  the  taste  and  habits  of  each 
ranchero.  If  persons  can  economize  labor,  the  outlay  for  food 
is  not  a  serious  item.  Meat  is  abundant  and  cheap,  and  is  gen- 
erally produced  on  the  ranche.  The  people  live  generally  upon 
fresh  meat — cattle,  hogs,  mutton,  chickens,  and  game.  Coffee, 
suirar,  and  flour  cost  hio-her  than  where  there  are  railroads. 
Corn  is  either  raised  on  the  ranche,  or  purchased  at  about  ^i  per 
bushel,  and  there  are  mills  within  reach  to  orind  it. 

"  Sheep  and  cattle  men  care  very  little  for  farming,  their  atten- 
tion in  the  spring  of  the  year  being  devoted  to  their  stock,  which 
then  requires  more  attention  than  at  other  times. 

"We  do  not  pen  our  flocks  at  night;  our  shepherds  sleep  out 
on  the  ridges  at  night  with  the  sheep — the  flocks,  at  night,  being 
near  to  each  other  for  mutual  protection ;  nor  do  we  put  up  any 
feed  for  winter  use.     The  grasses  and  other  food  they  get,  upon 

*  Perhaps  not  in  that  vicinity,  but  in  llie  lower  lands  of  Texas  the  foot-rot  has  been  fearfully 
prevalent  among  the  sheep.      As  the  lands  are  drained  this  disease  disappears. 


COLONEL    JAMBS'    EXPERIENCE.  405 

an  average,  are  as  good  in  January  as  in  June.  Nor  do  we  have 
any  shelter  for  diem  during  stormy  weather,  except  what  we  find 
in  the  ranges  in  the  way  of  thickets  and  undergrowth — the  object 
then  beincr  to  break  off  the  force  of  the  wind. 

"Our  grasses,  we  think,  are  as  nutritious  and  valuable  as  the 
best  cultivated  grasses.  But  the  grasses  are  not  all  that  sheep 
require.  Herbs,  shrubs,  nopal,  and  saline  grasses  and  plants, 
contribute  more  to  fatten  these  animals  than  the  orasses.     These 

o 

last  named  are  peculiar  to  that  country,  and  which  we  Americans 
know  the  names  of,  in  some  instances,  by  the  designation  given 
to  them  by  Mexicans  in  their  own  language,  but  not  otherwise. 

"The  climate  in  the  sheep  country  referred  to  is  generally 
warm,  but  very  healthful — being  tempered  by  the  breezes  from 
the  Gulf  in  summer,  while  our  coldest  weather  comes  as  northers 
— sometimes  wet,  but  oftener  dry.  For  a  considerable  part  of 
the  year  the  atmosphere  has  but  little  moisture  in  it,  and  this  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  it  is  so  good  a  sheep  country.  Often  in 
the  best  ranges  the  sheep  have  to  be  driven  two  or  four  miles  to 
water ;  and  this  is  another  reason  why  the  sheep  thrive  so  well, 
for  sheep  do  not  require  piuch  water.  In  the  hottest  weather, 
water  once  a  day  is  plenty  for  them,  and  they  do  better  so  than 
when  water  is  abundant  in  their  ranges,  for  they  will  drink  it 
when  it  is  better  that  they  should  not.  It  is  true  that  a  dry 
climate  is  the  best  for  sheep, 

"  It  is  doing  well  to  raise  800  lambs  a  year  old  from  1,000  ewes. 
Probably  900  will  be  born,  and  generally  nearly  all  raised.  The 
Merino  sheep  seldom  brings  more  than  one  lamb  Shearing  is 
done  in  May.  A  good  hand  at  that  work  will  shear  and  tie  up 
fifty  fleeces  in  a  day.  If  the  labor  is  employed  off  the  ranche, 
the  cost  of  shearing,  tying  up  the  wool  and  sacking  it,  is  five 
cents  a  fleece.  We  do  not  wash  our  sheep,  and  we  sell  our  wool 
at  San  Antonio. 

"The  fleeces  taken  from  the  fine  Merinos  are  the  heaviest,  the 
Mexican  sheep  furnish  the  lightest  fleece.  My  flock  this  )-ear 
averaged  four  pounds  onl)/='      Our  wethers   are   sold    as    fast 

*This   amount  of  fleece,  or  wein;ht  of  mutton,  would  Tiardly  satisfy  the  more  enterprising 
wool-growers  of  Kansas  and  the  States  farther  north  or  northwest. 


4o6  ^^R     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

as  they  mature,  say  in  the  winter  preceding  the  chp  ;  therefore 
they  are  four  years  old.  Such  was  the  case  the  present  year, 
and  these  animals  produced  the  most  wool. 

"  The  heaviest  fleece  we  sheared  from  a  ram,  raised  at  home, 
gave  over  seventeen  pounds.  Good  wethers  give  from  six  to 
ten  pounds  for  the  year's  growth. 

"  Sheep  kept  in  smaller  flocks  give  more  wool  than  when 
kept  in  large  flocks,  but  not  enough  to  compensate  for  the  extra 
expense. 

"There  are  plenty  of  four-year-old  mutton  sheep  upon  the 
ranchos  now,  in  Uvalde  and  Frio  counties,  which  will  net  sixty 
pounds,  and  will  yield  twenty  pounds  of  tallow,  and  this  is  a 
good  weight  for  Merino  sheep  to  reach. 

"  When  a  wool-grower  has  sheep  enough  to  supply  a  flock 
master,  say  five  thousand  head  or  more,  fifty  cents  a  year  will 
keep  and  care  for  each  sheep,  including  taxes  and  other  ex- 
penditures, and  will  also  enable  a  man  to  procure  and  pay  more 
reliable  labor  than  we  have  now. 

"The  business  suits  single  men  better  at  the  present  time, 
but  upon  the  general  occupation  of  the  country,  that  difficulty 
will  be  less  felt. 

"  Lands  for  sheep  have  been  purchased  generally  during  the 
past  year  at  about  fifty  cents  per  acre,  but  values  are  increasing. 

"Wool-growers  may  begin  upon  a  small  tract  of  land,  but  the 
time  is  at  hand  when  they  will  be  required  to  own  or  rent  the 
land  they  graze  upon.  All  prudent  wool-growers  buy  lands 
adjoining  to  them  as  fast  as  their  means  will  permit  them  to 
do  so. 

"  It  is  true  that  this  business  will  be  an  important  one  in  this 
country.  I  think  it  will  be  second  only  to  the  great  cotton  inter- 
ests of  Texas,  but  it  will  take  time  to  cret  the  breedincr  stock  to 
occupy  the  country.  Sheep  for  breeding  purposes  can  be  got 
from  Mexico,  but  they  are  very  indifferent  in  quality  and  size, 
and  wool  very  coarse ;  otherwise  they  have  to  come  from  the 
Western  States. 

"  By  selling  our  mutton  in  January  or  February,  when  animals 
for  food  are  often  on  the  decline  in  more  northern  counties,  and 


THE   KANSAS  POLICY  IN  SHEEP-FARMING.     '  407 

generally  so  in  other  parts  of  Texas,  we  are  enabled  to  get  fair 
prices,  which  compensates  us  for  the  distance  we  are  from  our 
market ;  this  we  will  call  the  first  crop.  The  second  crop  is  the 
wool  which  comes  into  market  about  the  first  of  May,  and  I 
regard  each  crop  as  more  certain  than  by  cultivating  the  soil." 

The  policy  of  the  Kansas  people  is,  on  the  contrary,  to  encour- 
age sheep-farming  on  a  small  scale,  and  generally  in  connection 
with  the  culture  of  crops  of  grain,  roots,  etc.  There  are  very 
few  of  the  larger  class  of  sheep-ranches  in  Kansas,  no  county 
in  the  State  reporting  18,000  sheep  in  1879,  Y^^  ^^^  ^gg^'^g^.te 
of  the  State  was  about  31  2,000  that  year  ;  and  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing. The  experience  of  these  small  sheep-farmers,  most  of  them 
cultivating  the  soil  also,  and  as  their  several  reports  show,  man- 
aging their  little  flocks  carefully  and  prudently,  cannot  fail  to  be 
interesting  and  instructive  to  those  who  wish  to  follow  their 
example.  We  have  selected  from  a  mass  of  about  150  returns 
to  the  inquiries  of  the  late  excellent  Secretary  of  the  Kansas 
.State  Board  of  Agriculture,  contained  in  his  Quarterly  Report 
for  December  31st,  1879  (really  published  in  February,  1880),. 
six  reports,  one  from  the  extreme  east  of  the  State,  one  from  the 
West,  where  the  sheep  range  is  the  still  unbroken  prairie  with 
its  tufts  of  buffalo  grass,  one  from  the  Northern  Central,  and  one 
from  the  Southern  Central  or  Arkansas  Valley  part  of  the  State, 
and  two  from  the  central  belt  of  counties.  Each  one  tells  his 
own  story  frankly  and  honestly,  and  none  of  them  seem  to  have 
invested  more  than  from  ;^  1,000  to  5^2,000  in  their  enterprise  at 
first,  yet  their  success  has  been  very  fair  for  the  capital  invested, 
and  is  likely  to  be  still  better  in  the  future,  as  the  cultivated,  or 
as  they  call  them,  "tame"  grasses,  take  the  place  of  the  wild 
ones. 

T.  Mcintosh,  Oskaloosa,  Jefferson  County. — "Have  raised  sheep 
here  nine  years;  had  some  experience  in  Iowa.  Own  200  head 
now.  Original  stock  obtained  in  this  State.  Long-wooled 
breeds,  such  as  Cotswolds  and  Leicesters,  are  best  for  both  wool 
and  mutton.  My  ewes  average  about  a  lamb  a  piece.  Average 
weight  of  fieece  from  my  sheep  is  a  trifle  less  than  seven  pounds. 
Sell  mutton  at    home  for  three  cents.     Sold  wool  in   1879  for 


.q3  our   western  empire. 

twenty-two  cents.  Lonor,  fine  wool  most  profitable.  Wethers 
may  be  kept  until  three  or  four  years  old;  ewes  until  seven. 
Lose  from  two  to  three  per  cent,  of  my  flock  annually  by  natural 
causes  ;  doos  kill  about  two  per  cent. ;  wolves  this  year  got  three 
per  cent.  My  sheep  run  on  prairie  in  summer;  kept  in  a  dog- 
proof  corral  at  night.  Turn  them  on  tame  pasture  towards  fall, 
and  when  this  begins  to  fail  commence  feeding  prairie  hay,  millet 
or  clover,  increasing  the  hay  until  they  have  all  they  will  eat. 
As  cold  weather  comes  on,  feed  a  little  corn,  gradually  increas- 
ing quantity  until  they  get  an  ear  apiece  each  day;  give  corn 
morning  and  night,  and  all  the  hay  they  will  eat  clean  ;  salt  twice 
a  week  in  summer,  and  once  in  winter.  Last  year  I  had  148 
sheep,  worth  ^333 — sold  wool  for  ;$203.28  ;  mutton,  $31.50  = 
$23.4.78;  and  have  now  208  head,  worth  $600.  Dogs  and 
wolves  are  great  drawbacks  here  to  success  in  raising  sheep." 

A.  y.  Uhl,  Douglass,  Butler  County. — "  Have  been  for  thirteen 
years  raising  sheep  in  Kansas ;  previously  had  experience  in 
Illinois  and  Texas.  Find  Kansas  has  much  drier  climate,  not  sa 
much  mud;  sheep  lots  and  corrals  can  be  kept  in  much  better 
condition  ;  no  fear  of  foot  rot,  unless  shipped  in  with  stock  from 
abroad ;  much  larger  percentage  of  lambs  can  be  raised  on 
account  of  dry  weather  at  dropping  time,  which,  with  me,  is  in 
March  and  April.  In  Texas,  grass  dried  too  soon,  and  winter 
feed  cost  too  much.  My  flock  came  originally  from  Michigan  ; 
have  owned  same  stock  for  eighteen  years ;  in  that  time  had 
rams  from  Vermont,  Illinois  and  Missouri.  All  seemed  to  do 
well,  from  whatever  section  they  came,  with  proper  care.  Many 
bring  sheep  to  Kansas  late  in  fall,  thin  in  flesh,  half  feed  them, 
then  attribute  failure  to  acclijuation.  I  think  crood  feed  and 
proper  care  all  the  acclimation  needed  in  Kansas.  Have  at 
present  478  in  my  flock;  1,000  may  be  successfully  kept  in  one 
flock.  I  consider  Cotswold  ewes,  bred  to  Merino  rams,  best 
cross  for  wool ;  for  mutton,  Southdowns  preferable.  My  expe- 
rience is,  however,  that  mutton  alone  will  not  pay  ;'for  both  wool 
and.  mutton,  cross  from  Cotswolds  and  Merinos  best.  I  raise 
eighty-five  per  cent,  of  all  lambs  dropped.  My  average  weight 
of  fleece,  in  i  S79,  seventeen  and  a  quarter  pounds.     Sell  my  mut- 


A    A'AA'SAS  FARMER'S  FLOCK.  ^qq 

ton  in  Wichita  at  ^3.40  per  100  pounds,  gross.  Price  of  ewes, 
culled,  ^5;  wethers,  ^4.  My  wool  for  1879  brought  twenty 
cents  per  pound.  Most  profitable  grade  of  wool,  in  my  opinion, 
cross  of  Merinos  and  Cotswolds.  Six  years  about  as  long  as 
profitable  to  keep  sheep.  My  loss  from  natural  causes  about 
five  per  cent, ;  none  from  disease,  wolves  or  dogs ;  sheep  herded 
during  day,  at  night  kept  in  corral.  Put  my  sheep  on  prairie  as 
soon  as  grass  is  high  enough  in  spring,  and  keep  there  till  fall, 
then  turn  into  corn-field;  when  that  is  eaten,  feed  shock-corn 
remainder  of  winter.  Have  owned  sheep  twenty-one  years ; 
they  have  always  been  profitable ;  some  years  have  made  ninety 
per  cent.,  and  with  exception  of  one  or  two  years,  never  less 
than  fifty  per  cent,  on  the  investment.  Do  not  think  it  best  to 
keep  goats  with  sheep.  Greatest  drawback  to  success,  dogs. 
They  are  a  great  nuisance,  and  should  be  heavily  taxed." 

A.  B.  Boylan,  Lakiji,  Kearney  County,  in  the  extreme  west  of 
the  State. — "Have  been  in  the  sheep  business  in  Kansas  three 
years.  My  flock  now  numbers  500;  1,000  may  be  successfully 
kept  in  one  flock.  Original  stock  of  ewes  came  from  New 
Mexico,  rams  from  Kansas ;  rams  from  the  East  do  not  do  well 
here  first  season  ;  Missouri  ewes  must  be  acclimated.  Colorado 
half-bred  ewes  bred  to  pure  Merino  bucks  are  most  profitable 
for  both  wool  and  mutton.  Annual  increase  in  my  flock,  seventy 
per  cent,  ;  Mexican  sheep  are  most  prolific.  Fleeces  from  my 
sheep  average  four  and  a  quarter  pounds.  Kansas  City  is  our 
market  for  mutton.  Ewes  are  worth  ^2  ;  wethers,  $1.75  to  ^2. 
Sold  clip  of  1879  at  25^  cents.  Sheep  can  be  kept  with  profit 
till  four  years  old.  My  losses  from  natural  causes,  about  five 
per  cent,  per  annum  ;  have  lost  no  sheep  by  disease  or  dogs ; 
wolves  have  killed  fifteen  head  in  three  years.  During  summer 
my  sheep  range  .the  prairie,  and  are  corraled  at  night;  in  winter, 
are  on  the  prairie  except  during  storms,  when  they  are  kept 
under  sheds  ;  if  the  storm  lasts  more  than  from  six  to  ten  hours, 
they  are  fed.wlth  hay ;  have  never  had  grain,  and  at  no  time 
have  consumed  ten  pounds  of  hay  per  head  during  winter. 
Original  stock  cost  $350;  have  sold  wool  and  mutton  to  the 
amount  of  $530.40,  and  have  on  hand  512  sheep  worth  $2  each, 


4 JO  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

or  $1,024.  Goats  are  advantageous  to  lead  sheep;  there  are 
eight  in  my  flock,  that  lead  the  sheep  out  in  the  morning  and 
back  at  night.  I  see  no  drawback  to  successful  sheep-culture 
here ;  if  sheep  are  sheltered  from  storms,  and  not  allowed  to  get 
chilled,  there  is  no  fear  of  disease." 

y.  L.  Grinnell,  Pcabody,  Marion  County. — "  Have  raised  sheep 
here  four  years ;  was  never  in  the  business  elsewhere.  Have 
500  now;  ewes  from  Iowa,  bucks  from  Missouri.  They  do  bet- 
ter second  year  than  first.  For  wool,  a  cross  of  Merino  and 
Cotswold  is  most  profitable ;  for  mutton.  Southdown,  or  cross  of 
Southdown  and  Cotswold ;  and  this  last  is  also  preferable  for 
both  wool  and  mutton.  Increase  in  my  flock  was  108  lambs 
from  100  ewes.  Cotswolds  are  most  prolific.  Average  weight 
of  fleece  from  my  sheep,  six  and  a  quarter  pounds.  Only  local 
market  for  mutton  ;  price,  ^3  per  head.  Delaine  or  combing- 
wool  most  profitable.  Pays  to  keep  wethers  until  four  years  old 
for  wool,  rather  than  to  sell  younger  for  mutton  ;  good  breeding 
ewes  should  be  kept  until  exhausted.  Losses  from  natural 
causes,  about  three  per  cent,  per  annum  ;  none  by  disease  or 
wolves  ;  dogs  killed  this  year  about  one  and  a  half  per  cent.  My 
flock  is  herded  by  day  and  corraled  at  night  during  summer;  in 
wanter,  kept  in  yards  with  good  sheds ;  on  fair  days,  allowed  to 
range  in  stalk-fields. 

Original  cost  of  flock .  ^75° 

Original  cost  of  bucks 200 

Lost  by  dogs 220 

Lost  by  other  causes •  300 

Total $1,470 

Value  of  wool  sold $1,340 

"Value  of  mutton  sold 273 

Present  value  of  flock 1,600 

Total g3>2i3 

Drawbacks  are  want  of  tame  grass  for  fall  pasture,  and  dogs. 

JoscpJi  Hostcttcr,  Glasco,  Cloud  County. — "  Have  been  raising 
sheep  for  six  years  in  Kansas ;  previously  handled  sheep  in 
Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania.     Some  of  the  advantages  Kansas 


HOW  MR.    nOSTETTER   SUCCEEDED.     .  ^jj 

possesses  over  Pennsylvania  are :  less  expense  in  handling-, 
cheaper  feed  and  pasture,  a  drier  and  more  healthy  climate,  and 
shorter  winters.  Have  now  650 ;  obtained  my  rams  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Wisconsin  ;  ewes  I  bought  in  Kansas — the 
stock  coming  originally  from  Ohio.  For  wool  I  deem  the 
American  Merino  most  profitable;  do  not  know  what  breed  or 
cross  would  be  most  profitable  for  mutton  ;  have  always  raised 
for  wool,  mutton  being-  a  secondary  object ;  for  both  wool  and 
mutton,  should  prefer  a  cross  from  Cotswold  ewes  with  Merino 
rams.  Average  annual  increase  of  my  flock,  about  ninety  per 
cent,  of  number  of  ewes.  Maximum  weight  of  fleece  twenty- 
five  pounds,  minimum  two,  average  eight  pounds  ten  ounces. 
Kansas  City  is  our  market  for  mutton.  Price  of  ewes  ranges 
from  $2.50  to  %/^\  wethers,  %2  to  $2.50.  My  clip  of  1879  sold  for 
twenty-two  and  a  quarter  cents  per  pound.  Most  profitable 
grade  of  wool,  long  Merino.  Keep  my  wethers  for  wool  till  they 
are  four  years  old;  good  ewes  may  be  kept  profitably  till  they 
die.  Losses  in  my  flock  from  natural  causes  are  about  one  per 
cent,  annually,  and  some  from  all  other  causes.  My  sheep 
are  herded  through  the  summer  ;  during  middle  of  hot  days,  keep 
them  in  the  shade  ;  allow  plenty  of  water  and  salt,  and  corral  at 
night.  During  winter  feed  all  the  prairie  hay  they  will  eat,  and 
a  bushel  of  corn  to  each  100  head  per  day;  also  range  them  on 
the  stalk  fields  and  on  prairie,  in  good  weather ;  have  good 
warm  sheds  in  the  corral,  which  are  always  open  to  them;  never 
shut  them  up  except  during  bad  storms  and  at  lambing-time. 
Sheep  eat  about  one  and  a  half  tons  of  hay  per  100  head 
each  month.  Cost  and  profit  of  my  flock  last  season  was  as 
follows: 

490  head,  at  $3,  (190  ewes) $1,470  00 

Interest  i  year,  at  10  per  cent 147  00 

Herding  7  months,  at  ;^5 35  00 

700  bushels  corn,  at  15  cents 105  00 

35  tones  hay,  at  ;^2        70  00 

Shearing,  5  cents  per  head 25  00 

Loss,  5  head,  at  ^3 15  00 

Total ;$i,S67  00 


412  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Spring  of  1879,  650  head  at  ^3 $i>95o  00 

Wool,  4,191  lbs.,  at  22j!^  cents        932  50 

Total $2,882  50 

Profit $1,015  50 


"  Being-  too  poor  to  buy  sheep  is  the  only  drawback  I  know  of 
to  successful  sheep  husbandry  in  Kansas.  From  my  experience, 
I  find  that  where  a  farmer  takes  good  care  of  his  sheep,  it  always 
proves  a  success,  and  I  think  it  is  to-day  the  best  paying  business 
in  the  country." 

H.  MatJiics,  HaUtcad,  Harvey  County. —  "  Have  had  five  years' 
experience  in  sheep-culture  here,  and  some  years  in  Central 
Iowa.  Points  in  favor  of  Kansas  for  sheep-raising  are,  mild,  dry 
climate,  less  cold  rains  in  lambing-time,  great  variety  of  rich 
grass,  longer  time  for  grazing,  and  less  feed  required.  My  flock 
numbers  750;  original  stock  came  from  Illinois  and  Missouri; 
prefer  Kansas  sheep.  Merinos  are  most  profitable  for  wool ; 
for  mutton,  Cotswolds  crossed  with  Southdown;  for  both  wool 
and  mutton,  Merino  ewes  crossed  with  Cotswold  bucks.  Pleeces 
from  my  flock  average  five  pounds.  Ewes  are  worth  $2.50  to 
^3.  Sold  wool  of  1879  for  twenty-five  cents.  Most  profitable 
wool  is  from  lone-wooled  Merinos.  Should  never  sell  wethers 
before  maturity.  Sheep  may  be  profitably  kept  till  five  or  six 
years  old.  No  losses  from  other  than  natural  causes,  about 
three  per  cent,  annually.  My  flock  is  herded,  and  corraled  at 
night.  During  summer  are  kept  on  open  prairie  ;  watered  once 
a  day.  Have  salt  in  a  trough  in  corral  at  all  times.  Have  a 
good  shed,  open  to  south,  in  winter;  feed  about  five  bushels  of 
corn  a  day;  sometimes  feed  straw,  but  usually  hay,  giving  all 
they  will   eat;   in    nice  weather,  often   turn   them   on  the  prairie. 

"The  flock  has  cost  about  ^1,068;  expenses,  ^302*;  total, 
^1,370;  receipts  to  date,  $2,315  ;  present  value  of  flock,  $2,085; 
total,  $4,400.  Deduct  cost,  $1,370;  net  income,  $3,030.  Want 
of  shade  in  Summer;  and'  carelessness  on  the  part  of  owners, 
are  the  drawbacks  to  successful' sheep  husbandry. 

"A  practice  prevails  in  some  parts  of  the  State  by  which  a 
farmer  who  has  a  flock  of  -sheep,  but  who  prefers   to  give  his 


RENTING    OUT  SHEEP.  .j- 

attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  rents  his  flock  to  another 
sheep-master,  who  manages  it  as  skilfully  as  he  knows  how, 
sellinor  off  the  older  and  lower  crrade  ewes  and  wethers,  and 
makes  up  their  number  from  the  increase  of  the  flock,  shears 
and  sells  the  wool  and  gives  to  the  owner  of  the  flock  one-half 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  and  wool,  and  one-half  of  the  lambs 
after  the  losses  and  sales  are  made  good.  By  this  plan  it  is  said 
that  the  owner  of  the  flock  realizes  about  thirty  per  cent,  on  his 
investment." 

But  it  is  true,  as  Colonel  James  says,  that  the  proportional 
profit  from  large  flocks  is  greater  than  from  small  ones,  and 
this  profit  increases  in  almost  a  geometrical  ratio,  when  the  flock 
reaches  its  tens  of  thousands.  In  illustration  of  this  we  give 
statements  thoroughly  verified  of  two  sheep-ranches  or  farms  of 
more  than  2,000  sheep,  the  first  that  of  Mr.  G.  H.  Wadsworth, 
of  Pawnee  county,  in  Southwest  Kansas,  south  of  the  Arkansas 
river,  as  furnished  by  him  with  illustrations  of  buildings,  corrals, 
etc.,  to  the  Kansas  State  Board  of  Agriculture;  and  the  other  a 
sheep-farm  in  Colorado,  started  in  1875  by  a  Mr.  C,  formerly 
of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  as  reported  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Coleman  in  the 
Christian  Union,  of  May  19,  1880. 

"In  March,  1S76,  Mr.  G.  H.  Wadsworth  took  up  under  the 
Homestead  and  Timber-Culture  Acts  320  acres  of  government 
land,  situated  eleven  miles  south  of  the  Arkansas  river,  in  Pawnee 
county,  and  the  same  distance  from  Larned,  the  county-seat. 
The  first  improvement  on  the  land  was  the  building  of  a  stable, 
consisting  of  six  posts  covered  with  straw,  sided  up  with  rough 
lumber,  with  sod  wall  on  the  outside.  This  house  was  used  by 
the  men  breaking  prairie  and  opening  up  the  farm,  during  the 
summer.  In  August  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Wadsworth  moved 
his  family  to  his  farm.  In  October,  he  brought  his  flock,  2,085 
head  in  all,  and  turned  on  the  range.  Before  winter  set  in  Mr. 
Wadsworth  had  built  two  sheep-sheds,  each  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet  long  by  twenty-nine  feet  wide,  one  running 
east  and  west,  cornering  with  the  other  running  north  and  south, 
forming  two  sides  of  a  square  pointing  to  the  northwest  and 
open  to  the  southeast.     A  light  portable  fence  running  around 


414 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


the  open  sides  of  this  square  completed  the  corral.  A  stable 
was  also  built,  measuring  fourteen  by  thirty-two  feet,  and  con- 
nectinof  with  the  south  end  of  the  shed  runningf  north  and  south. 
At  the  same  time  a  well  was  dug,  thirty  feet  deep,  and  a  wind- 
mill put  up,  with  a  capacity  for  raising  water  for  10,000  sheep. 
In  1877,  Mr.  Wadsworth  built  his  present  residence  at  a  cost 
of  about  $1,500;  and  in  1879,  a  granary  large  enough  to  hold 
2,500  bushels  of  wheat,  with  shed  for  farming  implements  and 
two  buggies,  twenty-four  by  thirty-two  feet,  at  a  cost  of  $100. 
The  roof  was  thatched  with  broom-corn,  and  fastened  with  wire. 
There  are  no  fences  on  the  farm  except  the  portable  one  around 
the  corral,  the  herd  law  being  in  force  In  the  county.  On  the 
right  are  two  sheds,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  by  twenty- 
nine  feet  each,  which  cost,  including  corral,  $525,  the  lumber 
used  costing  $30  per  thousand  feet.  On  the  south,  and  connect- 
ing with  the  shed  running  north  and  south,  is  the  stable,  fourteen 
by  thirty-two  feet,  which  cost  $20.  Next  south  is  the  sod  shanty, 
the  first  home,  which  cost  $75.  Farther  south  is  the  granary 
and  tool-shed  already  mentioned,  while  back  of  this  is  the  new 
home.  The  wind-mill  cost  $50  ;  the  well  underneath,  $20.  Near 
the  wind-mill  is  a  reservoir  made  of  two-inch  plank,  five  by  six- 
teen, and  three  feet  deep,  supplying  four  troughs,  each  sixteen 
feet  long  and  one  foot  wide ;  ample  to  water  4,000  sheep ;  cost 
$35.  Near  the  well  are  appliances  for  dipping.  The  boiler  is 
eighteen  inches  deep,  thirty  inches  wide,  and  eight  feet  long,  with 
plank  sides  and  galvanized  iron  bottom,  in  a  clay  and  pardy 
excavated  furnace;  the  smoke-stack  is  ten-inch  stove-pipe — total 
cost,  |;7.  The  dipping-vat  is  built  of  two-inch  pine,  and  is  six- 
teen inches  wide,  five  feet  deep,  and  twelve  feet  long  at  the  top. 
The  end  fardiest  from  the  dripping-platform  is  perpendicular, 
but  the  end  nearest  the  platform  slopes  from  the  upper  edge 
inward,  for  six  feet,  or  to  the  middle  of  the  vat,  forming  at  once 
the  end  and  the  bottom  of  one-half  of  it.  On  this  slope  are 
nailed  cross-slats,  to  give  the  sheep  a  foothold  to  walk  out.  It 
leads  to  the  dripping-platform,  an  ascending  inclined  plane,  six- 
teen feet  long  by  ten  feet  wide,  divided  by  a  fence  supporting  a 
cut-gate  at  the  lower  end,  and  at  the  upper  end  a  gate  for  each 


MR.    WADSWORTirS  SHEEP-RAXCIIE. 


415 


division.  The  floor  is  made  of  matched  stuff,  with  half-inch 
strips  covering  the  joints.  Over  these,  and  crossways,  are  nailed 
inch  strips,  to  give  the  sheep  a  foothold.  The  half-inch  strips 
make  the  floor  water- tight,  make  a  clear  run-way  under  the 
cross-slats  for  the  drip,  and  guide  it  back  to  the  vat.  When  one 
division  of  the  platform  is  filled  with  drying  sheep,  the  cut-gate 
is  swung  so  as  to  shut  them  in  and  open  the  lower  end  of  the 
other  division.  When  this  is  nearly  filled,  the  upper  gate  of  the 
first  division  is  opened,  and  the  sheep  are  driven  out  by  way  of 
the  descending  platform,  making  room  to  gather  in  a  fresh  lot 
from  the  vat  while  those  in  the  other  division  are  dripping. 
These  steps  are  repeated  until  all  are  dipped,  thereby  economiz- 
inor  time  and  fluid. 

"  The  portable  corral  fence  is  so  arranged  that  the  pen  from 
which  the  sheep  are  taken  to  the  vat  holds  only  100  sheep  at  a 
time,  and  connects  by  a  gate  with  a  larger  pen  capable  of  hold- 
ing 1,000.  The  liquor  used  for  dipping  is  made  of  tobacco,  fifty 
pounds,  sulphur  two  pounds,  and  arsenic  one  pound,  for  each 
100  sheep  ;  cost,  $2.30.  The  liquor  is  prepared  the  day  previous 
to  dipping,  when  the  large  reservoir  from  the  well  is  brought 
into  use.  The  liquor  is  boiled  and  run  off  into  this  reservoir. 
On  dipping-day  the  liquor  is  run  back  into  the  boiler,  again 
heated,  and  gradually  fed  into  the  vat  as  needed — since  it  is 
much  more  effective  when  used  warm.  Cost  of  vat,  $10.50,  dip- 
ping-platform, $6,  and  boiler,  $7 ;  cost  of  apparatus  complete, 
^23.50,  with  which  four  men  can  dip  3,000  sheep  in  one  day. 
The  sub-ranche  is  six  miles  from  the  farm — its  improvements 
consisting  of  shepherds'  sod  house,  $50 ;  well,  wind-mill,  and 
watering-troughs,  $100;  with  sheds  and  corral  for  2,000  sheep, 
$400;   total,  $550. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  furnishes  the  following  statement  of  receipts 
and  expenditures  for  the  three  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  the 
sheep  business  on  his  present  farm : 

.   COST    OF    RANCHE. 

Shepherds'  house ^75  00 

Sheds  and  corral 5-5  °° 

Windmill,  well,  and  watering-troughs 105  00 


4i6 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Dipping-vats,  boiler,  etc ^23  50 

Incidentals 50  00 


Total $778  50 

The  land  on  which  the  ranchc  is  locate;:!  was  homesteaded,  and 
cost  the  usual  government  fees.  Operations  commenced  Octo- 
ber I,  1876,  with  1,000  ewes,  1,062  wethers  and  lambs,  and  23 
bucks — 2,085  head  in  all. 

Receipts  and  expenses  for  the  year  ending  October  1,  1877 : 

EXPENSES. 


Two  shepherds       ....  $600  00 

Shearing 150  00 

Dipping 85  00 

Grain 210  00 

Hay 200  00 

23  sheep,  died  .      .     .     .     .  5  7  5° 
15  slieep,  killed   by  wolves 

and  dogs 37  5° 


Total ;5i,34o  00 


RECEIPTS. 

Wool  sold ;^i>95o  00 

Ewes  sold i>25o  00 

Wethers  and  bucks  sold  .      .        225  50 


Total 53>425  50 


For  year  ending  October  i,  1878  : 


^600  00 


EXPENSES. 

Two  shepherds 

Grain      .     .     .     .     .     .     .  1 75  00 

Hay 140  GO 

Shearing 150  00 

Dipping 85  00 

14  sJK'cp,  died 35  00 

13  sheep,  killed   by  wolves 

and  dogs 32  50 


RECEIPTS. 

Wool  sold ^2,150  00 

Ewes  sold 1)375  00 

Wethers  and  bucks  sold  .     .        762  50 


Total $1,21750 

For  year  ending  October  i,  1879 

EXPENSES. 

Two  shepherds 

Grain 

Hay 

Shearing,  dipping,  etc.    . 
16  sheej),  died  .... 


Total $4,287  50 


$600 

00 

I  20 

00 

125 

CO 

300 

00 

40 

00 

Total ^1,185  00 


RECEIPTS. 

Wool  sold ^ijSoo  00 

.     .    1,750  00 


Ewes  and  wethers 


Total $S)55°  °o 


A    COLOR  A  DO    SHEEP  FARM.  417 

For  these  three  years  the  total  expenses  are  ;^3,742.5o,  total 
receipts,  ^i  1,263,  leaving  a  net  cash  profit  of  $7,420.50  on  orig- 
inal investment  of  $4,948.50.  The  original  Hock  was  worth  $2 
each,  or  $4,170  in  all.  Prom  this  he  has  graded  up  a  flock  of 
2,200,  all  young  and  in  fine  condition,  valued  at  $3  each,  or 
$6,600  in  all.  This  gives  an  additional  proht  of  $2,430.  The 
entire  original  stock  of  ewes  and  wethers  has  been  disposed  of 
by  the  ordinary  sales,  so  that  only  young  and  well-graded  sheep 
now  remain. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  combines  general  farming  with  sheep-raising. 
In  addition  to  the  320  acres  secured  from  the  government,  he 
has  bought  480  more,  at  a  cost  of  $1,400. 

In  1S77,  he  had  twenty  acres  in  wheat,  yielding  400  bushels; 
in  1878,  he  had  130  acres  in  wheat,  yielding  3,000  bushels;  in 
1879,  he  had  75  acres  in  wheat,  yielding  858  bushels.  And 
now  he  has  growing  seventy-five  acres  of  wheat  and  forty  acres 
of  rye.  The  wheat  has  pastured  the  sheep  every  winter,  much 
to  the  benefit  of  both. 

The   items  of  hay  and  grain  in   the  statements  of  expenses 
were  not  bought,  but  raised  on  the  farm,  and  the  charge  against 
the  sheep  account  is  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  former  account.. 
Millet,  rye,  and  wheat   straw,  with   corn  sown    thick,  cut  green 
and  cured,  are  used  as  the  principal  winter  feed,  about  one  ton. 
of  fodder  being  required  for  every  100  sheep. 

Mr.  Coleman's  narrative  of  the  Colorado  sheep-ranche  is  as 
follows : 

In  the  fall  of  1874,  G.,  a  young  man  of  consumptive  tendencies, 
after  several  years  of  office  work  in  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  and  elsewhere, 
found  his  health  steadily  failing,  and  was  led  to  spend  the  winter 
in  Colorado.  He  rapidly  improved  during  his  stay  there,  and  by 
spring  had  decided  to  remain  and  engage  in  sheep-farming.  He 
entered  eighty  acres  under  the  homestead  law,  in  El  Paso  county, 
about  twenty-five  miles  from  Colorado  Springs,  and  stocked  it 
with  1,250  long-wooled  INIexican  sheep,  at  $2  delivered,  and 
twenty-hve  Merino  bucks  from  the  east  at  $25  each.  He  was 
industrious  and  a  good  manager,  and  now,  at  the  end  of  five 
27 


,l8  OUR    IVESTERX  EAfPlRE. 

years,  hedias  eighteen  ranches/^'  6,000  sheep,  and  occupies  100 
square  miles  of  land.  The  slender,  delicate  young-  man  has 
grown  ru<jued  and  robust,  and  wei^^hs  184  pounds.  From  letters 
and  conversations  I  propose  to  briefly  outline  the  character  of  a 
Colorado  sheep-farm. 

A  ranche  or  ranch  is  a  definite  term  for  a  spring"  of  water  and 
some  rude  buildings,  and  an  indefinite  amount  of  grazing  land. 
These  springs  are  found  at  various  points  on  the  plains,  mostly 
in  ravines,  and  several  miles  apart,  and  the  owner  is  entided,  by 
mutual  consent  of  the  farmers,  to  graze  the  land  on  either  side 
halfway  to  the  next  spring.  It  is  an  object  therefore  to  buy  as 
many  springs  and  as  little  land  as  possible.  In  securing  new 
ranches,  G.  would  enter  them  in  his  herdsmen's  names,  and  then 
buy  of  them  at  a  low  figure.  The  spring  is  literally  the  main- 
spring of  sheep-farming,  as  the  land  is  valueless  without  water, 
and  wells  have  been  sunk  600  and  800  feet  without  obtaining 
water.  There  is  neither  dew^  nor  rain  except  for  a  brief  time  in 
spring.  The  water  is  carefully  used,  being  pumped  into  reser- 
voirs, and  the  sheep  watered  from  troughs. 

The  native  orass  is  thin  and  w^rv,  and  Ljrows  in  bunches  six  or 
eifrht  inches  hieh.  Once  eaten  off  it  does  not  renew  itself  in  the 
same  season.  The  sheep  are  pastured  all  the  year  round,  and 
hay  is  fed  only  when  the  grass  is  buried  in  snow.  The  range 
needed  for  each  sheep  is  five  acres,  as  frequent  shifting  is  neces- 
sary. 

The  buildings  are  a  pitch-pine  cabin  for  the  ranchmen,  and  a 
corral  or  sheep-pen,  100  by  150  feet  square,  and  enclosed  by  a 
tight  board-fence  six  feet  high.  It  has  no  roof,  as  experience 
shows  that  sheep  in  covered  pens  are  often  smothered  by  snow-- 
drifts. When  exposed  to  a  storni  the  sheep  pack  together  and 
keep  warm.  After  the  pasturage  at  one  ranche  is  exhausted 
the  furniture  of  the  cabin,  the  pump,  and  the  troughs  are  carried 
to  the  ranche  that  is  next  used. 

The  ranchmen  are  often  intelligent  Eastern   men,  who  have 

t 

*In  most  of  the  Western  States  and  Territories  the  lanche  or  rancli  is  the  name  applied  to 
the  entire  sheep  or  cattle-farm,  and  these  sections  of  it,  to  which  the  sheen  are  moved  for  new 
pasture,  are  z^W^fS.  iub  i-amhei,  or,  as  in  Australia,  stations. 


THE   SIIEPITERD'S   MONOTONOUS  LIFE.  ^jg 

come  to  Colorado  for  their  health.  They  get  about  <^20  per 
month  and  board.  Two  usually  occupy  the  same  cabin  for  com- 
pany, and  each  man  is  to  take  care  of  about  2,000  sheep.  They 
do  most  of  their  cooking  at  night,  after  the  day's  work  is  over, 
so  as  to  start  out  at  sunrise,  and  be  with  the  sheep  during  the 
day.  Contrary  to  the  common  idea,  they  do  not  ride,  but  go 
afoot,  and  seldom  use  dogs — if  the  owner  knows  it.  Their  pro- 
visions are  brought  to  them  at  regular  intervals,  and  are  chiefly 
canned  fruits  and  flour.  They  get  their  meat  from  the  flock.  So 
great  is  the  consumption  of  baking-powder  (which  is  a  costly 
article)  that  G.  finally  bought  it  by  the  barrel,  and  issued  regular 
(diluted)  rations. 

The  work  of  the  herdmen  is  monotonous.  The  sheep  are  to 
be  driven  and  watched  by  day,  and  watered  and  corraled  at 
night,  and  that  is  about  all  there  is  to  it,  most  of  the  time. 
Sundays  are  the  same  as  other  days,  and  the  ranchman  soon 
forgets  the  days  of  the  week.  At  night  he  plays  cards,  or,  if  he 
has  books  and  papers,  which  is  rare,  he  reads.  G.  takes  pains 
to  save  papers  and  distribute  them  in  rotation  to  his  men.  Dur- 
ing storms  the  sheep  are  held  in  the  corral  for  several  days,  but 
are  then  driven  out,  even  if  the  storm  has  not  abated,  and  from 
the  wind-swept  spots  they  get  a  bite.  Every  day  they  are  counted 
in  a  rough  way,  by  counting  up  all  the  black  sheep,  whose  num- 
ber is  known,  and  once  a  v\'eek  they  are  separately  counted  by 
passing  them  through  a  narrow  passage  into  the  corral.  'By  the 
use  of  a  swing-gate  the  sheep  can  be  diverted  to  either  part  of 
the  corral,  when  it  is  desired  to  separate  any  grade  or  class  of 
sheep.  There  is  a  steady  leakage  in  a  large  flock,  and  when 
counted  they  are  always  three  or  four  short. 

The  lambing  time  is  arranged  to  come  in  May,  to  avoid  the 
rains  of  March  and  April.  The  percentage  of  loss  is  usually 
small  in  a  well-manaeed  herd.  Two  years  aofo  2,2 2  =c  ewes  raised 
2,006  lambs.  One  hundred  and  thirty-eight  were  dropped  in  one 
day,  and  in  ten  days  1,100.  Up  to  January  13.  1S78,  only  two 
sheep  and  three  lambs  were  lost  out  of  4,700.  But  the  following 
winter  was  very  severe,  and  the  lambing  of  1879  was  reduced  to 
an  average  of  fifty  to  fifty-five  per  cent.     G.'s  was  sixty- eight  per 


^20  ^^'-^     IVESTEKX    EMPIRE. 

cent.,  and  he  lost  175  lambs.  The  clip  of  wool  was  also  reduced. 
When  1,000  sheep  and  1,000  lambs  are  turned  into  the  corral 
there  is  a  tremendous  bleating  until  the  lambs  and  their  mothers 
o;^et  tOQ^ether.  A  long,  narrow  pen,  with  di\'isions  holding  one  sheep 
each,  is  used  for  the  sheep  without  lambs.  A  motherless  lamb 
is  given  to  each  one,  and  they  are  kept  together  until  the  lamb 
is  owned — usually  two  days.  The  bottom  boards  of  the  pen  are 
nailed  on  the  outside  of  the  posts,  so  that  the  lambs  can  slip  under 
when  in  danger  of  beinof  lain  on.  The  lambs  are  weaned  the 
first  of  October,  and  taken  to  another  ranche. 

Shearing  is  usually  done  in  June,  but  G.  waits  till  July,  both  to 
gain  in  weight  of  fleece  (a  sheep  sometimes  gains  a  pound  of 
wool-weight  in  a  hot  week),  and  to  get  help  at  a  lower  figure 
than  he  could  when  everybody  was  shearing.  The  work  is  done 
by  Mexicans,  who  come  north  for  the  purpose.  They  get  five 
cents  per  sheep,  and  shear  fifty  to  one  hundred  per  day,  using 
shears  with  very  long  blades.  The  sheep  are  not  washed.  A 
Mexican  sheep  shears  thirty  cents'  worth  of  wool,  a  grade  sheep 
one  dollar's  worth.  G.'s  shearing  is  done  by  twelve  men  in  two 
weeks.  As  fast  as  the  fleeces  are  delivered  to  the  tyer  the 
shearer  receives  a  ticket,  and  at  the  close  of  the  shearing  two  or 
three  men  are  usually  found  to  hold  all  the  tickets.  The  Mexi- 
cans are  ereat  ramblers,  and  contrive  to  lose  their  earninors 
before  they  are  in  hand.  Each  fleece  is  put  in  a  box  w^th  four 
strings,  and  tied,  then  put  in  large  sacks  holding  500  or  600 
pounds  each.  These  are  drawn  to  market  by  a  "bull  team;" 
either  three  wagons  fastened  together  and  drawn  by  twelve  yoke 
of  oxen,  or  one  wagon  drawn  by  seven  yoke.  G.'s  clip  of  1878 
was  18,000  pounds,  which  cost  two  cents  by  rail  to  Boston,  and 
netted  there  twenty  cents  per  pound.  It  can,  however,  be  sold 
to  good  advantage  at  Colorado  Springs,  and  the  clip  of  1879, 
20,000  pounds,  G.  "pooled"  with  a  neighbor  who  had  30,000 
pounds,  and  by  careful  watching  of  the  market,  with  weekly  tele- 
grams from  an  Eastern  wool-house,  the  lot  was  sold  for  twenty- 
four  and  a-half,  when  others  were  getting  twenty  and  twenty-two 
cents.  El  Paso  county  wool  is  rated  two  or  three  cents  higher 
than  other  wools,  but  the  cold  weather  of  the  previous  winter 
reduced  the  clip  an  average  of  one  pound  per  head. 


SL'CC£SS   OF   THE    COLORADO   SHEEP-FARM.  ^^I 

Diseases  do  not  trouble  sheep  as  at  the  East.  Foot-rot  dis- 
appears, the  climate  is  so  dry.  Scab  is  cured  by  a  strong  tobacco 
wash,  made  in  a  vat  through  which  the  sheep  are  driven,  and  up 
an  incline  plane,  which  saves  the  drip.  Ticks  are  killed  by  it 
also.  The  losses  in  sheep-farming  are  caused  by  insufficient 
shelter,  poor  feeding  and  nursing,  and  the  inroads  of  rattlesnakes 
and  wolves. 

A  summary  of  G.'s  investment  is  as  follows: 

1,250  ewes  bought  in  1S75  at  52        ;?2,5oo  00 

Merino  rams 1,000  00 

3,500  00 
Five  years'  sale  of  wool $12,500  00 

1,000  old  Mexicans  and  others  sold 2^500  00 

15,000  00 

Value  of  ])resent  herd 15,000  00 

He  raised  2,000  lambs  in  1879,  and  will  have  2,500  ewes  in 
1S80.  He  proposes  when  his  flock  of  6,000  is  increased  to 
10,000,  to  send  the  surplus  lambs  in  the  fall  to  Western  Kansas, 
where  corn  is  cheapest,  feed  till  spring,  and  ship  to  Chicago, 
where  they  will  bring  $4.50  per  head  ;  $2.50  will  cover  expenses. 
But  the  Leadville  excitement  is  opening  a  home  market,  which 
may  change  this  plan.  A  neighbor  sold  775  wethers  for  $3,100 
($4  each),  hay  and  grain  being  scarce  this  winter,  and  G.  was 
offered  the  same  price  for  500  three-year  olds,  but  declined  it. 

We  have  already  (in  Part  I.)  given  an  account  of  those  great 
sheep-farms  where  the  flocks  number  30,000,  50,000  or  even 
80,000  head,  and  the  profits  are  reckoned  by  tens  of  thousands 
of  dollars  annually.  The  men  who  own  these  great  properties 
must  have  begun,  or  would  now  find  it  necessary  to  begin,  with 
from  $1 5,000  to  $50,000  or  more,  of  capital ;  and  many  who  have 
come  to  the  West  from  Europe  with  more  than  the  latter  sinn 
have,  after  two  or  three  years'  experiments  with  sheep-farming, 
been  sold  out  by  the  sheriff,  and  in  some  instances  have  been 
obliged  to  seek  employment  as  shepherds,  perhaps  on  the  same 
ranche  where  they  had  once  been  proprietors.  The  counties  of 
El  Paso,  Pueblo,  Huerfano,  Fremont,  Las  Animas  and  Bent,  In 
Colorado,  have  many  stories  to  tell  of  these  young  men  who 


422  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

played  the  Grand  Seignior  on  so  large  a  scale,  and  would  come 
into  Colorado  Springs  or  Pueblo,  driving  their  four-in-hands  and 
spending  several  days  at  a  time  in  reckless  dissipation.  Neglect- 
ing their  business,  they  were  constantly  fleeced  by  sharpers,  till 
their  capital  was  all  expended,  and  they  were  often  too  far  down 
in  the  scale  of  social  demoralization,  to  retrace  their  steps  and 
regain  their  lost  manhood.  No  man  can  succeed  either  in  stock- 
raising,  sheep-farming-  or  general  agriculture,  who  does  not  give 
his  whole  thoughts  and  attention  to  his  business.  There  are 
duties  which  must  be  performed  by  subordinates,  but  unless  the 
eye  of  the  master  is  constantly  over  them,  and  he  understands 
when  they  perform  their  duties  properly,  and  exercises  proper 
discipline  and  authority,  besides  performing-  his  own  special 
duties,  there  will  be  neglect  and  heavy  losses.  One  of  the  class 
of  wealthy  proprietors  in  Colorado,  and  one  of  the  best  of  them, 
for  he  did,  to  some  extent,  superintend  his  sheep-farm,  had 
directed,  in  the  autumn  of  1877,  sheds  to  be  built  for  the  protec- 
tion of  his  sheep  from  the  severe  snow  storms  which  once  in 
eight  or  ten  years  visit  that  region,  and  also  ordered  the  gather- 
ing of  a  quantity  of  wild  hay  for  them.  But  his  orders  were  dis- 
regarded, and  in  March,  1878,  his  flock,  or  at  least  a  section  of 
it,  of  over  1,000  sheep,  were  caught,  and  diey,  and  the  Mexican 
shepherd  who  tended  them,  followed  each  other  over  the  brink 
of  a  deep  gulch,  and  fell  over  into  the  gulch  and  were  lost. 
Late  in  the  spring  the  melting  of  the  snow  uncovered,  in  that 
Big  Corral  Gulch,  the  bodies  of  a  thousand  sheep  or  more,  and 
among  them,  amid  evidences  of  his  struggle  to  save  his  sheep, 
lay  also  the  body  of  the  faithful  Mexican  shepherd.  It  was  not 
in  Palestine  alone  that  it  could  be  said,  "  the  good  shepherd 
giveth  his  life  for  his  sheep." 

There  can  be  no  question,  that  to  the  wool-grower  whose  only 
object  is  to  realize  a  fortune  speedily  in  sheep-farming,  New 
Mexico  offers  the  greatest  inducements.  The  climate  is  pleasant, 
though  dry;  there  is  not  much  agreeable  society,  and  very 
little  enterprise  among  the  inhabitants,  it  is  true,  the  old  Spanish 
forms  and  formalities  and  the  iron  yoke  of  Jesuitism  oppress 
and  impoverish  the  people,  but  emigrants  from  other  lands  and 


SHEEP-FARMIAG   IN  NEW  MEXICO.  423 

from  the  Eastern  States  are  cordially  received,  and  both  the 
mining  and  stock-raising  interests  are  being  developed  with  con- 
siderable rapidity.  The  present  Chief-Justice  of  the  Territory, 
Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  says  that  "  sheep-raising  is  the  most 
important  industry  in  the  Territory  ;  the  region  for  sheep-farms 
extends  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Canadian  river  in  the  ex- 
treme east  to  the  San  Juan  country  in  the  far  northwest.  The 
sheep  of  New  Mexico  are  already  counted  by  the  million,  but 
there  is  abundant  room  for  new  enterprises  both  as  to  number 
and  quality.  To  com.mence  the  business  properly  requires  a 
capital  of  ^5,000,  which  will  buy  2,000  sheep  and  provide  for  all 
necessary  expenses  until  a  regular  income  is  derived  from  the 
flock.  No  business  can  be  safe^*,  surer  or  more  healthful  ;  but, 
like  all  others,  it  requires  work  and  attention  ;  and  if  any  one 
thinks  that  sheep-raising  is  to  be  conducted  profitably  by  living 
in  town  and  having  flocks  roaming  the  prairies  under  irresponsi- 
ble herdsmen,  without  personal  attention,  he  had  better  remain 
at  the  East." 

The  native  sheep  of  New  Mexico  is  a  descendant  of  the  Span- 
ish Merinos,  brought  there  340  years  ago,  and  has  degenerated 
from  its  early  type,  but  when  bred  with  pure  improved  Spanish 
Merino  bucks  it  is  capable  of  becoming  in  the  third  or  fourth 
generation  a  most  valuable  sheep  for  wool,  and  the  wool  product 
is  there  much  more  valuable  than  the  mutton  product.  The 
flock  doubles  every  year  under  good  management ;  it  is  said  to 
be  capable  of  demonstration  that  sheep  can  be  well  kept,  through- 
out the  year,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  fifteen  cents  the  head,  and 
that  the  yield  of  wool,  beginning  with  two  pounds  for  each  ewe 
and  two  and  a  half  for  each  wether,  can  be  increased  in  five 
years  by  careful  breeding  to  five  and  six  pounds  per  head,  and 
the  quality  of  the  wool  so  much  improved  that  it  will  bring 
from  twenty  to  twenty-eight  cents  per  pound,  hi  other  Territo- 
ries and  States  it  is  said,  that  the  Mexican  ewe,  especially  the  im- 
proved ewe,  which  is  the  product  of  a  cross  with  other  and  larger 
breeds,  seldom  or  never  bears  twins;  but  in  New  Mexico  twin 
lambs  are  so  common  that  their  number  fully  makes  up  for  any 
losses  in  the  flock,  and    it   is  an  underestimate   to   reckon   the 


424  0^'^     WESTERX    EMPIRE. 

annual  Increase  of  the  flock  at  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  the  ewes. 
As  the  mutton  Is  of  no  particular  account  In  New  Mexico,  the 
whole  profit  turning  upon  the  wool,  the  young  wethers  at  two 
years  old  are  exchanged,  after  shearing,  for  more  ewes  to  Increase 
the  stock  of  wool-producers.  A  sheep-farmer,  in  three  years' 
time,  beginning  with  a  flock  of  5,000  ewes  and  100  bucks,  will 
have  18,000  sheep  and  lambs,  and  will  shear  from  40,000  to 
50,000  pounds  of  wool,  and  in  five  years  he  will  shear  40,000 
sheep  and  obtain  1 20,000  pounds  of  wool  or  more.  In  New 
Mexico,  while  the  rainfall  is  scanty,  the  snow  and  rain  on  the 
mountains  fill  the  streams,  and  the  facilities  for  irrigation  and  for 
preserving  the  water  In  reservoirs  are  generally  good.  Sheep 
thrive  better  In  a  dry  than  In  a  wet  country^  and  they  require 
water  but  once  a  day,  and  this  they  can  have  without  difficulty. 
Artesian  wells  generally  succeed  well  on  the  plains  in  this  Terri- 
tory. 

There  are  no  diseases  here  to  which  sheep  are  liable,  and  the 
few  destroyed  by  wild  animals  are  the  principal  losses.  The 
corrals  are  usually  of  adobe  or  sun-dried  bricks,  and  can  easily 
be  made,  where  they  are  not  already,  proof  against  wild  animals. 
Neither  the  jaguar  nor  the  grizzly  bear  are  found  in  New 
Mexico,  and  the  cougar  or  panther  and  gray  wolf  are  not 
abundant.  The  brown  or  cinnamon  and  the  black  bear  seldom 
attack  sheep  when  in  care  of  a  shepherd,  and  never  in  a  corral, 
and  the  coyotes  are  too  cowardly  to  attack  any  except  the  sick, 
lame,  or  wounded.  No  provision  for  sheep  in  the  winter  is 
necessary  in  New  Mexico.  There  are  no  heavy  snows  there, 
except  high  up  in  the  mountains,  and  the  floods  which  sometimes 
pour  down  such  torrents  of  water  into  the  Rio  Grande  and  its 
tributaries,  are  either  skilfully  turned  into  the  reservoirs  for 
irrigation,  or  are  drank  up  by  the  thirsty  sands  of  the  river  beds. 

The  railways  which  already  traverse,  or  will  soon  cross  the 
Territory  In  different  directions,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  and  its  branches,  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  the  St.  Louis 
and  San  Francisco,  and  perhaps  also  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  or 
a  branch  of  the  Texas  Pacific,  will  make  New  Mexico  convenient 
of  access,  and  enable  her  to  send  her  products  to  market  on 
favorable  terms. 


SHEEP-FARMING   IN  CALIFORNIA.  425 

California  is  favorably  situated  for  sheep-farming-,  especially 
Southern  California,  but  the  higher  price  of  her  lands,  and  the 
fact  that  so  large  a  portion  of  them  are  arable,  renders  the  busi- 
ness somewhat  less  profitable  than  in  New  Mexico,  though  she 
has  a  better  market  for  wool  in  San  Francisco,  and  more  encour- 
agement to  grade  her  flocks  up  to  the  best  quality  of  both  felt- 
ing and  combing-wools,  and  higher  inducements  to  raise  sheep 
for  mutton,  as  well  as  for  wool.  The  California  flocks  number 
nearly  8,000,000  sheep,  and  include  some  of  the  best  breeds  to 
be  found  on  this  continent  both  for  wool  and  mutton.  In  South- 
ern California  the  flocks  are  driven  to  the  hills  in  the  summer 
and  return  when  the  autumnal  rains  have  started  the  new  grass 
on  the  foot-hills  ^nd  on  the  plains.  Alfalfa,  Hungarian  grass, 
and  the  millets  are  raised  largely  for  forage  for  the  best  breeds 
of  sheep,  and  their  use  tends  to  produce  the  uniformly  fine  fibre 
so  characteristic  of  the  best  grrades  of  California  wool. 

The  sheep-farming-  of  Montana,  Idaho,  Washington,  and 
Oregon,  as  well  as  that  of  Dakota  and  Minnesota,  differs  from 
that  of  the  States  and  Territories  farther  south  mainly  in  the 
necessity  for  more  ample  provision  for  shelter  and  fodder  for 
winter,  and  the  greater  length  of  the  winter  season.  The  flocks 
in  most  of  these  States  and  Territories  (Oregon  only  excepted) 
are  seldom  very  large  ;  the  aggregate  sheep  of  the  other  five 
States  and  Territories  probably  aggregating  not  much  over 
2,000,000,  while  Oregon  alone  has  about  1,500,000.  Eventually 
probably  Washington,  Montana,  Dakota,  and  perhaps  Idaho  will 
be  found  to  be  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  fine  wooled  sheep. 
Utah,  also,  is  a  good  sheep  country,  though  there  is  in  some 
parts  of  the  Territory  a  lack  of  water. 

Wyoming  is  better  adapted  to  cattle  than  sheep,  and  Nevada 
will  probably  raise  a  larger  proportion  of  cattle  than  sheep, 
though  perhaps  not  very  large  numbers  of  either. 

To  recapitulate:  we  believe  for  the  sheep-farmer  who  has  but 
a  very  moderate  capital,  say  not  more  than  ^2,500  or  }S;3,ooo, 
New  Mexico  offers  the  best  opportunity,  and  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska the  next  best ;  for  those  with  somewhat  larger  capital, 
from  $5,000  to  $15,000,  Colorado,  Southern  California  or  Texas, 


.-,(5  <^'^'^»'     ll'^-'^y^-'y^'^V    EMPIRE. 

if  they  wish  to  avoid  biiildinf;^  shelters  and  crathcring  fodder. 
Oregon,  Montana,  Dakota,  and  perhaps  Utah,  if  they  are  not 
averse  to  these  precautions.  Those  having  a  larger  amount  of 
capital  can  do  well  in  Texas,  better,  perha{)S,  in  California,  and 
still  better  in  Colorado  or  New  Mexico  ;  while,  if  they  choose  to 
make  the  provision  for  wintering  their  sheep,  Wyoming,  Mon- 
tana or  Dakota  afford  excellent  opportunities  for  conducting 
sheep-ranches  of  the  largest  kind  and  with  excellent  profits. 
For  mutton  sheep  and  lambs,  which  wmII,  at  the  sanie  time,  yield 
large  fleeces  of  combing-wools,  the  succulent  pastures  of  Mon- 
tana and  Dakota  afford  the  best  feeding  grounds,  and  they  also 
furnish  grasses  which  make  the  fibre  of  the  Merino  wool  long, 
even  and  fine. 

We  give  here  a  few  brief  descriptions  of  the  different  breeds 
of  sheep  most  popular  throughout  the  West,  for  w^hich  we  are 
indebted  to  the  late  Hon.  Alfred  Gray,  Secretary  of  the  Kansas 
State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

The  Merino  is  a 'fine  white -wool  sheep,  of  a  dark,  greasy 
appearance,  medium  size,  snug  build,  body  shortish,  round  and 
thick,  good  quarters,  legs  short,  stout  and  woolly,  ears  short, 
cheeks  and  forehead  to  the  eyes  thickly  covered  with  wool,  skin 
wrinkled  or  in  folds,  weight  loo  to  i  80  pounds,  fleece  twelve  to 
twenty-nine  pounds,  wool  two  to  three  inches  long.  The  rams 
have  curled  and  convoluted  horns.    It  is  classed  as  a  wool  sheep. 

Hislory. — The  Merino  originated  in  Spain,  in  the  first  century. 
It  is  a  cross  between  the  Tarantine,  of  Southern  Italy,  and  the 
best  native  sheep  of  Spain,  and  was  introduced  into  the  United 
States  in  1800.  In  Spain,  this  breed  was  driven  from  the  south 
northward  every  spring,  400  miles,  and  back  in  the  fall ;  each 
journey  was  made  in  six  weeks.  The  name,  Merino,  is  a  modi- 
fied form  of  the  name  of  the  special  officer  in  charge  of  this 
highly  valued  breed. 

Till-:  Southdown  is  a  whitish,  coarse,  short- wool,  hornless 
shee[),  medium  size,  fine  form,  well-balanced  proportions,  hind- 
quarters scjuare  and  full,  thighs  massive,  breast  broad,  fore- 
quarters  well  developed,  legs  short  and  trim,  face  and  legs  dark- 
brown  or  black  and  without  wool.     Yearlings  yield  seventy-five 


HREf.DS    OF  SHEEP.  42 7 

to  eighty  pounds,  dressed  weight.  Average  weight  of  fleece 
about  six  pounds.  Its  wool  makes  flannel  and  soft  goods.  It 
is  classed  as  a  mutton  sheep. 

History. — The  Southdown  is  an  English  breed,  developed  by 
carefully  inbreeding  common  sheep  inhabiting  the  hilly  portions 
of  Southern  England  from  its  earliest  history.  The  improve- 
ment began  about  one  himdred  years  ago.  The  name  of  the 
breed  is  taken  from  the  low  chalk  hills  or  downs  of  Southern 
England,  where  it  was  developed. 

The  Hampsiiiredown  is  a  whitish,  coarse,  medium-wool,  horn- 
less sheep,  good  size,  much  resembling  the  Southdown,  but 
larofer,  and  with  lonoer  and  coarser  wool.  Yearlinj^s  weieh 
eighty  to  a  hundred  pounds,  and  yield  a  fleece  of  six  to  seven 
pounds.     It  is  a  mutton  sheep. 

History. — The  Hampshiredown  originated  in  England  about 
seventy  years  ago,  in  a  cross  between  a  pure  Southdown  and  a 
white-faced  horned  sheep  of  that  district,  from  the  "  downs  "  of 
which  section  it  derives  its  name. 

The  Leicester  is  a  white,  medium,  coarse,  long-wool  sheep,  of 
large  size,  square  and  angular  build,  long,  slender,  clean  head 
and  ears.  Eyes  and  facial  bones  about  the  eyes  prominent, 
hind  quarters  tapering  toward  the  tail,  .legs  good  length,  slender 
and  clean.  Yearlings  dress  lOO  pounds  and  at  two  years  150 
pounds.  Eull  grown  have  reached  380  pounds,  live  weight. 
Average  weight  of  fleece  seven  to  eight  pounds.  It  is  a  mutton 
sheep. 

History. — This  breed  was  developed  in  England  over  ico 
years  ago  by  a  Mr.  Bakewell,  from  the  common  sheep  of 
Leicestershire,  from  which  district  it  derives  its  name.  The 
method  of  breeding  was  kept  secret.  They  were  introduced 
into  the  United  States  by  General  Washington. 

The  Lincoln  is  a  white,  coarse,  long- wool,  hornless  sheep, 
surpassing  all  other  breeds  in  weight  of  body  and  length  of 
wool.  It  has  dressed  ninety-six  and  a  quarter  pounds  to  the 
quarter.  Two  year-olds  dress  i  20  to  160  pounds,  and  yield  a 
fleece  of  ten  to  fourteen  pounds  washed  wool,  measuring  nine 
inches  and  over  in  length — used  for  worsteds.  It  is  a  mutton 
sheep. 


428  ^^'^     WESTER X    EMPIRE. 

History. — The  Lincoln  originated  in  England  less  than  loo 
years  ago,  as  a  cross  between  a  Leicester  and  a  common  breed 
now  extinct,  but  then  inhabiting  the  low,  alluvial  and  rich 
herbaged  flats  of  Lincolnshire,  from  which  it  takes  its  name  and 
where  it  best  flourishes. 

The  Cotswold  is  a  white,  coarse,  long-wool,  hornless  sheep, 
large  size,  long  bodied,  broadening  from  shoulders  to  rump,  head 
well  tapered  from  ears  to  nose,  finely  proportioned,  and  covered 
to  between  the  eyes  with  a  thick  for.elock  of  wool,  ears  long  and 
well  formed,  legs  good  length,  well  shaped  and  clean.  Weight 
of  yearlings  about  120  pounds;  full  grown  have  dressed  344 
pounds.  Weight  of  fleece  about  eight  pounds.  Wool  some- 
times nine  inches  long,  and  widely  used  for  woollens.  It  is  a 
mutton  and  wool  sheep, 

Histoiy. — The  Cotswold  originated  in  England  less  than 
100  years  ago,  as  a  cross  between  a  Leicester  and  descendants 
of  common  sheep  imported  from  Spain  in  the  twelfth  century.  Its 
name  comes  from  the  cots  or  huts  built  in  the  hilly  wolds  or  fields 
where  it  was  developed  and  established. 

OxFORDDOWN  is  a  whitish,  coarse,  long-wool,  hornless  sheep  of 
medium  size,  round  bodied  and  short  legged,  face  and  legs 
dark,  a  Cotswold-shaped  head  and  thick-set  and  somewhat  curly 
fleece  of  eight  to  nine  pounds  of  wool  five  to  seven  inches  long, 
used  for  worsteds.  At  fourteen  months  it  dresses  eighty  to 
eighty-eight  pounds.     A  mutton  and  wool  sheep. 

Histojy.--Th.e.  Oxforddown  originated  in  Oxfordshire, England, 
since  1830,  whence  its  name.  It  is  a  cross  between  a  Cotswold 
ram  and  a  Hampshiredown  ewe,  followed  by  careful  inbreeding. 

Cheviot  is  a  white,  coarse,  medium-wool,  hornless  mountain 
sheep  of  medium  size,  long  bodied,  hind-quarters  and  saddle  full 
and  heavy,  fore-quarters  light,  face  strong  featured  and  massive, 
head  and  legs  generally  white,  but  sometimes  dun  or  speckled. 
At  three  years  they  dress  eighty  pounds.  The  fleece  yields 
about  five  pounds,  and  is  used  for  Scotch  tweed  and  cheviot 
clotli.     It  is  a  mutton  and  wool  sheep. 

History. — The  Cheviot  is  a  cross  between  a  Lincoln  and  a 
breed  of  common  sheep  found  in  the  hilly  parts  of  the  Scottish 


BREEDS    OF  SHEEP— ANGORA    GOAT.  ^20 

lowlands,  believed  to  be  descended  from  common  sheep  of  Spain, 
cast  ashore  here  in  1588,  from  wrecks  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

The  Improved  Kentucky  is  a  white,  coarse,  long-wool,  hornless 
sheep,  heavy  bodied  and  heavy  fleeced,  resembling  the  Cotswold, 
but  the  quality  of  its  wool,  midway  between  the  Leicester  and 
Cotswold,  distinguishes  it.     It  is  a  mutton  and  wool  sheep. 

History. — The  Improved  Kentucky  is  an  American  breed 
originating  in  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  about  forty  years  ago.  It 
came  from  successful  crosses,  as  follows :  Beginning  with  local, 
common  ewes  and  a  Merino  ram,  the  issue  was  crossed  with  a 
Leicester  ram,  this  with  a  Southdown  ram,  this  with  a  ram  one- 
quarter  Southdown  and  three-quarters  Cotswold,  this  twice 
successively  with  Cotswold  rams,  this  with  an  Oxforddown  ram, 
and  this  with  a  mixed  Cotswold,  Oxforddown  and  Leicester  ram, 
followed  by  careful  inbreeding. 

The  Caraman  or  Fat-Tailed  Sheep  is  a  white,  short,  soft-wool 
sheep,  of  different  varieties  and  sizes,  but  readily  identified  by 
its  remarkable  tall,  which  weighs  from  fifteen  to  twenty  and  in 
some  instances  50  pounds;  the  fat  being  used  by-some  in  place 
of  butter. 

History. — The  Caraman  is  a  native  sheep,  found  In  portions 
of  Asia  and  Africa,  and  by  some  is  regarded  as  a  separate 
group.  Those  now  in  the  United  States  are  from  recent 
importations  from  Karamania,  In  Asia  Minor. 

The  Angora.  Goat  Is  of  a  grayish  white,  about  as  large  as  a 
medium-sized  sheep,  has  a  square  build,  a  straight  back,  hog- 
shaped  head,  lifted  ears,  large,  long,  wavy  horns  rooted  close 
together  on  top  of  the  head,  and  spreading  at  once  latterly  and 
pointing  a  little  backward,  a  tuft  of  long,  coarse  hair  under  the 
chin,  clean,  trim  legs,  and  undercoat  of  short,  coarse  liair,  and  an 
outer  one  of  long,  curly,  soft  and  silky  hair,  termed  mohair. 
Both  coats  are  used,  and  together  weigh  about  two  and  a  half 
pounds. 

History. — The  Angora  goat  Is  an  improved  variety  of  a  com- 
mon goat,  native  of  the  district  about  Angora,  In  Asia  Minor. 
It  was  imported  into  this  country  about  fifteen  years  ago. 

The   Cashmere  Goat  is  generally  of  a  gra)ish  wliite,  built 


^-,0  OUR    WESTER X  EMPIRE. 

much  like  a  sheep,  Is  of  medium  size,  back  near  the  hips  a  little 
crowning,  ears  long,  wide  and  drooping,  no  tuft  under  the  chin, 
small  horns,  sometimes  spiral,  shooting  out  near  each  other  from 
top  of  the  head,  erect  or  slightly  spreading  and  pointing  a  little 
backward,  a  long,  heavy  outer  coat  of  coarse  hair  and  an  under 
coat  of  soft,  silky,  fluffy  wool,  weighing  about  one-half  pound, 
and  used  for  Cashmere  shawls. 

History. — The  Cashmere  goat  is  a  noble  species  of  the  goat, 
inhabitine  the  \\\<s\\  table-lands  of  Cashmere,  Thibet  and 
Mongolia,  in  Central  Asia.  It  was  imported  into  the  United 
States  about  fifteen  years  ago. 

Diseases  of  Sheep. — It  is  perhaps  desirable  to  add  here  a 
brief  description  of  the  diseases  to  which  sheep  are  liable, 
especially  as  it  is  as  true  now  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago,  that  the 
diseases  to  which  sheep  are  liable  in  this  country  are  very 
different  from  those  which  affect  them  in  Europe.  The  late 
Hon.  Henry  S.  Randall,  in  his  valuable  treatise  on  Sheep  Hus- 
bandry, published  in  i860,  and  subsequent  writers  on  diseases 
of  sheep,  have  called  attention  to  this  fact.  It  is  true,  also,  that 
diseases  which  prevail  in  one  section  may  be  entirely  unknown 
in  another.  Thus  the  foot-rot  has  prevailed  extensively  In 
Texas,  and  to  some  extent  in  Southern  California  and  Southern 
Kansas  ;  but  is  entirely  unknown  in  the  Northern  States,  and 
Territories  of  Washington,  Oregon,  Montana,  Dakota  and 
Minnesota,  and  very  infrequent  in  the  middle  belt  of  States 
and  Territories.  The  scab  is  found  everywdiere,  but  is  now 
treated  successfully.  Worms  in  the  head  are  not  common  in 
the  West ;  though  they  kill  many  sheep  in  England  and  some  In 
the  Atlantic  States.  Inflammation  of  the  lungs  is  less  common 
than  in  England,  but  does  occur. 

Mr.  Erank  D.  Curtis,  of  Charlton,  Saratoga  county,  New 
York,  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  accomplished  and  successful 
of  our  American  sheep-masters,  has  described  so  briefly  and  so 
well  the  greater  part  of  the  known  American  diseases  of  sheep, 
that  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  give  to  our  readers  his  essay, 
only  supplementing  it  with  two  or  three  western  diseases,  which 
he  has  failed  to  notice. 


DISEASES   OF  SHEEP.  4^1 

Sheep  are  very  delicate  animals  to  treat  when  diseased.  They 
are  easily  discouraged,  and  when  sick  lose  their  appetite  and 
rapidly  become  enfeebled.  It  is  by  far  the  wisest  course  for 
every  shepherd  to  study  carefully  the  habits  of  sheep  and  their 
nature,  and  to  endeavor,  as  far  as  possible,  to  regulate  their  diet 
according  to  their  natural  wants,  and  to  do  nothincj  to  shock 
them  either  by  terror  or  abrupt  changes  in  their  management. 
They  will  not  bear  sudden  changes  of  food,  sudden  chills,  or 
sudden  changes  of  extreme  heat  and  cold.  Regularity  in  feed- 
ing and  evenness  in  temperature  are  essential  pre-requisites  to 
their  healthful  condition.  They  will  not  endure  wet, 'neither  will 
they  thrive  on  low,  marshy  ground.  The  different  breeds  have 
somewhat  different  characteristics,  and  they  are  not  all  alike 
easily  affected  with  the  same  diseases,  as,  for  instance,  fine- 
wooled  sheep  having  flatter  feet,  with  closer  connection  between 
the  hoofs,  are  more  liable  to  foot-rot  than  the  coarser-wooled 
varieties,  with  more  upright  feet  and  wider  space  between  the 
bisections.  The  latter,  however,  on  account  of  their  open  and 
distended  nostrils  (they  have  larger  lungs  and  require  more 
space  for  the  circulation  of  air  into  the  respiratory  organs),  are 
much  more  liable  to  the  attacks  of  the  gad-fly  [CEstnis  ovis)  than 
the  smaller  breeds  with  more  contracted  nostrils.  The  fine- 
wooled  are  much  more  hardy  in  our  changeable  American 
climates  than  the  coarser-wooled  breeds,  hence  precautionary 
manafjement  in  regard  to  climatic  influences  and  carefulness  in 
diet  are  not  so  necessary,  as  they  are  not  so  subject  to  colds  and 
stomach  disorders,  colics,  etc.  There  are  several  infectious  dis- 
eases which  prevail  among  sheep.  The  two  oldest  and  most 
common  in  America  are  foot-rot  and  scab.  There  are  also  other 
parasitical  disorders  which  infest  the  internal  organs  of  sheep. 
The  latter  have  been  far  more  destructive  in  foreign  countries 
than  in  this.  They  have  prevailed  disastrously  in  England, 
South  America,  and  Australia.  We  shall  speak  of  internal  para- 
sites {c)itozod)  under  the  head  of  parasites,  with  such  subdivisions 
of  the  subject  as  apply  to  the  various  forms  and  indications  of 
the  disorder  as  manifested  in  this  country,  and  of  external  para- 
sites {cpizoci)  under  the  appropriate  names  of  scab  and  ticks. 


432  OUR    IVESTEKJV  EMPIRE. 

Parasites. — The  most  ancient  and  disastrous  of  the  maladies 
caused  by  the  development  of  worms  in  the  body  is  the  liver-rot, 
which  is  caused  by  the  presence  of  sucking  worms,  like  leeches, 
which  are  developed  in  the  liver.  These  worms  or  tlukes  pos- 
sess the  power  of  self-impregnation,  and  are  propagated  by  eggs, 
of  which  they  produce  immense  numbers.  These  eggs  are  car- 
ried along  with  the  bile  into  the  stomach,  and  so  passed  out  with 
the.  excrement  of  the  sheep.  They  are  supposed  to  be  hatched 
in  stagnant  water,  in  which  they  develop  into  a  form  of  mullusks. 
But  as  the  disease  {liver-rot)  is  almost  unknown  in  the  United 
States,  and* especially  in  the  West,  we  will  not  take  time  or  space 
to  fully  describe  it. 

There  is  another  worm  which  is  developed  in  the  lungs  and  bron- 
chial tubes  of  sheep.  These  worms  cause  the  "  pale  disease  "  in 
lambs,  which  has  been  so  fatal  in  many  sections  of  this  country. 
The  worm  is  akin  to  the  gape-worm  in  chickens,  and  is  a  species 
of  Strongyliis,  a  slender,  thread-like  worm.  They  are  supposed 
to  be  breathed  into  the  lungs  or  taken  into  the  mouth  while 
feeding,  from  whence  they  make  their  way  through  the  trachea 
into  the  air-passages,  in  which  they  produce  such  derangement  in 
aeration  or  the  purification  of  the  blood  as  to  cause  irritation 
and  violent  coughing.  The  important  functions  of  the  blood 
being  interrupted,  paleness  of  the  skin  and  debility  of  the  body 
soon  follow,  and  result  in  the  death  of  the  animal.  The  disease 
is  more  prevalent  or  fatal  among  lambs  than  among  sheep. 

As  soon  as  a  lamb  is  attacked  a  poor  appetite  ensues,  which 
helps  to  reduce  the  strength.  Such  penetrating  medicines  as 
turpentine,  sulphur,  and  assafcetida  may  be  given,  which,  through 
absorption,  will  reach  the  lungs,  and  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
disease  may  effect  a  cure.  In  order  to  allow  free  and  full 
absorption,  no  food  should  be  given  for  several  hours  afterward, 
nor  for  a  few  hours  before.  Twenty  grains  of  assafcetida  and  a 
half  teaspoon  of  spirits  of  turpentine  are  all  that  should  be 
administered  at  one  dose  to  a  lamb.  One-third  more  may  be 
given  to  a  full-grown  sheep.  This  may  be  followed  by  a  table- 
spoonful  of  sulphur  daily,  mixed  with  molasses.  As  the  appetite 
is  capricious  and  feeble,  in  order  to  keep  up  the  strength  gruels 


THE  LUNG    WORM  IN  SHEEP.  ^^3 

should  be  poured  down.  The  turpentine  and  assafoetlda  may  be 
mixed  with  a  tablespoonful  of  hnseed  or  castor  oil.  Infected 
sheep  should  be  kept  by  themselves,  and  well  ones  should  not 
be  allowed  to  run  in  the  same  pasture,  nor  upon  ground  where 
the  manure  of  diseased  sheep  has  been  spread.  There  are, 
besides  the  above,  parasites  [hydatids)  or  worms  in  the  bladder 
and  in  the  intestines.  The  latter,  when  prevalent  among  lambs, 
are  fatal.  The  first  symptoms  of  their  prevalence  is  a  falling 
off  in  condition  and  mild  diarrhoea.  The  worm  is  a  species  of 
tape-worm,  and  is  swallowed  by  the  sheep  in  an  embryo  form, 
and  may  have  been  dropped  by  a  dog  or  other  animal. 
Emaciation  rapidly  follows.  The  excrement  is  soft  and  mi.xed 
with  mucus,  and  by  close  observation  worms  may  be  observed 
in  it.  As  soon  as  the  presence  of  the  disease  is  apparent,  a  dose 
of  turpentine  should  be  given,  from  one-half  to  one  ounce, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  sheep.  This  may  be  mixed  with  an 
ounce  or  two  of  linseed  or  castor  oil,  and  should  be  given  every 
three  days  for  two  weeks,  or  until  no  worms  are  voided.  Nourish- 
inof  orruels  should  be  eiven  durinof  the  time  of  treatment.  The 
purgative  will  have  better  effect  if  the  animal  is  required  to  fast 
a  few  hours  before  and  after  administering  the  dose.  Copperas 
will  not  cure  the  disease.  When  given  in  small  quantities  it  acts 
as  an  astringent  and  keeps  the  worms  in  the  body,  and  when 
given  in  large  quantities  it  is  an  active  poison.  The  same  dose 
of  turpentine  and  linseed  oil  is  the  best  remedy  for  parasites  in 
the  bladder  and  kidneys. 

Worms  in  the  head  are  not  so  common  in  this  country  as  in 
England,  owing  to  the  fact  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  our 
sheep  are  of  the  smaller  breeds.  The  gadtly  [Gisinis  ovis)  in 
the  summer  months  deposits  its  eggs,  with  a  sting,  in  the  nostrils 
of  sheep.  At  the  season  of  the  year  when  this  fly  is  active,  sheep 
stand  huddled  tocjether  with  their  noses  inward  and  close  to  the 
ground  to  avoid  beino-  stunor.  After  beinof  hatched  the  erub 
crawls  up  the  nostrils  and  feeds  on  the  mucus  until  it  reaches 
the  upper  passages,  where  it  remains  until  it  arrives  at  maturity, 
and  then  passes  out  of  the  nostrils  to  the  ground,  where  it 
ultimately   develops  into  a  fly.      Sometimes  they  penetrate  to 

28 


,^.  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  brain,  causino;-  the  sheep  to  lose  its  appetite  and  die  a 
lint^'erinc  and  painful  death.  We  have  known  them  to  pine 
away,  scarcely  eating  anything  for  weeks — simply  breathing — 
until  they  die  of  starvation,  or  were  killed  to  put  them  out  of 
their  misery.  There  is  no  remedy  except  in  the  first  stages  of 
the  disease,  when  the  maggots  are  passing  up  the  nostrils. 
This  may  be  known  by  violent  shaking  of  the  head,  sneezing, 
and  running  around.  Tobacco-smoke  blown  up  the  nostrils  at 
this  time,  or  the  smoke  of  a  small  quantity  of  burning  sulphur, 
may  cause  them  to  lose  their  hold  on  the  membranes,  when  the 
sheep  will  cast  them  out.  Some  people  pour  spirits  of  turpen- 
tine into  the  nostrils.  They  lay  the  sheep  upon  its  back  so  that 
the  liquid  will  run  into  the  head ;  but  this  is  a  dangerous  and 
cruel  practice.  In  the  first  stages,  in  the  hands  of  a  skilful 
person,  it  is  possible  to  open  the  passages  of  the  head  and 
remove  the  maggots,  without  permanent  injury  to  the  animal. 
Smearing  the  noses  of  sheep  in  July  and  August  with  tar,  two  or 
three  times  a  week,  will,  to  some  extent,  prevent  the  attacks  of  the 

gadfly. 

Scab. — The  worst  form  of  external  parasites  is  the  Acm'iis 
scabiei.  This  insect  is  a  mite  in  size  and  attaches  itself  to  the 
skin,  into  which  it  burrows.  It  multiplies  rapidly  and  cuts  off 
the  connecdon  of  the  cudcle  from  its  attachments  to  the  body, 
when  it  becomes  dry  and  hard,  and  the  wool  is  loosened  and  falls 
out.  Its  presence  can  easily  be  determined,  as  the  sheep  is  uneasy 
and  inclined  to  rub  itself  against  any  convenient  thing.  Unless 
they  are  destroyed,  the  whole  body  will  soon  be  covered,  causing 
crreat  distress  to  the  sheep  and  entire  loss  of  the  fleece.  They 
will  also  be  conveyed  to  other  sheep,  and  eventually  spread 
through  the  whole  flock.  One  female  will  produce  thousands 
of  insects  in  a  few  days.  The  proper  cure  is  to  dip  the  animal 
in  a  solution  of  sulphur  and  tobacco,  in  the  proportions  of  four 
parts  of  tobacco  and  ten  of  sulphur  to  a  gallon  of  water.  The 
stems  of  tobacco  will  answer  every  purpose,  if  thoroughly  steeped. 
The  sulphur  may  be  stirred  in  the  liquid.  Patches  of  loose  skin 
and  wool  should  be  removed  before  the  sheep  are  immersed.  The 
liquid  should  be  as  warm  as  the  hand  will  bear,  and  time  should 


DISEASES  OF  SHEEP— THE   FOOT- ROT. 


435 


be  given  for  it  to  penetrate  every  part.  After  dipping,  the 
animal  should  be  left  in  the  yard  until  dry,  when  it  would  be  well 
to  smear  all  the  raw  and  denuded  portions  of  the  body  with  coal- 
tar,  heated  sufficiently  to  flow  freely.  The  coal-tar  will  assist  in 
healing,  and  protect  the  sore  places,  adding  very  much  to  the 
comfort  of  the  sheep. 

SiiEEP-TiCKS. — These  insects  [Meiophagtts  ovimis)  prey  upon 
the  surface  of  the  body  and  torture  the  sheep  greatly  by  piercing 
the  skin  and  sucking  the  blood.  It  propagates  rapidly,  and  is  so 
voracious  that  it  soon  depletes  the  sheep  of  needed  blood  and 
causes  them  to  become  poor  and  weak.  Their  presence  may  be 
known  by  the  rough,  loose,  and  dangling  appearance  of  the 
fleece,  the  locks  of  which  are  torn  out  by  rubbing  in  order  to  get 
rid  of  the  pain  caused  by  the  bite  of  the  ticks.  The  most 
effectual  remedy  is  to  dip  the  sheep  in  a  strong  decoction  of 
tobacco.  The  numbers  may  also  be  reduced  by  dusting  snuff  or 
powdered  tobacco  in  the  wool.  After  shearing,  the  ticks  leave 
the  old  sheep  and  fasten  to  the  lambs.  The  latter  should  be 
dipped  immediately,  and  again  after  the  lapse  of  three  weeks. 
In   this  way  a  flock  may  be   rid  of  ticks,  which  are  a  costly  and 


torturmof  nuisance. 


Foot-rot. — This  disease  is  contagious,  and  may  be  produced 
by  allowing  sheep  to  run  on  low,  wet  ground.  It  is  an  ulceration 
upon  the  heels  and  between  the  toes,  which  excrete  fetid  matter. 
It  is  most  common  in  the  fore  feet,  and  may  be  known  by  lame- 
ness. Lameness,  however,  does  not  always  proceed  from  this 
cause,  but  may  be  produced  by  foul  feet  or  from  inflammation  of 
the  interdigital  canal,  which  opens  at  the  bottom  of  the  foot. 
When  this  canal  or  duct  is  closed  by  any  foreign  substance,  in- 
flammation will  ensue.  The  prompt  removal  of  the  obstacle 
and  the  probing  and  cleansing  of  the  duct  will  generally  effect  a 
cure.  When  there  is  ulceration,  there  must  be  prompt  and 
effective  treatment.  Canker  of  the  foot,  which  shows  itself  by 
spongy  or  fungous  sprouts  at  the  bottom,  can  be  cured  by  the 
same  treatment  as  for  foot-rot.  The  hoofs  should  be  pared  away 
so  as  to  expose  the  bottom  of  the  ulcers,  when  the  whole  foot, 
and    especially    the    ulcerous    portion,    should    be    thoroughly 


A-}^  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

smeared  witli  an  ointment  of  powdered  blue  vitriol,  one  pound ; 
verdigris,  iialf  a  pound;  linseed  oil,  one  pint;  tar,  one  quart. 
This  combination  makes  a  salve  which  will  adhere  to  the  foot. 
Carbolic  acid  reduced  (five  parts  of  water  to  one  of  acid)  would 
be  an  effective  remedy,  and  would  also  be  the  best  cure  for 
canker  of  the  foot.  Healthy  sheep  should  never  be  allowed  in 
a  pasture  where  those  affected  with  foot-rot  have  run  until  a 
winter's  frosts  have  intervened,  which  will  destroy  the  virus. 
Incipient  foot-root  caused  by  feeding  on  wet  ground  may  be 
checked  without  difficulty  by  prompt  applications  of  blue  vitriol 
in  liquid  form,  or  by  diluted  carbolic  acid  ;  but  when  the  disease 
becomes  thoroughly  ulcerous,  several  applications  of  the  remedies 
recommended  are  necessary  to  effect  a  perfect  cure. 

CoMSTiPATioN. — We  have  known  fatal  constipation,  accom- 
panied with  fever,  to  prevail  in  the  spring  of  the  year  following 
a  loner  and  severe  winter,  during  which  fodder  became  so  scarce 
as  to  compel  farmers  to  turn  out  their  sheep  before  the  fresh 
grass  had  started.  The  sheep  ate  of  the  dry  and  frost-bitten 
grass  so  heartily  as  to  cause  it  to  become  clogged  in  the  rumen, 
producing  constipation  in  whole  flocks.  In  some  neighborhoods 
it  was  so  general  that  it  was  supposed  a  contagious  disorder  had 
broken  out  among  them.  A  number  died  before  the  cause  was 
discovered.  Purgatives,  together  with  restraining  the  sheep 
from  feeding  in  the  fields,  soon  restored  the  flocks  to  their  nor- 
mal condition. 

Colics. — These  troubles  are  caused  bv  costiveness  or  flatu- 
lence,  which  also  causes  stretches  (lying  on  the  ground  and  roll- 
ing about),  the  latter  being  more  of  a  symptom  than  a  disease. 
A  change  of  food  in  this  case,  as  well  as  in  the  opposite  case  of 
scours,  is  the  first  thing  to  be  done.  Injections  of  warm  water 
and  soap,  or  linseed  oil,  followed  with  an  ounce  of  the  latter  or 
of  castor  oil,  or  four  ounces  of  Epsom  salts,  given  by  the  mouth, 
is  the  first  remedy  in  cases  of  costiveness  or  colic.  Powdered 
sulphur  and  salt  should  be  frequently  given  as  correctives  and 
aids  in  digestion.  Abrupt  changes  from  dr\,-  to  succulent  food 
are  dangerous,  and  should  never  be  made  on  an  empty  stomach, 
as  these   animals,  like   cattle,  are   equally  subject  to  bloat,  and 


INFLAMMATION   OF  LUNGS.  .^j 

witli  them  it  is  more  rapid  in  its  results.  A  chanore  from  dr)^ 
feed  to  green,  without  an  admixture  of  dry  feed  following,  has 
produced  fatal  colic  even  when  the  pasture  was  stinted. 

DiARRHCEA  AND  ScouRS. — The  former  disorder  is  very  common 
to  lambs  while  sucking  and  during  the  first  winter.  Unless 
checked,  diarrhoea  will  soon  run  into  the  more  serious  condition 
of  scours,  and  rapidly  deplete  the  tender  animal  of  needed 
strength.  A  teaspoonful  of  laudanum  and  a  tablespoonful  of 
strong  ginger  tea  will  often  check  diarrhoea,  but  if  it  should  not, 
there  must  be  given  a  tablespoonful  of  castor  oil,  followed  by 
astringents. 

Inflammation  of  the  Lungs. — Sheep  are  not  apt  to  be  affected 
with  lung  diseases,  as,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  nature  has 
provided  them  with  ample  protection,  but  when  exposed  they 
will  sometimes  have  severe  inflammation  of  the  lunes.  We  had 
a  valuable  ram  die  within  twenty-fours  with  pneumonia,  which 
was  caused  by  being  left  tied  in  the  wind  after  having  been 
washed  for  exhibition  at  a  fair.  We  have  had  Leicester  sheep 
which,  for  a  w^iole  year,  were  afflicted  with  consumption,  and 
manifested  perfect  symptoms  of  this  debilitating  disorder. 
Where  symptoms  of  inflammation  of  the  lungs  are  apparent,  the 
animal  should  immediately  be  bled  and  given  a  purgative. 
After  this,  doses  of  tartar  emetic  may  be  added,  one  grain  to 
each  every  few  hours,  with  flaxseed  tea.  If  it  is  possible,  a 
counter-irritation  should  be  made  upon  the  chest.  The  nostrils 
must  be  kept  clear  and  clean. 

Snuffles  and  Snorlng. — The  stoppage  of  the  nostrils  with 
mucous  secretions,  which  may  be  caused  by  a  slight  cold,  or  by 
dust  or  some  other  foreiirn  substance  irritating  the  linino-  mem- 
branes,  is  of  frequent  occurrence,  but  may  be  obviated  by  spono-- 
infr  out  the  nostrils  with  some  soothinof  lotion.  Snorine  mav  be 
produced  by  a  more  serious  cause,  such  as  tumors  or  abscesses 
in  the  throat  or  in  the  cavity  of  the  chest.  When  they  are  dis- 
cernible, they  may  be  treated  according  to  their  character. 
Catarrh  is  frequent  with  sheep  exposed  to  the  changes  of  the 
weather,  or  when  wintered  in  close  and  badly  ventilated  stables. 
Local  treatment,  such  as  sponging  the  nostrils  or  inhaling  the 


^-,3  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

fumes  of  burning  tar,  will  usually  clean  out  the  nostrils  and 
afford  relief 

Poisons. — Sheep  will  eat  almost  every  plant  that  grows,  which 
makes  them  valuable  in  keeping  a  farm  free  from  foul  stuff.  On 
this  account  they  are  often  poisoned  by  eating  laurel,  Saint 
John's  wort,  and  other  poisonous  herbs.  The  effects  are  some- 
times confined  to  the  stomach,  producing  a  derangement  which 
may  be  corrected  by  mild  doses  of  cathartics.  The  lips  and 
mouth  are  often  made  sore  by  eating  poisonous  plants,  especially 
Saint  John's  wort,  which  sometimes  makes  the  mouth  so  sore 
that  the  sheep  cannot  eat.  In  all  such  cases  aperient  medicines 
should  be  administered,  and  the  lips  and  mouth  dressed  with  a 
healing  ointment.  A  change  of  pasture  is  also  essential  to  get 
rid  of  the  cause. 

Abortion. — On  account  of  the  timid  nature  of  sheep  they  are 
easily  frightened,  and  when  roughly  handled  or  chased  by  dogs 
they  are  apt  to  abort.  Dysentery  and  other  acute  derangements 
of  the  stomach  will  sometimes  produce  this  same  disorder,  hence 
abrupt  changes  in  diet  should  be  avoided,  and  a  mixture  of  dry 
and  green  food  given  through  the  winter.  Roots  are  very  essen- 
tial to  the  good  health  of  sheep.  Salt  and  water  should  always 
be  accessible,  as  sheep  desire  to  drink  often  and  but  little  at  a 
time.  If  these  sanitary  recommendations  are  carefully  carried 
out,  sickness  among  sheep  will  be  very  much  lessened,  especially 
in  the  severe  forms  of  abortion  or  other  disturbances  of  the 
uterus. 

The  black-leg  is  a  disease  which  has  affected  lambs  in- various 
parts  of  the  country.  Its  character  seems  uncertain,  though 
generally  believed  to  be  connected  with  disease  of  the  lungs. 
The  legs  seem  to  become  powerless  and  the  flesh  turns  black.  The 
disease  generally  proves  fatal  In  a  short  time.  It  may  be 
the  same  known  as  lung-worm  in  other  sections,  but  this  is 
doubtful. 

Some  attempts  at  medication  have  proved  beneficial  in  delay- 
ing the  latal  termination,  w  hlle  others  have  apparently  hastened 
it.  As  a  general  rule,  the  administration  ol  antijseptics  and 
stimulants,    such    as    diluted  carbolic   acid,  powdered    charcoal, 


"  STRICANA    IX  SHEEPr  4^q 

minute  doses  of  sulphate  of  iron  (copperas)  and  cayenne  pepper 
seems  to  be  indicated,  tliough  when  the  disease  is  fairly 
developed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  medication  will  prevent  a 
fatal  termination.  The  disease  is  not  contagious,  though  it  may 
be  epidemic  in  certain  localities. 

The  disease  described  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Shaw,  of  Beverly,  N.  Y., 
in  the  following  paragraph,  as  pape7'-skin,  seems  to  be  identical 
with  what  Mr.  Curtis  calls  "  the  pale  disease  "  in  lambs. 

Lambs  in  this  locality  have  been  scourged  for  several  years 
past  with  a  disease  called  "  paper-skin,"  which  seems  to  be  worse 
in  wet  than  in  dry  seasons.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  lose  an 
entire  flock  by  the  disease.  It  attacks  the  lambs  at  the  age  of 
from  three  to  five  months,  and  those  in  good  flesh  are  as  liable 
to  it  as  those  that  are  in  poor  condition.  When  attacked,  they 
become  very  pale  and  weak,  apparently  almost  entirely  bloodless. 
The  stomach  contains  small  red  worms,  ai^d  frequently,  in 
addition,  the  animal  wilt  be  found  to  have  tape-worm. 

We  have  no  knowledcre  of  the  cause  of  the  luno-worm — a 
name  given  for  the  want  of  a  better,  perhaps.  It  affects  young 
sheep  in  a  greater  degree  and  to  a  greater  extent  than  matured 
animals.  The  worm  is  a  small  white  one,  and  is  found  in  con- 
siderable .numbers  in  the  luncrs,  or  in  the  tubes  connectino-  the 
windpipe  with  the  lungs.  The  disease  is  less  frequent  than 
either  of  those  named  above,  but  the  fatality  is  greater  in  com- 
parison with  the  number  affected.  The  symptoms  are  weakness, 
failure  to  eat,  loss  of  flesh,  and  a  cough.  This  disease  is  but 
little  understood  by  the  wool-grower. 

Stricana  or  strichina  is  perhaps  a  very  Incorrect  name  for 
another  disease  affecting  sheep.  It  is  caused  by  a  very  small 
worm,  so  minute  indeed,  that  it  cannot  be  seen  without  the  aid 
of  a  magnifying  glass.  It  is  believed  to  cause  the  sheep  to  pick 
or  bite  the  wool  from  its  sides,  flank,  and  other  parts,  until  the 
fleece  becomes  more  or  less  ragged  and  wasted.  The  skin 
becomes  rough  and  shows  symptoms  of  disease.  It  is  not 
contagious,  but  attacks  sheep  of  all  ages.  It  is  more  damaging 
in  flocks  that  have  been  closely  bred  "  in  and  in  "  for  many 
years ;  indeed,  tiiis  is  the  case  with  most  diseases.     As  both  a 


.  .Q  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

preventative  and  cure,  wood  and  cob  ashes  with  salt  are  used 
with  partial  success.  We  have  seen  sheep  in  Vermont  and 
Massachusetts  badly  affected  with  this  disease  as  well  as  in  our 
own  State. 

The  sheep  in  the  more  Northern  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Great  West,  are  as  a  rule  less  subject  to  disease  than  those  of 
the  Southern  States  and  Territories.  This  is  probably  due  to 
the  absence  of  marshy  and  moist  lands,  the  purer  and  more 
elevated  atmosphere,  the  great  range  ot  pasturage  and  the 
absence  or  rarity  of  those  insect  and  vegetable  pests  which 
produce  and  promote  disease  among  these  harmless  animals. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Other  Farm  Animals — Breeding  Swine — Swine  Husbandry  less  Popular 
IN  THE  Great  West  than  East  of  the  Mississippi — The  States  and  Terri- 
tories MOST  largely  engaged  IN  IT — The  Best  Breeds — Modes  of  Man- 
agement—The Margin  of  Profit  in  the  Business — Diseases  to  which 
Swine  are  Liable — Breeding  of  Horses,  Asses,  and  Mules  for  the  Mar- 
ket— This  Pursuit  very  Profitable — Dogs — The  Shepherd  Dog — Dogs 
FOR  Hunting — The  Greyhound;  Different  Varieties — Pointers,  Set- 
ters, Bull-dogs,  Coach-dogs,  Terriers — Mongrel  Hunting  Dogs — Indian 
Cur-dogs — Crosses  Between  Dogs  and  Wolves — Worthless  Dogs  very 
Destructive  of  Sheep. 

The  whole  of  "  Our  Western  Empire"  reported,  at  the  close  of 
1879,  but  a  little  more  than  12,000,000  swine,  only  about  one- 
third  of  the  whole  number  in  the  United  States.  Iowa  had  nearly 
3,000,000,  one-fourth  of  the  whole  number,  and  IMissouri  another 
fourth.  Of  the  other  half,  Texas  had  a  little  more  than  2,000,000, 
or  one-third;  Kansaf  and  Arkansas  respectively  1,300,000  and 
1 ,200,000,  and  the  remainder  were  divided  among  the  other  States 
and  Territories;  those  on  the  Pacific  slope  having  the  smallest 
numbers.  Beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  rearing  swine  is  not  a 
favorite  pursuit  with  the  farmers,  partly  perhaps  because  the 
climate  and  seasons  are  not  so  well  adapted  to  the  animal,  and 
partly  because  there  is  more  difficulty  in  protecting  a  herd  of. 


SWINE-BREEDING   IN  THE    WEST.  44 1 

swine  from  the  attacks  of  wild  animals,  and  from  other  thieves, 
than  sheep  or  neat-cattle.  Sheep  are  easily  driven  or  led,  but 
the  swine  seems  to  have  inherited  the  perversity  of  his  ancestors, 
and  persistently  seeks  to  go  in  the  very  direction  that  he  should 
not.  There  are,  however,  hogs  and  hogs  ;  some  breeds  are  quiet, 
gentle,  and  well-behaved,  while  others,  lank,  lean  and  long-limbed, 
will  spring  over  a  fence  as  nimbly  as  a  shepherd's  dog,  and  though 
fleet  of  foot,  and  of  evil  and  pugnacious  temper,  possess  few  or 
no  good  qualities  to  counterbalance  these  objectionable  ones. 
The  Southern  swine  are  not,  as  a  rule,  of  the  best  breeds,  though 
there  have  been  great  efforts  made  of  late  in  Texas  to  improve 
the  stock,  and  with  a  commendable  degree  of  success,  Iowa  is, 
after  Illinois,  the  laroest  raiser  of  swine  in  the  Union,  and  in  that 
State,  Missouri  and  Kansas,  which  follow  after  in  the  numbers  of 
their  swine  (the  three  States  having  about  7,000,000,  worth  about 
^42,000,000),  great  efforts  have  been  made  to  raise  only  the  best 
stock. 

In  these  States,  long  experience  has  led  the  best  farmers  to 
prefer  two  or  three  breeds,  and  their  crosses.  In  Kansas,  and 
we  think  in  Iowa  and  Missouri,  these  breeds  are  the  Poland- 
China,  especially  as  improved  by  D.  M.  Megie  ;  the  Berkshire, 
either  the  English  or  the  improved  large  Berkshire ;  various 
crosses  of  these  two,  some  preferring  the  Berkshire  and  others 
the  Poland-China  boar  v/ith  the  sow  of  the  other  breed,  and  the 
Chester  White,  either  pure  or  crossed  with  the  Berkshire.  A 
very  few  cling  to  the  Essex  and  Suffolk  breeds,  but  the  number  of 
these,  as  well  as  the  advocates  of  the  pure  Chester  Whites,  are 
decreasing  every  year.  The  general  opinion  seems  to  be  that 
the  Poland-Chinas  make  the  largest  and  most  quiet  hogs,  and 
give  the  best  return  for  the  money  expended  on  them,  and  give 
the  largest  litter,  but  are  rather  too  large  in  bone,  and  require  a 
ereat  amount  of  feeding.  The  Berkshires  have  smaller  bones, 
and  their  meat  is  in  the  right  place  to  make  fine  hams  and  shoul- 
ders, and  their  flesh  is  very  fine-grained.  They  are  the  best  for 
the  farmer's  own  packing,  but  do  not  weigh  as  much  at  a  year 
or  a  year  and  a-half  old  as  the  Poland-Chinas,  and  do  not  have  as 
large  a  litter  as  the  Poland-Chinas.     It  is  universally  agreed  that 


^42  OUR     H'ESTERiV   EMPIRE. 

the  crosses  of  these  breeds  make  altoijether  the  best  animals  for 
market.  These  crosses  shoukl  weigh  at  one  year  okl,  when  fat- 
tened, from  350  to  450  pounds,  and  at  eighteen  or  twenty  months 
from  650  to  700  pounds.  With  corn  at  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  and 
some  pasture,  and  proper  treatment,  pork  can  be  made  in  Cen- 
tral and  Western  Kansas  at  from  •pi  to  $2.25  per  100  pounds, 
and  it  will  bring  from  $2.87  to  $3.50  per  hundred,  live  weight. 
Most  of  the  diseases,  to  which  swine  are  subject,  can  be  pre- 
vented much  more  easily  than  they  can  be  cured,  and  the  sensi- 
ble and  judicious  swine-breeder  will  find  that,  by  avoiding  crowd- 
ing, damp  and  filthy  pens  or  wallows,  by  occasional  changes  of 
pasture,  and  the  use  of  green  lood,  and  mashes  when  the  dry 
food  is  too  constipating,  it  will  be  possible  to  ward  off  disease, 
and  to  have  a  perfectly  healthy  herd  of  swine.  The  various 
forms  of  worms  which  infest  swine — the  tape-worm,  the  trichina, 
and  the  round  worms — are,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  result 
of  gross  and  foul  feeding,  and  of  filthy  and  close  pens.  The  hog 
is  not  an  uncleanly  animal  if  he  has  the  opportunity  to  be  clean. 
The  great  losses  sustained,  for  some  years  past,  by  those 
enoaeed  in  rearino-  swine,  from  the  disease  variously  known  as 
Hog-Cholera,  Swine-Plague  and  Hog-Fever  (losses  amounting 
in  1877  to  more  than  s^i  2,000,000),  led  the  United  S'.alcs  Agricul- 
tural Department  at  W^ashington  to  make,  in  1878,  a  very 
thorough  investigation  of  the  disease,  including  its  history,  symp- 
toms, causes,  diagnosis,  prognosis,  post-mortem  appearances, 
preventive  measures  and  treatment.  The  investigation  was  con- 
fided to  four  of  the  most  eminent  veterinary  surgeons  in  the 
United  States — Drs.  H.  J.  Detmers  of  Chicago,  James  Law  of 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  D.  W.  Voyles  of  New  Albanf,  Ind.,  and  D.  E. 
Salmon  of  Swannanoa,  N.  C. — each  of  whom  spent  months  in  the 
investigation,  pursuing  it  independently  of  all  the  others,  and 
without  conference  with  them.  The  results  of  these  investipra- 
tions  were  published  in  a  very  valuable  volume  in  the  autumn  of 
1879,  with  numerous  colored  plates  of  the  appearances  of  the 
lungs,  stomach  and  intestines,  and  tables  and  records  of  the  con- 
clusions to  which  they  came.  These  reports  are  so  able  and 
exhaustive,  and  of  so  high  and  conclusive  authority,  that  we  be- 


THE   SWINE-PLAGUE    OR   JIOG-CIWLEKA.  .     >., 

lieve  we  are  doing  a  valuable  service  to  the  farmers  of  the  United 
States,  and  especially  of  the  West,  in  giving  a  brief  summary  of 
the  results  of  their  researches.  They  will  serve,  at  least,  to  show 
that  the  only  safeguard  against  the  disease  lies  in  measures  of 
prevention  and  precaution,  which  every  farmer  engaged  in  raising 
swine  should  adopt ;  that  great  pains  should  be  taken  to  keep 
swine  in  a  perfectly  healthy  and  vigorous  condition,  and  that  their 
pens  and  troughs,  as  well  as  the  swine  themselves,  should  be  kept 
clean;  that  close  inbreedinij  is  wronij,  as  weakening  the  con- 
stitutions  of  the  animals  and  rendering  them  more  liable  to  dis- 
ease ;  and  that  where  the  disease  appears,  the  infected  herd 
should  be  kept  isolated,  thorough  disinfection  practised  daily,  and 
all  diseased  hogs  killed  at  once,  and  either  buried  very  deeply 
or  burned,  so  as  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  infection  ;  that  the 
owners  of  the  slaughtered  hogs  should  be  repaid  two-thirds  of 
their  value,  if  they  will  report  the  cases  immediately  on  the  out- 
break of  the  disease  and  follow  directions;  that  all  haullno-  of 
diseased  or  dead  hogs  along  public  roads  or  by  railroad  trains, 
or  in  any  way  exposing  other  herds  to  infection,  should  be  pro- 
hibited under  heavy  penalties,  and  all  communication  of  the 
infection  by  fodder,  running  water  or  the  clothing  of  swineherds 
or  others,  should  be  prevented;  and  the  lots  on  which  these  dis- 
eased herds  or  animals  have  been  penned  even  for  a  single 
night,  should  be  disinfected,  and  plowed  deeply  to  prevent  the 
spread  of  infection. 

But  we  can  perhaps  best  benefit  our  farming  friends  by  giving 
summaries  of  these  reports  in  the  very  words  of  the  veterinary 
surgeons  ;  and,  first,  of  the 

DESCRIPTION    OF   THE    DISEASE. 

The  disease,  though  popularly  called  Hog- Cholera,  has  really 
no  resemblance  to  cholera  or  to  malignant  pustule.  It  has 
somewhat  more  resemblance  to  the  pleuro-pneumonia  which  has 
proved  so  destructive  oi  cattle  ;  but  is  not  identical  with  that  dis- 
ease. It  is  undoubtedly  contagious  and  infectious,  and  the  ex- 
periments and  researches  of  these  veterinary  surgeons,  many 
times    repeated    and    under  a  great  variety  of    circumstances, 


...  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

AAA 

too-ethcr  with  their  post-mortem  examinations,  have  proved  that 
it  can  be  transmitted,  by  inoculation  and  by  devouring  portions 
of  the  flesh  of  diseased  animals,  to  other  swine,  and  to  rabbits, 
sheep,  and  dogs  as  well,  and  produces  the  same  symptoms  and 
as  often  the  same  fatal  termination,  as  where  it  is  communicated 
by  ordinary  contact.  The  veterinarians  are  agreed  in  these 
points,  that  it  is  produced  by  the  transmission  of  a  specific  germ, 
a  bacillus  as  some  of  them  call  it,  into  the  stomach  or  circulation, 
and  that  this  germ  is  propagated  with  inconceivable  rapidity 
and  may  promote  diseased  action  in  any  organ  or  set  of  organs, 
the  lungs,  liver,  stomach,  bowels,  lymphatics,  kidneys,  muscles, 
nerves  or  brain,  but  that  the  lungs  and  the  lymphatic  glands  are 
always  affected,  and  the  other  organs  and  tissues,  one  or  more 
of  them  often.  The  best  name  for  it  is  Swine-Plague  or  Hog- 
Fever.  The  disease  does  not  originate  from  filth,  crowding,  and 
improper  or  heating  food,  but  when  it  has  been  once  comnfiuni- 
cated  to  any  member  of  a  herd  of  swine,  its  propagation  is 
gready  accelerated,  and  its  mortality  hastened  and  aggravated 
by  impure  and  unwholesome  surroundings. 

SYMPTOMS    AND    DIAGNOSIS. 

The  disease  is  ushered  in  by  a  cold  shivering,  lasting  from  a 
few  minutes  to  several  hours,  frequent  sneezing  and  more  or 
less  coughing.  The  temperature  of  the  body  is  increased,  and 
though  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  ascertain  the  exact  temperature 
without  a  struggle  which  will,  of  itself,  increase  the  temperature, 
yet  enough  seems  to  have  been  ascertained  to  make  it  certain 
that  it  ranofes  between  two  or  three  and  ten  or  twelve  degrees 
above  the  normal  or  healthy  temperature.  There  is  also  at  first 
a  partial,  and  soon  a  total  loss  of  appetite  ;  a  rough  and  some- 
what staring  appearance  of  the  coat  of  hair;  a  drooping  of  the 
ears  (characteristic);  loss  of  vivacity;  attempts  to  vomit  (in 
some  cases)  ;  a  tendency  to  root  in  the  bedding  and  to  lie  down 
in  a  dark  and  quiet  corner;  a  dull  look  of  the  eyes,  which  not 
seldom  become  dim  and  injected  ;  swelling  of  the  head  (observed 
in  several  cases) ;  eruptions  on  the  ears  and  on  other  parts  of 
the   body  (quite   frequent)  ;   bleeding  from   the   nose    (in   a   few 


SWINE-PLAGUE  :    HOW  RECOGNIZED. 


445 


cases)  ;  swelling  of  the  eyelids  and  partial  or  total  blindness  (in 
five  or  six  cases)  ;  dizziness  or  apparent  pressure  on  the  brain  ; 
accelerated  and  frequently  laborious  breathing;  more  or  less 
constipation,  or  in  some  cases,  diarrhoea;  a  gaunt  appearance  of 
the  Hanks  ;  a  pumping  motion  of  the  same  at  each  breath  ;  rapid 
emaciation  ;  a  vitiated  appetite  for  dung,  dirt  and  saline  sub- 
stances ;  increased  thirst  (sometimes)  ;  accumulation  of  mucus  in 
the  corners  of  the  eyes  (very  often  at  an  early  stage  of  the  dis- 
ease) ;  more  or  less  copious  discharges  from  the  nose,  etc.  The 
peculiar  offensive  and  fetid  smell  of  the  exhalations  and  of  the 
excrements  may  be  considered  as  characteristic  of  the  disease. 
This  odor  is  so  penetrating  as  to  announce  its  presence,  espe- 
cially if  the  htrd  of  swine  is  a  large  one,  at  a  distance  of  half  a 
mile,  or  even  farther,  if  the  wind  is  favorable.  If  the  animals 
are  inclined  to  be  costive,  the  dung  is  usually  grayish  or  brown- 
ish black,  and  hard ;  if  diarrhoea  is  present,  the  fffices  are  semi- 
fluid, and  of  a  grayish  green  color,  and  contain  in  some  cases  an 
admixture  of  blood.  In  a  large  number  of  cases  the  more  ten- 
der p(^rtions  of  the  skin  on  the  lower  surface  of  the  body, 
between  the  hind  lesf-s,  behind  the  ears,  and  even  on  the  nose 
and  or)  the  neck,  exhibit  numerous  larger  or  smaller  red  spots, 
or  (sometimes)  a  uniform  redness  (Red  Soldier  of  the  English). 
Towart-l  a  fatal  termination  of  the  disease  this  redness  changes 
frequently  to  purple.  A  physical  exploration  of  the  thorax  re- 
veals, if  pleuritis  is  existing,  frequently  a  plain  rubbing  sound. 
As  the  morbid  process  progresses  the  movements  of  the  sick 
animal  become  weaker  and  slower ;  the  gait  becomes  staggering 
and  undecided;  the  steps  made  are  short,  as  if  the  animal  was 
unable  to  advance  Its  legs  without  pain  ;  sometimes  lameness, 
especially  in  a  hind  leg  (not  very  often),  and  sometimes  great 
weakness  In  the  hind  quarters,  or  partial  paralysis  (oftener) 
make  their  appearance.  The  head,  if  the  animal  Is  on  its  legs, 
seems  to  be  too  heavy  to  be  carried,  and  is  kept  in  a  drooping 
position  with  the  nose  almost  touching  the  ground  ;  but  as  a 
general  rule  the  diseased  animals  are  usually  found  lying  down 
in  a  dark  and  quiet  corner  with  the  nose  hid  In  the  bedding.  It 
a  fatal  termination  Is  approaching,  a  very  fetid  diarrhoea  (ubually 


.^5  <^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

one  or  two  days  before  death)  takes  the  place  of  the  previous 
costiveness  ;  the  voice  becomes  very  pecuHar,  grows  very  faint 
and  hoarse;  the  sick  animal  manifests  a  great  indifference  to  its 
surroundings,  and  to  what  is  going  on  ;  emaciation  and  general 
debility  increase  very  fast ;  the  skin  (especially  if  the  disease  has 
been  of  long  duration)  becomes  wrinkled,  hard,  dry,  parchment- 
like, and  very  unclean ;  a  cold,  clammy  sweat  breaks  out 
(observed  several  times,  once  as  early  as  forty-eight  hours 
before  death),  and  death  ensues  either  under  convulsions  (com- 
paratively rare),  or  gradually  and  without  any  struggle.  A 
peculiar  symptom,  which,  however,  has  been  observed  only  once, 
in  a  litter  of  nine  pigs,  about  a  week  old,  at  the  beginning,  or  in 
the  first  stage  of  the  disease,  may  here  be  mentioned.  It  con- 
sisted in  a  peculiar  and  constant  twitching  of  all  voluntary  mus- 
cles. All  nine  pigs  died,  and  I  am  sorry  that  I  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  make  7}iX\y  post-mortem  examination. 

In  some  cases  numerous  eruptions  (ulcerous  nodules) 
appeared  on  the  tender  skin  on  the  lower  surface  of  the  body 
between  the  leg-s  and  behind  the  ears,  and  in  a  few  cases  whole 
pieces  of  skin  (in  one  case  as  large  as  a  man's  hand)  were 
destroyed  by  the  morbid  process,  sloughed  off,  and  left  behind  a 
raw,  ulcerous  surface.  In  another  case  a  part  of  the  lower  lip, 
of  the  gums,  and  of  the  lower  jaw-bone  had  undergone  ulcerous 
destruction. 

Wherever  pigs  or  hogs  had  been  ringed,  the  wounds  thus 
made  showed  a  great  tendency  to  ulcerate.  In  several  cases  the 
morbid  process  had  caused  sufficient  ulcerous  destruction  to 
form  an  opening  directly  into  the  nasal  cavities  large  enough  to 
enable  the  animal  to  breathe  through,  instead  of  through  the 
nostrils,  which  had  become  nearly  closed  by  swelling  and  by 
exudations  and  morbid  products  adhering  to  their  borders. 

In  those  few  cases  in  which  the  disease  has  not  a  fatal  termi- 
nation the  symptoms  gradually  disappear,  coughing  becomes  more 
frequent  and  easier;  the  discharges  froni  the  nose,  for  a  day  or 
two,  become  copious,  but  soon  diminish,  and  finally  cease  alto- 
gether; appetite  returns,  and  becomes  normal;  the  offensive  smell 
of  the  excrements  disappears ;  sores  or  ulcers  that  may  happen 


DISTINCTIVE   SYMPTOMS    OF  SWINE-PLAGUE.  ^^y 

to  exist,  show  a  tendency  to  heal;  the  animal  becomes  more  lively, 
and  gains,  though  slowly,  in  flesh  and  strength ;  but  some  diffi- 
culty of  breathing,  and  a  short,  somewhat  hoarse,  hacking  cough 
remains  for  a  lono-  time. 

The  diagnosis,  or  distinctive  symptoms  of  the  disease,  are  thus 
detailed  by  Dr.  Detmers : 

"The  diagnosis  is  very  easy,  especially  if  swine-plague  is  known 
to  be  prevailing  in  the  neighborhood,  or  has  already  made  its 
appearance  in  the  herd,  and  if  the  fact  that  many  animals  are 
attacked  at  once,  or  within  a  short  time  and  in  rapid  succession, 
are  taken  into  consideration.  As  symptoms  of  special  diagnostic 
value,  scarcely  ever  absent  in  any  case,  may  be  mentioned  the 
drooping  of  the  ears  and  of  the  head;  more  or  less  coughing; 
the  dull  look  of  the  eyes  ;  the  staring  appearance  of  the  coat  of 
hair;  the  partial  or  total  want  of  appetite  for  food;  the  vitiated 
appetite  for  excrements  ;  the  rapid  emaciation  ;  the  great  debility; 
the  weak  and  undecided,  frequently  staggering,  gait ;  the  great 
indifference  to  surroundings  ;  the  tendency  to  lie  down  in  a  dark 
corner,  and  to  hide  the  nose,  or  even  the  whole  head  in  the  bed- 
ding, and  particularly  the  specific,  offensive  smell,  and  the  peculiar 
color  of  the  excrements.  This  symptom  is  always  present,  at 
least  in  an  advanced  staire  of  the  disease,  no  matter  whether  con- 
stipation  or  diarrhoea  is  existing.  As  other  characteristic  symp- 
toms, though  not  present  in  every  animal,  deserve  to  be  men- 
tioned :  frequent  sneezing ;  bleeding  from  the  nose  ;  swelling  of 
the  eyelids;  accumulation  of  mucus  in  the  inner  canthi  of  the 
eyes  ;  attempts  to  vomit,  or  real  vomiting  ;  accelerated  and  diffi- 
cult breathing;  thumping  or  spasmodic  contraction  of  the  ab- 
dominal muscles  (flanks)  at  each  breath,  and  a  peculiar,  faint  and 
hoarse  voice  in  the  last  stages  of  the  disease." 

The  TROGNOSis  or  probable  result  of  the  disease  is  decidedly 
unfavorable,  but  is  the  more  so  the  younger  the  animals  or  the 
larger  the  herd.  Among  pigs  less  than  three  months  old  the 
mortality  may  be  set  down  as  froni  ninety  to  one  hundred  per 
cent. ;  among  animals  three  to  six  or  seven  months  old  the  same 
is  from  seventy-five  to  ninety  per  cent.  ;  while  among  older 
animals  that  have  been  well  kept  and  are  in  good  condition,  and 


.^3  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

naturally  strong-  and  vigroroiis,  the  mortality  sometimes  may  not 
exceed  twenty-five  per  cent.,  but  may,  on  an  average,  reach  forty 
to  fifty  per  cent.  The  prognosis  is  comparatively  favorable  only 
in  those  few  cases  in  which  the  morbid  process  is  not  very  violent; 
in  which  the  seat  of  the  disease  is  confined  to  the  respiratory 
oroans  and  to  the  skin  ;  in  which  any  thumping  or  pumping 
motion  of  the  flanks  is  absent ;  and  in  which  the  patient  is, 
naturally,  a  strong,  vigorous  animal,  not  too  young  and  in  a  good 
condition  ;  further,  in  which  but  a  few,  not  more  than  two  or  three, 
animals  are  kept  in  the  same  pen  or  sty,  and  receive  nothing  but 
clean,  uncontaminated  food  and  pure  water  for  drinking,  and  in 
which  a  frequent  and  thorough  cleaning  of  the  sty  or  pen  pre- 
vents any  consumption  of  excrements. 

The  duration  of  the  disease  varies  according  to  the  violence 
and  the  seat  of  the  morbid  process,  the  age  and  the  constitution 
of  the  patient,  and  the  treatment  and  keeping  in  general.  Where 
the  morbid  process  is  violent,  where  its  principal  seat  is  in  one 
of  tlie  most  vital  organs — in  the  heart,  for  instance — where  a 
large  number  of  animals  are  kept  together  in  one  sty  or  pen, 
where  sties  and  pens  are  very  dirty,  or  where  the  sick  animals 
are  very  young,  the  disease  frequently  becomes  fatal  in  a  day  or 
two,  and  sometimes  even  within  twenty-four  hours.  On  the 
other  hand,  where  the  morbid  process  is  not  very  violent  or  ex- 
tensive, where  the  heart,  for  instance,  is  not  seriously  affected, 
and  where  the  patients  are  naturally  strong  and  vigorous,  and 
well  kept  in  every  respect,  it  usually  takes  from  one  to  three 
weeks  to  cause  death.  If  the  termination  is  not  a  fatal  one,  the 
convalescence,  at  any  rate,  requires  an  equal  and  probably  a 
much  longer  time.  A  perfect  recovery  seldom  occurs;  in  most 
cases  some  lasting  disorders — morbid  chano^es  which  can  be  re- 
paired  but  slowly  or  not  at  all — remain  behind,  and  interfere 
more  or  les*,  with  the  erowth  and  fatteninir  of  the  animal. 

From  ?.  pecuniary  standpoint,  it  makes  but  little  difference  to 
the  owner  whether  a  pig  affected  with  this  plague  recovers  or 
dies,  because  those  which  do  survive  usually  make  very  poor 
returns  for  the  food  consumed,  unless  the  attack  has  been  a  very 
mild  one. 


THE   GERMS    WHICH  FRODC'CE    THE  DISEASE.  ^g 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  contagious  and  infectious  char- 
acter of  the  disease,  and  of  its  propagation  by  means  of  the  diffu- 
sion of  germs.  These  germs,  though  of  a  very  low  order  of 
structure,  are  propagated  in  th^  stomach,  intestines,  or  blood  of 
the  swine  with  extraordinary  rapidity.  They  are  believed  to  be 
a  species  of  the  Bacteria,  the  family  name  of  these  yeast  or  de- 
structive germs.  Dr.  Detmers  and  some  others  have  given  this 
particular  species  the  name  of  Bacillus  Suis,  or  "  little  Bacteria 
of  the  swine."  How  it  enters  the  stomach,  bowels,  or  blood  of 
the  swine  is  a  question  which  has  been  very  carefully  investigated. 
It  was  at  first  believed  that  these  germs  (which  are  very  minute) 
were  dried  and  reduced  to  powder  by  the  action  of  the  sun  and 
wind,  and  so  taken  up  by  the  wind,  and  carried  to  a  distance 
when  they  were  inhaled  and  taken  into  the  lungs  by  the  swine, 
and  thus  affected  the  system  of  the  animal. 

This  theory  is  now  exploded,  for  very  good  reasons.  The 
inhalation  of  these  germs  does  not  seem  to  be  attended  with 
injurious  effects ;  and  the  present  belief  of  veterinary  surgeons,, 
as  well  as  of  intelligent  swine-farmers,  is  that  while  these  germs, 
are  taken  up  by  the  air  and  carried  to  a  considerable  distance,, 
they  are  deposited  upon  the  grass  by  the  dew,  or  by  light  rains, 
or  fall  into  streams  or  creeks  and  impregnate  the  water,  so  that 
those  swine  which  feed  upon  the  grass  or  drink  the  water  thus 
charged  with  bacilli  take  the  oferms  into  their  stomachs,  and  not 
only  become  infected  themselves  but  infect  others.  Dr.  Detmers 
says:  "I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  of  any  herd  remaining  ex- 
empted after  the  disease  had  once  made  its  appearance- in.  the 
immediate  neighborhood,  unless  the  animals  constituting  the 
herd  were  free  from  any  external  lesions  (sores,  wounds,  or  the 
like),  were  watered  from  a  well,  fed  with  clean  food,  and  shut  up 
during  the  night  and  in  the  morning  till  the  dew  had  disappeared 
from  the  grass,  either  in  a  bare  yard  not  containing  any  old 
straw  stacks,  or  in  sties  or  pens.  Animals  allowed  to  run  out 
on  a  pasture,  or  on  grass,  clover,  or  stubble-fields  at  all  times  of 
the  day,  and  animals  that  had  external  sores  or  wounds,  con- 
tracted the  disease  sooner  or  later  in  every  instance  where  the 
plague  made  its  appearance  in  the  neighborhood.  Further,  the 
29 


.-n  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

plague,  at  least  during-  the  summer  or  while  a  south  wind  was  pre- 
vailing-, seemed  to  have  a  special  tendency  to  spread  from  south 
to  north.  If  the  history  of  swine-plague  is  inquired  into,  it  will 
probably  be  found  that  that  tendency  has  been  prevailing  every 
year.  This  year,  for  instance,  the  disease  made  its  appearance, 
as  I  have  been  informed,  for  the  first  time,  in  Wisconsin.  These 
facts,  of  course,  could  not  fail  to  be  suggestive.  So  I  conceived 
the  idea  that  the  contagious  or  infectious  principle,  abundant  in 
the  excretions  of  the  diseased  animals,  might  rise  in  the  air  in 
daytime,  be  carried  off  a  certain  distance  by  winds,  and  come 
down  ao-ain  durine  the  nicrht  with  the  dew.  That  such  miq-ht  be 
the  case  appeared  to  be  possible,  because  the  excrements  of 
hogs,  if  exposed  to  the  influence  of  sunlight,  heat,  rain,  and  wind, 
are  soon  ground  to  powder  (partially  at  least),  which  is  fine 
enough  to  be  raised  into  the  air  and  to  be  carried  off"  by  winds. 
Moreover,  as  the  bacillus-germs,  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  must 
be  looked  upon  as  the  infectious  principle,  are  so  exceedingly 
small,  it  appears  to  be  possible  and  even  probable  that  they  are 
carried  up  into  the  air  by  the  aqueous  vapors  arising  Irom 
evaporating  urine  and  moisture  contained  in  the  excrements, 
and  from  other  evaporating  fluids  (small  pools  of  water),  which 
may  have  become  polluted  with  the  excretions  of  sick  hogs.  To 
ascertain  the  facts,  I  collected  dew  from  the  herbage  of  a  hog-lot 
occupied  by  diseased  animals,  and  also  from  the  grass  of  an 
adjoining  pasture,  and  on  examining  the  same  under  the 
microscope  I  found  the  identical  bacilli  and  bacillus-germs 
invariably  found  in  the  blood,  other  fluids,  and  morbid  tis- 
sues of  swine  affected  with  the  plague.  Consequently,  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  bacillus-germs  rise 
into  the  air  during  the  day,  are  carried  from  one  place  to 
another  by  the  wind,  and  arc  introduced  into  the  organism  of 
the  animal  either  by  eating  herbage  (grass,  clover,  etc.),  or  old 
straw  covered  with  dew,  or  by  entering  wounds  and  being 
absorbed  by  the  veins  and  lymphatics.  There  is,  however,  still 
another  way  by  which  the  contagious  or  infectious  principle  is 
conveyed  from  one  place  to  another.  It  is  by  means  of  running 
water.     It  has  been  observed  that  wherever  swine-plague  pre- 


HO  IV  THE   DISEASE    IS    TRANSMITTED.  ^l 

vailed  among-  hogs  that  had  access  to  runnhig  water  (as  small 
creeks,  streamlets,  etc.),  that  all  the  hogs  and  pigs  which  had 
access  to  the  creek  or  streamlet  below  contracted  the  disease, 
usually  within  a  .short  time,  while  all  the  animals  which  had 
access  above  remained  exempted,  unless  they  became  infected 
by  other  means." 

Dr.  Detmers  thinks  that  this  infection  is  not  carried  throuo-h 
the  air  to  a  greater  distance  than  a  mile,  and  perhaps  not  so  far, 
but  that  the  infection  travels  in  this  way  with  the  prevailing 
direction  of  the  winds. 

"  One  thing,"  says  Dr.  Detmers,  "  I  am  sure  of,  and  that  is 
that  an  exclusive  corn  diet,  as  has  been  asserted  by  several 
agricultural  writers,  wallowing  in  dirt  and  nastiness,  starvation, 
in-and-in  breeding-,  etc.,  although  by  no  means  calculated  to  pro- 
mote health  or  to  invigorate  the  animal  organism,  cannot  con- 
stitute the  cause  and  cannot  produce  a  solitary  case  of  swine- 
plague,  unless  the  infectious  principles  (the  bacilli  and  their 
germs)  are  present.  If  they  are,  then,  of  course,  dirt  and  nasti- 
'  ness,  consumption  of  unclean  food  and  of  dirty  water,  facilitate 
an  infection,  and  warmth  and  moisture,  pregnant  with  organic 
substances,  or  organic  substances  in  a  state  of  decay,  are  un- 
doubtedly well  calculated  to  preserve  the  bacillus-germs  and  to 
develop  the  bacilli!' 

The  propagation  of  these  germs  by  inoculation  in  healthy  pigs, 
and  also  in  rabbits,  sheep,  and  young  dogs,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  swine-plague  with  all  its  characteristic  symptoms 
and  its  fatal  result,  tried  so  many  times  by  all  these  veterinary 
surgeons,  demonstrates  conclusively  that  the  bacilli  germs  were 
the  specific  sources  of  the  contagion.    . 

'preventive  measures. 

Dr.  Detmers  expresses  very  clearly  and  forcibly  the  measures 
Avhich  these  four  veterinary  surgeons  agree  in  recommending. 
"If  any  transportation  of,  or  traffic  in,  diseased  and  dead  swine  is 
effectually  prohibited  by  proper  laws,  a  spreading  of  the  swine- 
plague  on  a  large  scale  will  be  impossible,  and  its  ravages  will 
remain  limited  to  localities  where  the  disease-germs  have  not 


At  2  ^^'^"^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

been  destroyed,  but  have -been  preserved  till  they  find  sufficient 
food  again.  In  order  to  prevent  such  a  local  spreading-,  two 
remedies  may  be  resorted  to.  The  one  is  a  radical  one,  and 
consists  in  destroying  every  sick  hog  or  pig  inimediately,  wher- 
ever the  disease  makes  its  appearance,  and  in  disinfecting  the 
infected  premises  by  such  means  as  are  the  most  effective  and 
the  most  practicable.  If  this  is  done,  and  if  healthy  hogs  are 
kept  away  from  such  a  locality,  say  for  one  month  after  the  dis- 
eased animals  have  been  destroyed,  and  the  sties,  pens,  etc.,  dis- 
infected with  chloride  of  lime  or  carbolic  acid,  and  the  yards 
plowed,  etc.,  the  disease  will  be  stamped  out.  I  know  that  this 
is  a  violent  way  of  dealing  w^ith  the  plague,  but  in  the  end  it  may 
prove  to  be  by  far  the  cheapest.  The  other  remedy  is  more  of 
a  palliative  character,  and  may  be  substituted  if  swine-plague,  as 
is  now  the  case,  is  prevailing  almost  everywhere,  or  in  cases  in 
which  the  radical  measures  are  considered  as  too  severe  and  too 
sweeping.  It  consists  in  a  perfect  isolation  of  every  diseased 
herd,  not  only  during  the  actual  existence  of  the  plague  but  for 
some  time,  say  one  month,  after  the  occurrence  of  the  last  case 
of  sickness,  and  after  the  sties  and  pens  have  been  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  disinfected  with  carbolic  acid  or  other  disinfectants 
of  equal  efficiency,  and  the  yards,  etc.,  plowed.  Old  straw-stacks, 
etc.,  must  be  burned,  or  rapidly  converted  into  manure.  It  is 
also  very  essential  that  diseased  animals  are  not  allowed  any 
access  to  running  water,  streamlets  or  creeks  accessible  to  other 
healthy  swine.  Those  healthy  hogs  and  pigs  which  are  within 
the  possible  influence  of  the  contagious  or  infectious  principle, 
perhaps  on  the  same  farm  or  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
a  diseased  herd,  must  be  protected  by  special  means.  For  these, 
I  think,  it  will  be  best  to  make  movable  pens,  say  eight  feet 
square,  of  common  fence-boards  (eleven  fence-boards  will  make 
a  pen)  ;  put  two  animals  in  each  pen  ;  place  the  latter,  if  possi- 
ble, on  high  and  dry  ground,  but  by  no  means  in  an  old  hog-lot, 
on  a  manure-heap,  or  near  a  slough,  and  move  each  pen  every 
noon  to  a  new  place,  until  after  all  danger  has  passed.  If  this 
is  done  the  animals  will  not  be  compelled  to  eat  their  food  soiled 
with  excrements,  and  as  dry  earth  is  a  good  disinfectant,  an  in- 


PKEVENT/VF.   MEDICATION  OF  LITTLE    USE.  ac-^ 

fection,  very  likely,  will  not  take  place.  .  Besides  this,  the  troughs 
must  always  be  cleaned  before  water  or  food  is  put  in,  and  the 
water  for  drinking  must  be  fresh  and  pure,  or  be  drawn  from  a 
good  well  immediately  before  it  is  poured  into  the  troughs. 
Water  from  ponds,  or  that  which  has  been  exposed  in  any  way 
or  manner  to  a  contamination  with  the  infectious  principle,  must 
not  be  used.  If  all  this  is  complied  with,  and  the  disease  not- 
withstanding should  make  its  appearance  and  attack  one  or 
another  of  the  animals  thus  kept,  very  likely  it  will  remain  con- 
fined to  that  one  pen. 

"If  the  hogs  or  pigs  cannot  be  treated  in  that  way,  it  will  be 
advisable  to  keep  every  one  shut  up  in  its  pen,  or  in  a  bare  yard, 
from  sundown  until  the  dew  next  morning  has  disappeared  from 
the  grass,  and  to  allow  neither  sick  hogs  nor  pigs,  nor  other 
animals,  nor  even  persons,  who  have  been  near  or  in  contact 
with  animals  affected  with  swine  plague,  to  come  near  the  animals 
intended  to  be  protected.  That  good  ventilation  and  general 
cleanliness  constitute  valuable  auxiliary  rrieasures  of  prevention 
may  not  need  any  mentioning.  The  worst  thing  that  possibly 
can  be  done,  if  swine-plague  is  prevailing  in  the  neighborhood, 
is  to  shelter  the  hogs  and  pigs  under  or  in  tin  old  straw  or  hay 
stack,  because  nothing  is  more  apt  to  absorb  the  contagious  or 
infectious  principle,  and  to  preserve  it  longer  or  more  effectively 
than  old  straw^  hay,  or  manure-heaps  composed  mostly  of  hay 
or  straw.  It  is  even  probable  that  the  contagion  of  swine-plague, 
like  that  of  some  other  contagious  diseases,  if  absorbed  by,  or 
clinging  to,  old  straw  or  hay,  etc.,  will  remain  effective  and  a 
source  of  spreading  the  disease  for  months,  and  maybe  for  a 
year. 

"Therapeutically  but  little  can  be  done  to  prevent  an  outbreak 
of  swine-plague.  Where  it  is  sufficient  to  destroy  the  infectious 
principle  outside  of  the  animal  organism,  carbolic  acid  is  effec- 
tive, and,  therefore,  a  good  disinfectant;  but  where  the  conta- 
gious or  infectious  principle  has  already  entered  the  animal 
organism  its  value  is  doubtful.  Still,  wherever  there  is  cause  to 
suspect  that  the  food  or  the  water  for  drinking  may  have  become 
contaminated  with  the  contagion  of  swine-plague,  it  will  be  ad- 


454  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

•disable  to  give  every  morning-  and  evening  some  carbolic  acid, 
say  about  ten  drops  for  each  animal  weighing  from  i  20  to  1 50 
pounds,  in  the  water  for  drinking ;  and  wherever  there  is  reason 
to  suspect  that  the  infectious  principle  may  be  floating  in  the  air, 
it  will  be  advisable  to  treat  every  wound  or  scratch  a  hog  or  pig 
may  happen  to  have  immediately  with  diluted  carbolic  acid. 
During  a  time,  or  in  a  neighborhood  in  which  swine-plague  is 
prevailing,  care  should  be  taken  neither  to  ring  nor  to  castrate 
any  hog  or  pig,  because  every  wound,  no  matter  how  small,  is 
apt  to  become  a  port  of  entry  for  the  infectious  principle,  and 
the  very  smallest  amount  of  the  latter  is  sufficient  to  produce  the 
disease."  « 

"Still,  all  these  minor  measures  and  precautions  will  avail  but 
little  unless  a  dissemination  of  the  infectious  principle,  or  disease- 
germs,  is  made  impossible,  i.  Any  transportation  of  dead,  sick, 
or  infected  swine,  and  even  of  hogs  or  pigs  that  have  been  the 
least  exposed  to  the  contagion,  or  may  possibly  constitute  the 
bearers  of  the  same,  must  be  effectively  prohibited.  2.  Every 
one  who  loses  a  hog  or  pig  by  swine-plague  must  be  compelled 
by  law  to  bury  the  same  immediately,  or  as  soon  as  it  is  dead,  at 
least  four  feet  deep,  ©r  else  to  cremate  the  carcass  at  once,  so 
that  the  contagious  or  infectious  principle  may  be  thoroughly 
destroyed,  and  not  be  carried  by  dogs,  wolves,  rats,  crows,  etc., 
to  other  places." 

Another  thing  may  yet  be  mentioned,  which,  if  properly  exe- 
cuted, will  at  least  aid  very  materially  in  preventing  the  disease ; 
that  is,  to  give- all  food  either  in  clean  troughs,  or  if  corn  in  the 
ear  is  fed,  to  throw  it  on  a  wooden  platform  which  can  be  swept 
clean  before  each  feeding. 

TREATMENT. 

"  If  the  cause  and  the  nature  of  the  morbid  process  and  the 
character  and  the  importance  of  the  morbid  changes  are  taken 
into  proper  consideration,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  a  therapeu- 
tic treatment  will  be  of  much  avail  in  a  fully  developed  case  of 
swine-plague.  'Specific'  remedies,  such  as  are  advertised  in 
column  advertisements  in  certain  newspapers,  and  warranted  to 
be  infallible,  or  to  cure  every  case,  can  do  no  good  whatever. 


TREATMENT  OF   SWINE-PLAGUE.  ^cr 

They  are  a  downright  fraud,  and  serve  only  to  draw  the  money 
out  of  the  pockets  of  the  despairing  farmer,  who  is  ready  to  catch 
at  any  straw.  No  cure  has  ever  been  found  for  glanders,  anthrax, 
and  cattle-plague,  diseases  that  have  been  known  for  more  than 
two  thousand  years,  and  that  have  been  investigated  again  and 
again  by  the  most  learned  veterinarians  and  the  best  practitioners 
of  Europe,  and  there  is  to-day  not  even  a  prospect  that  a 
treatment  will  ever  be  discovered  to  which  those  diseases,  once 
fully  developed,  will  yield.  Neither  is  there  any  prospect  or 
probability  that  fully  developed  swine-plague  will  ever  yield  to 
treatment.  It  is  true  that  the  bacilli  suis  and  their  crerms  can  be 
killed  or  destroyed  If  outside  of  the  animal  organism,  or  within 
reach,  on  the  surface  of  the  animal's  body.  Almost  any  known 
disinfectant — carbolic  acid,  thymic  acid,  chloride  of  lime,  creosote, 
and  a  great  many  others — will  destroy  them.  But  the  bacilli  and 
their  germs  are  not  on  the  surface  of  the  body,  except  in  such 
parts  of  the  skin  and  accessible  mucous  membranes  (conjunctiva 
and  gums)  as  may  happen  to  have  become  affected  by  the  mor- 
bid process.  They  are  inside  of  the  organism,  and  not  only  in 
every  part  and  tissue  morbidly  affected.  In  every  morbid  product, 
and  In  every  lymphatic  gland,  but  they  are:.also  In  every  drop  of 
blood  and  in  every  particle  of  a  drop  of  blood  circulating  In  the 
whole  organism.  Who,  I  would  like  to  ask,  will  have  the  audacity 
to  assert  that  he  Is  able  to  destroy  those  bacilli  and  their  germs 
without  disturbing  the  economy  of  the  animal  organism  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  cause  the  Immediate  death  of  the  animal?  But 
even  if  means  should  be  found  by  which  these  bacilli  and  their 
germs  can  be  destroyed  without  serious  injury  to  the  animal,  a 
destruction  of  the  same  will  not  be  sufficient  to  effect  a  cure. 
Important  morbid  changes  must  be  repaired  ;  extensive  embolism 
is  existing  in  some  very  vital  organs ;  a  rapid,  proliferous  growth 
of  morbid  cells  has  set  In  ;  some  of  the  Intestines  (caecum  and 
colon)  may  have  become  perforated ;  exudations  have  been  de- 
posited in  the  lungs,  In  the  thoracic  cavity,  in  the  pericardium, 
and  In  the  abdominal  cavity ;  the  heart  Itself  may  have  been  mor- 
bidly changed,  and  every  lymphatic  gland  in  the  whole  organism 
become  diseased.     How,  I  would  like  to  know,  will  those  quacks 


4^5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

who  advertise  their  'sure  cure'  and  their  high-sounding'  'spe- 
cifics" to  swindle  the  farmer  out  of  his  hard-earned  dollars  and 
cents — how,  I  ask,  will  those  quacks  restore,  repair,  stop,  and 
reduce  all  those  morbid  changes? 

"  Still,  I  do  not  wish  to  say  that  a  rational  treatm^tnt  can  do  no 
good  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  may  in  many  cases  avert  the  worst  and 
most  fatal  morbid  changes,  and  may  thereby  aid  nature  consider- 
ably in  effecting  a  recovery  in  all  those  cases  in  which  the  disease 
presents  itself  in  a  mild  form,  and  in  which  very  dangerous  or  ir- 
reparable morbid  changes  have  not  yet  taken  place.  A  good 
dietetical  treatment,  however,  including  a  strict  observance  of 
sanitary  principles,  is  of  much  more  importance  than  the  use  of 
medicines.  In  the  first  place,  the  sick  animals,  if  possible,  should 
be  kept  one  by  one  in  separate  pens.  The  latter,  if  movable — 
movable  ones,  perhaps  six  to  eight  feet  square  and  without  a 
floor,  are  preferable — ought  to  be  moved  once  a  day,  at  noon,  or 
after  the  dew  has  disappeared  from  the  grass ;  if  the  pens  are 
not  movable,  they  must  be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  because  a  pig 
affected  with  swine-plague  has  a  vitiated  appetite,  and  eats  its 
own  excrements  and  those  of  others,  and,  as  those  excrements 
contain  innumerable  bacilli  and  their  germs,  will  add  thereby  fuel 
to  the  flame ;  in  other  words,  will  increase  the  extent  and  the 
malignancy  of  the  morbid  process  by  introducing  into  the  organ- 
ism more  and  more  of  the  infectious  principle.  The  food  given 
ought  to  be  clean,  of  the  very  best  quality  and  easy  of  digestion, 
and  the  water  for  drinking  must  be  clean  and  fresh,  be  supplied 
three  times  a  day  in  a  clean  trough,  and  be  drawn  each  time,  if 
possible,  from  a  deep  well.  Water  from  ponds  and  water  that 
has  been  standing  in  open  vessels,  and  that  may  possibly  have 
become  contaminated  with  the  infectious  principle,  should  not  be 
used.  If  the  diseased  animal  has  any  wounds  or  lesions,  they 
must  be  washed  or  dressed  from  one  to  three  times  a  day  with 
diluted  carbolic  acid  or  other  equally  effective  disinfectants."  . 

Dr.  Detmers  experimented  with  carbolic  acid — ten  drops  for 
each  hundred  pounds  of  live  weight  of  the  hogs,  administered 
three  times  a  day  in  the  water  given  the  hogs  for  drinking.  Two 
of  the  nine  on  which  it  was  tried,  survived,  but  did  not  com- 


CARBOLIC  ACID   A    PREVENTIVE.  ^^n 

pletely  recover,  and  were  not  in  good  condition  for  fattening  a 
month  later.  About  this  percentage  recover  with  or  without  treat- 
ment. Of  experiments  with  other  medicines,  he  says,  and  his 
experience  was  almost  exactly  that  of  the  others : 

"The  principal  medicines  tried  were  carbolic  acid,  bisulphite  of 
soda,  thymol,  salicylic  acid,  white  hellebore  or  vci'atrum  album, 
as  an  emetic,  alcohol,  and  sulphate  of  iron,  and  it  has  been  found 
that  neither  of  them  possesses  any  special  curative  value.  In  a 
few  cases  in  which  most  of  the  lesions  were  external,  applications 
of  very  much  diluted  thymol  or  thymic  acid  produced  apparently 
good  results ;  the  animals  recovered,  but  might  have  recovered 
at  any  rate.  Diluted  carbolic  acid  has  been  used  for  the  same 
purpose  and  with  the  same  results.  An  emetic  of  white  hellebore 
or  veratrum  album  was  given  to  some  shoats  (about  eight  or 
nine  months  old,  and  property  of  Dr.  Hall,  at  Savoy),  in  the  first 
stage  of  the  disease,  and  seems  to  have  arrested  the  morbid  process 
immediately ;  at  least  the  shoats  recovered.  In  other  more  de- 
veloped cases,  it  did  no  good  whatever.  Bisulphite  of  soda, 
salicylic  acid,  and  carbolic  acid  were  used  quite  extensively,  but 
no  good  results  plainly  due  to  the  influence  of  those  drugs  have 
been  observed  in  any  case  in  which  the  disease  had  fully 
developed,  either  by  myself  or  by  others.  Sulphate  of  iron  has 
proved  to  be  decidedly  injurious.  Mr.  Bassett  used  it  quite 
persistently  for  forty-five  nice  shoats.  Forty-three  of  them  died, 
one  recovered  from  a  slight  attack — it  had  external  lesions, 
which  were  treated  with  carbolic  acid — and  one  remained  ex- 
empted. To  bleed  sick  hogs,  in  some  places  a  customary 
practice  among  farmers  against  all  ailments  of  swine,  has  had 
invariably  the  very  worst  consequences,  and  accelerated  a  fatal 
termination.  A  great  many  farmers  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Champaign  have  used  several  kinds  of  '  specifics '  and  '  sure 
cure'  nostrums,  but  none  of  them  are  inclined  to  talk  about  the 
results  obtained,  and  so  it  must  be  supposed  that  the  latter  have 
remained  invisible. 

"A  case  which  I  should  have  related,  deserves  to  be  nodced. 
Mr.  Crews  had  forty-odd  hogs,  of  which  he  had  lost  ten  or 
twelve,  and   was  losing  at  the  rate   of  two  to  four  a  day.      I 


458  <^*^'^^'    ^VE STERN  EMPIRE. 

advised  him  to  separate  those,  apparently  yet  healthy,  or  but 
slightly  affected,  from  the  very  sick  ones  ;  to  put  the  former  in  a 
separate  yard,  not  accessible  to  the  others  ;  to  feed  them  clean 
food  ;  to  water  them  three  times  a  day  from  a  well,  and  to 
give  to  each  animal,  two  or  three  times  a  day,  about  ten  drops 
of  carbolic  acid  in  their  drinking  water.  He  did  so,  and  saved 
everyone  he  separated  (fourteen  in  number),  while  all  others, 
with  the  exception  of  two  animals  which  died  later,  died  within 
a  short  time." 

Dr.  Salmon  had  made  many  experiments  in  the  treatment  of 
the  disease  with  bisulphite  of  soda,  salicylic  acid,  bichromate  of 
potassa,  and  bromide  of  ammonia.  These  were  all  administered 
at  an  early  stage  of  the  disease.  The  first  two  mitigated  the 
symptoms  somewhat,  but  in  most  instances  the  fatal  result 
followed.  The  last  two  did  not  produce  any  appreciable  result. 
Dr.  Law  recommends  the  following  measures  to  arrest  and 
extirpate  the  disease :  Without  entering  at  this  time  into  all  the 
details  of  the  necessary  restrictive  measures,  the  following  may 
be  especially  mentioned  :  i .  The  appointment  of  a  local  authority 
and  inspector  to  carry  out  the  measures  for  the  suppression  of 
the  disease.  2.  The  injunction  on  all  having  the  ownership  or 
care  of  hogs,  and  upon  all  who  may  be  called  upon  to  advise 
concerning  the  same,  or  to  treat  them,  to  make  known  to  such 
local  authority  all  cases  of  real  or  suspected  hog-fever,  under  a 
penalty  for  every  neglect  of  such  injunction.  3.  The  obligation 
of  the  local  authority,  under  advice  of  a  competent  veterinary 
inspector,  to  see  to  the  destruction  of  all  pigs  suffering  from  the 
plague,  their  deep  burial  in  a  secluded  place,  and  the  thorough 
disinfection  of  the  premises,  utensils,  and  persons.  4.  The 
thorough  seclusion  of  all  domestic  animals  that  have  been  in 
contact  with  the  sick  pigs,  and  in  the  case  of  sheep  and  rabbits 
the  destruction  of  the  sick  when  this  shall  appear  necessary. 
5.  Unless,  where  all  the  pigs  in  the  infected  herd  have  been 
destroyed,  the  remainder  should  be  placed  on  a  register  and 
examined  daily  by  the  inspector,  so  that  the  sick  may  be  taken 
out  and  slaughtered  on  the  appearance  of  die  first  signs  of 
illness.     6.  Sheep  and  rabbits  that  have  been  in  contact  with  the 


GENERAL   SANITARY  MEASURES.  ^eg 

sick  herd  should  also  be  registered,  and  any  removal  of  such 
should  be  prohibited  until  one  month  after  the  last  sick  animal 
shall  have  been  disposed  of.  7.  All  animals  and  birds,  wild  and 
tame,  and  all  persons  except  those  employed  in  the  work,  should 
be  most  carefully  excluded  from  infected  premises  until  these 
have  been  disinfected  andean  be  considered  safe.  8.  The  losses 
sustained  by  the  necessary  slaughter  of  hogs  should  be  made 
good  to  the  owner  to  the  extent  of  not  more  than  two-thirds  of 
the  real  value  as  assessed  by  competent  and  disinterested  parties. 
9.  Such  reimbursement  should  be  forfeited  when  an  owner  fails 
to  notify  the  proper  authorities  of  the  existence  of  the  disease, 
or  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  measures  necessary  for  its 
suppression.  10.  A  register  should  be  drawn  up  of  all  piers 
present  on  farms  within  a  given  area  around  the  infected  herd — 
say,  one  mile — and  no  removal  of  such  animals  should  be  allowed 
until  the  disease  has  been  definitely  suppressed,  unless  such 
removal  is  made  by  special  license  granted  by  the  local  authority 
after  they  have  assured  themselves  by  the  examination  of  an 
expert  that  the  animals  to  be  moved  are  sound  and  out  of  a 
healthy  herd.  11.  Railroad  and  shipping  agents  at  adjoinino- 
stations  should  be  forbidden  to  ship  pigs,  excepting  under  license 
of  the  local  authority,  until  the  plague  has  been  suppressed  in 
the  district.  12.  When  infected  pigs  have  been  sent  by  rail, 
boat,  or  other  mode  of  conveyance,  measures  should  be  taken  to 
insure  the  thorough  disinfection  of  such  cars  or  conveyances, 
as  well  as  the  banks,  docks,  yards,  and  other  places  in  or  on 
which  the  diseased  animals  may  have  been  turned. 

Other  measures  would  be  essential  in  particular  localities. 
Thus  in  the  many  places  where  the  hogs  are  turned  out  as  street 
scavengers,  and  meet  from  all  different  localities,  such  liberty 
should  be  put  a  stop  to  whenever  the  disease  appears  in  the 
district,  and  all  hogs  found  at  large  should  be  rendered  liable  to 
summary  seizure  and  destruction. 

The  great  difficulty  of  putting  in  practice  the  means  necessary 
to  the  extirpation  of  the  disease  will  be  found  to  consist  in  the 
lack  of  veterinary  experts.  No  one  but  the  accomplished 
veterinarian  can  be  relied  on  to  distinguish  between  the  different 


460 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


communicable  and  destructive  diseases  of  swine,  and  to  adopt 
the  measures  necessary  to  their  suppression  in  the  different 
cases.  In  illustration  I  need  only  to  recall  the  numerous  reports 
in  which  what  is  supposed  to  be  hog-cholera  has  been  found  to 
depend  on  lung-worms,  on  any  one  of  the  four  different  kinds  of 
intestinal  round-worms,  on  the  lard-ivorms,  on  embryo  tape-worms, 
on  malignant  anthrax,  on  pneumonia,  or  on  erysipelas.  To  class 
all  these  as  one  and  apply  to  all  the  same  suppressive  measures 
would  be  a  simple  waste  of  the  public  money,  but  to  distinguish 
them  and  apply  the  proper  antidote  to  each  over  a  wide  extent 
of  territory  would  demand  a  number  of  experts  whom  it  would 
be  no  easy  matter  to  find.  This  state  of  things  is  the  natural 
result  of  a  persistent  neglect  of  veterinary  sanitary  science  and 
medicine  as  a  factor  in  the  national  well-being,  and  must  for  a 
time  prove  a  heavy  incubus  on  all  concerted  efforts  to  restrict 
and  stamp  out  our  animal  plagues.  It  will  retard  success  under 
the  best  devised  system,  and  will  sometimes  lead  to  losses  that 
might  have  been  saved,  yet  if  an  earnest  and  prolonged  effort  is 
made,  the  obstacle  should  not  be  an  insuperable  one,  and  the  United 
States  should  be  purged  not  of  this  plague  only,  but  of  all  those 
animal  pestilences  which  at  present  threaten  our  future  well- 
being. 

The  rearing  and  breedincr  of  swine  is  conducted  in  connection 
with  other  farming,  and  often,  and  perhaps  most  profitably,  on 
dairy  farms.  Where  the  swine  can  have  good  pasture  and  plenty 
of  buttermilk,  or  sour  milk  with  their  food,  they  thrive  well. 
Where  there  are  large  herds  of  swine,  if  the  farmer  raises  also 
large  crops  of  corn,  or  the  Egyptian  rice-corn,  he  can  fatten  his 
swine  very  cheaply. 

The  business  of  rearinof  swine  either  for  sale  or  for  breedinof 
purposes,  or  for  pork,  is,  aside  from  the  risks  of  epidemic  dis- 
eases, very  profitable.  A  man  with  a  farm  of  a  half-section,  320 
acres,  well  in  hand,  sixty  acres  of  it  in  corn,  or  thirty  in  corn  and 
thirty  in  rice-corn,  and  a  dairy  herd  of  thirty  to  fifty  cows,  can 
begin  operations  with,  say,  thirty  young  sows  of  the  Poland- 
China  or  improved  Berkshire  breed,  and  three  or  four  boars  of 
the  alternate  breed,  a  total  outlay  of  not  much  over  ^200 ;  may 


REARING   SIVINE   PROFITABLE.  4-5 1 

count  upon  two  litters  a  year  (the  best  times  are  In  March  and 
September),  and  an  increase  for  the  two  litters  of  fourteen  to 
each  sow,  and  may  market  the  next  year  350  fat  hogs  weighing 
an  average  of  over  400  pounds  each,  at  $3.50  to  ^4  per  hundred 
pounds'  live  weight,  at  the  lowest  price  netting  him  5^4,900,  and 
have  enough  left  to  give  him  at  the  end  of  the  ensuing  year  a 
herd  of  800  to  1,000,  and  his  grass  and  corn  being  consumed  on 
his  farm  its  value  is  enhanced  thereby  (if  he  is  a  good  manager) 
to  nearly  double  its  previous  value. 

We  give  a  few  reports  of  swine-farming  in  Kansas  as  a  typical 
State  in  this  industry,  from  the  farmers  themselves,  as  exhibiting 
their  methods  of  breeding  and  the  best  way  of  making  swine- 
farming  profitable. 

F.  D.  Cobtirn,  Pomona,  Franklin  County,  Kansas. — "  Thirteen 
years'  experience  breeding  swine  in  Kansas;  improved  Berk- 
shires  present  stock ;  a  few  of  my  reasons  for  preferring  this 
breed  are :  their  flesh  is  the  highest  quality  of  pork,  they  have 
great  vitality,  strong  digestive  and  assimilative  powers,  will  attain 
heavier  weight,  yet  can  be  readily  fattened  at  any  age,  sows  are 
unequaled  for  prolificacy,  are  good  sucklers  and  careful  mothers, 
have  wonderful  uniformity  in  color,  marking,  and  most  valuable 
points  of  a  good  hog.  A  first-class  Berkshire  should  be  glossy 
black,  white  strip  in  face,  feet  and  tip  of  tail  white,  body  deep 
and  moderately  long,  straight  back,  hams  thick  and  full,  legs  straight, 
short,  and  strong,  face  short,  wide  between  eyes,  neck  short 
and  thick,  jowl  heavy,  indicating  quick,  easy  feeder,  ears  moder- 
ately small,  slightly  inclined  forward,  tail  small,  hair  fine  and 
thick,  skin  fine  and  pliable.  Berkshire  boars  crossed  on  Poland- 
China  sows  make  best  pork  hog  in  the  world.  Use  my  boars 
first  at  from  seven  to  ten  months  old  ;  sows,  at  from  eight  to 
twelve  months  old  ;  two  litters  a  year  are  not  too  man)',  with 
facilities  for  giving  proper  care;  have  them  come  early  in  \\m\ 
and  early  in  September ;  first  two  and  a-half  or  three  months  of 
a  pig's  life  should  be  in  temperate  weather.  At  one  year  old, 
my  hogs,  in  good  order,  weigh  300  to  400  pounds.  Being  with- 
out pastures,  I  grow  special  green  crops  for  them  in  summer, 
particularly  sweet  corn,  to  be  cut  and   fed  in   stalk  ;    use  some 


^62  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

milk,  with  ground  rye,  wheat  bran,  shorts,  and  other  stuffs,  which 
make  an  agreeable  and  healthful  variety;  crowding,  or  very  warm 
sleeping-places,  I  avoid.  Don't  consider  it  profitable  to  cook 
feed,  with  corn  at  twenty  cents  per  bushel,  but  with  wind  or 
other  cheap  power,  it  would  often  be  profitable  to  grind  and  soak 
for  forty-eight  hours  before  feeding.  Summer  pasture  necessary; 
the  hog  is  emphatically  a  grass-eater ;  red  clover  and  blue-grass 
best.  No  disease  among  my  hogs  ;  try  to  raise  stock  with  robust 
constitutions  ;  don't  confine  to  exclusive  corn  diet  365  days  in  the 
year ;  don't  let  them  crowd  in  large  numbers ;  give  them  my  per- 
sonal attention,  and  have  had  no  occasion  to  curse  my  luck  or 
the  hog-cholera;  principal  causes  of  disease,  mean  class  of  hogs, 
kept  in  a  mean  way,  by  negligent  farmers.  Experience  has 
proven  to  me  that  good  pork,  at  a  cost  of  two  cents  per  pound, 
brings  more  than  corn  at  twenty  cents  per  bushel.  Sold  pork 
in  1879  for  $3.25  to  ^4  per  100  pounds,  live  weight.  This  State 
presents  no  obstacles  to  success  in  this  branch  of  farm  industry; 
lack  of  success  and  profit  is  with  the  man  who  practises  false 
economy,  by  using  year  after  year  runty,  ill-favored  animals  as 
sires,  instead  of  pure-bred  boars,  of  any  breed,  that  would  im- 
prove the  value  of  their  stock  from  fifty  to  100  per  cent,  by  the 
first  cross ;  lack  of  clover,  blue-grass  and  artichoke  pastures, 
pure  water  and  shade;  the  idea  prevails  that  'any  fool  can  raise 
hogs,'  hence  no  care  In  studying  new  breeds  and  methods." 

Li7iscott  Bros.,  Hoi  ton,  yackson  County,  Eastern  Kansas. — 
"Twenty  years'  experience;  now  raising  pure-bred  Poland- 
China  ;  they  are  more  quiet,  sows  make  better  mothers,  are  bet- 
ter sucklers,  more  prolific,  pigs  never  get  mangy,  easily  fattened 
at  nine  months  old  ;  if  desirable  to  keep  longer,  will  continue 
growing  till  thirty  months  old;  when  fattened,  have  less  waste, 
bring  higher  prices;  best  grass  hog ;  will  make  two  pounds  of 
meat  on  grass  to  one  of  any  other  breed ;  grass  meat  being 
cheapest  meat  made,  this  is  a  great  advantage.  Marks  of  pure- 
bred, in  color,  nearly  black,  some  white,  occasionally  sandy  spots, 
long  body,  deep  sides,  heavy  hams,  short  legs,  when  fattened, 
should  '  roll  a  cob,'  rather  large  ears,  drooped,  rather  short  head, 
slightly  dished  face,  has  more  meat  back  of  shoulders  than  other 


EXrERIENCE    OF  KANSAS  FARMERS.  45^ 

breeds ;  when  well-fattened  will  have  meat  clear  down  to  hocks. 
Poland  sow  with  Berkshire  boar,  best  cross  for  pork  hog,  among 
pure-bred,  but  we  prefer  pure  Polands.  Use  boars  first  time  not 
under  eioht  months  old,  sows  not  sooner  than  eicfht,  rather  at 
twelve  months  old  ;  old  sows  may  have  two  litters  ;  young  ones, 
one  litter  a  year,  and  that  in  May  or  June ;  if  I  raised  two  litters, 
April  one,  and  October  one.  Average  increase,  eight  pigs  per 
litter.  Our  hogs  at  one  year  old,  in  good  order,  weigh  350  to 
500  pounds;  at  two  years  old,  600  to  900  pounds.  Have  lost 
none  by  disease  in  five  years.  Let  sows  run  on  grass;  feed 
soaked  corn  and  slop  of  equal  parts,  bran  and  ship-stuff;  those 
we  wish  to  turn  in  fall,  keep  feeding  on  same  until  corn  is  dented 
in  fall,  then  take  off  grass,  put  up,  and  feed  corn  ;  for  breeding, 
wean  at -eight  weeks  old;  let  run  on  grass,  with  less  amount  of 
slop-feed  than  pork  pigs  ;  put  sows,  when  dry,  on  clover,  without 
prain,  until  frost.  Never  let  boar  run  with  sows  ;  stand  him. 
only  serving  once.  Summer  pasture  absolutely  necessary  for 
profitable  pork-raising ;  clover  and  blue-grass  best.  Have  had 
no  prevailing  disease  among  our  hogs  in  Kansas — seven  years. 
Sold  pork  in  1879  ^^  f'^'-"'  cents  per  pound,  live  w^eight.  Well- 
fattened  hogs  should  weigh  400  pounds  or  over,  at  one  year  old." 
E.  M.  Prindle,  Mai'ena,  Hodgeman  County,  Western  Kansas. — 
"Two  years'  experience  breeding  swine  ;  pure  Berkshire  present 
stock  ;  think  they  mature  earlier,  fatten  with  less  feed,  endure 
close  confinement,  or  can  get  their  own  living  better  than  any 
other  breed.  Best  cross  among  pure-breds  for  pork,  Berkshire 
with  Poland.  Have  bred  males  at  eight  months,  but  it  is  too 
vounor ;  sows  at  ei"ht  months,  and  not  oftener  than  three  times 
in  two  years  ;  have  litters  come  in  April  and  May.  At  one  year 
old  my  hogs  weigh  250  to  300  pounds.  No  disease  among 
them  ;  too  close  confinement  in  uncleanly  enclosures  is  likely  to 
produce  sickness.  Don't  think  it  profitable  to  grind  and  cook 
feed,  with  corn  at  twenty  cents  per  bushel.  Summer  pasture 
good,  but  not  necessary.  Costs  not  over  two  cents  per  pound 
to  grow  pork  in  Kansas,  with  corn  at  twenty  cents  per  bushel. 
In  1879  pork  brought  four  cents  per  pound,  live  weight.  For  a 
fat  hog,  at  one  year  old,  .300  to  350  pounds  is  good  weight." 


.54  ^^'^    IVESTERM   EMPIRE. 

y.  M.  yohusoji,  Harveyville,  Wapaimsee  County,  Easterii  Kansas. 
— "Twenty  years'  experience  breeding  swine;  now  raising  pure- 
bred Poland-China :  prefer  them,  because  of  their  gentle,  quiet 
dispositions,  large  size,  early  fattening  qualities,  non-liability  to 
disease,  conipared  with  a  white  hog;  body  good  length,  short 
legs,  broad,  straight  back,  deep,  full  sides,  full  square  hams, 
heavy  shoulders,  drooping  ears,  not  too  large,  short  head,  wide 
between  eyes.  Best  cross  for  pork  among  pure-breds,  Poland 
and  Berkshire.  First  breed  boars  at  nine  months  old ;  sows,  at 
same  age,  twice  a  year  ;  have  litters  come  in  March  and  Septem- 
ber. In  good  condition,  at  one  year  old,  my  hogs  weigh  375  to 
400  pounds.  Thus  far,  in  Kansas,  have  kept  them  confined,  hav- 
ing no  pasture  fenced ;  keep  breeding  sows  separate  from  other 
hogs ;  have  corn  and  rye  ground  to  make  swill ;  feed  dry  corn. 
One  year  ago  quite  a  number  of  farmers  tried  boilers,  but  found 
no  profit  in  it.  Not  necessary  to  have  summer  pasture  to  make 
a  good  hog,  but  less  expensive  ;  red  clover  best.  Never  had  any 
disease  amoncj  hopfs  in  this  neighborhood.  Costs  about  two  cents 
per  pound  to  grow  pork  in  Kansas,  counting  corn  at  twenty  cents 
per  bushel.  Average  price  received  for  1879  pork,  ^3.37  per 
100  pounds,  live  weight.  At  a  year  old,  a  well-fattened  hog 
ought  to  weigh  400  pounds.  No  drawbacks  to  success  here  ; 
but  when  corn  is  high,  there,  is  no  money  in  feeding  and  raising 
hogs  in  close  pens." 

A.  S.  Sutton,  V^esper,  Lincoln  County,  Central  Kansas. — "  In 
1875,  I  raised  twelve  pigs  from  two  sows,  one  a  Poland  China, 
the  other  a  good  grade ;  have  used  pure  Berkshire  males  on 
above  sows  and  offspring ;  have  tried  no  other  kind,  having  been 
very  successful  with  these;  in  1876,  had  the  two  old  sows  and 
six  young  sows  of  the  1875  pigs;  raised  and  sold  100  pigs  that 
summer,  and  increased  my  herd  some  ;  In  1877,  sold  fewer  pigs, 
but  began  to  fatten  them;  sold  that  year,  in  pigs,  shoats,  and  fat 
hogs,  over  100,  and  had  at  the  highest  on  hand  200 ;  in  1878, 
fattened  and  sold  100;  sold  fifty  or  more  young  ones,  and  had  at 
times  300;  in  1879,  fattened  about  100;  sold  over  100  shoats, 
weighing  over  100  pounds  each,  fifty  or  more  pigs  and  sows; 
had  as  high  as  400  at  one  time ;  now  have  200.     Berkshire  is  a 


EXPERIEXCE    OF  KANSAS   FARMERS.  ^(^r 

fine-haired,  black  hog,  some  white  in  face,  white  feet,  small,  erect 
ears,  round,  symmetrical  body,  and  short  legs.  Think  Berkshire 
on  our  Western  stock  produces  as  good  results  as  any  other, 
making  a  beautiful,  easily-kept  hog.  In  my  large  herd,  don't  use 
boars  first  younger  than  one  year,  and  have  used  same  ones  two 
years,  but  think  one  year  preferable;  can't  keep  my  sows  sepa- 
rate; should  be  one  year  old  at  time  of  first  litter;  breed  them 
twice  a  year;  they  will  begin  to  farrow  April  15th  this  year,  and 
continue  till  next  November ;  when  I  had  fewer,  had  litters  come 
in  March  and  September ;  saves  labor  and  feed  to  have  them 
come,  as  much  as  possible,  in  the  growing  season  of  the  year, 
and  a  larger  percentage  of  pigs  can  be  saved.  Stock  hogs,  at  a 
year  old,  weigh  200  pounds;  fat  ones,  300  pounds  and  upwards. 
Have  had  no  disease  ;  think  close,  foul  pens  a  fruitful  source  of 
it.  Since  getting  a  large  number,  am  compelled  to  put  each  sow 
in  pen  by  herself,  just  before  pigging  time,  and  keep  them  there 
till  pigs  are  three  or  four  weeks  old,  then  put  several  together  in 
a  small  field  or  yard,  with  shelter  and  pasture  ;  also  have  a  yard 
with  fence  open  sufficiently  to  let  pigs  through,  so  as  to  feed 
them  extra;  have  a  three-acre  lot,  with  water  and  shelter,  for 
fattening  purposes;  balance  run  in  a  sixty-acre  field  of  prairie 
with  horses,  cattle,  etc. ;  water  and  straw  sheds  for  shelter ;  feed 
corn  twice  a  day;  have  had  400  together,  but  stronger  ones  are 
apt  to  cheat  younger  ones  out  of  their  feed.  Don't  think  it 
necessary  to  grind  and  cook  feed  ;  pasture  is  necessary  for  health 
as  well  as  for  feed ;  have  so  far  used  only  prairie  grass.  Pork 
at  three  cents  per  pound,  live  w^eight,  will  leave  a  margin  for 
profit.  Received  ^2.62^,  $3.40  and  ^3.623^^  per  100  pounds  for 
1879  pork.  I  know  of  no  drawbacks  to  success  in  this  branch 
of  farm  production  in  Kansas." 

J\I.  B.  Kcagy,  Wellington,  Sumner  County,  Southern  Kansas. — 
"Ten  years'  experience  breeding  swine;  pure-bred  Berkshires 
present  stock  ;  prefer  them  because  I  have  had  best  success  with 
them  ;  will  make  as  much,  if  not  more,  pork,  under  one  year  old, 
as  any  other ;  think  they  care  more  for.their  pigs,  and  make  bet- 
ter sucklcrs  ;  best  hog  to  follow  cattle,  active  when  quite  fat,  and 
not  liable  to  cholera.  A  pure-bred  should  be  black,  with  white 
30 


^66  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

on  face,  feet,  and  tip  of  tail,  very  short  head,  good  length  of  body, 
large  hams,  stand  wide  apart  on  front  feet,  nearly  straight  on 
back  and  belly  from  head  to  tail,  short  in  legs.  My  experience 
is.  that  Poland-China  and  Berkshire  make  best  cross  among  pure- 
breds  for  pork.  Consider  one  year  old  best  age  to  first  breed 
boars  ;  sows,  at  from  nine  to  twelve  months  ;  have  best  luck  with 
two  litters  a  year,  in  March  and  September.  At  one  year  old, 
in  good  condition,  mine  weigh  about  350  pounds.  Average  in- 
crease, about  seven  pigs  to  a  sow.  Have  had  no  disease  among 
my  swine  ;  confinement  and  poor  treatment  causes  it.  Have  not 
bred  more  than  five  to  eight  sows  per  year,  and  when  I  find  a 
good  mother,  think  it  best  to  keep  her  four  or  five  years  ;  have 
fed  on  corn  mostly,  as  we  have  but  little  tame  grass  here  ;  let 
run  along  creek  part  of  time  ;  don't  think  best  to  confine  them  ; 
by  all  means,  separate  males  from  females  as  soon  as  weaned. 
Have  ground  and  cooked  feed,  with  profit,  when  pigs  were  small 
and  learning  to  eat.  Consider  summer  pasture  necessary  to 
obtain  best  results  ;  clover  best  of  any  I  have  tried.  Think  cost 
of  growing  pork  in  Kansas  is  about  tw^o  cents  per  pound,  count- 
ing corn  at  twenty  cents  per  bushel.  Sold  1879  pork  at  three 
and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  live  weight.  Weight  of  a  well-fattened 
year-old  hog  should  be  about  400  pounds.  Many  farmers  con- 
fine too  much  ;  seem  to  think  anything  good  enough  for  a  hog ; 
I  think  them  a  nice  animal,  if  they  have  an  opportunity." 

The  breeding  of  horses,  asses  and  mules  for  the  market  is  a 
profitable  business,  but  is  not  prosecuted  on  a  large  scale  except 
in  Texas,  California,  Oregon,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas,  and,  re- 
cently, Colorado.  The  greater  number  of  the  Texas  horses  are 
of  two  kinds,  the  Mustane — the  wild  and  half  wild  descendants 
of  Barbary  horses  or  Spanish  horses,  brought  over  here  by  the 
early  Spanish  conquerors ;  they  have  degenerated  in  size, 
and  are  of  fitful  and  vicious  temper,  but  tough,  wiry  and  sure- 
footed, with  great  powers  of  endurance — and  the  Indian  pony,  a 
descendant  from  English  and  French  horses,  also  half  wild  and 
tough,  but  possessing  pe^rhaps  less  powers  of  endurance,  and  a 
better  temper  than  the  Mustang.  A  cross  of  these  gives  a  very 
serviceable  horse,  though  not  entirely  free  from  vices. 


MUSTANGS  AND   BRONCHOS.  ^^y 

There  are,  both  here  and  in  California,  where  the  mustang  is 
very  common,  many  horses  thoroughbred  and  of  the  best  blood, 
as  well  as  grades  from  the  most  renowned  English,  French  and 
American  stocks,  and  there  are  those  who  are  largely  engaged 
in  rearing  and  breeding  these  very  fine  animals.  It  is  claimed, 
and  probably  with  truth,  that  some  of  the  finest  horses  on  this 
continent  are  owned  in  California,  Colorado  and  Texas.  But 
very  little  of  these  finer  strains  of  blood  is  to  be  found  in  the 
droves,  sometimes  consisting  of  10,000  or  20,000  horses,  which 
are  intended  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  tens  of  thousands  who 
want  one,  or  a  dozen,  or  a  hundred  horses  for  work.  The 
mustangs,  Indian  ponies,  and  the  cross  between  the  two  go  by 
the  general  name  of  broncho  throughout  the  West,  just  as  the 
name  of  "  Canuck  "  is  given  to  all  the  Canadian  horses  at  the 
East.  Without  the  broncho  (notwithstanding  all  his  bad  habits) 
the  western  settler,  and  especially  the  large  farmer  or  the  ranche- 
owner,  would  hardly  be  able  to  exist,  and  the  Indian  certainly 
would  not.  The  shepherd  follows  his  flock  on  foot,  but  the 
vaqucro  or  herder,  the  cow-boy,  as  this  western  herdman  delights 
to  call  himself,  would  be  utterly  bereft  of  all  his  importance  if  he 
could  not  exhibit  his  skill  and  horsemanship  by  careering  about 
on  his  broncho.  The  stages  or  Concord  coaches,  which  in  such 
numbers  traverse  all  parts  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  which  the 
railways  have  not  yet  penetrated,  are  all  drawn  by  bronchos,  and 
all  the  relays  are  from  the  same  stock.  At  every  station,  also, 
of  all  the  railways,  there  are  numerous  conveyances.  Concord 
coaches,  buggies,  lumber-wagons,  buckboards,  and  often  the 
more  pretentious  carriage,  to  which,  in  the  absence  of  blooded 
stock,  there  are  attached  from  one  to  four  or  six  of  these  moun- 
tain horses. 

But  while  the  "broncho"  has  great  labors  to  perform,  and 
often  with  scanty  and  indifferent  fare,  his  humble,  patient,  and 
much-enduring  congener,  the  "burro,"  has  a  still  harder  time  of 
it.  Every  sort  of  long-eared  animal,  except  the  mule,  from  the 
stately  Spanish  or  Maltese  ass  down  to  the  gentle  little  donkey 
bestridden  by  the  young  tyrant  in  knickerbockers,  goes  by  the 
name  of  "burro,"  and  its  office  is  to  bear  burdens.     Over  the 


.58  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

passes  of  the  Great  Divide,  nine,  ten  and  eleven  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea,  passes  never  tracked  by  a  wheel,  and  only  pene- 
trable by  the  sure-footed  ass  during  the  four  summer  months, 
the  patient  little  donkey  picks  his  way,  bearing"  a  heavy  load  of 
concentrated  ore,  or  panniers  of  "canned  vittles,"  or  perhaps 
furniture  or  grain,  which  could  not  by  any  other  mode  reach  the 
mining  camps  far  up  in  the  mountain  gulches. 

Strange  that  an  animal  so  gentle,  meek  and  patient,  should, 
by  the  mingling  of  a  nobler  strain  of  blood  with  its  own,  give , 
birth  to  a  progeny  so  thoroughly  perverse  and  refractory,  yet  so 
indispensable  on  account  of  its  hardiness  and  strength  as  the 
mule.  This  contrary,  obstinate,  sulky  brute,  whose  intelligence 
seems  to  be  wholly  concentrated  on  the  best  mode  of  accom- 
plishing the  greatest  amount  of  mischief  and  destruction,  is 
nevertheless  invaluable  in  all  the  western  lands.  He  commands 
a  price  at  least  fifty  per  cent,  higher  than  that  of  a  horse  of  the 
same  grade  ;  and  is  universally  employed  in  hauling  ore,  timber, 
miners'  supplies,  groceries,  dry-goods,  furniture,  hardware,  etc., 
etc.  Unlike  the  burro,  the  primary  function  of  the  mule  is  not 
to  cross  the  "  Divides  "  on  mountain  trails,  but  to  draw  over  the 
roads,  good  or  bad  (generally  the  latter),  those  huge  wagons 
with  their  loads  of  from  two  to  four  tons.  A  mule-team  may 
consist  of  four,  six  or  eight  mules.  But  there  are  pack-mules 
also,  w^hich  bear  on  their  backs  heavy  loads,  fastened  to  them 
with  all  the  packer's  skill,  and  which,  if  well  bound  wnth  the  skil- 
ful  but  complicated  diamond  hitch,*  will   resist  the  determined 

and  desperate  efforts  of  the  mule  to  rid  himself  of  it.     But  woe 

.        .  .  .         .    * 

to  the  packer  who,  in  his  zeal  to  display  his  skill,  comes  within 

*  This  is  a  peculiar  fastening  of  the  ropes  which  bind  the  pack  on  the  mule's  back,  and  the 
ability  to  execute  it  successfully  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  highest  attainments  among  the  moun- 
taineers. It  is  related  of  one  of  Professor  Hayden's  corps,  that  at  one  time  he  was  separated 
from  his  companions  and  fell  into  a  camp  of  packers  and  mule-drivers.  His  new  companions 
looked  with  contempt  upon  the  delicate  and  apparently  frail  youth,  and  began  to  badger  iiim. 
*' You  are  nothing  but  a  tender-foot,"  they  said;  "what  business  have  you  up  here,  among  men 
that  have  been  in  the  mountains  for  years  ?  You  had  better  go  home  to  your  Yankee  friends  and 
let  them  take  care  of  you.  W'e  don't  need  any  'tender-feet'  up  here."  "I  may  be  a  tender- 
foot," replied  the  young  man,  quietly,  "probably  1  am;  but  I  can  put  the  diamond  hitch  on  a 
mule's  pack  with  any  of  you."  "Can  you?"  asked  his  tormentors,  in  astonishment.  "Then 
yoii  are  welcome  to  the  best  we  have  in  camp." 


DOGS   OF  ALL   KINDS.  ^Qg 

reach  of  the  heels  of  this  vicious  brute ;  he  will  find  it  looking 
most  demurely,  but  without  the  slightest  warning  those  legs  will 
lash  out  with  lightning  speed,  and  whosoever  and  whatsoever  is 
within  their  reach,  will  feel  that  they  possess  all  the  hardness  and 
elasticity  of  steel,  and  will  not  desire  to  repeat  the  experiment. 

The  rearing  and  breeding  of  mules  is  not  a  very  expensive 
business.  It  is  only  necessary  to  have  the  male  parent  of  large 
size  and  of  good  proportions ;  the  mother  may  be  a  mare  of 
almost  any  breed ;  even  the  Indian  ponies  or  the  mustangs 
answer  the  purpose.  The  mule  colts  are  much  hardier  and 
tougher  than  the  horse  colts,  and  feed  upon  anything  which 
comes  in  their  way,  shavings,  sage-brush,  weeds,  buffalo  grass 
or  anything  else.  They  bring  a  high  price  because  the  demand 
is  always  greater  than  the  supply.  There  is  probably  no  agri- 
cultural business  which  will  return  surer  and  more  liberal  profits, 
upon  a  moderate  outlay,  than  this.  We  regret  that  we  are  un- 
able to  give  figures,  but  the  horse  and  mule-breeders,  if  not  a 
close  corporation,  are  at  least  close-mouthed,  and  will  not,  as  the 
slang  phrase  goes,  give  themselves  away. 

Our  record  of  domestic  animals  and  their  relations  to  the 
farmer,  stock-raiser,  or  sheep-master  would  not  be  complete 
without  a  notice  of  the  dog.  Nowhere  is  it  more  true  than  in 
the  Great  West,  that  "  there  are  dogs  and  dogs."  From  the 
shepherd-dog  or  colly,  which  rivals  man  in  point  of  intelligence, 
or  the  graceful  and  fleet  grey-hound,  whether  of  English,  Danish 
or  Italian  breed,  to  the  base  cur-dogs  which  are  always  found 
around  an  Indian  camp,  base,  sneaking,  half-starved  brutes,  half 
wolf  or  coyote,  the  descent  is  almost  infinite.  The  sheep-farmers 
complain  bitterly  of  the  ravages  of  these  cur-dogs  (and  some- 
times, it  is  to  be  feared,  of  the  better  sorts)  among  their  flocks, 
and  often  in  their  haste  and  anger,  demand  that  all  dogs  shall  be 
slaughtered  or  banished  from  the  State,  not  even  excepting  the 
collies,  which,  with  rare  exceptions,  are  the  best  friends  ot  the 
sheep  ;  but  while  it  is  to  be  wished  that  they  might  succeed  in 
destroying  all  the  mongrels  and  curs,  we  cannot  desire  the 
destruction  of  the  more  beautiful  and  intelligent  canines  who  are 
not  destroyers  of  sheep  or  cattle. 


.-Q  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  shephcrd-dog  is  truly  the  companion  of  his  master,  listens 
to  and  understands  every  word  spoken  in  his  hearing,  and  is  so 
faithful  in  guarding  his  woolly  flock  that  he  will  sacriflce  his  own 
life  for  their  preservation.  We  may  be  told  that  sometimes 
even  these  dogs  have  proved  unfaithful  to  the  trust  confided  to 
them,  and  have  killed  the  sheep  they  were  set  to  protect.  This 
may  be  true  in  very  rare  instances,  but  have  there  been  no  cases 
where  men,  honored  and  trusted,  have  proven  false  to  their 
trusts?  If  so,  why  visit  on  a  poor  dog  the  punishment  due  to^ 
man,  with  his  superior  intelligence? 

In  those  parts  of  the  West  where  game  is  still  plentiful,  hunt- 
incr  doo-s  are  in  ereat  demand,  and  there  are  many  kennels  of 
superior  breeds.  The  hunters  in  Kansas,  Colorado,  Wyoming, 
Montana,  Dakota  and  on  the  Pacific  slope,  have  many  fine  dogs 
adapted  to  the  great  variety  of  game  found  there.  The  pointers 
and  setters  for  feathered  game,  are  of  excellent  quality,  and  the 
stag-hounds,  employed  for  hunting  the  deer  and  elk,  are  not  sur- 
passed anywhere.  The  fox-hounds  and  wolf-dogs  are  not  always 
quite  so  good,  but  answer  a  tolerable  purpose.  Very  few  of  the 
most  plucky  dogs  like  to  attack  the  grizzly  bear,  for  a  single 
blow  of  its  powerful  claws  kills  them.  They  are  not  in  so  much 
fear  of  the  black  or  cinnamon  bears,  and  often  render  efficient 
aid  to  the  hunters  in  bringing  them  down.  The  whole  tribe  of 
cur-dogs,  Indian  dogs,  mongrels,  and  crosses  on  the  coyote  or 
the  gray  wolf  are  a  nuisance,  and  kill  more  sheep  than  the 
coyotes  or  gray  wolves,  ten  times  over.  The  laws  for  the 
destruction  of  these  pests  are  very  strict  and  severe,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  carry  them  into  effect.  Where  there  are  Indian  camps 
there  are  sure  to  be  scores  of  these  wretched  dogs,  mangy,  ugly, 
and  half-starved,  but  the  Indian  values  them  very  highly,  and 
some  of  the  savage  tribes  offer  them  as  sacrifices  at  the  burial 
of  their  dead  braves,  while  others,  when  hard  pressed,  cook  and 
eat  them.  Most  of  them  seem  to  be  on  excellent  terms  with  the 
coyotes,  the  most  despicable  of  all  the  carrion  hunters  of  the 
wolf  tribe,  and  it  is  not  always  easy  to  disdnguish  which  is  dog 
and  which  coyote. 

We  have  alluded,  incidentally,  more  than  once  to  the  rearing 


HAISING   POULTRY.  a'jx 

of  poultry,  as  a  pursuit  to  be  followed  in  connection  with  a  grain- 
farm,  a  market-garden,  or  even  a  laborer's  "  little  patch  "  of  land. 
There  is  hardly  any  crop  which  a  farmer  will  find  more  profit- 
able, in  the  small  way,  to  help  out  his  income,  than  a  crop  of 
chickens. 

We  do  not  recommend  the  breeding  of  fancy  fowls,  which 
most  people  find  unprofitable.  Neither  w^ould  we  advise  the 
establishment  of  a  chicken  factory.  These  are  well  enough  in  their 
way  and  are  probably  sometimes  the  sources  of  a  large  revenue  ; 
but  they  require  capital,  experience  and  skill.  But  every  farmer  can 
have  fifty  or  a  hundred  hens;  the  barn-yard  variety  is  the  best  if 
crossed  with  Brahma,  Houdan  or  Hamburg,  Black  Spanish  or 
Plymouth  Rock  males.  If  the  children  want  a  brood  of  Ban- 
tams, indulge  them.  The  outlay  is  inconsiderable,  and  the 
fresh  eggs  and  the  chickens  pay  a  large  profit.  Take  these 
examples: 

Raising  Poultry  in  Iowa. — Mrs.  D.  W.  Gage,  near  Ames, 
Iowa,  raised  in  1871,  600  chickens,  of  which  about  150  were 
Brahmas  and  Houdans,  the  rest  beino-  half-blood.  One  Brahma 
cock,  nine  months  old,  weighed  1 1 3/^  pounds.  The  poultry 
brought  at  Ames  6  cents  per  pound,  live  weight,  while  pork 
brought  $3.20  per  hundred.  Mrs.  Gage  states  that  she  can  raise 
poultry  as  cheaply  as  she  can  pork,  weight  for  weight,  and  gen- 
erally sell  for  twice  as  much.  As  to  her  method  of  rearing,  for 
three  or  four  days  after  hatching,  the  chickens  were  fed  with 
hard-boiled  eggs  and  cheese-curd,  after  which  they  received 
mush  made  from  corn-meal  and  wheat.  Mrs.  Gage  recommends 
willows  planted  close  as  a  shelter  for  fowls  ;  the  leaves  also  afford 
them  an  agreeable  food.  She  finds  the  Brahmas  profitable  for 
market,  but  for  the  home-table  prefers  Houdans. 

Mr.  Arthur  P.  Ford,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  an  experienced  fowl- 
raiser,  thus  records 'his  experience  in  the  extreme  South,  which 
will  be  of  interest  in  those  States  and  Territories  south  of  the 
thirty-fifth  parallel : 

"  Brekds. — The  best  breeds  suitable  to  our  climate  arc  the 
Game,  Black  Hamburg,  Spanish,  Dominique,  and  the  common 
Barn-yard,  and  also  crosses  between  the  Brahma  and  any  of  the 


4^2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

forecrolnof.  The  larire  thorouQ-hbred  Asiatics  do  not  thrive  south 
of  the  thirty-fifth  parallel  of  latitude  ;  the  climate  is  too  warm  for 
them ;  they  may  live  two  or  three  years,  but  their  progeny  in- 
variably degenerates.  This  is  now  a  very  generally  accepted 
fact  among  those  who  have  had  experience  in  raising  fowls  in 
the  South  for  actual  profit.  The  dark  colors  are  the  hardiest, 
and  in  every  way  the  most  remunerative.  Light-colored  fowls 
are  generally  delicate,  and  nearly  always  inferior  layers  and  set- 
ters. Persons  forming  a  stock  from  any  of  the  six  varieties 
named  should  be  careful  to  select  the  dark  colors.  White  fowls 
are  very  pretty  for  the  fancier,  but  they  are  an  injudicious  invest- 
ment for  the  ordinary  poultry-raiser  in  the  South. 

"  Houses. — Fowls  should  in  all  cases,  wherever  practicable,  be 
allowed  to  sleep  on  trees  for  the  eight  months  from  ist  March 
to  I  St  November;  they  enjoy  the  privilege  very  much,  and  are 
always  healthy;  whereas  when  sleeping  in  houses  during  this 
warm  period  they  will  be  constantly  liable  to  all  the  diseases  that 
appertain  to  their  kind.  When  the  cold  weather  comes  on  they 
should  be  put  into  the  house  at  night,  as  they  will  not  lay  well 
during  the  winter  if  exposed  to  the  cold  rain  and  ice.  The  house 
should  be  placed  upon  the  highest  part  of  the  grounds  assigned 
to  the  fowls,  in  order  to  secure  thorough  drainage.  It  should 
be  built  of  inch  boards,  placed  two  inches  apart,  to  afford  good 
ventilation  ;  the  roof  should  be  close,  the  floor  covered  with  dry, 
loose  sand,  and  the  roost  made  of  two-inch  laths,  and  slipped 
between  the  openings,  in  order  that  they  may  be  withdrawn  fre- 
quently and  cleansed  with  kerosene  oil.  The  house  should  con- 
tain nothing  whatever  except  the  roosts ;  no  nests  or  boxes 
should  be  allowed  in  it ;  and  it  should  be  whitewashed  at  least 
twice  during  the  winter,  and  the  floor  frequently  cleansed  and 
supplied  with  fresh  loose  sand. 

"Lice. — Red  lice  will  infest  a  fowl-house,  even  during  the 
winter,  in  the  South,  and  will  be  principally  found  on  the  under 
sides  of  the  roosts,  in  small  mahogany-colored  patches.  These 
lice  infallibly  cause  sore  heads,  swelled  eyes,  and  the  dangerous 
disease  known  to  fanciers  as  roup  ;  they  are  instantly  killed,  how- 
ever, by  applications  of  kerosene  oil;  and  for  this  purpose  the 


POULTRY  RAISING   IN  THE   SOUTH.  ^7-, 

roosts  should  be  withdrawn  and  oiled  at  least  every  three  weeks. 
When  fowls  have  sore  heads,  caused  by  these  lice,  they  will  die, 
unless  prompdy  taken  in  hand.  A  simple  but  infallible  cure  is 
to  grease  their  heads  daily  for  three  or  four  days  with  olive-oil, 
and  make  them  sleep  on  the  trees  in  the  open  air.  The  large 
white  lice  will  never  be  found  on  fowls  that  sleep  on  trees  during 
the  spring  and  summer  months  ;  but  if  allowed  to  occupy  a  house, 
these  lice  cannot  be  escaped,  and  the  fowls  will  show  their  pres- 
ence by  appearing  droopy,  and  having  colorless  combs  and  gills, 
and  unless  they  are  relieved  they  will  die. 

"Water. — Pure,  clean  drinking-water  is  absolutely  essential  to 
the  health  of  all  poultry;  impure  water  is  a  prolific  source  of 
cholera  in  summer,  and  of  roup  in  winter.  During  the  cold 
weather  a  little  red  pepper  put  into  the  drinking-water  of  fowls 
will  be  found  beneficial.  This  is  a  good  tonic,  and  warms  up  the 
hens  and  induces  them  to  lay.  Another  excellent  provision  is 
to  place  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  of  water  a  piece  of  assafoe- 
tida,  which  impregnates  the  drink  with  its  tonic  qualities  and  is 
very  wholesome.  Fowls  drink  but  little  water  at  a  time,  but 
they  drink  very  often  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  day  consume  a 
surprisingly  large  quantity  of  it. 

"  Food. — The  food  should  be  varied  occasionally  from  hard 
grain,  to  flour  or  meal  mixed  with  a  little  water,  and  should  be 
fed  to  them  principally  in  the  afternoon,  in  order  that  they  may 
have  a  supply  for  quiet  digestion  during  the  night.  During  the 
winter  months  fowls  require  more  food  than  they  do  at  other 
times,  for  they  are  unable  to  obtain  insects,  and  the  cold  weather 
renders  more  food  actually  necessary.  If  fowls  are  fed  well 
during  the  cold  weather,  they  will  lay  well ;  but  they  will  not  lay 
during  the  winter  without  an  abundant  supply  of  food.  Chan- 
dlers' scraps,  or  oil-cake,  that  can  be  obtained  at  all  soap-factories 
at  two  cents  per  pound,  will  be  found  very  valuable  food,  given 
two  or  three  times  a  week,  but  if  fed  too  freely  it  will  scour  the 
fowls,  as  it  is  very  greasy.  An  abundance  of  green  food,  fresh 
grass,  etc.,  is  absolutely  indispensable  during  the  summer,  and 
should  also  be  given  the  fowls  during  the  winter  whenever 
practicable. 


.-.  OUK    IVESTEJiX   EMPIRE. 

"  Range. — A  dry  range  is  essential ;  fowls  will  not  thrive  in 
damp  localities  or  on  dirty  premises.  They  should  never  be 
allowed  access  to  rotted  manure  heaps,  as  the  ammonia  gener- 
ated by  such  heaps  always  causes  sore  eyes  and,  if  continued, 
death.  There  is  a  very  great  difference  between  an  ordinary 
stable,  or  cow-yard,  and  a  compost  heap  ;  in  the  former  the  fowls 
obtain  much  food  without  risk,  but  in  the  latter  the  food  obtained 
is  always  at  the  cost  of  disease. 

"Setting  Hens. — Hens  should  never  be  set  between  ist 
May  and  ist  September,  as  the  small  lice  will  become  trouble- 
some durin-j  the  warm  weather;  and  the  youno^  chicks  will  not 
thrive.  They  may  be  set  advantageously  at  any  time  between 
September  and  May ;  but  the  chicks  will  require  much  care 
and  protection  if  hatched  during  the  cold  winter  months.  The 
hardiest  chicks  and  most  easily  raised  are  those  hatched  during 
the  months  of  February  and  March.  Only  the  eggs  of  the  finest, 
healthiest  hens  should  be  set,  and  particularly  those  from  the 
best  layers  ;  but  eggs  from  hens  that  have  had  attacks  of  roup 
should  never  be  set,  as  the  constitutions  of  such  hens  are  always 
weakened  by  this  disease,  and  the  chickens  will  be  liable  to 
similar  attacks.  It  is  certain  that  only  strong,  healthy  hens  can 
lay  eggs  that  will  produce  strong,  healthy  chickens.  The  nests 
should  always  be  made  on  the  ground,  so  that  the  eggs  can 
obtain  the  natural  amount  of  moisture  essential  to  hatching;  and 
never  under  any  circumstances  should  hens  be  allowed  to  set 
or  even  to  lay  in  the  fowl-house.  They  should  be  taken  care- 
fully from  the  nests  once  daily,  and  given  corn  and  water ;  but 
when  hatching  has  actually  commenced  they  should  be  let  most 
rigidly  alone. 

"  Chickens. — The  young  chickens  should  be  kept  in  coops  for 
at  least  one  month  after  being  hatched,  or  many  of  them  will 
be  lost  by  injuries  and  various  accidents.  A  litde  meat,  finely 
chopped  up  and  fed  to  them  occasionally,  will  be  found  of  great 
advantage.  Only  the  largest,  best  formed  should  be  kept  for 
stock,  and  the  inferior  should  be  sold  or  eaten. 

"  Profits. — A  stock  of  three  cocks  and  twenty-seven  hens  will 
be  found  very  manageable  and  remunerative  by  any  family  in  the 


POULTRY  RAISING.  .j^ 

countrv,  and  will  yield  an  abundance  of  ecfOfs  and  chickens  for 
consumption  and  sale  annually.  The  profits  of  keeping  fowls  in 
a  practicable,  ordinary  way  may  be  demonstrated  by  the  following 
statement,  calculated  for  a  period  of  two  years : 

"  Debtor. 

To  30  -iieads  of  fowls,  at  75  cents  per  pair ^11    25 

To  allow  8  to  die  in  two  years  and  be  replaced  at  75  cents  per  pair     .  3  00 

To  48  bushels  of  feed,  at  50  cents 24  00 

Fowl-house 5  00 

46  dozen  eggs  for  setting,  at  15  cents 6  90 

Balance  of  profit  in  two  years 88  85 

gi39  00 

"  Creditor. 

By  277  dozen  eggs,  at  15  cents $41  55 

By  506  chickens  hatched,  less  100  died,  say,  406  raised,  at  20  cents   .  81  20 

By  manure  saved  in  two  years 5  00 

By  30  head  of  fowls,  at  75  cents  per  pair 11  25 

$139  00 


"Thus,  thirty  heads  of  fowls  will  pay  a  clear  profit  of  $88.85  i^ 
two  years,  or  an  average  of  $1.48  each  annually.  Good  speci- 
mens of  the  breeds  named  will  produce  annually  about  sixty  to 
seventy  eggs  each.  The  settings  should  average  thirteen,  and 
of  these  about  eleven  will  hatch.  The  extension  of  poultry-rais- 
ing should  in  every  way  be  encouraged,  as  it  increases  the  supply 
of  good  food  at  a  very  reduced  cost," 

Turkeys  are  also  a  source  of  profit  near  villages  and  large 
towns.  Where  land  is  plenty,  as  at  the  West,  it  pays  well  to 
give  poultry  a  tolerably  wide  range,  accustoming  them  to  come 
home  at  night  to  roost  and  be  fed.  They  will  make  havoc  with 
the  grasshoppers  and  locusts,  and  prevent  losses  from  these 
pests.  They  fatten  easily,  although  they  require  care  when  they 
are  young.  They  always  command  a  good  price,  and  as  Mrs. 
Gage  says  of  the  fowls,  it  costs  no  more,  pound  for  pound,  to 
raise  them  than  it  does  pork,  and  they  will  bring  three  or  four 
times  the  i^ricc. 


^^5  OUR     IVESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Ducks  and  geese  are  also  profitable  where  there  is  water. 
The  latter  especially  have  a  triple  value,  lor  their  eg-gs,  their 
flesh  and  their  feathers,  which  are  plucked  from  the  living  bird, 
once  or  twice  a  year.  This  is  a  large  business  now  in  some 
parts  of  Texas,  and  is  conducted  on  an  extended  scale.  Pigeons 
are  easily  raised,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  towns ;  they  are 
very  prolific,  and  the  young  pigeons  or  squabs  command  high 
prices. 

The  raising  of  poultry  in  the  West  is  attended  with  some 
risks,  as  they  have  many  enemies.  Foxes,  coyotes,  raccoons, 
■weasels,  oround-hoes,  and  other  four-footed  marauders,  and  the 
whole  tribe  of  hawks,  owls  and  vultures,  are  ready  to  pounce 
upon  the  helpless  fowls. 

But  a  still  more  formidable  enemy  is  the  so-called  "  chicken 
cholera,"  a  disease  which  has  made  sad  havoc  in  the  poultry- 
yards  of  all  parts  of  the  country.  Many  farmers  have  lost  hun- 
dreds of  fowls,  and  where  a  flock  are  attacked  from  twenty-five  to 
ninety  per  cent.  die.  Ducks,  geese  and  turkeys  are  as  subject 
to  it  as  hens  and  chickens.  The  disease  is  contagious  and  goes 
throucrh  an  entire  flock  when  one  or  two  are  affected.  The 
symptoms  are:  at  first,  the  fowl  begins  to  mope  around,  some- 
times seeming  to  have  a  full  crop,  but  oftener  an  empty  one ;  it 
will  not  eat,  but  drinks  often,  and  seems  to  be  very  thirsty;  the 
comb  and  wattles  become  a  dark  red,  nearly  a  black  color ;  the 
droppings  are  at  first  of  a  pale  green  color,  then  dark  green  and 
yellow,  but  grow  thinner,  clearer  and  more  liquid  with  each 
evacuation,  till  utterly  weakened  and  prostrate,  in  the  course  of 
from  twelve  to  forty-eight  hours  the  fowl  dies,  usually  with  great 
appearance  of  agony.  Many  times  they  will  use  their  last  re- 
maining strength  to  crawl  or  flutter  away  under  bushes  or  a 
fence  to  die.  The  liver  is  always  found  to  be  diseased.  They 
sometimes  have  an  appearance  of  fatness,  but  this  is  due  to 
dropsical  eff"usion.  The  discharges  and  the  flesh  of  the  fowls  have 
a  most  offensive  odor. 

That  the  cause  of  this  disease,  like  that  of  the  so-called  "hog 
cholera,"  was  a  eerm  or  organism  of  a  contaorious  nature,  and 
capable  of  the  most  rapid  propagation,  was  discovered  in  France 


PROF.   PASTEUR'S  DISCOVERIES.  ^jj 

by  M.  TMoritz,  of  Upper  Alsatia,  and  M.  Toussaint,  of  Alfort, 
French  veterinary  surgeons,  in  1878  and  1879.  Sig.  Peroncito, 
a  veterinary  surgeon  of  Turin,  also  corroborated  their  investiga- 
tions. It  was  reserved,  however,  for  M.  Pasteur,  the  eminent 
French  physiologist  and  chemist,  to  apply  the  knowledge  already 
obtained  on  this  point  to  practical  use.  In  a  paper  "  on  virulent 
diseases,  and  especially  on  the  disease  commonly  called  chicken 
cholera,"  read  before  the  Academie  des  Sciences,  February  9th, 
1880,  and  translated  and  published  here  by  P.  Casamayer, 
Ph.  D.,  in  the  "Journal  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,"  Prof 
Pasteur  details  the  results  of  his  experiments  carried  on  for  many 
months  with  this  specific  poisonous  germ,  by  which  he  has  dem- 
onstrated that  its  virulence  may  be  greatly  diminished,  and  that 
if  the  chickens  are  inoculated  with  this  modified  germinal  poison 
their  sickness  will  be  slight  and  they  will  be  perfectly  protected 
from  the  original  disease.  In  a  word  he  has  applied  Jenner's 
principle  of  vaccination  to  the  chicken  cholera.  The  processes 
by  which  this  may  be  accomplished  are  so  simple  and  the  results 
so  satisfactory  that  we  presume  it  will  be  largely  practised  where 
there  is  danger  of  the  prevalence  of  chicken  cholera. 

But  until  this  method  can  be  more  generally  made  known  and 
adopted,  it  is  certainly  best  that  measures  of  prevention  should 
be  resorted  to,  and  that  the  roosts  and  henneries  should  be  kept 
perfectly  free  from  vermin,  by  the  free  use  of  whitewash  and 
kerosene  oil,  that  no  lice  or  other  insects  should  infest  the  fowls, 
and  that  they  should  have  pure  water  and  perfectly  clean  feed, 
with  fine  gravel,  red  pepper,  and  occasionally  a  little  assafoetida 
put  in  their  water  to  act  as  a  tonic.  Their  food  should  not  be 
exclusively  of  corn,  but  meal,  bran  and  other  articles  should  be 
given  a  part  of  the  time.  They  should  have  no  access  either  to 
their  own  droppings,  or  any  manure  heaps,  especially  if  any  dis- 
ease prevails  among  other  domestic  animals,  but  should  have 
during  the  day  the  range  of  a  large,  and  if  possible,  gravelly  lot. 

Another  disease  which  affects  fowls  very  often,  and  is  con- 
siderably dcistructive,  though  less  so  than  the  chicken  cholera,  is 
roup.  Under  this  name  several  distinct  diseases,  though  all 
affecting    the    air    passage,    are     included.       It    is    sometimes 


^-.3  ^'-'^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

analogous  to  croup,  and  the  fowls  die  of  suffocation  ;  at  other 
times  it  is  onl)'  a  severe  catarrh,  and  sometimes  a  contagious 
one;  at  still  other  times  it  is  an  inllammation  of  the  lungs  or  a 
sort  of  pleuro-pneumonia.  These  are  all  caused  primarily  by 
damp  and  unwholesome  temperatures  at  the  roosts,  foul  air, 
currents  of  air,  etc.  The  symptoms  are  sneezing,  mucous 
discharge  from  the  nostrils,  froth  in  the  corners  of  the  eyes,  and 
a  tendency  to  suffocation — stimulating  food,  red  pepper,  and 
bran  mash,  are  as  good  as  any  medicines  internally,  and  the 
external  application  of  a  wash  of  sulphate  of  iron  (copperas), 
spirits  of  turpentine  or  kerosene  to  the  head  and  throat  (taking 
care  that  none  of  it  enters  the  eyes),  are  the  best  external 
remedies.  If  the  mucous  discharge  is  copious  and  offensive, 
separate  the  sick  fowls  from  the  rest  of  the  flock,  as,  at  this  stage, 
the  disease  is  contagious.  A  lump  of  borax  of  the  size  of  a 
chestnut  dissolved  in  one  or  two  quarts  of  their  drinking  water, 
is  a  very  good  remedy  for  the  suffocating  trouble  of  the  throat. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


Special  Crops — Rice  Corn — Pearl  Millet — Other  Millets — Hungarian 
Grass  —  Sweet  Potatoes  —  Pea-nut  or  Ground-nut  —  The  Sugar 
Question  once  more — Is  not  Corn  worth  more  than  Twenty  Cents  a 
Bushel  to  Manufacture  into  Sugar? — The  Cultivation  of  Textiles — 
Flax,  Hemp,  Ramie,  Jute,  Tampico,  Tule,  Nettle,  Esparto  Grass,  the 
Brake  or  Swamp  Cane — Some  of  the  Cacti — Cultivation  of  Oil- 
Producing  Plants — Castor  Bean,  Olive,  Flax,  Rape,  Hemp  and  Cotton 
Seed,  Tar  Weed,  Sesame,  Peppermint,  Spearmint,  Bergamot — Culti- 
vation OF  Nut-bearing  and  Fruit-bearing  Trees  and  Shrubs — English 
Walnut,  Black  Walnut,  Hickory-nut,  Common  Chestnut,  Ppalian 
Chestnut,  Almond,  Filbert,  Pecan,  Hazel-nut,  Pawpaw,  Persimmon, 
Japanese  Persimmon,  Pomegranate,  Mandrake,  Apricot,  Medlar, 
Orange,  Lemon,  Shaddock,  etc. — Ordinary  Fruits,  Apples,  Pears, 
Quinces,  Peaches,  Plums,  Cherries,  Prunes,  etc. — Small  Fruits,  Grapes, 
Currants,  Gooseberries,  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Blackberries,  Dew- 
berries, Partridceberries,  Whortleberries — Employment  for  Profes- 
sional Men,  Artisans,  Tradesmen,  Florists,  Market-Gardeners,  Factory 
Operatives,  etc. 

In  previous  chapters  we  have  endeavored  to  place  before  the 
setder  the  results  attained  by  skilful  farmers  and  stock-raisers, 


SPECIAL    CROPS.  47Q 

in  the  ordinary  crops  and  avocations  of  an  agricultural  or 
pastoral  life.  It  now  remains  for  us  to  show  what  special  crops 
have  proved,  or  are  likely  to  prove,  profitable,  when  their  culture 
is  undertaken  under  favorable  circumstances. 

We  have  already  said  in  our  First  Part,  that  above  the  thirty- 
second  parallel  of  north  latitude,  the  best  first  crops  which  a  settler 
can  raise,  on  new  lands,  are  wheat  or  the  root  crops.  But,  after  the 
arable  land  of  the  farm  has  been  under  the  plow  two  or  three 
times,  and  a  rotation  of  crops  seems  desirable,  it  is  well  for  him 
to  turn  his  attention  to  some  other  crops  in  addition  to  his  wheat, 
oats,  barley,  corn  and  potatoes,  which  with  proper  care  he  may 
find,  perhaps,  more  profitable  than  the  staples  which  he  has  been 
cultivating,  and  must  still  continue  to  cultivate  on  the  larger  part 
of  his  farm. 

If  he  has  any  cows,  kept  for  dairy  purposes,  any  sheep  or 
swine,  he  will  do  well  to  turn  his  attention  first  to  forage  plants, 
or  to  those  which,  in  addition  to  their  value  for  this  purpose, 
yield  some  other  important  product.  The  different  varieties  of 
Sorghum,  differing  in  their  time  of  ripening,  in  their  size  and  in  the 
amount  of  saccharine  matter  they  contain,  answer  an  admirable 
purpose  for  both  these  crops.  They  can  be  sown  early  and  cut 
just  as  the  seed  ripens,  the  leaves  stripped  for  forage  and  the 
tops  either  reserved  for  feeding  stock  or  for  sowing,  while  the 
stalks  can  be  crushed  for  the  saccharine  juice:  Indian  corn  may 
be  made  to  furnish  a  triple  product  in  the  same  way ;  the  leaves 
being  used  for  forage,  the  stalks  for  sugar  and  syrup,  and  the 
bagasse  or  dry  crushed  stalks  used  for  fiiel  or  for  paper,  the  corn 
preserved  for  its  various  uses,  not  the  least  profitable  of  which  is 
now  the  manufacture  of  glucose  suQf^ii'.  With  such  a  demand  as 
there  now  is  for  corn  for  this  and  other  purposes,  it  ought  to  be 
worth  much  more  than  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  at  which  price  it 
has  bcc;n  sold,  for  several  years  past,  in  Western  and  Central 
Kansas,  and  even  within  ten  or  fifteen  miles  of  a  railway.  There 
is  some  dispute  in  regard  to  the  healthful  character  of  the  glucose 
sugar  and  syrup,  which  are  now  made  to  the  extent  of  many 
millions  of  pounds  annually  in  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  Buffalo,  some 
contending  that  as  made,  it  contains  free  sulphuric  acid  and  other 


^So  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

substances  which  are  very  injurious ;  others  Insisting  that  it  is 
perfectly  devoid  of  any  injurious  quaHty,  and  equal  in  quality  to 
any  sugar  in  the  market. 

These  crops  are  both  easily  raised,  and  can  be  cultivated  with- 
out any  special  instructions.  Broom  corn  is  largely  cultivated 
in  several  of  the  States  and  Territories,  and  is  a  very  sure  crop, 
growing  and  ripeningwherever  sorghum  and  Indian  corn  will  ripen. 
In  Kansas  the  average  yield  is  about  580  pounds  to  the  acre. 
It  always  finds  a  prompt  and  ready  sale,  and  brings  from  ^20  to 
^25  per  acre.  Another  excellent  plant  for  both  forage  and  grain 
is  the  Egyptiafi  rice  corn,  or  Pampas  rice.  It  has  been  extensively 
tested  in  Kansas,  and  while  inferior  to  Indian  corn  as  a  forage 
plant,  its  grain  is  richer  in  fattening  qualities,  yields  on  good  land 
a  larger  crop,  and  stands  drought  better  than  any  other  grain, 
ripening  its  grain  where  Indian  corn  and  all  the  cereals  failed. 
It  is  not  only  excellent  for  fattening  stock,  swine  and  poultry, 
but  when  ground  yields  a  richer,  better  and  more  appetizing  food 
for  family  use  than  any  of  the  other  cereals.  It  yields  from  forty 
to  sixty  bushels  of  grain  to  the  acre,  and  as  it  tillers  very  widely, 
requires  less  seed  for  sowing  than  other  grains. 

Another  of  these  forage  plants  which  promises  fairly,  is  the 
pearl  millet.  Its  )  ield  of  forage  is  enormous  ;  it  can  be  cut  four 
or  five  times  in  a  season,  and  will  yield  from  fifty  to  eighty  tons 
of  green  forage,  or  seven  to  ten  tons  of  dry,  to  the  acre.  It 
stands  drought  much  better  than  Indian  corn,  and  thou^rh  its 
stalks  are  not  as  sweet  and  somewhat  more  woody  than  those 
of  the  corn  (it  is  one  of  the  sugar-producing  plants),  it  yields  a 
niuch  larger  quantity,  and  in  its  green  state  is  eaten  with  great 
avidity  by  cattle.  The  seeds  or  grain  are  excellent  food  for  cat- 
tle or  poultry,  though  not  quite  so  rich  in  the  fat-producing  prin- 
ciples as  the  rice  corn.  It  is  sometimes  confounded  with  the 
German  millet,  an  inferior  plant,  and  one  of  much  less  value  for 
forage,  though  even  this  yields  from  five  to  six  tons  of  dry 
forage  to  the  acre. 

Alfalfa,  a  species  of  Lucern,  long  cultivated  in  Chili  and  Peru, 
has  been  very  widely  introduced  into  California,  Arizona,  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  Colorado  and  Kansas  as  a  forage  grass,  and  is 


IICXCAKIAN  GRASS— THE    TEXTILES.  ^gl 

much  liked.  It  has  a  long  tap-root  which  reaches  far  down 
below  the  surface  and  draws  moisture  from  the  depths  of  the 
soil  below,  so  that  it  does  best  in  a  dry  climate.  The  grass  is 
perennial,  and  these  tap-roots,  in  the  course  of  four  or  five  years, 
grow  to  the  size  of  a  carrot.  It  yields  four  or  five  crops,  in  all 
from  five  to  eight  tons  of  hay,  in  a  year,  which  is  very  nutritious  and 
eagerly  sought  for  by  horses  and  cattle.  It  does  not  flourish 
well  in  cold  climates,  and  cannot  be  successfully  cultivated  north 
of  40°  north  latitude. 

Hungarian  grass,  a  species  of  millet  very  nearly  akin  to  the 
Sitaria  Germanica  or  German  millet,  is  also  a  great  favorite  as  a 
forage  plant  throughout  the  West.  It  grows  to  the  height  of 
three  or  three  and  a  half  feet,  and  yields  from  two  to  four  tons 
of  hay  per  acre.  It  is  better  to  cut  it  before  it  seeds,  and  to 
take  off  two  or  three  crops  a  year.  It  is  an  annual,  but  is  better 
on  the  plains  than  timothy  or  common  clover.  The  seed  should 
not  be  fed  to  horses  or  cattle  alone,  but  should  be  mixed  with 
bran  or  some  lighter  food,  as  it  is  very  rich  and  stimulating  and. 
often  proves  a- powerful  diuretic.  The  product  of  this  grass  in. 
Kansas,  in  18 78,  was  5^1,782,000.  It  is  said  to  exhaust  the  soil 
more  than  the  Alfalfa. 

Another  class  of  special  crops,  which  will  often  pay  a  very 

handsome  profit,  are  the  textiles.     Some  of  these,  as  cotton, 

jute,  ramie,  and  the  cacti,  can  only  be  successfully  cultivated   in 

the  southern  portion  of  our  Western  Empire.     All,  or  nearly,  all,, 

these    flourish  well    in   Texas,  Arkansas,  the   Indian  Territory, 

Southern  Kansas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Southern  Nevada,.and 

Southern  California.      Cotton,  VikQ^ax  and  /ie7;ij>,  is  valuable  not 

only  for  its  textile  product  but  for  its  seeds,  which  produce  a 

•valuable  oil,  and  a  rich  oil-cake  for  feeding  cattle,  of  which  we 

shall  have  more  to  say  by-and-by.     It  can  be  raised  as  far  north 

as  Kansas,  or  in  the  latitude  of  Southern   IlHnois,  but  is  not  a 

very  profitable  crop  above  the  35th  parallel,     y^te  is  a  shrub  of 

the  order  Tiliacece,  to  which  the  linden  or  basswood  trees  also 

belong.     It  is  an  annual,  a  native  of  the  East  Indies,  but  is  easily 

cultivated  in  the  extreme  Southwestern  States.     The  fibre  has 

many  uses;  though  too  easily  affected  by  moisture  for  cordage, 
31 


.g2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

it  is  largely  used  for  g-unny-bag-s,  for  paper  stock,  as  a  substitute 
for  hair,  for  cheap  carpeting,  and  employed  in  the  adulteration 
of  cheap  silk  and  mohair  goods,  etc.,  etc.  The  setder  in 
Texas,  Arizona,  or  Southern  California  would  hardly  find  any 
crop  more  remunerative.  The  ramie  or  China  grass,  like  the 
hemp  and  the  netde,  belongs  to  the  family  of  Urticaceae,  or 
nettle-like  plants.  It  yields  a  beautiful  fibre,  stronger  than  hemp, 
finer  than  fiax,  and  of  a  beautifid  whiteness.  It  will  grow 
wherever  cotton  grows,  yields  three  crops  a  year,  of  about  1,500 
pounds  of  fibre  to  the  acre,  and  ought  to  be  largely  cultivated. 

The  different  species  and  genera  of  the  cactus  do  not  require 
cultivation.  They  abound  in  Texas,  Arizona,  Southern  New 
Mexico,  and  Southern  California,  and  especially  the  peninsula  of 
Old  California.  Many  of  the  species  have  an  abundance  of  long, 
white  fibres,  easily  obtained  by  crushing  them  between  rollers, 
and  these  can  be  used  to  advantage  for  many  purposes.  In 
Southern  California  they  are  curled  and  used  for  filling  mat- 
tresses, for  which  their  elasticity  admirably  adapts  them. 

The  brake,  or  sic  amp- cane,  which  is  our  only  plant  akin  to  the 
bamboo  of  the  eastern  continent,  abounds  along  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf  and  the  southern  rivers.  It  is  one  of  the  best  materials 
known  for  the  production  of  paper  stock,  and  by  an  ingenious 
machine  is  easily  reduced  to  a  tough  and  fibrous  pulp  of  great 
strencrth. 

The  tide,  a  rush  found  abundantly  on  the  islands  and  shores 
of  the  California  lakes  and  rivers,  is  also  an  excellent  material 
for  paper  stock.  So  is  the  palmetto,  which  will  grow  on  the 
poorest  lands  in  Texas,  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  as  well  as 
in  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory. 

The  Agave  Americana,  a  native  of  Mexico,  but  sufiiciently 
hardy  to  grow  anywhere  south  of  40°  north  latitude,  yields  a 
fibre  nearly  equal  to  hemp,  and  capable  of  being  extensively 
raised  on  sandy  and  dry  lands.  This  is  good  for  cordage,  for 
brushes,  for  which  purpose  it  is  sold  as  tampico,  and  for  paper 
stock.  The  Esparto  grass,  which  is  found  in  the  south  of  Spain 
and  on  the  coast  of  Aloferia,  is  in  o-reat  demand  in  Enoland  and 
to  some  extent  here  for  paper  stock.     It  grows  very  profusely 


FLAX,   HEMP  AND  NETTLE.  483 

on  the  poorest  lands,  and  at  the  price  now  paid  for  it  would  be 
a  very  profitable  crop  for  the  poorer  lands,  as  there  is  a  great 
demand  for  paper  pulp,  for  all  descriptions  of  manufactures. 

VlsiX,  Limim  Usitatissimum ;  hemp,  Cannabis  Sativa ;  and  the 
nettle,  Urtica  Dioica,  and  other  species,  and  we  might  probably 
add  the  New  Zealand  flax,  Phormhini  tcnax,  which  would  be  a 
valuable  addition  to  our  textiles,  are  all  natives  of  temperate 
climates,  and  are  cultivable  in  any  part  of  "  our  Western  Em- 
pire," except  where  the  conditions  of  drought  prevent.  All  of 
them  draw  very  heavily  for  growth  and  nourishment  upon  the 
soil,  and  rank  as  exhausting  crops,  requiring  for  their  best 
growth  a  rich  and  highly  manured  soil ;  but  all  of  them  are  pro- 
fitable when  properly  cultivated  ;  the  flax  and  hemp  yielding  not 
only  the  lint,  but  seeds  which  produce  valuable  oils  used  by 
painters  and  artists ;  and  the  nettle  being  very  valuable  as  a 
forage  plant  aside  from  its  fibres.  The  New  Zealand  flax  is 
about  twenty  per  cent,  stronger  than  hemp,  and  is  well  adapted 
to  the  manufacture  of  cordage.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  other 
economical  use  of  its  seeds  or  leaves  except  for  textile  purposes. 
Where  the  soil  and  rainfall  are  adapted  to  these  crops,  as  in 
Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Eastern  Kansas,  Nebraska 
and  Dakota,  and  Western  Oregon,  their  cultivation,  though 
attended  with  considerable  labor,  even  with  the  present  improve- 
ments, cannot  fail  to  be  profitable.  The  breaking  of  flax  and 
hemp,  i.  e.,  the  process  of  removing  the  woody  portion  from  the 
fibre,  was  formerly  a  difficult  and  laborious  process,  but,  thanks 
to  the  inventive  skill  of  some  American  mechanics,  it  is  now 
only  a  light  amusement.  The  bleaching  of  the  flax  (hemp  is  not 
often  whitened),  as  practised  in  Ireland,  is  a  process  requiring  a 
peculiar  climate  and  the  constant  presence  of  moisture.  It  is 
possible  that  Minnesota,  and  perhaps  Oregon,  might  furnish  the 
required  conditions  with  their  numerous  lakes  and  their  some- 
what plentiful  rainfall.  But  the  cultivation  of  flax  and  hemp, 
especially  the  former,  for  the  seeds  alone  is  very  profitable.  In 
Kansas,  in  1879  (not  a  favorable  year  for  these  crops),  flax  was 
raised  for  the  seed  only  on  nearly  70,000  acres,  and  the  net 
profit  was  more  than  ^9  per  acre.     Hemp  was  raised  in  that 


.34  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

State  the  same  year  on  only  606  acres,  but  the  crop  sold  mainly 
for  the  lint  for  about  $56  per  acre.  The  nettle  is  not  yet  much 
cultivated  as  a  textile  and  forage  plant;  but  the  climate  is  better 
adapted  to  it  than  that  of  Germany,  where  it  has  proved  a  great 
success.  The  nettle  fibre  is  fine  and  even  and  of  great  strength, 
so  that  it  is  well  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  fabrics  for  sum- 
jner  wear,  as  well  as  to  fine  cords,  etc.  For  these  purposes  it  is 
thought  to  surpass  flax,  and  it  grows  well  on  a  poor  soil,  though, 
of  course,  not  as  large  as  on  a  rich  one. 

Turning  now  from  textiles  to  oil-producing  plants,  we  notice, 
first,  after  the  textile  seeds,  cotton,  fiax  and  hemp,  all  of  which 
yield  oils  of  great  commercial  value,  and  which  form  a  constantly 
increasing  product  both  for  home  consumption  and  export,  a 
very  valuable  though  humble  plant  which  is  destined  yet  to  be- 
come a  very  important  product  of  the  soil — the  Arachis  Hypo- 
ga;a,  known  as  the  pea-nut,  ground-nut,  or  goober.  This  sin- 
gular plant  possesses  a  variety  of  claims  upon  our  consideration  ; 
its  straw  or  vines  when  cured  make  an  excellent  hay  or  forage 
which  cattle  eat  greedily;  the  nuts  or  seeds,  enclosed  in  a  hard 
shell  and  spreading  and  ripening  beneath  the  soil  like  the  tubers 
of  a  potato,  are,  when  baked  or  roasted,  in  great  demand  among 
children,  and  grown  people  also;  while  they  yield  on  pressure 
a  clear,  pure  oil,  which  for  salad  purposes  is  equal  to  olive  oil, 
and  is  of  great  value  for  illuminating  and  lubricating  purposes, 
and  is  also  used  for  the  manufacture  of  the  better  qualities  of 
soap.  The  nuts  when  powdered  are,  in  France,  largely  mixed 
with  cacao  for  the  manufacture  of  chocolate,  and  in  the  so-called 
chocolate  condiments,  are  substituted  for  the  cacao.  The  pea- 
nut is  very  easily  cultivated,  and  in  a  good  soil  yields  a  large 
and  profitable  crop.  It  is  raised  in  considerable  quantities  in 
Tennessee  and  in  Kansas,  and  to  some  extent  in  other  States. 
It  yields  from  twenty  to  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  with  good 
cultivation  on  good  land,  the  crop  may  easily  be  increased  to 
80,  100,  or  even  125  bushels.  The  price  simply  for  use  for 
roasting  purposes  varies  from  twenty-two  cents  to  ^i  per  bushel; 
the  first  being  an  exceptionally  low  price  caused  by  a  sudden 
glut   in   the   market  which  was  unprepared   for  it  at   the   time. 


OLIVES  AND   SESAME.  .  ^g^ 

With  a  simple  oil-mill  and  a  sufficient  local  supply  to  keep  the 
mill  running,  and  facilities  for  marketing  the  product,  we  think 
the  price  might  readily  advance  to  ^i,  or  even  more,  per  bushel. 
Hardly  any  crop  so  easily  raised  will  pay  better. 

The  culture  of  the  Olive,  which  is  not  only  practicable  but 
lucrative  in  Texas  (possibly  in  Arkansas),  in  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory, in  Arizona  and  Southern  California,  is  eminently  desirable, 
wherever  it  is  possible,  both  for  the  fruit  and  the  oil.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  go  into  particulars  in  regard  to  the  methods 
of  cultivation  of  this  interesting  plant,  as  most  of  those  who  would 
be  likely  to  cultivate  it  have  already  been  engaged  in  its  culture 
in  Southern  Europe,  and  if  not,  can  easily  learn  from  those 
around  them  the  best  processes  of  propagating  and  training  it. 
Pure  olive  oil,  though  a  little  liable  to  become  rancid  from  the 
vegetable  mucilage  it  contains,  is  generally  regarded  as  the  best 
of  the  vegetable  oils,  though,  for  many  purposes  for  which  it  is 
used,  the  oil  of  the  seeds  of  the  Sesaimun  Indiawi,  of  the  ground- 
nut already  described,  or  of  the  Madia  Safiva,  the  tar-weed  of 
the  Pacific  coast,  all  of  which  are  cultivated  for  the  oil  expressed 
from  their  seeds,  is  preferable.  These  plants  are  all  worthy  of 
cultivation,  as  they  yield  on  an  average  about  500  pounds  of  oil 
from  the  seed  produced  on  an  acre. 

The  seeds  of  the  summer  and  winter  rape,  the  coleworts, 
rocket,  gold  of  pleasure,  sunflower,  white  poppy,  turnip  cabbage 
and  Swedish  turnip,  all  of  them  plants  which  can  be  matured 
in  any  climate  where  Indian  corn  will  ripen,  yield  from  385 
pounds  to  875  pounds  of  oil  to  the  acre's  product. 

There  are  also  a  few  oil-producing  plants  whose  oils  have  a 
medicinal  character,  or  perhaps  have  a  certain  value  for  the  per- 
fumer, which  may  be  cultivated  with  profit  by  the  farmer,  especially 
on  the  prairie  lands.  The  most  noted  of  these  is  the  castor  bean  or 
castor  oil  plant,  Ricimts  Counminis  or  Sangitinaj'iiis.  This  is  cul- 
tivated somewhat  largely  in  Kansas  and  other  States ;  fifty-five 
counties  in  Kansas  having  68,179  acres  planted  with  it,  in  1879, 
though  only  twenty-two  counties  raised  over  i,030  bushels  each  ; 
and  the  product  being  valued  at  $766,143,  or  about  $11.26  per 
acre.     This  is  a  low  average,  as  with  ordinarily  good  cultivation 


486  •  O^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  crop  should  be  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  bushels  per  acre, 
and  with  special  care  should  reach  thirty  bushels.  In  the  absence 
of  any  oil-mills  near,  the  price  of  the  beans  was  $i  per  bushel. 
With  an  oil-mill  near,  as  they  might  have  had  in  the  counties 
having  large  crops  of  it,  they  would  have  been  able  to  realize  at 
least  $1.50  per  bushel,  and  still  have  left  a  large  margin  of  profit 
to  the  manufacturer.  The  plant  is  of  large,  rank  growth,  and 
matures  its  beans  in  a  summer  of  ordinary  length.  It  is  planted 
in  Kansas  in  March,  April  or  May,  according  to  the  locality. 

Peppermint  and  spearmint  are  largely  cultivated  in  some  sec- 
tions mainly  for  the  oil,  though  the  dried  herbs  are  sold  in  small 
quantities.  In  Illinois  there  are  large  tracts  sown  with  them  for 
this  purpose,  and  the  culture  proves  profitable.  Bergamot  is 
sown  for  the  same  purpose.  These  plants  can  be  profitably 
cultivated,  if  there  is  a  distilling  apparatus  in  the  vicinity  to  distil 
off  the  oils.  They  are  a  crop  easily  raised,  as  they  require 
no  weeding  or  hoeing,  if  planted  on  clean  land,  and  can  be 
harvested  with  the  mower  or  harvester. 

Among  other  special  crops,  we  may  notice  also  those  of  the 
nut-bearine  and  fruit-bearino-  trees  and  shrubs,  not  included  in 
those  of  the  ordinary  orchard. 

Under  the  Timber-Culture  Act,  though  orchard  trees  are  not 
allowed  to  be  reckoned  among  those  planted  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  the  land,  yet  quite  a  variety  of  the  nut  or  fruit-bearing 
trees  are  permitted.  Among  those  which  are  native  to  our  soil 
are  the  butternut  and  black  walnut,  three  species  of  the  hickory, 
the  chestnut,  of  which  there  are  two  or  three  varieties,  and  its 
congener,  the  chinquepin,  of  which  there  are  two;  the  horse- 
chestnut  and  the  buckeye,  which  though  not  edible  by  man  are 
prized  by  some  animals  and  have  an  economic  value  for  their 
starch;  the  pinon  pine,  whose  edible  nuts  furnished  food  to 
Fremont's  men  and  to  many  explorers  since ;  two  or  three 
species  of  the  beech,  whose  three-cornered  nuts  are  greedily 
seized  by  swine  and  squirrels;  the  pecan  nut,  a  shrub;  the 
filbert,  which  though  not  native  is  naturalized;  the  hazel  nut; 
and  of  imported  nut-bearing  trees,  the  English  walnut,  called 
also  the  Madeira  nut,  and  the  Italian  chestnut.     The  last  two 


NUT-BEARING  TREES  AND  SHRUBS.  ^gy 

are  very  valuable  additions  bodi  to  our  shade  and  fruit  trees. 
The  nuts  of  the  English  walnut  are  in  great  demand  and  are 
largely  imported.  The  Italian  chestnut  furnishes  a  flour  which 
is  only  inferior  to  wheat,  and  which  forms  the  only  or  principal 
iarinaceous  food  of  the  Italian  peasants  of  the  Apennines.  Its 
cultivation  would  therefore  be  the  introduction  of  an  additional 
food  product  of  great  value. 

•  Our  native  chestnut  is  undoubtedly  capable  of  great  improve- 
ment both  in  size  and  quality  of  its  nuts,  and  the  wood,  which 
forty  or  fifty  years  ago  was  regarded  as  only  fit  for  rails  and  the 
like,  is  now  prized  as  one  of  the  best  of  our  native  woods  for 
cabinet  work.  The  emigrant  farmer,  who  has  settled  on  "  the 
plains,"  when  planting  trees,  as  it  is  his  duty  and  for  his  ad- 
vantage to  do,  will  do  well  to  set  some  of  these  noble,  kingly 
trees.  They  may  not  grow  so  rapidly  as  ailantus,  locust  or 
bois  d\irc,  but  they  will  be  worth  a  great  deal  more  when  they 
are  orown. 

Orchards  of  fruit  trees,  as  well  as  fruit-bearing  shrubs,  are 
very  desirable  and  profitable  everywhere  in  the  West.  Our 
space  does  not  permit  us  to  enumerate  all  the  varieties  of  apples, 
pears,  peaches,  plums,  cherries,  quinces,  and  other  fruits  very 
widely  cultivated  in  all  or  nearly  all  these  States  and  Territories. 
The  apple  and  pear  do  well  almost  everywhere,  though  of  course 
different  varieties  are  cultivated  in  different  regions.  The  apples 
of  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana,  Oregon  and  Washington 
are  of  excellent  quality  and  command  high  prices.  Equally 
valuable,  though  of  different  varieties,  are  the  apples  and  pears 
of  the  middle  belt  of  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Colorado, 
and,  to  some  extent.  New  Mexico;  while  Arkansas,  the  Indian 
Territory,  Northern  Texas,  and  those  portions  of  Arizona  where 
fruit-growing  is  practicable,  produce  excellent  apples,  but  do  not 
succeed  so  well  with  pears.  The  apples  of  Oregon  are  of  such 
excellence  that  they  are  largely  exported  not  only  to  San 
Francisco,  which  is  an  excellent  fruit  market,  but  to  the  cities 
and  countries  alone  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America,  and  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Ouinces  i^^row  best  aloni^  the  banks  of  streams,  but  the  New 


^88  ^"^'^     IVESTERy   EMPIRE. 

York  market  receives  from  California,  quinces  of  gigantic 
growtli,  like  all  the  California  fruits,  but  also  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite and  delicate  flavor.  Plums,  apricots  and  nectarines, 
beinir  all  liable  to  the  stinof  of  the  curculio — "  the  little  Turk,"  as 
the  farmers  call  him — are  more  successfully  cultivated  by  the  side 
or  banks  of  lakes  or  streams,  where  their  little  enemy  may  be 
shaken  off  into  the  water  and  perish.  Cherries  do  well  only  in 
certain  localities,  but  are  very  profitable  where  they  can  be  cul- 
tivated. The  peach  is  successfully  raised  as  far  north  as 
Iowa  and  Southern  Dakota,  and  to  the  extreme  southern  limit, 
but  the  southern  varieties  ripen  much  earlier  than  those  farther 
north,  and  command  the  best  prices  in  consequence  of  their 
early  ripening.  A  peach  orchard,  well  cared  for  and  managed 
with  enterprise,  in  Texas,  Arkansas,  or  the  Indian  Territory, 
should  prove  a  fortune  to  its  owner.  Of  shrubs  or  small  trees, 
yielding  fruit,  there  are  the  date  plum,  or  persimmon,  Diospyros, 
of  which  there  are  two  American  species,  both  very  astringent 
before  being  touched  with  the  frost,  but  pleasant  afterward,  and 
the  Japanese  persimmon,  greatly  superior  to  the  American  in  all 
respects,  and  now  extensively  introduced  ;  the  fig,  a  favorite  fruit 
in  the  southern  and  middle  tier  of  States,  where  it  ripens  with- 
out difficulty ;  the  pawpaw,  or  custard  apple,  Anona,  which  grows 
wild,  but  is  easily  cultivated,  and  a  Peruvian  species  of  very 
delicious  flavor,  Anona  Cherhnoya  ;  the  pomegranate,  introduced 
into  California,  and  the  mandrake.  Podophyllum  peltatum,  whose 
fruit,  when  carefully  ripened,  is  equal  to  that  of  the  pawpaw. 
All  of  these,  as  well  as  other  fruits  which  only  grow  wild,  do  not 
flourish  well  in  the  northern  tier  of  States  and  Territories,  but 
are  in  their  best  condition  in  the  central  or  southern  tier.  The 
lemon,  lime,  orange,  and  shaddock  will  only  mature  with  cer- 
tainty in  Texas,  Arizona  and  Southern  California;  but  a  very 
good  Chinese  variety,  which  should  be  introduced  here,  ripens 
and  withstands  frost  and  other  changes  in  that  country,  above 
the  latitude  of  40°  north. 

Of  the  smaller  fruits,  the  grape,  in  different  species  and  varie- 
ties, is  culdvated  from  the  British  boundary  line  to  the  Gulf 
coast.     The  vineyards  of  California  are  of  immense  extent,  and 


GRAPES  AND   SMALL   FRUITS.  489 

every  grape  known  to  European  vine-growers  is  cultivated 
there ;  the  wines  of  Cahfornia  are  improving  every  year,  and 
eventually  must  control  the  market.  Missouri,  Texas,  New 
Mexico,  Southern  Arizona,  and,  in  a  less  extensive  sense,  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska,  are  also  noted  for  their  vineyards.  The  wines 
of  Missouri  and  Texas  have  a  high  reputation.  The  production 
of  raisins,  and  especially  "  raisins  of  the  sun,"  has  been  success- 
fully prosecuted  in  California,  and  might  be  in  Arizona  and 
Texas.  The  Zante  currant  or  grape  of  Corinth,  a  small  grape 
which  is  imported  in  immense  quantities  for  plum-puddings  and 
for  the  use  of  the  Germans,  might  easily  be  raised  here. 

The  other  small  fruits,  strawberries,  raspberries,  of  two  species 
and  several  varieties,  blackberries,  also  of  several  varieties,  dew- 
berries, whortleberries,  currants,  black,  white,  and  especially  red, 
gooseberries,  and  several  species  of  mulberry,  which  differ  from 
the  others  in  growing  on  a  tree  instead  of  a  shrub  or  vine ;  the 
partridge  or  wintergreen  berry,  etc.,  etc.,  are  for  the  most  part 
cultivated,  and  all  are  cultivable,  and  will  add  a  very  material 
sum  to  the  farmer's  income.  All  of  them  bring  good  prices  and 
find  a  ready  market  in  their  season.  Their  cultivation  is  not 
difficult,  and  the  returns  are  very  considerable,  and  come  at  a 
season  of  the  year  when  they  are  particularly  convenient. 

We  should  call  attention  here  also  to  the  advantages  of  the 
cultivation  of  vegetables,  etc.,  or,  what  is  known  in  the  vicinity 
of  our  larger  cities,  as  "market-garden  truck."  A  settler  in  the 
neighborhood  of  one  of  these  western  towns  or  villaofes,  and 
especially  the  mining  villages,  if  he  has  a  farm  of  i6o  acres,  or 
even  of  eighty  or  forty,  can  make  a  handsome  fortune  in  a  few 
years,  if  he  will  devote  ten  or  twenty  acres  to  the  intelligent 
culdvation  of  these  vegetables:  such  as  asparagus,  celery,  early 
beets,  peas,  string-beans,  lima  and  kidney  beans,  new  potatoes, 
sweet  early  corn,  salsify,  egg-plant,  cauliflower,  kale,  cabbages, 
onions,  leeks,  garlics,  squashes,  carrots,  early  turnips,  ruta-bagas, 
mangel-wurzel,  etc.,  etc.,  adding,  if  he  can  find  room  and  time,  the 
small  fruits. 

In  a  chapter  of  our  First  Part  we  have  already  pointed  out  the 
opportunities  which  "Our  Western  Empire"  offers  to  men  who 


.no  (^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

have  not  been  accustomed  to  farming,  and  who  have  no  special 
adaptation  to  it.  There  are  very  few  of  them  who  are  not  too 
old  for  successful  emigration,  and  who  possess  industry  and 
energy,  and  a  little  capital,  who  will  not  find,  in  the  course  of 
five  or  six  years,  that  their  condition  has  been  materially  im- 
proved by  their  removal.  All  such  persons  should  buy  a  litde 
land,  even  if  it  be  not  more  than  forty  acres ;  the  time  will  come 
within  the  next  twenty  or  thirty  years  when  land  even  in  the 
West  will  be  very  valuable  and  not  easily  obtained ;  and  those 
who  have  trades  or  professions,  or  pursuits  which  yield  them  a 
comfortable  support,  though  they  may  not  desire  to  farm  their 
lands,  yet  desire  a  good  vegetable  and  a  good  flower-garden. 
They  need  also  pasture  for  one  or  more  horses,  one  or  two 
cows,  and  perhaps  some  swine  and  poultry.  Their  land,  mean- 
while is  growing  in  value  constantly,  and  in  their  declining  years 
ma.y  become  their  most  important  possession. 

We  would  especially  urge  this  upon  professional  men,  clergy- 
men, lawyers,  physicians,  artists,  etc.,  and  also  upon  merchants, 
tradesmen  and  master-mechanics.  Florists  and  nurserymen  can 
do  well  with  small  tracts  of  land,  and  will  find  their  business,  if 
well  managed,  a  surer  road  to  wealth  than  a  large  farm.  Even 
day-laborers,  especially  near  the  mining  villages  and  towms,  will 
be  able,  by  raising  vegetables,  keeping  a  cow,  the  inevitable  pig, 
and  a  moderate  stock  of  poultry,  to  make  a  much  better  living 
than  they  could  in  "  the  old  country." 

The  concentration  of  a  large  population  in  these  districts  so 
sparsely  settled  hitherto,  will,  of  necessity,  bring  in  a  great 
variety  of  manufactures,  and  thus  furnish  ample  employment  to 
many  operatives;  but  to  each  of  these  we  would  say,  in  all  kind- 
ness :  endeavor,  as  soon  as  possible,  and  even  at  considerable 
sacrifice,  to  become  the  owners  of  a  little  land,  and  to  have  a 
home  of  your  ow^n.  It  is  the  first  step  toward  independence, 
and  when  you  hav'e 

"A  little  home  well  filled, 
A  little  farm  well  tilled, 
A  little  wife  well  willed," 

and  the  olive-plants  begin  to  be  numerous  about  your  table,  you 


SCHOOLS  AND  CHURCHES.  401 

will  not  be  so  anxious  for  strikes,  nor  regard  the  behests  of  a 
labor  union  as  so  imperative  ;  if  wages  are  too  low,  you  can  till 
your  own  acres  and  wait  till  they  are  higher — but,  by  all  means, 
secure  you  a  little  homestead. 

To  all  classes  of  settlers  we  would  say,  farther:  in  your  zeal 
to  establish  yourselves  in  your  new  homes,  do  not  forget  to  rear 
the  school-house  within  convenient  distance  of  your  dwellingr. 
Whether  you  have  children  or  not,  the  school  is  one  of  the 
strono-est  safesfuards  of  free  institutions.  The  State  has  eener- 
ously  made  ample  provision,  or  what,  will  be  in  time  ample,  for 
supplying  it  with  good  and  efficient  teachers,  and  what  the  State 
cannot  now  do  a  light  tax  will  accomplish.  If  your  children,  and 
the  children  of  the  community,  can  be  well  educated,  they  will 
be  the  better  fitted  to  become  the  rulers  and  leaders  of  a  crrcat 
State. 

And  we  have  still  another  injunction  for  you  :  In  all  your  set- 
tlements, whether  large  or  small,  give  your  aid  freely  toward  the 
early  establishment  of  Christian  churches.  We  urge  this,  with- 
out reference  to  the  question,  whether  you  are  yourselves 
believers  or  unbelievers  in  Christianity.  It  will  not  take  you 
long  to  learn  that  a  church  will  do  more  to  preserve  and  main- 
tain good  order  and  respect  for  law,  will  give  you  a  purer  and 
better  social  condition,  and  a  higher  standard  of  morals,  than  a 
gambling-den,  a  liquor-saloon,  or  a  low  varieties  theatre ;  as  you 
love  your  families,  as  you  seek  after  the  best  Interests  of  society 
and  the  promotion  of  justice  and  good  order,  give  the  preference 
to  the  church  over  these  institutions  which  are  frauoht  with  so 

o 

much  evil. 


PART  III. 

THE   SEVERAL  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES 

DESCRIBED. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ARIZONA. 

[ts  Location — Extent — Topography — Mountains,  Rivers,  Lakes,  Canons 

Table-lands — Its    Soil,    Climate,  Temperature,    and    Rainfall — Its 

Wonders  and  Peculiarities — Its  Minerals  and  Mines — Its  Zoology — 
Adventures  with  its  Wild  Animals — Irs  Productions,  Mineral,  Animal, 
Vegetable — Its  Population — The  Indians  nearly  Extinct  Races — 
The  Ancient  Province  of  Tusayan — White  Inhabitants — Its  Present 
Condition,  and  the  Advantages  and  Facilities  it  affords  to  Settlers — 
Letters  and  Communications  from  Major-General  J.  C.  Fremont,  Gov- 
ernor OF  Arizona,  and  Colonel  J.  W.  Powell,  United  States  Army, 
Explorer  of  the  Colorado,  etc. — Its  Probable  Future. 

The  Territory  of  Arizona  occupies  a  part  of  the  southwestern 
portion  of  "  Our  Western  Empire,"  though  separated  from  the 
Pacific  by  Southern  Cahfornia  and  the  rocky  and  terrible  desert 
of  Lower  Cahfornia,  above  the  head  of  the  gulf;  it  does  not 
extend  so  far  south  as  Southwestern  Texas,  but  is  comprised 
between  the  parallels  of  31°  20' and  2>7°  <^f  north  latitude,  and 
between  the  meridians  of  109°  and  1 14°  35'  west  longitude  from 
Greenwich.  But  a  small  portion  of  it  has  been  surveyed,  and 
as  its  western  boundary  along  the  Colorado  of  the  West  is 
irreo-ular,  there  is  some  doubt  about  its  actual  area.  It  is  esti- 
mated,  in  the  last  Land  Office  Report,  at  113,916  square  miles, 
or  72,906,240  acres.  The  probability  is  that  it  will  be  found  to 
exceed  this  amount  by  several  thousand  square  miles.  Its  form  is 
somewhat  irregular ;  on  the  north  it  is  bounded  by  the  Territory 
of  Utah,  the  thirty-seventh  parallel  forming  the  boundary  as  far 
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BOUNDARIES  AND    ORGANIZATION.  403 

west  as  the  114th  meridian,  which  forms  the  western  boundary 
of  Utah ;  this  meridian  forms  also  the  western  boundary  of 
Arizona  as  far  south  as  the  thirty-sixth  parallel,  where  the  Colo- 
rado of  the  West  crosses  the  angle  formed  by  the  meridian  and 
parallel,  and  proceeds  northwest  and  then  west-southwest,  and 
turning-  sharply  south  at  Callville,  just  after  it  emerges  from  the 
Grand  Canon,  flows  southwardly  thence  to  the  Gulf  of  Califor- 
nia, forming,  for  all  this  distance  (about  500  miles),  the  western 
boundary  of  Arizona.  The  original  southern  boundary,  acquired 
from  Mexico  in  the  Treaty  of  Guadaloupe-Hidalgo  (February  2d, 
1848),  was  the  river  Gila,  the  most  considerable  of  the  lower 
affluents  of  the  Colorado,  and  the  only  one  which  is  navio-able 
for  any  considerable  distance.  By  the  Gadsden  Treaty,  made  at 
Mexico,  December  30th,  1853,  all  the  territory  lying  south  of  the 
Gila  to  the  border  of  the  Mexican  State  of  Sonora,  was  conveyed 
to  the  United  States.  The  southern  boundary  now  runs  due 
west  along  the  parallel  of  31°  20' to  the  iiith  meridian,  and 
thence  west-northwest  in  a  straight  diagonal  line  till  it  reaches 
the  Colorado  in  about  32°  30'.  The  Territory  is  bounded  on 
the  east  by  New  Mexico. 

The  law  authorizing  the  organization  of  the  Territory  was 
passed  February  24th,  1863,  and  the  Territorial  Government 
inaugurated  December  29th,  1863.  It  has  never  been  thor- 
oughly explored,  and,  up  to  1880,  only  about  6,100,000  acres 
had  been  surveyed,  about  one-twelfth  of  its  area.  Its  area  is 
about  equal  to  that  of  all  the  New  England  States,  New  York 
and  New  Jersey.  The  country  is  mountainous  in  much  of  its 
extent,  though  there  is  but  little  regularity  about  its  mountain 
ranges.  In  the  middle  and  northeast  there  are  elevated  plateaux 
of  vast  extent  having  a  mean  altitude,  varying  from  3,000  to 
7,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  from  these  plateaux  volcanic  cones 
and  hills  rise  at  many  points.  In  the  north  a  mesa  or  plateau 
stretches  away  far  into  Utah  Territory.  South  of  the  Gila  river 
the  plain  sinks  almost  to  the  sea-level,  but  in  the  southeast  and 
along  the  Sonora  line,  there  are  fourteen  or  fifteen  detached 
ranges,  and  four  or  five  isolated  peaks.  Many,  perhaps  most, 
of  the  mountain  ranges  have  a  cfeneral  course  from  northwest  to 


^g^  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

southeast,  but  the  Mogollon  Mountains,  and  some  of  the  other 
groups  extending"  into  New  Mexico,  have  an  east  and  west 
direction.  The  highest  known  elevation  in  the  Territory  is  Mount 
San  Francisco,  at  the  northern  end  of  the  lofty  San  Francisco 
plateau,  from  which  it  rises  to  a  height  of  12,700  feet  above  the 
sea-level. 

Scattered  among  these  mountain  ranges,  detached  and  isolated 
mountain  summits,  plateaux  and  mesas,  are  many  valleys  of  great 
beauty  and  fertility,  but  the  river  valleys  are  generally  narrow 
ravines,  gorges  and  canons,  accessible  to  the  rays  of  the  sun 
only  at  high  noon,  and  whose  precipitous  and  nearly  perpen- 
dicular walls  excite  terror  rather  than  pleasure.  The  valleys  of 
the  Colorado  Chiquito,  or  Flax  river,  and  of  the  Rio  Salinas,  or 
Salt  river,  are  exceptions  to  this,  being  the  garden  spots  and 
granaries  of  the  Territory,  and  the  bordering  mountains  fur- 
nishing great  stock-ranges  where  the  cattle  are  sometimes  too 
fat  to  be  driven. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  topography  of  Arizona  is 
tlie  tendency  of  its  rivers  and  streams  to  form  canons,  of  great 
depth  and  with  precipitous  sides.  Either  the  strata  through 
which  these  rivers  have  cut  their  way  to  the  Gulf  of  California 
are  more  friable  and  easily  eroded  than  the  same  strata  else- 
where, or  the  great  descent  of  the  rivers  and  their  immense 
volume  when  swollen  by  the  rains  and  melting  snows  give  them 
a  force  which  is  irresistible.  The  whole  Territory  is  drained  by 
the  Colorado  river  and  its  tributaries.  Most  of  these  tributa- 
ries— all,  indeed,  except  the  Gila,  which  is  in  itself  a  large  river — 
enter  the  Colorado  high  up  in  its  course ;  the  San  Juan,  which 
enters  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Territory  and  receives  a  con- 
siderable affluent,  the  Rio  de  Chelly,  there ;  and  the  Colorado 
Chiquito,  or  Flax  river,  with  its  important  aflluents,  the  Rio 
Puerco  of  the  West,  Rio  Ouemado,  and  Chevelon's  Fork,  falline 
into  the  parent  stream  above  the  Big  Canon  of  the  river,  and 
forming  deep,  dark  and  precipitous  canons  of  their  own.  The 
Colorado  itself,  througrh  more  than  600  miles  of  its  course  throueh 
Arizona,  (lows  through  deep  canons,  and  receives  nearly  200 
streams,  larfre  and  small,  all  of  them  comin"-  through  eorofes  of 

'  o  '  0000 


DESCENT  OF    THE    GRAND    CANON.  40  e 

less  depth,  and  falling  over  the  as  yet  only  partially  eroded  rocks 
in  cataracts,  into  the  main  stream.  Its  descent  in  these  600 
miles  is  more  than  3,000  feet.  The  Big  or  Grand  Canon  is  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Its  descent  has  been  several  times 
attempted,  and  was  accomplished,  though  not  without  loss  of 
life,  by  a  party  under  command  of  Major  J,  W.  Powell  in  1869, 
and  again  in  187 1. 

The  narrative  of  these  descents,  as  given  by  the  intrepid 
explorers,  is  of  the  most  thrilling  interest.  Through  its  whole 
course,  except  the  last  500  or  600  miles,  and  through  the  entire 
course  of  its  principal  affluents,  these  canons  succeed  one 
another,  each  one  In  the  downward  course  of  the  current  being 
deeper,  darker  and  more  terrible  than  its  predecessor.  At 
irregular  Intervals  there  are  rapids,  cataracts,  and  falls  of  great 
height,  while  every  one  of  the  tributary  streams  plunges  into  the 
main  river  through  a  minor  canon  of  its  own,  by  a  cataract  often 
of  I  50,  200,  or  300  feet.  The  ten  stalwart  men,  provided  with 
every  necessity  for  their  perilous  journey,  and  stocked  with 
ample  supplies,  who,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1869,  had  started  from 
the  Green  river  station.  In  four  boats,  to  descend  the  Colorado, 
had  passed  through  the  last  of  the  great  canons,  on  the  29th  of 
August,  their  numbers  reduced  to  six,  their  boats  to  two,  hatless, 
shoeless,  and  ragged,  their  provisions  exhausted,  their  Instru- 
ments broken,  and  they  themselves  battered  and  bruised  by 
their  conflicts  with  rapids,  cataracts,  whirlpools  and  rugged 
rocks.  The  walls  of  their  long  prison  house  were  In  some 
places  more  than  a  mile  in  height,  and  In  their  dark  gorges  they 
could  only  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  sun  at  high  noon.  Yet  the 
monuments,  towers,  cathedrals,  castles  and  lofty  battlements  of 
all  conceivable  colors,  were  grand,  impressive  and  often  beautir 
ful  beyond  description  ;  and  worn  and  wearied  as  they  were, 
they  were  full  of  enthusiasm  over  the  accomplishment  of  their 
perilous  voyage.  Three  of  those  \vho  had  left  them  were  slain 
by  Indians ;  one  returned  to  Utah. 

The  river  Is  navigable,  though  with  some  difficulty,  on  account 
of  Its  numerous  rapids,  from  Callvllle,  Nevada,  at  the  terminus 
of  the   Grand   Canon,  to   its  mouth,   a   distance   of    612   miles. 


496  OUR    WESTERN  EM  TIRE. 

Neither  the  Colorado  Chlquito  nor  the  San  Juan  are  navigable, 
but  their  canons  and  the  rapid  descent  of  their  waters  are  only 
inferior  to  those  of  the  parent  stream.  The  lower  waters  of  the 
Colorado  are  not  much  higher  than  the  Gulf  of  California,  and, 
indeed,  flow  at  one  point  through  a  broad  and  almost  stagnant 
lake.  The  Gila  rises  in  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico,  and  for 
about  one-half  of  its  course  traverses  a  mountainous  region, 
though  it  does  not  at  any  point  cut  for  itself  deep  or  precipitous 
gorges.  From  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  San  Pedro  its  course  is 
through  a  less  elevated  region,  and  a  part  of  the  distance  is 
navigable  and  without  rapids. 

These  deep  canons  of  the  principal  rivers  drain  much  of  the 
surrounding  country  of  its  moisture,  and  render  large  tracts  unfit 
for  anything  but  grazing,  and  still  larger  ones  unfit  for  that,  un- 
less by  aqueducts,  reservoirs,  or  artesian  wells  the  necessary 
water  can  be  supplied  for  stock.  In  the  existing  condition  of 
the  country,  much  of  the  rainfall  which,  in  some  seasons,  is 
abundant,  or  sufficiently  so  for  the  country,  if  it  could  be  saved, 
is  wasted,  running  off  from  these  hard-baked  table-lands  into  the 
cafions  and  not  penetrating  the  soil.  Yet  this  soil  under  irriga- 
tion is  wonderfully  productive.  The  lands  which  can  be  irrigated 
yield  sixty-five  bushels  of  the  finest  wheat  in  the  world  to  the 
acre,  and  proportionate  quantities  of  other  cereals ;  while  Indian 
corn  and  the  root  crops  are  produced  in  almost  incredible  quan- 
tities. Fortunately  for  the  Territory,  very  much  of  this  land 
which  once  produced  large  crops  can  be  reclaimed;  many  of  the 
gorges  and  ravines  can,  at  small  expense,  be  made  reservoirs, 
and  thus  treasure  up  the  water  which  comes  down  from  the 
melting  snows  of  the  mountains,  or  that  which  now  runs  off  into 
the  canons  after  heavy  rains,  and  this  can  be  used  with  great 
advantage  for  irrigation,  for  the  watering  of  live-stock,  and  for 
mining  purposes  ;  while  deep  plowing  and  the  breaking  up  of 
the  hard  and  dry  sod  will  render  the  soil  far  more  pervious  and 
absorbent  of  the  rains,  and  so  capable  of  more  easy  cultivation. 
But  on  these  mesas  and  high  table-lands,  where  there  are  no 
streams  available  for  purposes  of  irrigation,  artesian  wells  have 
never  failed  to  bring  water,  and  usually  with  sufficient  head  and 


GENERAL   FREMONT'S  ACCOUNT   OF  ARIZONA.  ^gy 

in  sufficient  quantity  to  flow  of  itself  without  pumping  and  to 
supply  pools  or  reservoirs  of  great  extent. 

No  man  living  is  more  familiar  with  the  physical  geography 
of  Arizona  than  Major-General  John  C.  Fremont ;  *  he  explored 
it  thirty-six  years  ago  in  his  expeditions  for  the  discovery  of 
routes  for  railways  to  the  Pacific  coast,  made  under  the  direction 
of  the  government;  he  traversed  considerable  portions  of  it  later 
in  the  interest  of  the  Pacific  railways,  of  which  he  was  the  pro- 
jector and  president,  and,  since  1877,  as  Governor  of  the  Terri- 
tory, he  has  devoted  much  attention  to  its  physical  geography 
with  a  view  to  the  development  of  its  mining,  agricultural,  and 
grazing  interests.  His  recent  proposition  to  our  government  to 
restore,  by  a  short  ship-canal,  the  great  inland  sea  which  for- 
merly existed  in  Southern  California,  east  of  the  San  Bernardino 
Mountains,  where  its  dry  basin  is  now  far  below  the  sea  level, 
was  so  full  of  sound  sense,  so  broad  and  comprehensive  in  its 
spirit,  and  fraught  with  so  many  advantages  to  that  whole  region, 
that  it  should  be  acted  upon  promptly.  The  evaporation  from 
that  sea  would  ensure  a  moister  atmosphere  and  a  greater  rain- 
fall to  Western  Arizona,  and  in  connection  with  other  measures 
would  render  that  Territory  the  garden-spot  of  all  the  West,  as 
well  as  its  treasure-house  for  its  mineral  wealth. 

In  his  Report  to  the  Department  of  the  Interior  in  October, 
1878,  General  Fremont  thus  describes  the  topography  of  the 
Territory,  with  especial  reference  to  its  central  portion  along  or 
near  the  line  of  the  thirty-fourth  parallel — a  region  which  pretty 
fairly  represents  the  general  character  of  the  Territory,  being 
less  moist  and  hot  than  that  along  and  below  the  Gila,  but  per- 
haps somewhat  hotter  than  that  north  of  the  Grand  Canon  and 
above  the  thirty-sixth  parallel. 

*'  Broken  ranges  of  mountains,  swelling  occasionally  into  lofty 
peaks  and  pine-covered  masses,  and  alternating  evenly  with 
elevated  valleys  or  mountain  basins  of  greater  or  less  size,  rep- 
resent in  general  terms  the  face  of  the  country  in  Arizona.  Its 
water-ways  are  the  Colorado  and  Gila  rivers,  with  their  tribu- 
taries, of  which  none  enter  either  stream  in  the  lower  part  of  its 

*  See  biographical  sketch  of  General  Fremont  at  the  close  of  this  chapter. 
33 


.q8  our  western  empire. 

course.  The  valley  of  the  Colorado,  between  its  river,  hills  or 
bordering  mountains,  is  dry,  stony,  and  barren,  the  mountains 
naked  rock.  Crossing  these  in  journeying  from  Ehrenberg  east- 
ward, a  traveller  in  spring  would  find  this  country  covered  with 
bloom,  the  shrubs  and  trees  being  represented  mainly  by  acacias 
and  cacti,  and  the  ground  covered  with  low-flowering  plants 
among  grass  grow'ing  thinly.  Except  for  some  shrub-like  trees 
and  gigantic  cactus  {Sagiiara),  ocotillo,  and  yucca  trees,  the 
rido"es  here  alone  are  still  of  naked  orlisteninof,  and  black  or  bar- 
ren,  rock,  showing  no  signs  ot  water.  The  acacias,  Palo  verdc, 
and  other  trees  crowd  down  into  the  dry  stream-beds,  reaching 
after  the  \vater  below  the  sands,  but  the  ocotillo  and  tree-cactus 
delight  in  the  stony  and  dry  mountain  sides.  In  the  rainy  sea- 
son these  stream-beds  are  short-lived  torrents.  This  is  the 
country  traversed  by  the  dcsei^t  roads.  But  this  character  of 
desert,  applied  to  the  valleys,  comes  only  from  the  heated  air 
and  absence  of  water,  and  not  absence  of  vegetation.  A  run- 
ning  stream  would  make  anywhere  here  a  garden. 

"After  some  seventy  miles,  as  the  crow  flies,  over  such  coun- 
try, what  may  be  called  fertile  mountains  are  reached  ;  that  is  to 
say,  mountains  more  or  less  covered  with  shrubs  and  grass,  and 
having  springs  and  running  streams,  and  aflbrding  good  cattle- 
ranges.  Continuing  eastward,  the  country  in  this  respect 
steadily  improves,  until,  after  travelling  over  about  a  hundred 
miles  of  air  distance  from  Ehrenberg,  scattering  junipers  of  very 
sturdy  growth  appear,  several  feet  in  diameter,  with  here  and 
there  small  oaks  and  locust  trees;  and  pi'esently  the  road  enters 
among  pines,  which  thenceforward  generally  cover  the  more 
upland  parts  of  the  country  to  the  eastward. 

"The  elevation  here  is  probably  5,000  feet  in  the  valleys,  the 
surrounding  mountains  risinp-  several  thousand  feet  hioher.  On 
the  hieher  ranofes,  such  as  the  San  Erancisco  and  Mocfollon. 
these  open  woodlands  become  extensive  forests,  where  the  pines 
reach  sometimes  a  solid  growth  of  six  feet  in  diameter.  From 
Prescott  the  San  Francisco  Mountains  show^  c^randlv  in  the  hori- 
zon  of  hills  some  sixty-five  miles  away  to  the  northeast,  and 
12,700  feet  above  the  sea.     These  and  the  Mocrollon  Mountains 


SCARCITY   OF    WATER.  .r^ 

499 

are  the  principal  water-sheds  of  Arizona,  rising  from  elevated 
plateaux  of  6,000  or  7,000  feet  into  peaks  between  9,000  and 
13,000  feet  above  the  sea.  They  make  a  forest  country  averag- 
ing forty  miles  in  breadth,  extending  through  the  Territory  south- 
eastwardly  over  the  headwaters  of  the  (jila  and  probably  into 
Mexico.  North  and  east  of  these  ranges,  and  running  up  into 
the  Hanks  of  the  mour.nains,  and  reaching  doubtless,  far  to  the 
south,  are  reported  to  be  the  great  coal-fields  of  Arizona.'"' 

"In  contradistinction  to  the  Eastern  States,  where  the  streams 
maintain  themselves  in  gathering  strength  from  mountain 
to  sea,  dryness  is  one  of  the  striking  features  of  this  whole 
elevated  region.  Streams  and  springs  are  few  and  far 
apart.  The  larger  streams  gather  no  affluents,  but  waste  them- 
selves in  absorption  and  evaporation,  and  the  smaller  ones 
usually  sink  and  disappear  under  the  first  valley  which  they 
enter,  where  the  soil  is  generally  light  and  loose  enough  to 
absorb  them.  But  the  water  can  there  always  be  found  ;  in  the 
lower  country,  at  variable  depths  of  50  to  250  feet,  and  usually 
only  a  few  feet  below  the  surface  in  many  of  the  upland  valleys. 
This  may  give  the  necessary  provision  of  water  for  the  farms  in 
the  valleys,  while  the  mountains  furnish  it  sufficiently  for  stock. 
There  are  two  seasons  of  falling  weather :  the  heavy  summer 
rains,  when  the  washes  and  stream-beds  become  temporary  tor- 
rents, and  the  winter  season  of  rains  and  snow.  Now,  at  the 
end  of  October,  the  falling  weather  of  the  winter  has  not  yet 
commenced,  except  in  the  high  mountains.  The  days  are  warm, 
the  sky  is  uninterruptedly  cloudless,  but  ice  makes  at  night,  and 
a  light  snow  has  just  fallen  in  the  San  Francisco  Mountain.  The 
grass  there  is  beginning  to  dry  up,  and  the  northern  face  of  the 
mountain  is  probably  covered  with  snow. 

*  From  Mr.  A.  O.  Noyes,  who  had  a  saw-mill  t\<'elve  mjles  from  Piescott,  and  who  was  for 
many  years  engaged  here  in  the  lumlier  business,  I  learn  that  the  pines  in  the  Prescott  Hasiii 
run  from  an  average  diameter  of  twenty-eight  inches  to  fuiir  feet  in  the  largest  trees.  But  tlicy 
do  not  make  good  lumber,  because  there  are  so  many  knots  in  the  trees,  caused  by  fires,  an<l 
because  so  many  trees  have  been  struck  by  the  lightning,  which  is  one  of  the  local  features  here. 
There  are  also  in  this  basin  some  very  fine  spruce  trees,  nearly  four  feet  in  diameter.  In  the 
large  belt  of  forest  to  the  north  all  is  clear,  fine  timber,  with  an  average  diameter  of  four  feet, 
reaching  to  five  feet  in  largest  trees.  Mr.  Noyes  has  cut  here  some  25,000,000  feet  of  lumbei-. 
He  tells  me  that  on  his  books  are  crosses  against  the  names  of  over  300  men,  with  whom  he 
had  dealings,  who  have  been  killed  bv  Indians. 


coo  ^^^     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

"The  Little  Colorado  (Colorado  Chiquito)  and  Salt  river 
(Rio  Salinas)  regions  are  reported  to  be  the  granaries  of  the 
Territory.  Their  valleys  are  becoming  garden-spots,  and  the 
bordering  mountains  great  stock-ranges,  where  the  cattle  are 
sometimes  too  fat  to  be  driven.  Like  California,  the  coun.try  is 
favorable  to  animal  life.  In  the  Salt  River  valley  there  are 
probably  100,000  acres  under  cultivation  ;  in  the  Gila  valley, 
between  the  Pima  villages  and  the  mouth  of  the  canon,  about 
50,000;  in  the  Santa  Cruz  valley,  about  25,000;  and  25,000  more 
in  all  the  southern  district.  In  the  Salt  River  valley  the  amount 
under  cultivation  is  being  rapidly  augmented  to  the  full  extent 
of  the  water  supply.  On  the  San  Pedro  river  the  land  is  sparsely 
occupied,  and  mostly  for  grazing ;  and  farther  to  the  eastward 
the  country  is  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  agriculture.  Many 
years  ago  I  found  on  the  San  Pedro  and  neighboring  country 
many  wild  cattle  which  had  belonged  to  ranches  now  deserted, 
where  the  people  had  been  killed  or  driven  off  by  Indians.  So 
far  as  my  present  knowledge  goes,  the  grazing  and  farming 
lands  comprehend  an  area  about  equal  to  that  of  the  State  of 
New  York." 

In  his  report  for  1879,  elated  November  20,  1879,  General 
Fremont  gives  these  additional  items  respecting  the  southern 
and  northern  portions  of  the  Territory : 

"Near  the  end  of  February  of  the  present  year  I  found  fig 
trees  budding  and  apricots  in  bloom  at  Phoenix.  The  cotton- 
wood  trees  which  line  the  streets  were  in  full  spring  foliage,  and 
the  fields  were  trreen  with  Alfalfa  and  c^rain.  The  town  is  on 
the  Salt  river  tributary  of  the  Gila,  about  1,800  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  river  here  runs  through  a  broad  valley  plain  encircled 
by  mountains.  It  furnishes  abundant  water  for  irrigation,  and 
the  acequias  or  water-ditches  are  spread  out  over  the  valley  in  a 
space  eight  or  ten  miles  broad.  Streams  of  running  water, 
which  one  met  in  every  direction,  gave  a  very  grateful  sense  of 
freshness  in  this  dry  country  of  Arizona,  and  remains  of  old 
acequias  used  by  the  former  Indian  population  show  that  with 
them,  too,  it  was  a  favorite  place.  Por  seven  or  eight  months  of 
the  year  the  weather  is   said   to   be   pleasant,   but   hot  for  the 


CLIMATE   AND   SOIL    OF  ARIZONA.  tQI 

remainder.  The  town  is  the  centre  of  an  important  farming 
district,  and  its  growing  prosperity  is  secured  and  made  perma- 
nent by  its  position,  which  is  indicated  by  the  country  surrounding 
it.  The  trade  of  a  laroe  neighborino-  Indian  reservation  has 
been  an  element  in  its  prosperity,  and  now  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railway  passes  within  thirty  miles  of  the  town.  .  ,  .  Except  its 
bottom  lands,  which  are  of  unusual  productiveness  and  strength, 
the  valley  proper  of  the  Colorado,  below  the  canons,  that  which 
lies  between  the  bordering  river  hills  over  a  space  of  fifty  miles, 
is  dry,  hot  and  barren.  All  else  is  fertile  and  habitable.  In  its 
east  and  west  course  running  throuo^h  the  northern  limit  of 
Arizona,  the  Colorado  borders  and  encloses  a  beautiful  country. 
Here  in  the  canons  the  Indians  from  -a  remote  time  have  ofrown 
excellent  fruit  and  grain,  and  with  their  produce  have  maintained 
a  primitive  trade  with  other  tribes.  In  fact  this  whole  northern 
region  has  the  resources  to  sustain  a  wealthy  population,  and 
create  a  permanent  and  valuable  trade  for  the  first  railway  which 
has  the  enterprise  to  penetrate  it.  The  climate  is  healthy  and 
the  country  fertile;  wooded  and  grassed  from  the  Colorado  hills 
eastward  into  New  Mexico.  Water  in  abundance  will  undoubt- 
edly be  had  when  adequate  means  are  employed  to  get  it.  Its 
inexhaustible  grasses  will  support  immense  herds,  and  its  great 
coal  fields  and  heavy  forests  of  timber,  continuous  through  the 
Territory,  will  command  a  ready  market.  It  has  broad  valleys 
of  farminof  lands,  and  in  its  mininor  districts  are  abundance  of 
copper,  silver  and  gold." 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Daily  Times,  writing  froni 
Tucson,  May  26,  1880,  complains  that  that  region  and  the  Globe 
mininof  district  east  of  it,  in  fact  the  whole  of  Southeastern 
Arizona,  lack  water  and  timber.  There  is,  however,  a  con- 
siderable tract  of  pine  of  large  size,  the  forest  being  twelve  miles 
long  and  two  miles  wide,  beside  the  cotton  wood  and  mezquite, 
which  are  used  for  fuel,  and  bring  ^8  to  $10  a  cord.  The  Pinal 
creek,  which  furnishes  water  to  this  district,  sinks  in  the  sands 
once  or  twice  in  its  course  for  a  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  miles, 
but  water  can  always  be  found  by  digging  in  its  bed.  Still  there 
is  unquestionably  a  scarcity  of  water  in   this  as  in   many  other 


-Q-,  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

parts  of  Arizona,  though  by  adopting  such  measures  as  were 
adopted  by  the  highly  civihzed  Indians  who  had  populous  towns 
in  all  this  region  ages  ago,  and  adding  to  these  acequias  and 
reservoirs,  drive  wells  and  artesian  wells,  this  desert  land  may 
aeain  be  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

The  climate  of  Arizona  may,  perhaps,  be  inferred  from  what 
has  already  been  said.  It  varies  in  different  parts  of  the 
Territory.  The  lowlands,  from  F'ort  Yuma  eastward,  along  the 
valley  of  the  Gila  and  farther  south  between  the  thirty-second  and 
thirty-third  parallels,^ are  extremely  hot  m  summer.  May,  June. 
July,  August,  and  September  are  the  hottest  months,  and  a 
record  of  112°  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade  is  not  very  infrequent 
durino-  those  months.  Du'rmor  the  other  months  of  the  year  the 
heat  is  not  excessive,  and  the  dry  air  makes  it  healthy.  The 
rainfall  is  principally  in  July  and  August  m  this  part  of  the 
Territory,  though  there  is  occasionally  a  season  of  rain  in 
December  and  January.''' 

It  is,  however,  a  characteristic  of  the  heat  of  Arizona,  that  it 
is  not  enfeebling  or  oppressive,  and  that  there  is  much  less 
liability  to  sun-stroke  than  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  north. 
"  In  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  Territory,"  says  General 
Fremont,  "  the  climate  is  especially  agreeable.  In  the  Sierra  de 
Santa  Caterina,  the  Pinalena  Mountains,  the  Chiricahui  Mountains, 
and  the    Peloncello   Range,  as  well    as  the  Cordilleras  de  Rio 

*  Yuma  (latitude  32°  43'  32")  is  probably  the  hottest  place  in  the  United  States.  Army 
oftlcers  assert  thai  it  has  reached  a  temperature  of  126°  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade.  In  1877-78, 
the  signal-service  officers  reported  106  days,  between  Aj^ril  29  and  October  3,  in  which  the 
maximum  temperature  was  above  ICX)° ;  thirty  days  in  which  it  was  above  loS°,  and  twelve 
days  in  which  it  was  above  1 10°.  On  four  days  it  stood  at  H2°,  and  on  one  at  113°.  Tucson, 
though  a  little  further  south  (latitude  32°  28''),  :s  not  so  hot.  Its  maximum  was  110°,  nnd  only 
fifly-one  d.iy^,  all  in  the  summer  months,  exceeded  100°.  Thnenix  (latitude  33°  18), 
Wickeiiburg  (latitude  33°  58'),  and  Maricopa  Wells  (latitude  33°  10')  ai^proach  Yuma  in 
temperature,  the  temperature  exceeding;  100°  for  seventy-nine,  eighty-two  and  eighty-six  days 
respectively,  and  reaching  112°  more  tlian  once.  Florence  (laliindc  33°  2')  is  very  much  like 
Tucson  in  its  lem[>cralLire.  I'rcscott.  the  capital  of  the  Territory  (latitude  34°  29'),  5.700  feet 
above  the  sea,  has  a  very  fine  climate.  In  1878,  but  two  days  exceeded  ioo°.  The  mean  of 
summer  temperature  did  not  exceed  84°.  The  mean  of  t!ic  year  was  65°  49'.  Camp  Verde, 
in  nearly  the  same  latitude,  but  less  elevated,  had  ihiily-six  da\s  in  which  the  temperature 
exceeded  100°,  and  several  times  reached  108°.  Camp  Grant  (latitude  32°  25''),  on  the  San 
Pedio  river,  but  above  the  canons  of  the  Gila,  was  below  I'rescolt  in  temperature,  never  exceeding 
95°  ill  summer,  though  its  winter  minimum  was  not  below  24',  while  that  of  Prescott  was  1°. 


CLIMATE    OF  ARJZO.VA.  ^03 

Gila,  north  of  the  river,  and  just  on  the  borders  of  New  Mexico, 
the  character  of  the  country  is  greatly  improved.  It  is 
sufficiently  well  watered,  and  in  greater  part  an  exceptionally 
rich  pasture  ground,  which  the  mild  and  even  climate  of  all  the 
year  makes  favorable  to  animal  life.  Its  annual  rainfall  is 
twenty-four  inches,  and  as  this  occurs  mostly  in  the  summer 
months,  the  erass  remains  fresh  and  oreen  the  vear  round.  .  .  , 
This  grazing  country  comprehends  large  tracts  of  agricultural 
land  whicJi  will  become  valuable  because  situated  in  the  midst  of 
a  rich  mining  region,  and  the  railroad  which  is  about  to  penetrate 
it  will  carry  off  its  surplus  produce." 

The  northern  and  northwestern  part  of  the  Territory  is  not  so 
well  known,  and  has  not  been  so  fully  explored  as  the  central  and 
southern  portions.  The  region  of  the  Cerbat  Mountains,  south  of 
the  Great  Bend  and  Grand  Caiion  of  the  Colorado,  was  visited  by 
General  Fremont  in  December,  1878.  He  represents  it  as  a 
grass-covered  country,  with  valleys  and  mountain  ranges  well 
wooded  with  both  juniper  and  pine.  The  juniper  of  this  region 
is  a  large  forest  tree  often  four  or  five  feet  in  diameter.  In  the 
Wallapai  Valley,  just  east  of  the  Cerbat  range,  is  Red  lake,  the 
largest  lake  in  the  Territory,  which  receives  the  waters  of  a  very 
considerable  creek.  There  are  numerous  large  springs  in  this 
valley ;  north  and  east  of  the  Colorado  is  a  region  very  little 
known.  It  is  mountainous,  but  the  mountains  so  far  as  known 
are  believed  to  be  mesas,  isolated,  lofty  and  flat-topped  table 
lands.  North  and  northeast  of  the  Flax  river  or  Colorado 
Chiqulto,  between  the  thirty-fifth  and  thirty-sixth  parallels,  after 
crosslnqr  a  reoflon  known  as  the  Painted  Desert,  from  the 
variegated  colors  of  Its  rocks,  lies  the  ancient  province  ot  Tusayan, 
with  its  groups  of  villages  of  the  Moquis  or  cliff-dwellers, 
and  tlie  ruins  of  their  ancient  towns,  which  we  will  describe 
presently. 

Yet  farther  to  the  northeast,  between  the  thirty-sixth  aiul 
thirty-seventh  parallels  and  the  109th  and  iioth  meridians,  just 
west  of  the  Navajo  reservation,  are  extensive  beds  of  anthracite 
coal  said  to  be  of  excellent  quality.  There  are  also  in  the  Mesa 
la  Vaca   (Plain  of  the  Cows)  and  the  Calabasa  Mountains,  rich 


^04  <^^'/^'     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

deposits  of  gold,  silver  and  copper.  "The  face  of  the  country 
here,"  says  General  Fremont,  "presents  mountain  ranges  with 
broad  intervening  valleys  running  into  each  other  by  easy  passes. 
The  hills  and  lower  ridges  are  wooded  with  juniper  and  pinon 
pine,  worthy  sometimes  to  be  called  forests,  the  higher  ranges 
with  yellow  pine.  The  valleys,  occasionally  of  several  hundred 
thousand  acres  in  extent,  are  covered  wnth  varieties  of  the  most 
nutritious  y-fass,  amonsf  them  bunch  and  cframma  efass. 
This  would  be  notably  a  grazing  country  if  water  could  be  had, 
but  the  scarcity  of  it  repels  settlement,  and  at  present  it  is 
mostly  unoccupied.  The  great  trough  of  the  Colorado  near  by 
seems  to  have  drained  it  of  all  except  what  is  afforded  by 
occasional  springs  and  the  streams  in  the  higher  mountains. 
But  no  attempt  to  store  and  retain  water  by  dams,  or  to  obtain 
it  by  artesian  or  flowing  wells,  has  been  made."  The  elevation 
of  this  region  insures  for  it  a  mild  and  equable  temperature. 

The  rainfall  of  Arizona  is  a  variable  quantity  in  the  different 
sections  of  the  Territory  and  at  different  seasons.  The  five  years 
previous  to  July  i,  1879,  had  been,  throughout  Arizona,  years  of 
drought;  the  rainfall  had  been  very  sliglit,  except  in  a  very  few 
locaHties,  through  the  entire  Territory,  and  hence  the  reports  of 
the  amount  of  rain  during  that  period  must  be  regarded  as  below 
the  average  often  or  twenty  years.  This  long  season  of  drought 
is  now  happily  ended.  In  a  private  letter  to  the  writer,  dated 
December  30,  1879,  General  Fremont  said:  "The  whole  country 
here  (Prescott)  is  covered  w^ith  snow,  and  the  streams  arc  impass- 
able. We  have  had  for  a  week  a  continued  storm  of  rain  and  snow. 
Nothing  like  it  has  been  known  for  many  years  past.  There 
had  been  so  little  falling  weather  for  the  last  five  years  that  even 
the  pine  trees  were  beginning  to  die  in  the  mountains.  Now  all 
vegetation  will  revive,  and  the  Territory  will  be  greatly  prosperous 
during  the  coming  year."  The  rainfall  in  Arizona  is  usually 
almost  wholly  during  July  and  August,  and  so  heavy  a  rain  in 
December  was  without  precedent.  The  signal-service  year,  July 
I,  1877,  to  June  TyO,  1878,  the  first  in  wliich  we  had  any  full 
meteorological  reports  from  Arizona,  gave  the  rainfall  at  the 
different  stations  as  follows:    Yuma,  two  inches,  Wickenburg, 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINEROLOGY  OF  ARIZONA.  505 

five  inches;  Tucson,  13.03  inches;  Stanwix  (six  months),  0.65 
of  an  inch;  Prescott,  13.81  inches;  Phoenix,  5.01  ;  Maricopa  Wells 
(eight  months),  4.89  inches  ;  Florence,  7.18  inches  ;  Camp  Verde, 
10.81  ;  Camp  Grant,  8.96  inches;  Burke's  (seven  months),  0.88 
inches;   Bear  Springs,  twenty-four  inches. 

Geology  and  Minei'alogy. — The  only  extensive  geological  ex- 
plorations which  have  been  made  in  Arizona  are  those  along  the 
walls  of  the  canons  of  the  Colorado  river.  From  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Green  and  Grand  rivers,  whose  union  forms  the 
Colorado  of  the  West,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Gila  at  Yuma,  it  is 
estimated  that  the  river  has  cut  through  strata  representing  a 
thickness  of  25,000  feet,  or  five  miles  of  vertical  height,  and  that 
there  are  exposed  in  its  course  every  geological  formation  found 
in  North  America,  from  the  quaternary  alluvial  deposits  to  the 
primary  azoic  rocks,  and  that  at  some  points  in  its  course  the 
rocks  have  been  altered  by  volcanic  action  and  that  vast  streams 
of  lava  have  been  injected  into  the  canons. 

Of  these  strata,  worn  through  by  the  great  volume  of  water 
which  has  thus  torn  for  itself  a  passage,  about  16,000  feet  of 
nearly  vertical  descent,  are  within  the  bounds  of  Arizona.  There 
are,  of  course,  the  superficial  deposits,  alluvium,  and  perhaps 
diluvium,  and  certainly  loess,  and  the  clay  and  sandstone  detritus 
from  the  wearing  down  of  the  rocks,  but  we  doubt  whether  there 
are  many  strata  as  high  up  as  the  tertiary  among  the  surface- 
rocks  of  Arizona.  The  coal-beds  in  the  northeast  of  the  Terri- 
tory are  said  to  be  anthracite  and  of  excellent  quality ;  but 
whether  they  are  from  the  tertiary  lignites  and  bituminous  coals 
which  have  been  transformed  into  anthracite  by  volcanic  action 
like  the  coal-beds  in  New  Mexico,  or  whether  they  are  true 
anthracites  from  the  carboniferous  strata,  seems  to  be  doubtful. 
If  they  are  the  latter,  they  are  the  only  anthracites  of  that  period 
between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Pacific  coast.  Of  marbles 
of  all  colors  and  shades,  of  sandstones,  white,  pink,  orange,  buff, 
vermilion  and  brown,  and  granites,  rose-colored,  gray,  slate- 
colored  and  blue,  there  is  no  end. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Arizona  is  undoubtedly  very  great.  Its 
veins  and  placers  of  gold,  silver,  copper  and  lead,  and  its  car- 


.Q(3  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

bonates  and  oxides  of  iron,  platinum  and  quicksilver  are  dis- 
tributed vcr)'  widely  over  the  Territory.  Gold  is  found  free 
both  in  placers  and  in  (}uartz  lodes  ;  silver  in  galena,  and  com- 
bined with  both  lead  and  copper  as  sulphides  and  carbonates; 
copper  is  also  found  alone  in  the  form  of  gray  sulphurets  ;  quick- 
silver in  the  form  of  cinnabar  and  perhaps  other  combinations; 
tin.  platinum  and  nickel  nearly  pure;  iron  ores  of  all  kinds,  and 
well  situated  for  producing  the  finer  qualities  of  iron  and  steel ; 
besides  the  anthracite  coal  in  the  northeast  there  is  bituminous 
coal  adapted  to  smelting  purposes  at  Camp  Apache  and  else- 
where'. Immense  deposits  of  .salt  of  the  purest  quality  have-  been 
discovered,  and  there  arc  large  beds  of  sulphur,  gypsum, 
hydraulic  lime,  valuable  mineral  springs,  natural  loadstones  of 
great  magnetic  power,  and  fossil  woods  of  many  varieties.  There 
are  also  opal  pebbles,  garnets,  red,  white  and  yellow;  azurite, 
malachite,  chalcedony,  sapphires,  opals,  and  possibly  some  dia- 
monds. 

Gold  and  silver  mining  was  prosecuted  by  the  Spaniards  and 
Mexicans  for  many  years  before  the  Territory  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  United  States,  and  some  of  these  mines  are 
still  largely  productive.  Among  these  were  the  Cerro  Colorado, 
now  known  as  the  Heintzelman  mine  ;  the  Mowry,  Santa-  Rita, 
Salero,  Cahuabi,  and  San  Pedro,  and  "the  quicksilver  mine  of  La 
Paz.  Many  others  have  since  been  discovered,  and  new  mines 
are  being  constandy  opened.  They  are  found  in  all  the  ex- 
plored portions  of  the  Territory,  and  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
mineral  wealth  of  Arizona  is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  Ter- 
ritory of  the  West.  P^or  mining  purposes  all  the  explored  por- 
tion of  the  Territory  below  the  thirty-sixth  parallel  lias  been 
divided  into  mining  districts.  These  are  most  numerous  in  the 
southeast,  though  the  new  developments  are  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  the  central  and  northwest  portions.  Those  most  noted 
in  the  southeast  are  the  Dos  Cabezas,  the  Sierra  Bonita  (north 
of  the  Gila),  the  Dragoon  Range  district,  the  Globe  district, 
the  lombstone  district,  the  Huachuca  district,  the  Patagonia, 
the  Washington  and  the  Harshaw  districts,  the  Santa  Rita  dis- 
trict, the  mines  of  which  have  been  worked  for  many  years,  and 


MINING    DISTRICTS    IN   ARIZONA.  cq- 

with  profit.  A  number  of  new  mines  have  been  opened  at  the 
south  end  of  the  Santa  Rita  mountain,  the  Oro  Blanco  and 
the  Arivaca  districts,  and  still  further  west,  the  Baboquivari  dis- 
trict, and  near  the  Colorado  the  Gila  City  district,  which,  after 
being  abandoned  as  a  placer  mine  many  years  ago,  has  recently 
come  to  the  surface  as  having  a  rich  quartz  ledge  of  great  extent. 
These  are  all,  except  the  Sierra  Bonita,  south  of  the  Gila  river. 
North  of  that  river,  and  beginning  at  the  west,  is  the  Castle 
Dome  district,  the  ores  of  which  are  mostly  arcrentiferous  o-alena  • 
the  Pioneer,  Pinal,  Tiger  and  Peck  districts  ;  the  Bradshaw,  Oro 
Bonito,  Gray  Eagle,  Silver  Prince,  Silver  Belt  and  Cabinet  mines, 
Ruffner's  Camp  (copper  and  silver),  and  the  Verde  mines. 
Richer  than  any  of  these  is  the  great  Mineral  Park  district,  above 
the  thirty-fifth  parallel  and  on  the  meridian  of  114°  20',  a  belt 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  long,  and  which  General  Fremont  says, 
"carries  between  porphyry  walls  a  mile  and  a  half  breadth  of 
ore  matter;  which  is  interspersed  with  veins  principally  chlorides 
of  silver.  These  are  said  to  be  very  rich,  reaching  several  hun- 
dred dollars  the  ton.  The  whole  mass  is  said  to  carry  silver," 
The  Bradshaw  and  other  districts  within  a  circuit  cf  thirty  miles 
around  Prescott,  the  capital  of  the  Territory,  have  many  rich 
mines.  The  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  successful  mining  in 
Arizona  have  been  hitherto  the  dangers  from  hostile  Indians, 
the  lack  of  capital,  want  of  good  roads  or  railroads,  and  the 
scarcity  of  water  and  timber.  Some  of  these  obstacles  are  now 
removed.  The  greater  part  of  the  Indians  in  the  Territory  (the 
Apaches  in  the  extreme  east,  and  the  Pi-Utes  in  the  north  alone 
being  somewhat  uneasy)  are  now  peaceable  and  friendly  to  the 
•whites.  Much  of  this  quiet  and  good  order  is  due  to  the  skil- 
ful management  of  General  Fremont  and  IMajor-General  Willcox, 
the  army  officer  in  command  of  the  military  district  of  Arizona. 
The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  traverses  the  southern  portion  of 
the  Territory  from  west  to  east,  while  the  Texas  Pacific  and  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  are  rapidly  approaching  from 
the  east.  Toll  and  good  wagon-roads  traverse  all  the  southern 
and  central  portions  of  the  Territory.  Capital  is  flowing  in 
rapidly,  and  though  the  vicinity  of  some  of  the  mines  is  very  bare 


co8  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

of  timber,  there  is  an  ample  supply  in  other  portions  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, which  will  be  brought  thither  b\'  some  of  the  railways. 
The  want  of  water  is  still  a  difficulty  in  some  of  the  mines,  and 
will  cause  the  abandonment  of  those  where  it  cannot  be  obtained, 
but  the  construction  of  acequias  or  water  ditches,  or  the  repair 
of  those  constructed  many  years  ago  by  the  Indians,  the  building 
of  reservoir  dams,  and  the  boring  of  artesian  or  drive  wells,  will 
supply  many  of  the  mines  which  have  hitherto  lacked.  Very 
many  rich  veins  or  lodes  have  been  opened  by  individuals,  gen- 
erally farmers  or  stock-raisers,  which  have  not  come  upon  the 
market  at  alk  Their  owners  have  not  sufficient  capital  to  de- 
velop them  extensively,  and  hence  there  has  sprung  up  a  prac- 
tice which  General  Fremont  denominates  "  gold-farming,"  which, 
so  far  as  we  are  aware,  does  not  prevail  to  any  considerable  ex- 
tent elsewhere.  A  farmer,  who  has  discovered  a  gold  lode  or 
placer  on  his  farm,  as  very  many  of  them  do,  proceeds  with  his 
farm-work  or  cattle-breeding  just  as  the  other  farmers  do,  but 
when  he  has  a  leisure  day  he  picks  out  a  few  bushels  of  ore  from 
the  lode,  or  of  gravel  from  the  placer,  washes  out  the  gold  with 
the  pan,  or  amalgamates  it,  if  fine,  and  then  expels  the  quick- 
silver by  a  slight  roasting,  puts  the  gold  in  a  sack  or  pouch,  and 
the  next  market-day  sells  it  at  the  nearest  town.  He  thus  sup- 
plies himself  with  funds,  and  knowing  his  mine  will  not  deterio- 
rate by  keeping,  reserves  to  some  future  day  any  complete  de- 
velopment of  it. 

The  prospects  for  the  speedy  opening  of  the  immense  mineral 
wealth  of  Arizona  to  the  world  are  now  much  brighter  than  ever 
before.  But  with  this  prospective  development  there  are  (lock- 
ing into  the  Territory  hosts  of  "  mining  sharps,"  as  the  miners 
call  them,  unprincipled  men  who  will  bond  a  mine  which,  while 
imperfectly  opened,  may  prove  to  be  either  a  pocket  or  a  vein, 
and  which,  until  it  is  further  developed,  may  be  dear  or  cheap 
at  ^5,000,  but  which  is  very  probably  in  a  district  with  very  little 
water  or  timber,  and  providing  themselves  with  opinions  from 
some  of  their  partners  in  rascality,  will  come  East  and  work  up 
this  doubtful  property  into  a  gold  mine  with  a  capital  of  from 
^250,000  to  5(^1,000,000,  and  interesting  a  few  friends  in  the  mat- 


GOLD-FARMING— QUESTIONS    TO  MINE-SELLERS.  509 

ter,  dispose  of  the  greater  part  of  the  capital  to  the  unwary,  who 
will  be  very  likely  to  find  themselves  swindled  most  egregiously. 

For  the  purpose  of  exposing  these  frauds  we  would  counsel 
any  one  who  wishes  to  invest  in  mining-  property  in  Arizona,  or, 
indeed,  elsewhere,  before  purchasing  to  institute  the  following- 
inquiries:  What  is  the  exact  location  of  your  mine?  How  near 
is  it  to  a  permanent  supply  of  water,  sufficient  for  the  mine? 
What  is  that  water — a  spring,  creek,  or  river  ?  Is  it  a  perpetual 
stream,  or  does  it  intermit  and  lose  itself  in  the  sands,  reappear- 
ing, perhaps,  miles  below  ?  What  timber  is  there  near  the  mine, 
and  at  what  price  is  it  held  ?  What  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  mine  by  shafts,  tunnel,  or  winze?  What  amount  and  value 
of  ore  is  now  upon  the  dump?  What  is  the  average  assav,  and 
what  the  actual  practical  yield  per  ton  ?  W  hat  is  the  estimated 
present  value  of  the  mine  as  appraised  by  skilful  and  honest 
experts  ? 

These  points  being  satisfactorily  ascertained,  the  investor  may 
be  justified  in  offering  about  one-fifth  of  what  is  asked  for  the 
mine,  though  he  would  be  safer  if  he  offered  only  a  tenth,'"' 

The  vegetation  of  Arizona  is  peculiar.  The  lower  valley  of 
the  Colorado  and  that  of  the  Gila  as  far  east  as  the  Rio  Santa 
Cruz  are  for  the  most  part  low  and  dry.  In  the  spring,  the 
cactus,  which  abounds  in  all  its  species  here,  and  delights  in  a 
dry  and  desert  land,  is  in  full  bloom,  and  pleases  the  eye  with 
its  gay  and  beautiful  colors. 

There  is  very  little  grass  here,  and  that  little  dries  up  under 
the  summer's  intense  heat,  but  is  renewed  by  the  rains  of  July 
and  August.  The  mountains  are  covered  with  scrubby  pines 
and  junipers,  and  along  the  streams  there  is  a  thin  line  of  cotton- 
woods.  In  the  desert  lands,  the  mezquite  and  iron-wood  con- 
tend with  the  cactus  for  a  place  in  the  parched  soil,  and  these 
furnish  a  moderate  su{)ply  of  fuel,  though  there  are  bituminous 
coals  in   the  Gila  valley  which   supplement  what  is   lacking.     In 

*  In  suggesting  these  inquiries  anrl  urging  this  caution,  we  do  not  intend  to  imply  that  there 
IS  any  doubt  thai  the  mineral  wenllli  of  Arizona  is  vast,  and  jierhaps  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  ])urtii)n  of  the  West;  hut  llic  di.-<tnncc  to  markets  is  so  great,  the  expenses  so  heavy,  tlie 
obstacles  so  many,  and  the  facilities  for  deception  so  numerous,  that  great  caution  on  the  part 
of  the  buyer  is  absolutely  necessary. 


t-jQ  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

the  eastern  and  southeastern  parts  of  the  Territory  there  are 
more  streams,  and  the  mountains  are  covered,  though  sparsely, 
with  pine  and  juniper.  North  of  the  Gila  there  is  in  the  east 
an  extensive  mass  of  mountains  known  as  the  Mogollon  Moun- 
tains, which  pre  covered  with  yellow  pine,  pinon  or  nut-pine,  and 
juniper,  while  the  valleys  which  are  watered  by  the  streams 
which  unite  to  form  the  Colorado  Chiquito,  and  the  Salinas,  San 
Carlos,  Bonito,  Prieto,  and  Azul,  affluents  of  the  Gila,  are  cov- 
ered with  rich  grasses  and  are  excellent  grazing  and  arable 
lands.  A  broad  hut  elevated  valley  lies  between  the  Mogollon 
and  the  San  Francisco  range,  which  is  watered  only  by  the  San 
Francisco  river  and  its  affluents,  and  by  one  or  two  small  lakes, 
and  by  one  or  two  creeks  which  flow  into  the  Salinas.  This 
valley  plateau  is  but  litde  known,  but  in  its  upper  portion  at 
least  is  probably  very  dry.  The  lower  portion  is  said  to  be  an 
excellent  grain  region. 

Another  extensive  mountain  mass,  extending  more  than  200 
miles  from  north  to  south  and  about  125  from  east  to  west,  of 
which  the  San  Francisco  Mountains  form  the  eastern  barrier, 
and  which  is  traversed  by  many  fertile  valleys  and  some  lofty 
mesas  or  plateaux,  extends  westward  to  the  Black  Mountains, 
which  overlook  the  Colorado  valley.  Nearly  in  the  centre  of 
this  mountain  mass  is  situated  Prescott,  the  capital  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, which  is  5,700  feet  above  the  sea,  and  enjoys  a  fine  climate, 
not  too  hot  or  too  cold,  a  pure  air,  and  freedom  from  malaria. 

The  atmosphere  here  is  very  dry  and  highly  electric,  at  times 
almost  painfully  so.  Thunder-storms  are  very  frequent  in  sum- 
mer, and  so  many  of  the  pine  trees,  which  are  abundant  here, 
have  been  struck  by  lightning  that  they  are  unfit  for  lumber. 
Most  of  these  mountains  are  covered  with  yellow  pine,  juniper, 
and  pinon  pine,  with  some  oaks,  and  much  good  lumber  is  fur- 
nished from  those  thirty  or  forty  miles  north  of  Prescott.  In 
this  reeion,  as  well  as  farther  south,  those  fruits  which  delio^ht 
in  a  hot  climate  and  do  not  require  too  much  moisture,  flourish 
in  perfection.  The  peach,  apricot,  fig,  banana,  and  where  they 
have  been  planted,  the  olive  and  i:)omegranate,  yield  abundant 
fruit.       The   orange,   lemon,    and    lime   probably    require   more 


U7/.D    ANIMALS    OF  ARIZONA.  5II 

moisture.  Some  of  the  palms,  particularly  the  date  and  talipot 
palms,  would  undoubtedly  do  well  in  the  Gila,  Salinas,  and  Santa 
Cruz  valleys. 

Of  the  regions  north  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Colorado 
Chiquito,  there  is  hardly  enough  known  to  justify  any  consider- 
able description  of  their  vegetation.  Near  the  Colorado  the 
land  is  so  thoroughly  drained  of  moisture  as  to  be  almost  a 
desert.  East  of  the  Colorado  Chiquito  is  a  broad  plateau,  a  por- 
tion of  which  is  volcanic  in  character,  and  is  laid  down  upon  the 
maps  as  a  "painted  desert,"  probably  from  the  color  of  its  lime- 
stones, shales,  and  sandstones.  North  of  this  are  the  villages 
of  the  Moquis,  w^here,  in  the  past,  the  water  has  been  treasured 
up  in  reservoirs  for  domestic  purposes  and  for  irrigation.  On 
portions  of  these  mesas  they  were  accustomed  to  cultivate  their 
fields  of  blue,  red,  yellow,  orange-colored  and  white  corn,  keep- 
ing each  carefully  in  fields  by  itself,  and  garnering  them  in  sep- 
arate granaries.  Their  crops  of  these  would  indicate  a  fertile 
soil,  and  the  grazing  was  good  for  their  goats  and  sheep. 

A  larofe  mesa  in  the  extreme  northeast  is  called  Mesa  la 
Vaca,  which  would  indicate  that  it  had  formerly  been  a  pasture 
ground  for  cattle.  The  Navajos,  who  have  a  large  reservation, 
partly  in  Arizona  and  partly  in  New  Mexico  in  this  northeastern 
corner,  are  famous  for  their  flocks  of  sheep,  numbering  it  is  said 
nearly  or  quite  a  million. 

Zoology. — Geographically,  all  the  wild  animals  of  the  western 
slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  eastern  slope  ol  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  should  find  homes  in  the  forests  and  plains  of 
Arizona.  Perhaps  occasional  specimens  of  nearly  all  of  them 
may  be  found;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  wild  animals  are  not 
very  numerous  in  Arizona.  Of  the  larger  game  the  elk  is 
rare,  but  there  are  two  species  of  deer,  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain antelope,  the  bighorn  or  mountain  sheep,  and  the  Rocky 
Mountain  goat  or  goat  antelope.  Most  of  them  were  more 
abundant  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Territory  than  in  the  south- 
ern. Of  the  smaller  game,  there  are  the  sage  hare,  the  jack 
rabbit,  and  several  species  of  squirrels.  Of  the  larger  beasts  of 
prey,  the  grizzly  bear  is  very  rare,  if  he  inhabits  the  Territory  at 


512  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

all ;  the  black  and  cinnamon  bears  are  more  numerous.  The 
puma  or  cougar  is  found  in  the  forests,  though  less  numerous 
than  in  better-watered  countries;  the  jaguar  is  found  in  the  low 
lands,  though  less  abundant  than  in  Texas.  The  ocelot,  the  wild 
cat  and  the  lynx  are  occasionally  found  in  the  forests,  as  well  as 
the  red  or  gray  wolf,  and  one  or  two  species  of  fox.  The  prairie 
wolf,  usually  called  the  coyote,*  is  not  found  in  the  Territory, 
though  the  true  coyote,  a  miserable  little  cur  of  an  animal  scarcely 
larger  than  a  fox,  is  occasionally  seen  ;  but  there  are  peccaries, 
raccoons,  opossums,  skunks,  and  the  gopher  or  prairie  dog  or 
marmot.  There  are  said  to  be  lar^re  herds  of  mustangs  or  wild 
horses  in  the  plains  of  Southern  Arizona.  Of  birds  there  are  a 
considerable  number,  many  of  them  of  gay-colored  plumage. 
The  Wheeler  expedition  sent  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  500 
specimens,  and  183  distinct  species,  and  others  have  since  been 
discovered.  Game-birds  are  abundant,  pheasants,  partridges, 
quails  and  grouse,  especially  the  sage-hen  and  the  prairie-hen. 
The  crane,  ibis  and  flamingo  are  among  the  birds  of  Southern 
Arizona.  Eagles,  vultures,  buzzards,  hawks  and  owls  are 
numerous;  the  king  vulture,  little  inferior  in  size  to  the  condor 
or  lammergeier,  a  rare  bird  in  North  America,  is  only  found  in 
the  United  States,  in  this  Territory  and  in  Texas.  There  are 
many  varieties  of  fish  found  in  the  rivers,  some  of  them  edible 
fish  of  great  delicacy  and  peculiar  to  this  Territory.  Several 
species  of  fish  have  been  discovered  in  the  mineral  springs. 
There  are  also  many  species  of  mollusks.  The  reptiles  and 
serpents  of  Arizona  are  formidable,  and  in  some  parts  of  the 
Territory  numerous.  There  are  alligators  in  the  Gila  and  Lower 
Colorado,  horned  toads,  lizards,  scorpions,  and  centipedes  in  the 
chaparral  and  among  the  cacti,  rattlesnakes  on  the  mesas  or 
table-lands  of  Central  and  Northern  Arizona. 

The  skunk,  in  other  sections  a  harmless  animal,  except  for  his 
fearfully  offensive  odor,  is,  in  all  the  region  below  the  fortieth  par- 

*  Colonel  Richard  Irving  Dodge,  United  States  Army,  a  very  high  authority  in  all  hunting 
matters,  insists  {"  ihc  riaiiis  <jf  the  Great  West  ")  that  the  coyote  is  an  insignificant  little  animal 
hardly  larger  than  a  fox,  and  is  found  only  in  Texas,  Arizona  and  Mexico;  and  that  the  i)rairie 
wolf,  sn  often  called  a  coyote,  and  so  abundant  on  the  "  plains,"  is  really  an  entirely  dilTerent 
and  much  larger  species  of  the  canine  family. 


ADVENTURES   WITH    WILD  ANIMALS.  ^I^ 

allel,  very  much  dreaded  for  his  carnivorous  propensity.  Finding 
his  way  into  a  camp,  or  where  settlers  are  sleeping  on  the  ground 
under  tents,  he  proceeds  without  any  hesitation  to  bite  and  gnaw 
the  face  or  hands  or  feet  of  the  sleepers,  and  his  appetite  for 
human  flesh  and  blood  once  aroused  he  will  return  to  his  repast 
even  if  driven  away.  These  bites  in  very  many  cases  produce 
hydrophobia,  though  the  animal  itself  shows  no  signs  of  rabies. 
These  animals  are  very  numerous  in  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
Colorado,  Kansas,  the  Indian  Territory  and  Texas,  and  though 
many  thousands  of  them  are  killed  every  year  for  their  skins, 
the  fur  being  in  great  demand  in  the  fashionable  world,  they  do 
not  seem  to  diminish  in  numbers.  Colonel  R.  I.  Dodge  relates 
a  case  of  these  skunk  bites,  which,  happily,  did  not  prove  fatal. 
It  occurred  in  the  Guadaloupe  Mountains  in  Texas,  not  far  from 
the  southeast  border  of  Arizona.  A  soldier  and  his  comrade 
were  sleeping  in  a  common  or  A  tent.  The  soldier  dreamed 
that  he  was  being  eaten  up  by  some  animal,  but  a  sort  of  night- 
mare prevented  his  moving.  After  some  time,  however,  the 
pain  and  horror  together  woke  him  up  to  find  a  skunk  eating  his 
hand.  With  a  cry  and  sudden  effort  he  threw  the  animal  from 
him.  It  struck  the  other  side  of  the  tent  and  fell  upon  the  other 
man,  who,  recognizing  the  intruder,  rushed  out  of  the  tent.  The 
bitten  man,  who  had  heard  of  the  surely  fatal  result  of  skunk- 
bite,  was  so  paralyzed  with  fear  and  horror  that  he  made  no 
effort  to  get  up,  and  seeing  the  skunk  coming  towards  him  again 
buried  himself  in  the  blankets.  The  skunk  walked  all  over 
him,  apparently  seeking  for  an  opening,  and  finding  none  began 
to  scratch  the  blankets  as  if  trying  to  dig  out  his  victim.  The 
mental  condition  of  this  poor  fellow  can  better  be  imagined  than 
described.  In  the  meantime  the  other  man  had  loosened  the 
tent  pins  and  lifted  up  one  side  of  the  tent,  letting  in  the  moon- 
light; then  pelting  the  animal  with  sticks,  from  a  distance,  at  last 
frightened  it  so  that  it  ran  off  into  the  deep,  dark  bank  of  the 
river.  This  skunk  emitted  no  odor,  and  was  undoubtedly  simply 
hungry  and  not  rabid.  The  man  came  to  Colonel  Dodge  in  the 
morning  with  his  hand  bound  up,  and  asked  if  there  was  any 
cure  for  a  skunk-bite.  The  colonel's  heart  sunk  within  him,  but 
33 


ijj^  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

he  made  llolit  of  the  matter  and  examined  the  wound.  The 
whole  ball  of  the  riq^ht  thumb  was  torn,  lacerated  and  gnawed  in 
a  fearful  manner.  He  had  no  caustics  or  other  means  of  cauteri- 
zation, and  so  long  a  time  had  elapsed  that  he  thought  they  would 
have  done  more  harm  mentally  than  good  physically.  So  he  had 
the  wound  carefully  and  thoroughly  washed  widi  Castile  soap,  cut 
off  the  protuberant  pieces  of  mangled  llesh,  and,  binding  it  up, 
kept  on  a  simple  water-dressing  till  the  wound  healed,  which 
was  in  about  ten  days.  The  man  was  with  Colonel  Dodge  for 
more  than  a  year  after  this,  but  never  experienced  any  ill  effects 
except  temporary  pain  from  the  wound.  Colonel  Dodge  says 
that  this  was  the  only  non-fatal  case  of  which  he  knew  in  that 
region,  though  in  other  sections  they  were  not  often  fatal. 

The  gray  wolves  not  unfrequently  suffer  from  rabies  or  go 
mad,  and  in  that  condition  lose  all  fear,  and  will  rush  into  houses, 
tents,  etc.,  biting  every  one  whom  they  can  reach. 

Productions  of  Arizona. — In  1879  there  was  about  1,3,500,000  of 
gold,  silver  and  copper  sent  to  San  Francisco  from  Arizona.  In 
1880,  the  amount  will,  in  all  probability,  be  over  ^8,000,000,  and 
as  soon  as  railroads,  now  constructing,  are  completed  through  the 
Territory,  the  mineral  exports  will  be  much  increased,  and  lead, 
anthracite  coal,  platinum,  quicksilver  and  other  metals  will  be 
added  to  them. 

Wheat  is  the  principal  vegetable  production  exported.  It  is 
of  excellent  quality,  fully  equal  to  the  best  California,  and  where 
•irrigation  can  be  practised,  the  yield  is  enormous.  We  have  no 
statistics  of  the  vegetable  crops  gathered  the  last  year,  and  be- 
lieve none  have  been  collected.  Fruit,  of  semi-tropical  qualities, 
is  beginning  to  be  extensively  cultivated.  Lumber  and  timber 
can  be  produced  in  some  quarters,  sufficient  not  only  to  supply 
the  home  demand,  but  to  have  considerable  quantities  to  export. 
The  Papago  Indians,  in  the  southwest,  the  Pimas  and  Maricopas, 
im  the  south  and  central  region,  the  Mohaves,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent, the  Yumas,  in  the  west  and  on  the  Lower  Colorado,  and  the 
more  civilized  bands  of  the  Apaches  in  the  east,  cultivate  the  soil 
and  obtain  a  livelihood  from  it,  the  Maricopas  and  Papagos  ex- 
porting considerable  grain  to  San  PVancisco.     In   the  northeast 


IND/AXS    OF  ARIZOXA.  5^5 

the  Navajos  are  largely  engaged  in  sheep-farming,  as  already 
noticed.  The  Hualapais  and  the  Yavapais,  as  well  as  some  of 
the  Apaches,  are  more  inclined  to  a  nomadic  life,  but  will  make 
good  herdmen.  The  Apaches  in  the  southeast,  and  the  Pah- 
Utes  or  Pi-Utes,  in  the  north  and  northwest,  are  not  inclined  tc 
any  industry,  and  are  roving,  troublesome  and  thievish. 

The  white  population  of  Arizona  is.  according  to  the  censur 
just  taken,  almost  42,000  and  rapidly  increasing.  In  1S60  there 
were  6,482,  and  in  1870  there  were  9,658.  There  has  been 
within  the  past  two  years,  a  rapid  influx  of  persons  interested 
in  mines  and  mining,  as  well  as  some  who  preferred  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  or  the  rearing  of  cattle  and  sheep.  In  1870  there 
were  32,052  Indians  in  the  Territory;  the  number  has  prob- 
ably somewhat  diminished  since  that  time,  as  the  small-pox  and 
other  fatal  diseases  have  racjed  amongr  them,  and  some  of  the 
tribes  have  scarcely  escaped  starvation,  but  they  must  number 
nearly  29,000  at  the  present  time. 

Besides  the  tribes  we  have  named,  there  are  other  smaller 
bands,  such  as  the  Suechis,  Apache  Mohaves,  Apache  Coyoteros, 
Cosninas,  Chemehuevis  and  Wallapis.  The  Apaches,  who  num- 
ber about  5,000,  and  have  a  large  reservadon  in  the  southeast, 
are  divided  into  six  bands  :  the  Tontos.  Pinals,  Arivapas,  Mes- 
caleros.  Bonitos  and  Cochise's  band.  They  are,  for  the  most 
part,  treacherous  and  mischievous,  and  have  of  late  been  raiding 
in  New  Mexico,  but  have  met  with  summary  punishment.  VVitli 
the  exception  of  these  and  the  Pi-Utes  in  the  north,  the  Indians 
of  Arizona  are  friendly  to  the  whites,  peaceable,  and,  for  Indians, 
industrious. 

There  are,  all  over  Arizona,  ruins  of  ancient  dwellings,  castles 
and  fortified  villages,  together  with  acequias  or  water-conduits, 
caves  and  dwellings  hewn  out  of  the  rocks,  or  built  up  with  large 
stones  and  evidently  formerly  containing  a  large  population.  ()! 
these  ruins,  Hon.  A.  P.  K.  Safford,  formerly  Governor  of  the 
Territory,  and  its  Commissioner  at  the  Centennial  Exposition, 
says : 

"  Many  portions  of  the  Territory  arc  covered  with  ruins,  which 
prove  conclusively  that  it  was  once  densely  populated  by  a  peo- 


ci5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

pie  far  in  advance,  in  point  of  civilization,  of  most  of  the  Indian 
tribes.  There  is  no  written  record  of  them,  and  it  is  only  a 
matter  of  conjecture  who  and  what  they  were.  Occasionally  a 
deserted  house  is  found  sufficiently  well  preserved  to  ascertain 
the  character  of  the  architecture.  The  walls  of  the  Casa  Grande, 
situated  on  the  Gila,  near  Sanford,  are  still  two  stories  above  the 
ground.  In  size,  the  structure  is  about  thirty  by  sixty  feet;  the 
•walls  are  thick,  and  made  of  mud,  which  was  evidently  confined 
and  dried  as  it  was  built.  It  is  divided  into  many  small  rooms, 
and  the  partitions  are  also  made  of  mud.  The  floors  were  made 
by  placing  sticks  close  together  and  covering  them  with  cement. 
Around  and  near  the  Casa  Grande  are  the  ruins  of  many  other 
buildings  ;  but,  by  the  lapse  of  time,  the  decay  of  vegetation  has 
formed  earth  and  nearly  covered  them,  and  all  that  now  marks 
the  place  where  once  a  stately  mansion  stood  is  the  elevation  of 
the  orround.  Near  the  Ancha  Mountains  are  ruins  not  so  ex-> 
tensive,  but  in  far  better  preservation  than  the  Casa  Grande  ; 
and  near  these  ruins  are  old  arastras,  for  the  reduction  of  silver 
ores — which  indicate  that  this  old  people  w^ere  not  unmindful  of 
the  root  of  all  evil.  On  the  Verde  river  are  immense  rooms  due 
in  from  the  sides  of  high,  perpendicular  sandstone  banks,  that  can 
only  be  reached  with  ladders. 

"  Very  little  information  is  obtained  by  excavating  these  ruins. 
Pottery  of  an  excellent  quality,  and  ornamented  with  paint,  is 
found  everywhere,  and  occasionally  a  stone  axe  is  unearthed,  but 
nothing  to  indicate  that  they  were  a  warlike  people  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, scarcely  an  implement  of  defence  can  be  found,  though 
there  are  reasons  to  believe,  from  the  numerous  lookouts  or 
places  for  observation  to  be  seen  on  the  tops  of  hills  and  moun- 
tains, and  the  construction  of  their  houses,  that  they  had  enemies, 
and  that  they  were  constantly  on  the  alert  to  avoid  surprise; 
and  also,  that  by  the  hands  of  these  enemies  they  perished.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  the  Apaches  were  the  enemies  who  caused 
their  destruction.  Indeed,  the  Apaches  have  a  legend  that  such 
is  the  case.  During  the  past  year  I  opened  an  old  ruin  at  Puebla 
Viejo,  on  the  Upper  Gila,  and  found  the  bones  of  several  human 
beings  within  ;  also  the  bones  of  a  number  of  domestic  animals. 


ANCIENT  RUINS   IN  ARIZONA.  517 

On  the  fire,  an  olla  (crockery-ware  vessel)  was  found  with  the 
bones  of  a  fowl  in  it,  and  it  appeared  as  though  the  people  within 
had  resisted  an  attack  Irom  an  enemy,  and  had  finally  been  mur- 
dered. Shortly  after,  I  visited  a  ruin  in  Chino  valley,  twenty 
miles  north  of  Prescott,  and  over  three  hundred  miles  from  Puebla 
Viejo,  and  there  found  that  Mr.  Banghart  had  opened  a  ruin  on 
his  farm.  In  it  he  found  the  bones  of  several,  human  beings — 
five  adults  and  some  children — and  the  evidences  were  unmis- 
takable that  the  inmates  had  died  by  violence,  as  the  door  and 
window  had  been  walled  up  with  stone,  evidently  to  resist  a  hos- 
tile foe.  The  subject  is  an  interesting  one,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  further  excavations  may  throw  more  light  upon  the  subject. 
The  ruins  of  towns,  farms  and  irrigating  canals,  that  are  to  be 
seen  on  every  hand  through  this  vast  Territory,  give  abundant 
proof  that  this  country  was  once  densely  inhabited,  and  that  the 
people  who  lived  here  maintained  themselves  by  cultivating  the 
soil.  Probably  that  is  about  all  we  shall  ever  know  of  them. 
Many  hieroglyphics  are  to  be  seen  on  rocks  in  different  portions 
of  the  Territory,  but  by  whom  made,  or  what  they  mean,  no  one 
knows. 

"  In  excavating  a  well  between  Tucson  and  the  Gila,  at  the 
depth  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  pottery  and  other  articles, 
the  same  as  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  ruins,  were  taken  out." 

But  by  far  the  most  interesting  of  these  ruins,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  not  wholly  ruins,  but  some  of  them  inhabited  by  the 
remnant  of  the  orioinal  tribes  which  built  them,  are  those  of  the 
ancient  province  of  Tusayan,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
Territory.  Seven  of  the  sixty  or  more  towns  which  constitute 
this  once  populous  province,  are  still  inhabited  by  the  Moquis, 
who  are  undoubtedly  the  descendants  of  the  original  nation 
which  once  occupied  the  whole  of  this  Territory,  and  who  still 
adhere  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers.  Of  the  sixty  towns,  thirty 
are  still  inhabited,  but  all  except  the  seven  are  under  the  con- 
trol of  Catholic  priests,  and  the  Pagan  rites  and  ceremonies  are 
prohibited  ;  but  occasionally  the  inhabitants  steal  away  from  their 
villages  and  join  with  the  Pagans  of  the  "  Province  of  Tusayan  " 
in  their  rites  and  worship.     There  are  other  groups  of  these  vil- 


ci3  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

lae^es  on  the  San  juan  river  in  New  Mexico  and  Southwestern 
Colorado,  which  have  been  visited  by  Professor  J.  S.  Newberry 
and  his  companions,  in  i860,  whose  language,  religion,  etc.,  are 
identical  with  these.  Colonel  J.  \V.  Powell,  United  States  army, 
visited  the  province  of  Tusayan  in  1871,  and  spent  about  two 
months  in  studying  the  language,  manners,  customs,  and  religion 
of  these  interesting  people.  The  narratives  ot  Professor  New- 
berry (which  has  not  been  published)  and  of  Colonel  Powell  are 
both  full  of  interest,  and  from  them  we  glean  a  few  particulars 
in  addition  to  those  already  given  in  Part  I.,  chapter  vi.,  page  67, 
which  will,  we  think,  be  of  interest  to  our  readers. 

The  villages  of  these  Moquis  are  always  situated  on  some  lofty 
mesa  or  isolated  table-land,  difficult  of  access;  their  dwellings  are 
of  stone,  usually  three  or  four  stories  high,  and  around  an  inte- 
rior court,  corhmon  to  the  village.  The  outer  walls  are  blank 
and  inaccessible,  and  the  inner  court  is  only  approached  by  a 
covered  way  easily  defended.  Entering  the  village  plaza  or  in- 
terior court-yard,  the  houses  are  joined  together,  forming  a  con- 
tinuous wall  outside,  and  within  the  court  they  are  built  in 
terraces,  the  second  story  being  set  back  upon  the  first,  the  third 
upon  the  second,  and  the  fourth  upon  the  third.  There  are  no 
doors  or  low  windows  to  the  first  story ;  access  to  it  is  had  only 
by  ascending  a  ladder  to  the  top  of  the  story  and  then  descend- 
ing another  to  the  floor  of  the  first.  This  lower  story  is  for  the 
most  part  a  store-house  where  the  corn  or  other  grain  used  by 
the  family  is  stored,  each  color  of  the  corn  by  itself.  The  second 
story,  or  sometimes  the  third,  contains  the  family  room,  which  is 
twenty  or  twenty-four  feet  by  twelve  or  fifteen  in  width,  and 
about  eight  feet  high.  Usually  all  the  rooms  are  plastered  care- 
fully, and  sometimes  they  are  painted  with  rude  devices.  P^or 
doors  and  windows  there  are  openings  only,  except  that  some- 
times small  windows  are  glazed  with  thin  sheets  of  selenite,  the 
transparent  fiat  crystals  of  gypsum.  To  go  up  to  the  third  or 
fourth  story  you  climb  by  a  stairway  made  in  the  projecting  wall 
of  the  partition.  In  a  corner  of  each  principal  room  a  little  fire- 
place is  seen,  large  enough  to  hold  about  an  armful  of  wood  ;  a 
stone  chimney  is  built  in  the  corner,  and  often  capped  outside 


CLlI'l'     lAVl  I  LEKb. 


^  OF  THE 


THE  DIVELLINGS  OF   THE  MOQUIS.  c  ,g 

with  a  pottery  pipe.  The  exterior  of  the  houses  is  very  irregu- 
lar and  unsightly,  and  the  streets  and  courts  are  filth)-,  though 
in  the  centre  of  each  court  is  a  large,  deep  fountain  and  pool, 
which  is  used  for  bathinor ;' but  within  the  houses  g-rcat  cleanli- 
ness  is  observed.  Separated  from  the  houses,  indeed  belongino- 
to  the  village,  is  the  kiva,  called  Eshifa,  "  the  Sweat  House,"  by 
the  Spaniards.  It  is  a  large  underground  room  in  the  court- 
yard or  plaza,  chiefly  intended  for  religious  ceremonies,  the 
church,  in  fact,  of  the  village,  but  also  used  as  a  place  of  social 
resort.  A  deep  pit  is  excavated  in  the  shaly  rock  and  covered 
with  long  logs,  over  which  are  placed  long  reeds,  these,  in  turn, 
covered  with  earth,  heaped  in  a  mound  above  ;  a  hole  or  hatch- 
way is  left,  and  the  entrance  to  the  kiva  is  by  a  ladder  down  this 
hatchway. 

The  people  are  very  hospitable  and  quite  ceremonious;  they 
are  also  remarkably  polite.  Enter  a  house  and  you  are  invited 
to  take  a  seat  on  a  mat  placed  for  you  upon  the  floor,  and  some 
refreshment  is  offered,  perhaps  a  melon  with  a  little  bread,  per- 
haps peaches  or  apricots.  After  you  have  eaten,  everything  is 
carefully  cleared  away,  and  with  a  little  broom  made  of  feathers 
of  birds, '='•  the  matron  or  her  daughter  removes  any  crumbs  or 
seeds  which  may  have  been  dropped.  They  are  a  very  economi- 
cal people  ;  the  desolate  circumstances  under  which  they  live, 
the  distance  to  the  forests,  and  the  scarcity  of  game,  together 
with  their  fear  of  the  neighboring  Navajos  and  Apaches,  which 
prevents  them  from  making  excursions  to  a  distance,  all  com- 
bine to  teach  them  the  most  rigid  economy.  Their  wood  is 
packed  from  a  distant  forest  on  the  backs  of  mules  or  asses,  and 
when  a  fire  is  kindled  but  a  few  small  fragments  are  used,  and 
when  no  longer  needed  the  brands  are  extinguished,  and  the  re- 
maining pieces  preserved  for  future  use.  Their  corn  is  raised  in 
fields  near  by,  out  in  the  drifting  sands,  by  digging  pits  eighteen 
inches  to  two  feet  deep,  in  which  the  seeds  are  planted  early  in 
the  spring,  while  the  ground  is  yet  moist.  When  it  has  ripened 
it  is  gathered,  brought  in  from  the  fields  in  baskets  carried  by 

*  Some  of  these  brushes  or  brooms  are  very  l)efiutiful,  and  are  made  of  the  feathers  of  l;um- 
ming-birds  and  otlicr  birds  of  gay  plumage  found  in  that  region. 


e20  <^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  women,  and  stored  away  in  their  rooms,  being-  carefully- 
corded.  They  take  great  pains  to  raise  corn  ot  different  colors, 
and  have  the  corn  of  each  color  stored  in  a  separate  room.  This 
is  ground  to  a  fine  Hour  in  stone-mills,  then  made  into  a  paste 
like  a  rather  thick  gruel.  In  every  house  there  is  a  little  oven 
made  of  a  llat  stone  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  square,  raised 
four  or  five  inches  from  the  Hoor,  and  beneath  this  a  little  fire  is 
built.  When  the  oven  is  hot  and  the  dough  mixed  in  a  little 
vessel  of  pottery,  the  good  woman  plunges  her  hand  in  the  mix- 
ture and  rapidly  smears  the  broad  surface  of  the  furnace  rock 
with  a  thin  coating  of  the  paste.  In  a  few  moments  the  film  of 
batter  is  baked  ;  when  taken  up  it  looks  like  a  sheet  of  paper. 
This  she  folds  and  places  on  a  tray.  Having  made  seven  sheets 
of  this  paper  bread  from  the  batter  of  one  color  and  placed  them 
on  the  tray,  she  takes  batter  of  another  color,  and,  in  this  way, 
makes  seven  sheets  of  each  of  the  several  colors  of  corn-batter. 

They  have  many  curious  ways  of  preparing  their  food,  but 
perhaps  the  daintiest  dish  is  "virgin  hash."  This  is  made  by 
chewinof  morsels  of  meat  and  bread,  rollinfr  them  in  the  mouth 
into  little  lumps  about  the  size  of  a  horse-chestnut,  and  then 
tying  them  up  in  bits  of  corn-husk.  When  a  number  of  these 
are  made,  they  are  thrown  into  a  pot  and  boiled  like  dumplings. 
The  most  curious  thing  of  all  is,  that  only  certain  persons  are 
allowed  to  prepare  these  dumplings;  the  tongue  and  palate 
kneading  must  be  done  by  a  virgin.  An  old  feud  is  sometimes 
avenged  by  pretending  hospitality,  and  giving  to  the  enemy 
dumplings  made  by  a  lewd  woman. 

In  this  warm  and  dry  climate  the  people  live  principally  out 
of  doors  or  on  the  tops  of  their  houses,  and  it  is  a  merry  sight 
to  see  a  score  or  two  of  little  naked  children  climbing  up  and 
down  the  stairways  and  ladders,  and  running  about  the  tops  of 
the  houses  engaged  in  some  active  sport. 

In  every  house  vessels  of  stone  and  pottery  are  found  in  great 
abundance.  These  Indian  women  have  Qrreat  skill  in  ceramic 
art,  decorating  their  vessels  with  picture-writings  in  various 
colors,  but  chiefly  black. 

In   the  early  history  of  this  country,  before  the  advent  of  the 


DRESS  AND   HABITS   OF   THE  MOQUIS.  ^j 

Spaniards,  these  people  raised  cotton,  and  from  it  made  their 
clothing;  but  between  the  years  1540  and  1600  they  were  sup- 
plied with  sheep,  and  now  the  greater  part  of  their  clothing  is 
made  of  wool,  though  all  their  priestly  habiliments,  their  wedding 
and  burying  garments,  are  still  made  of  cotton.  The  weaving 
is  mostly  done  by  the  men,  and  their  woollen  blankets  are  re- 
markable for  their  density  and  their  fine  texture.  They  are 
perfectly  water-proof,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  page  67. 

Men  wear  moccasins,  leggings,  shirts  and  blankets;  the 
women,  moccasins  with  long  tops,  short  petticoats  dyed  black, 
sometimes  with  a  red  border  below,  and  a  small  blanket  or 
shawl  thrown  over  the  body  so  as  to  pass  over  the  right  shoul- 
der under  the  left  arm.  A  long  girdle  of  many  bright  colors  is 
wound  around  the  waist.  The  outer  garment  is  also  black. 
The  women  have  beautiful,  black,  glossy  hair,  which  is  allowed 
to  grow  very  long,  and  which  they  take  great  pains  in  dressing. 
Early  in  the  morning,  immediately  after  breakfast,  if  the  weather 
is  pleasant,  the  women  all  repair  to  the  tops  of  the  houses,  tak- 
ing with  them  little  vases  of  water,  and  wash,  comb  and  braid 
one  another's  hair.  It  is  washed  in  a  decoction  of  the  soap 
plant,  a  species  of  yucca,  and  then  allowed  to  dry  in  the  open 
air.  The  married  ladies  have  their  hair  braided  and  rolled  in  a 
knot  at  the  back  of  the  head,  but  the  maidens  have  it  parted 
along  the  middle  line  above,  and  each  lock  carefully  braided  or 
twisted,  and  rolled  into  a  coil  supported  by  little  wooden  pins, 
so  as  to  cover  each  ear,  giving  them  a  very  fantastic  appearance. 

The  politeness  of  the  people  is  shown  in  their  salutations. 
If  you  meet  them  in  the  fields  they  greet  you  with  a  salutation 
signifying,  "  May  the  birds  sing  happy  songs  in  your  fields."  If 
you  do  one  of  them  a  favor,  even  though  a  very  slight  one,  he 
thanks  you  ;  if  a  man,  he  says  "  kwa  kwa;"  if  a  woman,  "es-ka-li." 
It  is  an  interestinof  feature  in  their  laneuaee  that  many  words 
are  used  exclusively  by  men.  others  by  women.  "  Father,"  as 
spoken  by  a  girl,  is  one  word;  spoken  by  a  boy,  it  is  another; 
and  nothing  is  considered  more  vulgar  among  these  people  than 
for  a  man  to  use  a  woman's  word,  or  a  woman  a  man's. 

At  the  dawn  of  day  the  governor  of  the  town  goes  up  to  the 


C22  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

top  of  his  house  and  calls  on  the  people  to  come  forth.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  upper  story  of  the  town  is  covered  with  men, 
women,  and  children.  He  harangues  them  briefly  on  the 
duties  of  the  day;  then,  as  the  sun  is  about  to  rise,  they  all  sit 
down,  draw  tlieir  blankets  over  their  heads,  and  peer  out  through 
a  little  opening  and  watch  for  the  sun.  As  the  upper  limb  ap- 
pears above  the  horizon  every  person  murmurs  a  prayer,  and 
continues  until  the  whole  disk  is  seen,  when  the  prayer  ends  and 
the  people  turn  to  their  various  avocations.  The  young  men 
gather  in  the  court  about  the  deep  fountain,  stripped  naked, 
except  that  each  one  has  a  belt  to  which  are  attached  bones, 
hoofs,  horns,  or  metallic  bells,  which  they  have  been  able  to  pro- 
cure from  white  men.  These  they  lay  aside  for  a  moment, 
plunge  into  the  water,  step  out,  tie  on  their  belts,  and  dart  away 
on  their  morning  races  over  the  rocks,  running  as  if  for  dear  life. 
Then  the  old  men  collect  the  little  boys,  sometimes  with  little 
whips,  and  compel  them  to  go  through  the  same  exercises. 
When  the  athletes  return,  each  family  gathers  in  the  large  room 
for  breakfast.  This  over,  the  women  ascend  to  the  tops  of  the 
houses  to  dress  their  hair,  and  the  men  depart  to  the  fields  or 
woods,  or  eather  in  the  kiva  to  chat  or  Vv'eave. 

The  theology  of  these  people  seems  to  be  complicated.  They 
acknowledge  a  Supreme  or  Great  Spirit,  the  Creator  of  men, 
symbolized  by  the  sun  or  by  fire,  but  consider  the  planets,  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  the  workmanship  of  a  beneficent  spirit  of  miracu- 
lous power  and  strength  and  most  loving  disposition,  who  dwelt 
among  men  and  exerted  his  various  powers  to  help  them.  This 
beneficent  divinity,  who  bears  strong  analogies  to  the  Hercules 
of  the  Greeks,  the  Divine  Emperor  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  Hia- 
watha of  the  Northern  Indians,  they  named  Ma-chi-ta,  and  they 
never  tire;  of  telling  of  his  loving  tenderness  to  complaining  and 
ungrateful  humanity. 

But  they  worshipped  also  the  powers  and  forces  of  nature,  at 
least  to  the  extent  of  prayer  and  homage.  The  aridity  of  their 
soil  made  water,  and  especially  rain,  a  prime  necessity,  and  Col- 
onel Powell  gives  us  a  prayer  which  he  heard  addressed,  with  a 
variety  of  other  ceremonies,  to  Mu-ing-wa,  the  rain-god,  by  one 


RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP    OF  MOQUIS.  523 

of  the  Moqui  priests:  "  Mu-ing-wa !  very  good;  thou  dost  love 
us,  for  thou  didst  bring  us  up  from  the  lower  world.*  Thou 
didst  teach  our  fathers,  and  their  wisdom  has  descended  to  us. 
We  eat  no  stolen  bread.  No  stolen  sheep  are  found  in  our 
flocks.  Our  young  men  ride  not  on  the  stolen  ass.  We  be- 
seech thee,  Mu-ing-wa,  that  thou  wouldst  dip  thy  brush,  made 
of  the  feathers  of  the  birds  of  heaven,  into  the  lakes  of  the  skies 
and  scatter  water  over  the  earth,  even  as  I  scatter  water  over 
the  floor  of  this  kiva  ;  IMu-ing-wa,  very  good."  After  scattering 
white  sand  over  the  floor,  the  old  priest  prayed  that  during  the 
cominor  season  Mu-ino--wa  would  break  the  ice  in  the  lakes  of 
heaven,  and  grind  it  Into  ice-dust  (snow),  and  scatter  it  over  the 
land  so  that  during  the  coming  winter  the  ground  might  be  pre- 
pared for  the  planting  of  another  crop.  Then,  after  another 
ceremony  with  kernels  of  corn,  he  prayed  that  the  corn  might 
be  impregnated  with  the  life  of  the  water,  and  made  to  bring 
forth  an  abundant  harvest.  After  a  ceremony  with  certain  jewels 
which  seemed  to  be  a  part  of  the  sacred  emblems  kept  in  the 
kiva,  he  prayed  that  the  corn  might  ripen  and  each  kernel  be- 
come as  hard  as  one  of  the  jewels.  This  petition  would  seem 
to  imply  the  desire  that  it  might  be  preserved  from  the  insect 
pests  which  do  not  attack  the  corn  when  it  has  become  plenty. 
There  seems  to  be  in  their  theology  no  place  for  the  sacrifice 
of  animals,  much  less  of  human  beings.  All  their  sacrifices  were 
of  fruits,  flowers,  and  seeds.  The  villages  visited  by  Prof  New- 
berr)'  in  the  San  Juan  region  differed  very  little  either  in  their 
religious  worship,  tiieir  habits  and  customs,  or  their  language 
from  these  inhabitants  of  Tusayan.  They  cultivated  only  the 
blue  corn,  and  their  bread,  made  in  the  same  way  as  that  de- 
scribed by  Colonel  Powell,  resembled  nothing  else  so  much  as  a 
ream  of  druggists'  blue  paper.  Colonel  Powell,  after  careful 
inquiry,  estimated  the  inhabitants  of  these  seven  villages  as 
about  2,700.  The  names  of  the  villages  are  O-raibi.  Shi-pau-i- 
luv-i,    Mi-shong-i-ni-vi,   Shong-a-pa-vi,   Te-wa,   Wol-pi,   and    Si- 

*  This  declaration  would  seem  to  identify  Mu-ij)<j-\va,  ihe  rain-jjod,  witli  Ma-chi  In,  tlicir 
heroic  deliverer  and  helper,  for  it  was  one  of  Iiis  special  l)enerits  conferred  upon  man  that  he 
brought  him  up  from  ihe  lower  world  and  raised  for  him  the  sky  lo  its  present  altitude. 


524  ^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

choam-a-vi.  Prof.  Newberry  found  a  smaller  number,  perhaps 
not  much  more  than  i,ooo,  on  the  mesas  of  the  San  Juan  region  ; 
but  the  ruins  of  their  towns  and  villaQ;es,  some  of  them  of  ereat 
size  and  strength  and  of  remarkable  architectural  beauty,  crown 
the  summits  of  almost  every  mesa  and  hill-top  throughout  Ne- 
vada, Utah,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Soutliern  Cali- 
fornia. "  Not  only  Salt  Lake  City,  but  nearly  every  settlement 
in  the  Territory  of  Utah,  and  many  in  the  State  of  Nevada,"  says 
Colonel  Powell,  "are  built  on  the  site  of  one  of  these  ancient 
towns.  They  have  been  found  also  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  near  Golden  City,  and  southward  from  that 
point." 

Who  were  these  people,  and  from  whence  did  they  come? 
Colonel  Powell,  on  somewhat  insufficient  evidence,  thinks  them 
related  to  the  Shoshones,  Utes,  Pi-Utes,  and  Comanches,  and 
regards  the  Navajos  and  Apaches,  with  some  of  the  smaller 
tribes  in  California,  as  the  intruders  who  have  pursued  them  so 
mercilessly  and  nearly  destroyed  them  from  off  the  face  of  the 
earth.  The  arguments  by  which  he  supports  this  theory  seem 
to  us  far  from  satisfactory.  The  erection  of  these  massive  build- 
ings, the  progress  in  agriculture,  the  entire  avoidance  of  a  no- 
madic life,  the  proficiency  in  ceramic  art,  the  ability  to  spin  and 
weave  wool  and  cotton  so  dextrously,  the  daily  preparation  of 
skilfully  cooked  food,  the  worship  of  the  sun,  the  virgin  priest- 
esses, and  the  complex  system  of  religious  belief,  all  indicate  a 
superiority  over  the  Utes,  Shoshones,  and  Comanches  which  is 
entirely  incompatible  with  any  recent  common  origin  with  them, 
whatever  may  be  the  supposed  affinities  of  language.  It  is  no 
new  thing  for  a  conquered  nation  to  force  upon  its  conquerors 
its  own  language.  The  Saxons  did  this  with  the  Normans  ;  the 
Malays  have  done  it  with  the  Chinese.  Their  affinities  of  race, 
habits,  and  manners,  as  well  as  religion,  seem  to  be  much  nearer 
to  the  Toltecs  and  Peruvians  than  even  to  the  Aztecs,  from 
whom  they  differ  in  language,  and  in  the  sternness  and  cruelty 
of  their  religious  practices,  while  their  difierence  from  the  Sho- 
shones, Utes,  and  Comanches  is  infinitely  greater.  Colonel 
Powell   says   that  some   of  the  inhabitants  of  the  thirty  towns 


ARIZOXA    AS  A    HOME   FOR    EMIGRANTS.  ^25 

which  were  destroyed  have  become  nomadic,  "  for  the-  Co-a-ni-nis 
and  Wal-la-pais,  who  now  Hve  in  the  rocks  and  deep  gorges  of 
the  San  Francisco  Plateau,  claim  that  they  once  dwelt  in  pueblos 
or  towns  near  where  Zuni  now  stands."  This  is  possible,  thouc^h 
from  what  little  is  known  of  these  tribes,  the  Pimas  or  Maricopas 
would  seem  to  have  had  stronger  claims  to  such  an  origin  ;  but, 
if  true,  it  is  one  of  those  cases  of  degeneration  or  moral  lapse, 
which  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  Biblical  ground  of 
Adam's  fall. 

That  these  Moquis  and  their  kinsmen,  the  ancient  cliff-dwellers, 
were  originally  of  Asiatic  origin,  and  migrated  from  that  portion 
of  Asia  inhabited  by  the  Aryan  race,  is  too  evident  to  need 
demonstration  ;  and  those  who  are  so  zealous  to  find  on  this 
continent  the  descendants  of  the  lost  ten  tribes,  may  find  among 
them  a  more  hopeful  quest  than  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  of 
Europe  or  America. 

Returning  to  the  general  subject  of  the  Territory  of  Arizona, 
we  have  but  little  to  add.  The  population  of  the  Territory  in 
1870  was  only  9,658  whites  and  civilized  Indians,  and  about 
25,000  tribal  Indians.  The  recent  census  (1880)  makes  the 
white  population  40,441  and  adding  tribal  Indians  it  is  probably 
about  65,000.  It  is  now  divided  into  five  counties — Yuma,  Pima, 
Maricopa,  Mohave  and  Yavapai.  The  last  named  has  an  area 
as  large  as  the  State  of  Iowa.  The  principal  towms  are  Tucson, 
the  former  capital,  which  had  in  1870  a  population  of  3,224.  Its 
present  population  is  estimated  at  somewhat  more  than  6,oco ; 
the  Southern  Pacific  Railway  now  extends  to  it.  Arizona  City, 
situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Gila  and  Colorado,  population  in 
1870,  1,144,  "ow  estimated  at  about  1,600.  Prescott,  the  present 
capital,  which  had,  in  1870,  668  inhabitants,  has  now  about 
2,000.  It  is,  like  Tucson,  central  to  a  fine  mining  country. 
Pha:;nix,  on  the  Rio  Salinas,  is  a  thriving  and  orrowintr  town, 
though  very  hot  in  summer.  Ehrenburg,  on  the  Colorado,  is  the 
chief  shipping  point  for  Central  Arizona.  Florence,  Sanford, 
Mineral  Park,  Hardyville  and  Wickenburg  are  also  places  of 
some  importance. 

We  can   hardly   recommend  this  Territory   to   the   emigrant 


-^g  OUR    WESTER X   EMPIRE. 

farmer,  though  those  who  take  up  favorably  situated  lands  near 
the  minino-  centres,  and  can  have  facilities  for  irrigation,  will 
undoubtedly  do  well.  The  soil  when  irrigated  is  fertile  enough 
to  produce  any  crop.  The  stock-raiser  and  the  sheep-farmer 
will  tlnd  excellent  grazing  lands  and  a  good  market  in  Arizona, 
nor  except  in  the  extreme  north  or  the  southeast  need  they  have 
any  great  apprehension  of  Indian  raids.  Wild  beasts  certainly 
exist  there,  but  they  are  less  numerous  than  in  the  other  new 
Territories,  and  the  losses  from  them  will  not  be  large,  while  the 
profits  of  both  catde  and  sheep-raising  are  certain  and  speedy. 

But  mining  is  the  pursuit  in  which  Arizona,  like  the  adjacent 
State  of  Nevada,  is  likely  to  be  pre-eminent.  Transportation  for 
mining  products  is  now  good  and  will  soon  be  better ;  capital  is 
flowing  into  the  Territory.  The  Indians  have  ceased  to  be  trou- 
blesome in  the  mininor  districts,  and  wood  and  water,  two  indis- 
pensable  requisites  for  successful  mining,  though  not  as  abundant 
as  desirable,  are  yet  to  be  had  and  without  excessive  cost;  while 
the  placers,  veins  and  lodes,  already  opened  or  now  opening,  indi- 
cate deposits  of  the  precious  metals,  richer  than  those  of  any 
other  State  or  Territory  in  the  West.  The  future  of  Arizona, 
after  long  years  of  waiting,  trial  and  disappointment,  seems  now 
to  be  assured.  It  has  purchased  this  right  to  a  future  prosperity 
with  the  blood  of  some  of  its  best  cidzens,  slain  either  by  the 
fierce,  treacherous  and  bloodthirsty  Apaches,  or  by  the  still  more 
bloodthirsty  and  reckless  oudaws,  who,  prior  to  its  territorial 
organization,  made  it  their  refuge  and  planned  and  executed 
there  the  most  gigantic  crimes.  But  they  have  now  been  driven 
from  the  Territory,  and  its  present  citizens  are  quiet,  peaceful 
and  law-abiding. 

GENERAL     JOHN    C.    FREMONT. 

No  description  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  would  have  any 
claims  to  completeness,  which  failed  to  do  justice  to  the  great  ser- 
vices rendered  to  almost  every  part  of  that  vast  region  by  Gen- 
eral Fremont.  His  fame  as  an  explorer,  resolute,  intrepid,  yet 
thoughtful  of  his  men,  successful,  notwithstanding  innumerable 
obstacles,  always  grappling  with  broad  principles,  yet  ever  mind- 
ful of  the  minutest  details,  has  become  world-wide,  and  the  title 


BIOGRArilY  OF  GENERAL    FREMONT.  537 

of  the  "Palh/indcj-r  everywhere  bestowed  upon  him,  bears  testi- 
mony to  the  universal  recognition  of  his  great  merits  in  the  way 
of  discovery  and  exploration.      But  his  executive  services  have 
not  been  less  conspicuous,  or  rendered  with  a  smaller  measure 
of  self-sacrifice.     He  has  devoted  his  life  to  the  Great  West ;  in 
his  efforts  for  its  development,  he  has  lost  more  than  one  colossal 
fortune,  earned  by  the  most  extraordinary  labors,  but  has  never 
repined  over  his  losses.     A  man  of  impetuous   spirit,  of  great 
darin<T  and  unbounded  energy,  but  sensitive  and  delicate  as  a 
woman  in  regard  to  everything  which   concerned   his   honor,  he 
has  made  many  friends  whom  he  has  bound  to  him  as  with  hooks 
of  steel,  and  has  also  had  some  enemies,  the  bitterness  of  whose 
hatred  seemed  almost  infernal  In  its  malignity.     But  he  has  out- 
lived the  hostility  of  even  these  foes,  and  now  in  the  ripeness  of 
his  intellectual  faculties,  and  with  a  vigor  which  is  born  of  his 
long  outdoor  life,  he  is  devoting  his  great  powers  to  the  develop- 
ment of  that  one  of  the  Territories  of  "  Our  Western  Empire," 
which  has  hitherto  been  considered  the  most  hopeless,  from  its 
arid  climate,  its  intense  heat,  and  the  violence  and  treachery  of 
the  Indian  tribes  which  roam  over  it.     And  in  this  great  effort  he  is 
likely  to  succeed.    He  has  won  the  confidence  of  most  of  the  tribes, 
and  led  them  forward  to  an  agricultural  and  quiet  life,  and  even 
the  savage  and  treacherous  Apaches  could  not  refuse  to  listen 
to  one  whom  they  had  known  for  thirty-five  years  as  the  bravest 
of  the  brave,  and  as  a  commander  who  had  severely  punished 
their  offences,  but  had  shown  a  magnanimity  In  his  treatment  of 
the  conquered,  which    far    exceeded    their  deserts.     In   all   the 
region  south  of  the  forty-ninth   parallel,  the  name  of  John   C. 
Fremont  is  honored  and  reverenced.     John  Charles  Fremont 
was  born  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  January  21st,  1813.     His  father  was 
a   Frenchman,   his   mother  a  Viroinian.      He  was  educated   In 
Charleston  College,  graduating  with  honor  in  1S30  at  the  age  of 
seventeen.     His  attainments  in  applied  mathematics  gained  him 
a   position   as  Instructor  In   mathematics    In    the  United  States 
Navy  from   1833  to  1835.     He  accompanied  Captain  Williams, 
United  States  Army,  in   a  survey  of  the  Cherokee  country  in 
1837-8,  and  In  183S-9  assisted  Nicollet  In  exploring  the  country 


528  ^^'^     WESTER X    EMPIRE. 

between  the  Missouri  river  and  the  Britisli  line.  Wliile  thus 
engaged  he  was  appointed  second  lieutenant  of  topographical 
engineers,  July  7th,  1838.  On  the  19th  of  October,  1841,  he 
married  Jessie,  daughter  of  lion.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  of 
Missouri.  In  May,  1842,  he  began,  under  the  authority  of  the 
government,  the  exploration  of  an  overland  route  to  the  Pacific ; 
examined  the  South  Pass  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  ascended  in 
August  the  highest  peak  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains,  now 
called  Fremont's  Peak,  and  returnincr  late  in  the  autumn  of 
1842,  published  a  report  highly  commended  by  Humboldt  in  his 
"Aspects  of  Nature."  In  the  summer  of  1843,  ^'"^  another 
expedition,  he  explored  the  Great  vSalt  Lake,  and  reached  P'ort 
Vancouver,  near  the  mouth  of  Columbia  river,  in  November  of 
that  year.  Attempting  to  return  by  a  more  southern  route,  his 
progress  was  impeded  by  deep  snows,  and  his  party  suffered 
severely  from  hunger  and  cold.  Changing  his  course  he  returned 
throueh  the  Great  Basin  and  the  South  Pass,  havinqr  exhibited 
a  fortitude  and  daring  rarely  surpassed,  and  was  breveted  cap- 
tain, July  31st,  1844.  In  a  third  expedition  in  1845  ^^  explored 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  California,  etc.  In  March,  1846,  he  success- 
fully repelled  an  attack  by  Mexicans  near  Monterey;  was  major 
commanding  battalion  of  California  volunteers,  July  to  November, 
1846;  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  of  mounted  rifles,  27th 
May,  1846;  was  appointed  soon  after  Governor  of  California  by 
Commodore  Stockton,  whose  authority  was  disputed  by  General 
Stephen  Kearney.  Arrested  by  the  latter,  he  was  tried  by  a 
court-martial,  and  found  guilty  of  mutiny  and  disobedience.  The 
fmding  was  disapproved  by  the  President,  who  offered  him  a  full 
pardon.     This   he   declined,  and    resigned   his   commission.     In 

1848  he  undertook  a  new  expedition  across  the  continent.  His 
guide  lost  his  way,  and,  after  experiencing  incredible  hardships, 
he  returned  with  the  loss  of  one-third  of  his  party  to  Santa  Fe. 
Renewing  his  efforts  he  successfully  encountered  the  hostile 
Apaches,  and   in   100  days  reached  the  Sacramento  river.      In 

1849  ^^^  settled  in  California,  having  purchased  the  auriferous 
Mariposa  tract,  which  was  believed  to  be  worth  many  millions 
of  dollars.     In  his  efforts  to  develop  this  somewhat  too  rapidly. 


BIOGRAPHY   OF  GENERAL  FREMONT.  C2g 

he  fell  into  the  hands  of  some  sharp  New  York  bankers,  who  by 
adroit  management  (for  in  financial  matters  he  was  as  open- 
hearted  and  simple  as  a  child)  contrived  to  deprive  him  of  the 
whole  of  this  magnificent  property.  He  had  previously  had  six 
years'  litigation  in  regard  to  it,  but  in  1855  ^'^^  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  confirmed  his  title.  But  during  all  this 
time  he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  service  of  his  country.  In 
1849  J^s  was  a  commissioner  to  run  the  boundary  line  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico.  He  used  his  great  influence  to 
make  California  a  free  State,  when  the  struggle  between  the 
South  and  the  North,  in  regard  to  the  increase  of  the  slave  States, 
was  at  its  height.  In  1850-51  he  was  the  first  United  States 
Senator  from  California.  In  1850  he  received  from  the  King  of 
Prussia  a  crold  medal  in  token  of  his  Qrreat  services  to  science, 
and  the  same  year  the  great  gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Geographi- 
cal Society  of  London.  In  1853  he  led  at  his  own  expense  a 
filth  expedition  across  the  continent,  and  succeeded  in  finding  a 
new  route  to  the  Pacific,  about  latitude  38°  north.  In  1856  the 
Republican  party,  then  recently  organized,  made  him  its  nominee 
for  the  Presidency,  and  he  received  i  14  electoral  votes  against 
174  for  his  successful  competitor,  Mr.  Buchanan.  In  the  fall  of 
1 860  he  visited  Europe,  where  he  was  received  with  great  honors. 
On  the  14th  of  May,  1861,  he  was  appointed  a  major-general  of 
the  United  States  army,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  Western 
District,  with  head-quarters  at  St.  Louis.  In  August  he  issued  an 
order  emancipating  the  slaves  of  those  who  should  take  arms 
against  the  United  States.  This  order  was  annulled  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  as  premature.  He  commenced  a  vigorous  pursuit 
of  the  insurgents,  whom  he  had  finally  overtaken  at  Springfield, 
Mo.,  when,  by  the  intrigues  of  other  commanders,  he  was  re- 
moved from  the  command,  November  2d,  1861.  Three  months 
later  he  was  assigned '  to  the  command  of  an  army,  poorly 
equipped  and  without  sufficient  supplies,  in  the  mountain  dis- 
trict of  Virginia,  where  he  was  directed  to  operate  against  the 
skillful  rebel  general,  Stonewall  Jackson.  His  operations  were 
unsuccessful,  mainly  from  the  want  of  efficient  support.  When 
General  Pope  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  ^irmy  of 
34 


r^Q  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

Northern  Vireinia,  General  Fremont  declined  to  serve  under  an 
officer  whom  he  outranked,  and  resigned  his  commission.  But 
he  was  too  pure  a  patriot  to  refuse  his  aid  to  the  government, 
though  he  might  deem  theni  slow  in  their  action,  and  his  purse 
and  inlluence  were  all  at  their  command.  In  May,  1S64,  a 
portion  of  the  Republican  party,  dissatisfied  with  the  dilatoriness 
of  the  government,  nominated  General  Fremont  for  tlie  Presi- 
dency at  the  coming  election  in  November.  At  first  he  accepted, 
but  soon  perceiving  that  his  continued  candidacy  would  injure 
the  Republican  cause,  and  might  throw  the  power  into  the  hands 
of  its  enemies,  he  w-ithdrew  and  supported  Mr.  Lincoln  cordially. 
For  some  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  he  took  no  part  in 
public  affairs,  but  prosecuted  with  great  energy  measures  for 
the  promotion  of  a  Southern  Transcontinental  Railway  to  follow 
nearly  the  line  of  the  thirty-fifth  parallel.  He  visited  Furope 
repeatedly  in  behalf  of  this  railway,  and  urged  a  land-grant  for 
it  with  every  prospect  of  success;  but  the  panic  of  1873  crushed 
the  enterprise  for  the  time,  and  disheartened  some  of  the  pro- 
moters of  it  in  France.  General  Fremont's  health  was  seriously 
impaired  for  some  years;  but,  on  his  partial  recovery,  he  was 
appointed  Governor  of  Arizona,  where  he  is  again  exerting  all 
his  energies  for  the  development  of  the  Great  West,  and  laying 
broad  and  deep  plans  for  turning  these  arid  deserts  into  a  fruit- 
ful field. 

CHAPTER   II. 

AliKAmAS. 

Its  Situation,  Area,  ExTEriT— Topography — Mountains,  Rivers,  T>akes, 
Valleys — Navigable  Rivers  and  Railways — Soil — Climate — Rainfall — 
Minerals  and  Mineral  and  Hot  Springs — Vegetation — Animals — Pro- 
ductions, Mineral,  Vegetable  and  Animal — Crops — Commerce — Popu- 
lation— Origin  of  Population — Education — Religious  Denominations — 
Manufactures — Exemptions — Donated  Lands — Views  of  Hon.  Charles 
S.  Kevser,  Hon.  David  Walker,  W.  A.  Webber,  Esq.,  and  Hon.  A.  H. 
Garland,  U.  S.  Senator,  on  ihe  History  and  Probable  Future  of 
Arkansas. 

Arkansas   and    Louisiana    form   the    soudieastern   States    of 
"  Our  Western  Empire."     Arkansas  is  washed  by  the  waters  of 


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SURFACE  AND    TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ARKANSAS.  531 

the  Mississippi  along  nearly  all  of  its  eastern  boundary,  separat- 
ing it  from  Tennessee,  except  for  the  space  of  one  county,  where 
it  has  the  St.  Francis  river  for  its  eastern  bound,  and  Missouri 
claims  the  little  peninsula  between  the  St.  Francis  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi rivers.  On  the  north,  it  is  bounded  by  Missouri ;  on  the 
south,  by  Louisiana,  and  on  the  west  by  Texas  and  the  Indian 
Territory.  It  lies  between  the  parallels  of  2,'h^  and  36°  30'  north 
latitude,  and  between  the  meridians  of  89°  40'  and  94°  42'  west 
longitude  from  Greenwich.  Its  area  is  52,198  square  miles  or 
33,406,720  acres,  one-sixth  larger  than  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  about  the  same  size  as  England  without  Wales. 

Surface  and  Topography. — The  eastern  portion  of  the  State, 
from  30  to  100  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi,  is  generally  low, 
containing  many  lakes,  bayous  and  swamps,  and  is,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  some  of  the  more  elevated  bluffs,  subject  to  occasional 
inundation  from  the  Mississippi  river.  These  inundations,  though 
sufficiently  extensive  to  occasion  much  loss,  seldom  or  never 
cover  the  whole  of  these  lowlands,  which  rise  gradually  toward 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Ozark  ranore.  • 

The  land  rises  by  gradual  stages  from  this  low  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  the  elevated  plateaux  of  the  central  part  of  the 
State,  as  well  as  to  the  Black  Hills  in  the  north,  and  Ouachita 
Hills  in  the  west.  But  the  principal  mountain  range  in  the  State 
is  the  Ozark,  which,  becrinnino^  in  the  southwest,  trends  north- 
eastv/ard  and  northward,  spreading  out  into  broad  table-lands 
with  narrow  and  deep  ravines,  and  occasionally  rising  into  higher 
summits,  though  of  no  great  height.  The  general  elevation  of 
these  table-lands  is  from  1,500  to  2,000  feet,  and  some  of  the 
rounded  knobs  may  rise  from  500  to  800  feet  higher.  The  hills 
of  this  range  have  distinct  local  names,  such  as  Pea  Ridge  and 
Boston  Mountains  (both  famous  during  the  late  civil  war),  north 
of  the  Arkansas  river,  and  Massime  Mountains  south  of  that 
river.  The  line  of  the  .St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern 
Railway,  which  crosses  the  State  diagonally  from  northeast  to 
southwest,  nearly  marks  the  line  of  division  of  the  higher  forest 
and  mineral  lands  from  the  plain,  prairie  and  lowlands  in  the 
east  and  southeast  of   the  State.     Large    deposits  of  valuable 


c^2  OUR     IVES  TERN  EMPIRE. 

minerals  are  found  in  the  northern  division.  The  mountains,  table- 
lands and  valleys  of  this  division  present  generally  a  rich  surface, 
good  drainage,  romantic  and  picturesque  scenery,  and  a  produc- 
tiveness remarkable  for  the  formations  and  latitude.  The  south- 
ern, southeastern  and  eastern  divisions  have  rich  tertiary,  post- 
tertiary  and  alluvial  deposits  which  are  not  excelled  in  fertility 
by  any  land  on  the  globe.  Exempt  alike  from  the  intense  heat 
of  the  extreme  south,  and  the  severe  cold  of  the  north,  the  genial 
climate  and  fertile  soil  of  the  State  yield  in  abundance  the  rich 
productions  of  both  regions.  The  rich  bottom-lands  will  pro- 
duce, under  favorable  conditions,  from  fifty  to  sixty  bushels  of 
Indian  corn,  and  about  450  pounds  of  cotton  per  acre,  which  is 
considered  a  fair  average  crop.  With  better  and  more  careful 
culture,  they  are  capable  of  gready  exceeding  this  average,  and 
in  some  instances  do  exceed  it. 

Rivers. — Arkansas  is  abundantly  supplied  with  navigable 
rivers,  so  distributed  as  to  give  access  interiorly  to  all  parts  of 
the  State.  The  great  boundary  on  the  east  is  formed  by  the 
mighty  Mississippi.  The  St:  Francis  on  the  northeast,  which 
rises  in  southeastern  Missouri  and  flows  through  the  low,  un- 
dulating portions  of  the  northeast,  where  it  intermingles  with 
lakes,  creeks  and  paludal  surfaces,  is  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi. 
It  is  navigable  to  and  beyond  the  Missouri  line. 

The  White  river  rises  in  northwestern  Arkansas,  flows 
through  the  lower  southwestern  counties  of  Missouri,  and  returns 
to  the  State,  joining  its  affluent,  the  Black  river,  which  affords, 
froni  the  confluence,  almost  at  all  seasons,  navigation  for  a  dis- 
tance of  350  miles.  White  river,  with  its  tributaries,  gives  drain- 
age for  a  broad  expanse  of  country  from  the  northwestern,  mid- 
dle and  northeastern  parts  of  the  northern  section  of  the  State. 

The  Arkansas  river,  one  of  the  largest  tributaries  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, rises  in  the  mountains  of  Colorado,  and  flows  easterly 
for  a  distance  of  2,000  miles  to  join  the  Mississippi.  White  river 
is  an  affluent,  flowino-  into  it  near  its  mouth.  The  Arkansas 
river  bisects  and  drains  this  vast  country  ;  it  is  navigable  entirely 
across  the  State,  and,  during  high  water,  beyond  it,  far  up  into 
the  Indian  Territory.     The  Ouachita,  with  its  tributaries,  drains 


RIVERS  IN  ARKANSAS.  C33 

almost  the  entire  State  lying  south  of  the  Arkansas  river,  or  all 
that  surface  lying  between  it  and  the  Red  river.  It  is  navigable 
250  miles.  The  Red  river  is  the  southwestern  channel  of  drain- 
age, and  is  navigable  throughout  its  course  in  the  State,  a  distance 
of  about  100  miles. 

Black  river  rises  in  Southeastern  Missouri  and  crosses  five 
counties,  discharging  its  waters  into  the  White  river.  It  is  navi- 
gable from  its  mouth  to  the  Missouri  line. 

Saline  river  rises  in  Saline  county,  and,  after  passing  through 
six  counties,  discharges  into  the  Ouachita  in  Union  county.  It 
is  navifjable  for  loo  miles. 

Bayou  Bartholomew,  another  tributary  of  the  Ouachita,  is 
navigable  in  the  State  for  about  150  miles. 

The  Little  river,  an  affluent  of  the  Red  river,  and  the  Little 
Red  river,  an  affluent  of  the  White  river,  are  both  navigable  for 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  miles  for  six  months  of  the  year. 

The  Petit  Jean,  a  tributary  of  the  Arkansas,  is  navigable  for 
about  seventy-five  miles. 

Several  smaller  streams,  such  as  the  Cache,  Dorcheat,  L'AIgu- 
ille  and  Antoine,  are  navigable  a  part  of  the  year. 

Nearly  every  county  in  the  State  is  traversed  by  one  or  more 
of  these  navigable  streams,  which,  with  their  branches,  form  a 
navigable  highway  within  the  State  of  more  than  3,000  miles, 
and  secure  an  abundant  supply  of  water  to  every  county. 

Most  of  these  streams  have  their  sources  in  springs  In  the 
hills  or  mountains,  and  furnish  abundant  and  permanent  water 
power  for  manufacturing  purposes.  Of  one  of  these  springs,  the 
fountain-head  of  Spring  river,  a  clear,  limpid  stream  which  flows 
through  Fulton,  Sharp  and  Randolph  counties,  emptying  Into 
Black  river,  Professor  D.  D.  Owen,  in  his  Geological  Recon- 
noissance  of  Arkansas,  thus  speaks  : 

"The  country  is  well  watered,  and  possesses  many  fine  water- 
powers — even  at  the  very  fountain-head  of  some  of  its  numerous 
limpid  calcareous  streams,  which  frecjuently  burst  lorth  Irom 
amonif  the  ledy^es  of  rock.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  ol  these 
forms  the  fountain-head  of  the  main  fork  of  Spring  river,  known 
as  the  '  Mammoth  Spring,'  in  Pulton  county,  welling  up  on  the 


534  ^^'^'    IVESTERiV  EMPIRE. 

south  side  of  a  low,  rocky  ridge,  from  a  submcrg-ed  abyss 
beneath  of  sixty-four  feet,  and  constituting,  at  its  very  source,  a 
respectable  lake  of  about  one-sixteenth  of  a  mile  from  north  to 
south,  and  one-fifth  to  one-sixth  of  that  distance  from  east  to 
west. 

"  It  is  said  by  those  who  have  sounded  the  bottom,  that  there 
are  large  cavities  and  crevices  in  the  rock,  and  that  the  main 
body  of  the  water  issues  from  a  large  cavernous  opening,  of 
some  forty  yards  in  circumference.  It  has  been  estimated  that 
it  boils  up  at  the  rate  of  about  8,000  barrels  per  minute  ;  the 
correctness  of  this  estimate  we  had  no  means  of  verifying,  but  it 
may  be  safely  estimated  that  the  average  constant  flow  would  be 
at  least  sufficient  to  propel  from  twelve  to  fifteen  run  of  stones. 

"The  uniform  temperature  (60°  Fahrenheit)  and  composition 
of  the  water  is  peculiarly  congenial  to  the  growth  of  a  variety  of 
cryptogamic,  aquatic  plants,  possessing  highly  nutritive  qualities, 
both  for  herbivorous  animals  and  birds. 

"In  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  herds  of  herbivorous 
wild  animals  travelled  from  great  distances  to  this  fountain  for 
both  food  and  water,  as  well  as  flocks  of  wild  fowl.  Now  the 
cattle  of  the  neighboring  farms  may  be  seen  wading  in  its  waters 
up  to  their  middle,  and  browsing  on  the  herbage,  which  appears 
peculiarly  congenial  to  their  tastes;  it  is,  also,  a  general  resort 
of  geese,  ducks  and  other  aquatic  birds.  It  affords  valuable 
water-power  for  general  manufacturing  purposes." 

In  addition  to  her  water-courses,  Arkansas  is  reasonably  well 
supplied  with  railways,  which  are  being  extended  so  as  to 
embrace  every  section  of  the  State. 

The  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  road  runs 
diagonally  across  the  State,  a  distance  of  300  miles,  making  con- 
nections with  roads  east  and  west.  This  is  a  land-grant  road, 
holding  nearly  a  million  and  a  quarter  acres  of  choice  lands  in 
this  State  which  it  offers  to  immigrants  at  very  low  rates,  and  by 
its  enterprise  has  attracted  many  immigrants  to  the  State.  As 
a  general  rule  an  immigrant,  in  this  State  particularly,  will  do 
better  to  buy  of  the  State  or  United  States  government,  the 
lands  he  needs ;  but  if,  for  any  cause,  he  prefers  to  buy  of  a  rail- 


RA IL  V/A  YS   IN  A  RA'A  A  SA  S.  535 

road  company,  he  will  f.nd  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and 
Southern  Railway  will  treat  him  fairly  and  honorably,  as  will  the 
other  land-grant  railways  also. 

The  Memphis  and  Little  Rock  road  extends  from  the  capital 
to  Pvlemphis. 

The  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith  road  is  runninof  a  distance  of 
168  miles,  up  the  valley  ot  Arkansas,  to  the  Indian  border. 

The  Little  Rock,  Pine  Bluft  and  New  Orleans  road  is  com- 
pleted and  running  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  from  Pine  Bluff  to 
Arkansas  City,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  A  survey  has  recentl)' 
been  made  of  the  gap  between  this  city  and  Pine  Bluff,  which 
will  soon  be  built. 

The  Mississippi,  Ouachita  and  Red  River  road  Is  completed, 
a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles  west  from  Chicot. 

The  Arkansas  Central  (narrow-gauge)  is  completed  a  distance 
of  about  sixty  miles,  and  runs  trains  regularly  between  Claren- 
don on  White  river,  and  Helena  on  the  Mississippi. 

A  narrow-gauge  road  Is  in  operation  between  Malvern,  a 
point  on  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railway, 
and  the  famous  Hot  Springs,  thus  giving  the  outside  world  a 
continuous  line  of  railway  to  the  Springs. 

Climate  mid  RainfalL — The  climate  of  Arkansas,  except  in 
the  lowlands  near  the  Mississippi,  Is  better  entitled  to  be  called 
temperate  than  perhaps  any  other  in  the  United  States.  The 
streams  are  not  closed  by  Ice  In  the  winter,  nor  is  the  earth 
parched  by  drought  in  summer.  The  two  points  most  character- 
istic of  the  climate  of  the  State  are  Little  Rock,  the  capital,  for 
the  moderately  elevated  table-lands,  and  I  lopefield,*  opposite 
]\Iemphis,  Tennessee,  for  the  lowlands.  In  Little  Rock  the 
mean  annual  temperature  for  a  series  of  years  Is  62°. 66  P^ahren- 
heit ;  the  highest  point*  generally  reached  in  August  or  Septem- 
ber, and  for  not  more  than  one  or  two  days,  96^  ;  the  lowest, 
generally  reached  In  December,  or  more  rarely  In  January,  4°; 
the  annual  range,  92°.  The  average  rainfall  Is'from  fifty-five  to 
sixty  Inches  annually.  In  the  more  mountainous  region  In  the 
northern  and  northwestern  part  of  the  State  the  mean  annual 
temperature  Is  about  60°  Fahrenheit,  and  the  rainfall  a  trifle  less 
than  at  Little  Rock. 


-,/^  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

At  I  lopcfield  the  heat  of  the  hot  months  is  longer  continued, 
thoLiofh  but  httle  hiohcr. 

The  average  maximum  temperature,  which  is  reached  per- 
haps on  twelve  or  fifteen  days  of  the  summer,  is  98°  Fahrenheit. 
In  exceptionally  hot  summers  it  may  rise  to  101°. 5,  but  not  for 
more  than  one  or  two  days.  The  mean  of  the  summer  months 
is  Si°.4.  The  average  minimum  is  9°,  rising  some  years  to  17"^, 
and  at  others  sinking  to  2^.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  year 
is  60°. 6.     The  average  rainfall  63.42  inches. 

Hon.  John  R.  Eakin,  Chancellor  of  the  Pulaski  Chancery 
Court,  an  eminent  agriculturist  and  author  of  a  treatise  on  vini- 
culture,  speaking  in  that  work  of  a  peculiarity  in  the  climate  of 
Central  Arkansas,  says: 

"  In  the  Eastern  and  Northwestern  States,  they  all  try  to 
avoid  a  northern  exposure.  Our  country  is  somewhat  differently 
situated,  especially  that  portion  lying  west  of  the  Ouachita  and 
between  the  mountain  ranges  south  of  the  Arkansas.  It  may 
be  well  to  dwell  on  this  a  litde.  This  section  of  country,  and 
also  that  north  of  the  Arkansas  river  for  a  considerable  distance, 
is  the  only  part  of  the  United  States  protected  against  violent 
winds.  The  mountains  which  shield  it  range  east  and  west. 
The  Blue  Ridge,  Allegheny,  and  Cumberland  Mountains  run  in 
a  north  and  south  direction,  and,  except  in  sheltered  nooks  pro- 
tected by  spurs,  the  winds  rush  down  on  each  side  of  them  from 
Labrador  and  Hudson's  Bay.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the 
northern  portion  of  Missouri,  with  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Indiana, 
and  on  down  the  Mississippi  and  the  Southern  States  east  of 
the  river.  '  These  north  winds  are  very  sudden  and  destructive, 
bringing,  in  twenty-four  hours,  the  climate  of  the  frigid  zone — 
throwinof  acjainst  vegetation  the  identical  air  that  was  but  yes- 
terday  on  an  iceberg.  This  influence  is  greatly  modified  with' 
us.  These  hills,  to  our  nortli,  perform  the  same  office  which  the 
Alps  do  to  Italy.  This,  as  to  climate,  is  the  Italy  of  the  United 
States." 

Sudden  changes  in  the  climate  are  less  frequent  than  in  the 
Eastern  and  Western  States.  All  evidence  demonstrates  that 
there  is  not,  on  this  continent,  any  locality  superior  to  this  region 


ARA'AXSAS   AS  A    HEALTH    RESORT.  537 

for  the  equable  character  of  Its  cHmate  and  Its  freedom  from  sud- 
den changes  and  violent  winds. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  said  that  Arkansas,  and  espe- 
cially this  central  region,  has  a  deservedly  high  reputation  for 
the  relief  of  pulmonary  diseases.  It  strongly  resembles  that  of 
Mentone  and  Pau  in  the  south  of  France.  The  tables  of  vital 
statistics  of  the  census  of  1870  showed  that  no  part  of  the 
United  States  was  so  favorable  for  consumptives  as  this,  and 
partly  no  doubt  for  the  reason  which  Chancellor  Eakin  has 
stated.  The  air,  though  mild  and  not  subject  to  sudden  charges, 
is  not  sufficiently  hot  to  be  relaxing,  and  respiration  is  not  so 
difficult  as  in  the  thinner  air  of  the  elevated  plateaux  of  Colorado 
and  New  Mexico.  The  difference  may  be  stated  in  another 
way:  the  invalid  who  goes  to  Colorado  may  recover  his  health 
partly  or  wholly,  but  he  must  stay  there.  If  he  attempts  to 
return  East  after  one  or  two  years  the  disease  returns  and 
speedily  proves  fatal.  In  Arkansas,  on  the  contrary,  the  process 
of  cure  Is  radical,  and  the  invalid,  after  one  or  two  years,  may 
return  to  the  East  without  fear  of  the  recurrence  of  the  disease. 

Minerals  and  Mineral  and  Hot  Spri?i£-s.-^Arka.ns3.s  has  a 
great  variety  of  mineral  deposits,  most  of  them  of  excellent 
quality  and  apparently  of  unlimited  abundance.  First  in  econ- 
omic importance  are  its  Immense  beds  of  coal.  The  Arkansas 
coal-fields  have  an  estimated  area  of  12,000  square  miles,  wholly, 
so  far  as  known  at  present,  in  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  river, 
though  the  carboniferous  basin  may  prove  to  extend  southward 
beyond  that  valley.  The  Arkansas  river  runs  for  more  than 
150  miles  through  this  coal  formation.  The  counties  ©f  Wash- 
ington, Crawford,  Sebastian,  Franklin,  Scott,  Logan,  Johnson, 
Yell,  Pope,  Perry,  Conway,  White,  and  Pulaski,  are  almost  en- 
tirely situated  in  this  coal  basin.  The  veins  vary  from  one  to 
nine  feet  in  tliickness,  though  most  of  those  which  have  been 
worked  are  from  four  to  nine  feet  thick.  It  Is  found  at  from  six 
to  fifty  feet  below  the  surface.  The  coal  is  siniilar  In  structure 
and  appearance  to  the  Cumberland  coal  of  Maryland,  ami  an- 
alysis, as  well  as  use,  demonstrates  its  practical  identity  In  quality 
with  that  well-known  coal.     It  proves  to  be  an  excellent  steam- 


co8  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

prouLicIng  and  manufacturing  coal,  and  commands  a  high  price 
for  both  purposes.  Mines  have  been  opened  and  are  now  in 
successful  operation  near  Russellville  and  Ouita  in  Pope  county, 
at  Spadia,  and  at  Horsehead,  in  Johnson  county,  and  at  several 
points  in  Sebastian  and  other  counties.  The  coal  has  been  used 
freely  in  Little  Rock,  St.  Louis,  Memphis,  and  New  Orleans,  and 
wherever  tested  it  sells  readily  at  a  higher  price  than  any  other 
coal  in  the  market.  Inexhaustible  deposits  of  haematite  and 
other  iron  ores  are  found  in  close  proximity  to  these  coal-beds, 
and  limestone  of  the  best  kinds  for  fluxing  purposes  and  heavy 
forests  of  hard  wood  for  charcoal  are  close  by.  Large  and 
never-failing  water-powers  are  contiguous  to  these  coal  and  iron 
deposits.  In  the  present  demand  for  iron  and  steel,  Arkansas 
offers  extraordinary  facilities  for  its  successful  manufacture. 

Several  zinc  mines  have  been  opened  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  State,  principally  in  Lawrence  and  Sharp  counties — which 
are  as  rich  in  every  respect  as  any  in  the  Union.  Lead  and 
silver  are  abundant,  and  several  mines  are  now  being  profitably 
worked.  Notable  amonof  these  are  the  Kellocjo-  mine,  eleven 
miles  north  of  Litdc  Rock,  two  mines  in  Sevier,  one  in  Mont- 
gomery, another  in  Boone,  and  perhaps  others.  These  mines 
<-ire  sufficiently  rich  in  silver  (argentiferous  galena  ores,  yielding 
about  fifty  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton)  to  leave  the  lead  as  a  clear 
profit,  after  paying  all  expenses  of  mining,  smelting,  etc. 

There  are  extensive  caves  of  nitre  and  nitrous  earth  in  New- 
ton and  other  northern  counties  of  the  State,  from  which  lar^je 
quantities  of  povvxler  were  manufactured  and  used  by  the  Con- 
federates durinfr  the  recent  war. 

There  are  also  numerous  salt  springs — some  of  which  are 
being  profitably  worked,  notably  one  near  Arkadelphia,  which 
supplied  salt  for  the  entire  army  of  Arkansas  during  its  occupa- 
tion by  the  Confederates  in  1862-3. 

Valuable  mines  of  copper  have  been  discovered  in  Montgomery 
and  other  counties,  though  no  efforts  have  been  made  to  w^ork 
them. 

The  manganese  deposits  arc  of  considerable  extent  and  rich- 
ness. 


MINERALS    OF  ARKANSAS.  q^g 

The  novaculite  or  whetstone  quarries  near  Hot  Springs  furnish 
a  roc!-:  which  has  gained  ahnost  a  world-wide  fame,  and  its  supply- 
is  inexhaustible. 

Marble  of  superior  quality  and  in  exhaustless  quantities  has 
been  discovered  in  Boone  and  Newton  counties,  a  block  of  which 
has  been  placed  in  the  Washington  Monument. 

Gypsum,  kaolin,  slate,  limestone,  granite,  marl,  chrome  and 
other  minerals  for  use  as  mineral  paints,  are  among  the  economic 
minerals  found  in  large  quantities  in  the  State,  but  few  of  them 
are  as  yet  mined  or  quarried  to  any  great  extent. 

Dr.  Lawrence,  of  Hot  Springs,  contributed  to  the  Centennial 
Exposition  a  collection  of  minerals,  mostly  from  Magnet  Cave, 
Hot  Springs  county,  among  which  were  manganite,  or  black 
oxide  of  manganese ;  melanite,  or  crystallized  black  garnets ; 
green,  yellow  and  black  mica ;  crystallized  schorlamites  ;  quartz 
crystallized  ;  crystals  of  Perofskite,  hornblende,  elaeolite,  epidote, 
strontianite,  Shepardite,  Lydian  stone  or  touchstone,  agate,  hydro- 
titanite,  titanic  iron,  sulphur  from  iron  pyrites,  telle,  rutite,  isolated 
and  in  quartz;  rose,  smoky  and  milky  quartz,  chert,  burr.stone; 
the  hornblendes,  novaculite,  quartzite,  syenite  and  granite. 

TJie  Hot  Springs  of  Arkajisas  are  situated  in  Hot  Springs 
county,  about  sixty  miles  southwest  from  Little  Rock.  A  narrow 
gauge  railroad,  twenty-five  miles  in  length,  now  conveys  passen- 
gers directly  to  the  springs  from  Malvern  Junction,  on  the  St. 
Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railway.  The  springs,  now 
sixty-six  in  number,  are  in  a  wild,  mountainous  region,  issuing 
from  the  western  slope  of  a  spur  of  the  Ozark  range,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  about  1,400  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  range  in  tem- 
perature from  93°  to  150°  Fahr.  They  discharge  over  500,000 
gallons  of  water  daily,  sufficient  in  quantity  to  accommodate,  with 
delightful  bathing,  10,000  bathers  every  day  in  the  year.  These 
natural  earth-heated  waters  hold  in  solution  valuable  mineral 
constituents.  Clear,  tasteless,  inodorous,  they  pour  forth  from 
the  novaculite  ridge  as  pure  and  sparkling  as  the  pellucid  Neva. 
The  various  springs  are  qualitatively  allied,  not  holding  in  solu- 
tion or  freighted  with  too  many  mineral  constituents,  and  they 
are  free  from  all  noxious  gases.     It  is  believed  diat  the  proper- 


r^Q  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ties  of  the  waters,  especially  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  diseases, 
and  particularly  chronic  rheumatism,  scrofula,  etc.,  are  unequalled. 
There  are  no  springs  known  of  superior  value,  or  that  can  com- 
pare with  the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas,  as  adjuncts  in  the  treat- 
ment of  that  class  of  chronic  diseases.  The  advantages  of  the 
climate  throughout  the  entire  year,  the  pure,  rarefied  mountain 
air,  the  delightful  waters,  all  make  these  springs  one  of  the  most 
delightful  resorts  for  invalids  in  the  United  States. 

Within  from  seven  to  twelve  miles  of  Hot  Springs  are  other 
springs,- sulphurous  and  chalybeate,  but  not  hot,  to  which  many 
of  the  physicians  order  their  patients  after  two  or  three  courses 
of  the  Hot  Springs  treatment,  and  the  change  greatly  facilitates 
their  recovery.  The  Hot  Springs  waters  are  not  only  used  for 
bathing  and  for  hot  vapor  baths,  but  the  water  is  drank  in  large 
quantities,  as  hot  as  it  can  be  borne,  and  with  great  benefit. 
There  are  about  6,000  inhabitants  in  Hot  Springs  City,  and  it  is 
said  that  10,000  or  more  invalids  annually  avail  themselves  of  its 
baths  and  healincf  medicinal  waters. 

Numerous  analyses  of  the  waters,  which  vary  but  slighdy  in 
their  contents,  though  materially  in  their  temperature,  show  that 
among  the  solid  constituents  of  a  gallon  of  the  water  are  found 
the  following: 

Silicates  with  base,.  Alumina  with  Oxide  of  Iron, 

Bicarbonate  of  Lime,  Oxide  of  Manganese, 

Bicarbonate  of  Magnesia,  Sulphate  of  Lime,? 

Carbonate  of  Soda,  *Arseniate  of  Lime,? 

Carbonate  of  Potassa,  *Arseniate  of  Iron,? 

Carbonate  of  Lithia,  *Bromine, 
Sulphate  of  Magnesia,  Iodine,  a  trace. 

Chloride  of  Magnesia,  Organic  matter,  a  trace. 

The  city  of  Hot  Springs  Is  in  a  dec[)  ravine,  and  the  springs 
issue  from  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  on  either  side — those 
on  one  side  being  of  much  higher  temperature  than  those  on 
the   other.     The   city  consists  of  one  very  long  and   not  very 

*  These  sails  ami  elomeiUs   were  in  very  minule  quantity  in  any  uf  Uic  waters,  and  were  not 
found  at  all  in  some  of  those  examined. 


FORESTS  AND    VEGETATION  OF  ARKANSAS.  541 

wide  street,  with  short  streets  running-  up  the  hills  on  either 
side.  It  has  almost  as  many  hotels,  boarding-houses,  hospitals 
and  private  dwellings,  and  quite  as  many  physicians  of  all  sorts, 
as  there  are  patients.  The  hills  in  the  vicinity  are  occupied 
very  largely  by  small  farmers  of  the  class  known  in  the  South  as 
"poor  whites,"  who  cultivate  a  little  corn,  a  few  potatoes,  and 
keep  a  few  swine,  and  a  considerable  number  of  fowls,  and  who 
in  their  indolent  and  rude  way,  succeed  in  eking  out  a  bare 
subsistence.  The  whole  region  containing  the  springs  has  long 
been  in  litigation,  and  within  one  or  two  years  has  been  decided 
to  be  the  property  of  the  United  States.  Provision  has  been 
made,  in  a  rough  way,  to  extend  the  benefits  of  the  springs  to  the 
very  poor  without  compensation,  and  many  of  these  are  now 
availing  themselves  of  this  privilege. 

Vegetation. — The  area  of  woodland  in  Arkansas  in  1877,  ^^"^ 
16,815,037  acres,  just  about  one-half  of  its  entire  surface.  The 
rapid  progress  of  railroads  in  the  State  and  adjacent  States  and 
the  demands  for  shipment,  lumber  and  manufactures  may  have 
slightly  decreased  this  amount  witliin  the  past  three  years,  but 
Arkansas  still  possesses  a  larger  proportion  of  timber  lands  than 
any  other  State  or  Territory  of  "  Our  Western  Empire."  And  a 
very  large  proportion  of  her  timber  is  of  the  very  best  quality, 
much  of  it  the  best  of  the  hard  woods,  and  pines  of  gigantic 
growth.  At  the  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia,  fifty 
species  of  forest  trees  were  exhibited  (and  these  did  not  nearly 
exhaust  the  entire  number  found  in  her  forests)  ;  these  included 
thirteen  species  of  oak,  varying  in  diameter  from  twenty-one  to 
fifty  inches  ;  two  species  of  pine,  thirty-six  inches  through  ;  black 
walnuts,  forty-two  inches  in  diameter;  hickory  of  three  species, 
thirty-five  to  thirty-nine  inches  through  ;  a  cottonwood,  eighty- 
four  inches,  and  sycamores,  sixty  inches;  red  elm,  sixty-three 
inches ;  maple,  two  species,  the  sugar  and  the  curled,  twenty-six 
inches;  three  species  of  gum  trees,  the  tupelo,  black  and  sweet 
gum,  from  twenty-nine  to  thirty-nine  inches  in  diameter;  c)'press, 
forty-eight  inches ;  yellow  poplar,  forty-five  inches ;  American 
elm,  forty-six  inches ;  white  ash,  forty-two  inches ;  Bois  d'Arc 
(Osage  orange),  twenty-two  inches  ;  blue  ash,  twent}--three  inches; 


5^2  ^^'^    WES.TERN'   EMPIRE. 

red  cedar  or  juniper,  sixteen  inches  ;  beecli,  diirty  inches;  persim- 
mon, twenty-lour  inches;  sassafras,  twenty-eight  inches;  honey 
locust,  twenty  inches,  and  wild  cherry,  nineteen  inches.  The 
supply  of  pine,  cypress  and  oak  is  almost  inexhaustible.  The 
pines  south  of  the  Arkansas  river  grow  to  the  height  of  150 
feet  and  more,  and  are  from  six  to  seven  feet  through. 

At  the  same  exposition  thirty-five  species  of  pasture  grasses, 
many  of  them  new  and  native  to  Arkansas,  were  exhibited,  all 
of  them  yielding  largely  and  much  sought,  after  by  cattle.  The 
Alfalfa  and  four  kinds  of  millet  were  also  exhibited,  yielding 
from  four  to  eiijht  tons  of  dried  forage  to  the  acre. 

All  the  fruits  arc  sure  of  luxuriant  growth,  including  as  well 
the  different  kinds  (jrown  in  the  Northern  States  as  those  which 
nearly  approach  the  tropics.  Apples,  peaches,'''  pears,  plums, 
quinces,  cherries,  apricots,  figs,|-  grapes,  strawberries,  and  other 
small  fruits,  grow  luxuriantly  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  are 
noted  for  their  size  and  flavor.  In  this  climate  fruit  trees  and 
the  vine  produce  abundantly,  and  ripen  their  fruit  in  the  greatest 
perfection ;  and,  though  it  may  seem  incredible  to  northern 
fruit-growers,  yet  we  are  credibly  assured  that  the  fruit  crop  of 
Arkansas  has  not  been  a  failure  but  once  in  thirty  years. 

Chancellor  Eakin,  in  his  little  work  on  the  culture  of  the  grape, 
says  : 

"  This  Is  the  best  region  for  wild  grapes  in  America.  What 
we  mean  to  assert  is,  that  the  region  between  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Staked  Plains,  and  between  the  Missouri  river  and  the 
swamp  lands  of  the  Gulf,  produce  more  and  larger  and  better 
wild  grapes  than  any  other  portion  of  the  known  world.  This 
is  deliberately  said,  after  much  reading,  inquiry,  travel  and  exten- 
sive observation." 

The  growing  of  grapes  for  wine  is  largely  practised  in  the 
State,  as  well  as  the  culture  of  the  other  small  fruits  for  northern 

*  The  apples  of  Washington  and  Benton  counties,  and  of  the  southwestern  counties  generally, 
are  noted  for  their  fine  flavor  and  arc  in  demand  in  St.  Louis  and  Memphis,  The  peach  seems 
specially  at  home  in  this  State.  The  fruit  is  large  and  of  excellent  flavor,  and  grows  with  very 
little  care.     Peaches  here  ripen  full  four  weeks  earlier  than  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis. 

t  Figs  grow  as  finely  here  as  in  Louisiana,  and  nothing  better  can  be  said  of  that  delicious 
fruit. 


ZOOLOGY  OF    ARK^AA'SAS.  C43 

markets.  All  kinds  of  fruit  and  vegetables  mature  and  are  ready 
for  market  from  three  to  four  weeks  earlier  than  in  the  latitude 
of  St.  Louis;  and  hence  the  culture  of  small  fruits,  and  of  mar- 
ket garden  vegetables,  is  as  profitable  a  business  as  a  settler 
can  prosecute,  the  transportation  by  river  or  railroad  being 
speedy  and  cheap. 

Wild  Animals. — Of  beasts  ot  prey,  there  are  some  black  and 
brown  bears,  though  a  much  smaller  number  than  its  exten- 
sive forests  would  justify,  rarely  cougars  and  other  wild  felines. 
The  jaguar  may  sometimes  stray  up  from  his  Texan  haunts,  but 
we  cannot  learn  of  any  hunterr  who  have  discovered  him  on  the 
soil  of  Arkansas.  There  are  also  occasionally  wolves,  foxes, 
raccoons,  opossums,  and  perhaps  the  Texan  coyotes.  Peccaries 
and  wild  hogs  are  sometimes  found.  The  buffalo  prefers  the 
plains,  and  the  wooded  mountainous  regions  of  Western  Arkan- 
sas have  no  charms  for  him,  but  there  are  deer  of  two  species; 
rarely  the  elk,  but  not  except  by  accident  the  antelope  or  the 
bighorn.  Rabbits  or  hares,  squirrels  of  several  species  and  the 
gopher,  are  the  principal  rodents. 

Birds  of  prey  are  moderately  abundant,  but  mostly  of  the 
eaMe  and  vulture  and  hawk  tribes.  Of  sfame  birds  there  are 
wild  turkeys,  ducks,  partridges,  pinnated  grouse  or  prairie  hens, 
quail,  etc.  Of  the  birds  of  the  State,  there  were  exhibited  at  the 
Centennial  the  bald  eagle  and  the  royal  eagle,  as  well  as  the 
followinof : 

Wild  duck,  crow,  house-wren,  blue  bird,  bobolink,  sapsucker, 
red-headed  woodpecker,  blue  jay,  kingfisher,  paroquet,  flicker, 
bird  hawk,  robin,  meadow  lark,  riiocking  bird,  red  bird,  mammoth 
woodpecker,  cock  of  the  woods  and  the  snake-killer  or  water 
turkey. 

The  rivers,  lakes  and  bayous  are  well  stocked  with  fish, 
among  which  are  pickerel,  black  bass,  liufTalo-fish,  cat-fish  and 
shad,  while  the  mountain  streams  have  an  abundance  of  perch, 
roach  and  trout.  In  the  bayous,  lakes  and  in  the  Red,  Ouachita 
and  Arkansas  rivers  the  alligator  sometimes  makes  his  appear- 
ance, though  he  is  less  common  than  in  Louisiana  or  Texas. 

The  copperhead,  the  milk  adder  and  other  reptiles,  venomous 


544  ^^'^    IVESTEKX    EMPIRE. 

and  harmless,  are  plentiful  in  the  lowlands,  and  the  rattlesnake 
and  moccasin  snake  are  found  in  the  hills. 

The  insect  tribes  in  Arkansas  are  exceedingly  numerous  in 
the  lowlands,  and  well  deserve  the  name  of  pests.  The  mosquito 
of  this  region  is  renowned  for  his  size,  vigor  and  venom,  and  the 
most  fabulous  stories  are  related  of  his  strength  and  audacity. 
In  the  hills,  however,  this  insect  is  less  troublesome.  The  bot- 
lly,  the  tick,  the  chigoe  and  the  guinea-worm  are  very  annoying 
to  man  and  beast.  The  cotton  worm,  the  army  worm  and  sev- 
eral Hies  are  destructive  of  vegetation.  Some  of  the  pests  found 
a  little  farther  north,  such  as  the  Colorado  beetle  and  the  Rocky 
Mountain  locust,  have  not  visited  Arkansas  in  any  considerable 
numbers. 

ArchcBology. — There  are  no  ruins  of  ancient  cities  or  towns, 
indicative  of  its  having  been,  in  the  remote  past,  the  home  of  a 
semi-civilized  race,  in  Arkansas.  Neither  the  Aztec  nor  the 
Toltec  race  seem  to  have  penetrated  so  far  to  the  East.  When 
De  Soto  visited  what  is  now  Eastern  Arkansas  in  1541,  the 
Natchez,  a  tribe  now  extinct,  were  in  possession  there,  and  140 
years  later  de  La  Salle  found  them  in  possession,  while  the 
Ouapaws  were  in  the  northeast,  and  the  Osages  in  the  western 
part  of  the  State.  Of  one  or  other  of  these  tribes,  mounds  and 
relics  have  been  found  in  Hot  Springs,  Garland,  Montgomery 
and  Phillips  counties.  Some  of  these  were  exhibited  at  the 
Centennial,  and  consisted  of  vases,  water  carriers,  bowls,  mortars, 
pestles,  rollers,  discoidal  stones,  scrapers,  skin  dressers  and 
polishers,  axes,  hatchets,  lances,  darts,  pipes,  beads,  amulets, 
ponays  or  Indian  money,  hand  hammers,  sling  balls,  balls  for 
games,  plough  points,  knives  and  drills. 

Proditctions. — Until  returns  are  had  from  the  tenth  census  of 
mineral  products,  we  cannot  estimate  the  mineral  productions 
of  Arkansas.  There  is  a  moderate  but  constantly  increasing 
quantity  of  her  excellent  semi-anthracite  coal  mined  each  year, 
and  many  thousand  bushels  of  the  lignite  in  the  southeastern  part 
of  the  State  are  also  furnished  to  the  Mississippi  steamers. 
There  are  large  quarries  of  novaculite,  the  Arkansas  hone  or 
oil-stone,  in   Hot  Springs  and   Grant  counties ;  of  brimstone  in 


A GRICUL  TURAL    PR OD UCTS. 


545 


the  Ozark  Mountains;  of  slate  of  excellent  quality  In  Pulaski, 
Polk,  Pike,  and  Sevier  counties  ;  and  of  pink  and  gray  marbles 
in  Madison  and  other  counties.  Of  agricultural  products,  the 
latest  full  returns  (and  even  these  are  partly  estimated)  are  for 
the  year  1875.     They  are  as  follows: 


Articles. 

Amount  of  Crop. 

Average 

Yield  Per 

Acre. 

Market  Value. 

Cotton    nounds 

442,258,400 

33,601,200 

3,598,200 

4,328,800 

522,500 

2,778,600 

6,693,000 

76,242 

356 

27^ 

14 
26 

105 
J  39 
1.86 

^55,282,300 

11,760,420 

3,797,146 

2,380,840 

391,875 

3,820,775 
9,202,875 

1,524,840 

Corn,  bushels 

Wheat,      "     

Oats,         "     

Rve.          "     

Irish  Dotatoes,  bus 

Sweet      "           " 

Hav.  tons 

Total  value 

of  crops 

...$88,161,071 

Remarks. — There  were,  of  course,  a  number  of  minor  crops,  such  as  sor- 
ghum, melons,  squashes,  cucumbers,  market  garden  products,  small  fruits,, 
grapes  and  wine,  not  included  here,  which  would  very  probably  bring  the 
aggregate  up  to  $100,000,000;  but  1875  ^^^^  ^  Y^^'"  *^f  exceptional  productive- 
ness which  has  not  on  these  crops  been  equalled  before  or  since,  and  we  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  $88,000,000  will  cover  the  entire  value  of  the  average 
agricultural  products.  The  Agricultural  Department's  estimate  in  1878  was 
less  than  half  that  sum, 

Live-Stock  in  January,  1879.     (Agricultural  Department  Estimate.) 


Animals. 


Horses 

IMules  and  asses 

Milch  cows 

Oxen  and  other  cattle 

Sheep  

Swine 


Number. 


180,300 

89,300 

187,700 

357,000 

293,500 
1,123,500 


Value. 


?7, 347.225 
4,606,987* 

2,490,779t 

3,430,770 

437,315 
2,696,400 


Total  value $20,999,476 


*  Probably  an  uncler-estimate. 

f  Probably  an  over-estimate.  Cattle,  horses,  nudes,  and  sheep  thrive  and  keep  fat  the  year 
through,  without  feeding,  in  the  central  and  southern  portions  of  the  .State,  where,  in  additioa 
to  the  native  grasses,  they  feed  and  do  remarkably  well  on  small   cane,  which,  in  many  locali- 

35 


5^6  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

Manufactnrcs,  in  Arkansas,  are  yet  in  their  infancy,  but  have 
made  considerable  progress  since  1870,  when  there  were  only 
1,364  manufacturing  establishments,  great  and  small,  in  the  State, 
employing  4,452  hands  of  all  ages,  using  #2,137,738  of  capital 
and  $4,823,651  in  value  of  materials;  pajing  $754,950  in  wages 
and  producing  goods  and  wares  of  the  value  of  $7,699,676. 
There  were  also  home  manufactures  of  the  value  of  $807,573. 
Of  the  whole  number  of  manufacturing  establishments,  283  were 
cotton  gins.  272  flour  and  meal  mills,  mostly  small  grist-mills, 
the  average  capital  being  only  $1,750,  and  212  saw-mills.  There 
were  two  cotton  and  thirteen  w^oollen  manufactories.  There 
are  now  numerous  large  flouring  mills,  and  the  Arkansas  brand 
commands  a  high  price  in  the  St.  Louis  markets.  The  cotton 
and  the  woollen  mills  have  greatly  increased,  and  a  new  manu- 
facture, that  of  oil  from  cotton  seed,  has  been  built  up  within  the 
past  seven  or  eight  years.  Arkansas  has  now  the  largest  cotton 
seed  oil  mills  in  the  world.  There  are  also  factories  for  wasrons, 
tobacco  and  cigars,  stoneware,  brooms,  doors,  sash,  blinds,  leather, 
etc.  The  magnificent  water-powers  in  the  State  and  the  cheap- 
ness of  fuel  for  the  production  of  steam,  as  well  as  the  liberal 
encouragement  given  by  the  State  to  manufacturing  and  mining 
establishments  in  exempting  them  from  taxation,  the  large  pro- 
duct of  cotton  and  wool,  the  extensive  forests  of  hard  woods,  and 
the  valuable  deposits  of  iron,  coal,  and  lime  in  close  proximity, 
offer  the  best  inducements  for  the  development  of  manufactures 
on  the  largest  scale. 

Popidation. — The  population  of  the  State  in  1870  was  484,471, 
an  increase  of  only  49,021  over  the  population  of  i860.  Several 
causes  had  conspired  to  produce  this  result,  among  others  the  civil 
war,  the  emancipation  and   escape  of  many  of  the   slaves,  the 


ties,  gro\v.s  luxuriantly  the  entire  year  through,  uffordintr  a  nutritious  range  during  the  winter. 
F.it  cattle  from  this  State  find  a  ready  market  at  St.  Louis  and  Memphis.  Prairie  and  Lonoke 
counties  do  a  considerable  business  in  this  line.  They  sliipped  last  year  several  hundred  car- 
loads of  cattle  raised  on  the  prairie.  Tiiis  business  has  been  found,  by  those  who  have  tried  it, 
more  profitable  even  than  farming.  Hogs  can  be  raised  here  without  cost.  They  fatten  readily 
in  the  fall  from  the  abundance  of  mast  in  the  woods.  Large  numbers  of  hogs  are  driven  to 
Little  Rock,  Memphis,  and  other  markets  during  the  fall  and  winter  from  the  northwestern 
counties. 


rorULATION  OF  ARKANSAS.  547 

depression  in  business,  and  the  hopelessness  of  the  inhabitants 
in  regard  to  their  future.  Since  1870,  great  changes  have  taken 
place  in  the  State.  The  construction  of  railroads,  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  branches  of  industry,  the  improvement  in  the  means 
of  education,  a  good  market  for  all  agricultural  products,  and 
the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  State  through  the  infu- 
sion of  new  blood  by  immigration  has  greatly  promoted  its 
growth,  and  the  census  of  1880  shows  a  population  of  the  large 
number  of  802,564,  an  increase  of  318,093  frpm  1870.  It  is 
fair  to  say,  however,  that  the  accuracy  of  the  enumeration  is 
doubted  in  some  quarters. 

The  change  in  the  character  of  the  population  is  also  marked. 
In  its  early  days,  both  as  a  Territory  and  a  State,  it  had  within 
its  borders  a  great  number  of  outlaws — ruffians,  gamblers,  high- 
way robbers,  murderers,  horse-thieves  and  brigands.  Human 
life  was  not  safe,  and  crime  was  rife.  Every  man  went  armed, 
and  the  "  soft  notes  of  the  pistol "  were  heard  everywhere  day 
and  night ;  while  a  man  was  made  an  offender  for  a  word,  and 
was  often  shot  down  in  sheer  wantonness.  The  natural  conse- 
quence of  this  state  of  things  was  that  the  better  disposed  part 
of  the  community  were  compelled  to  take  the  law  into  their  own 
hands.  Vigilance  committees  were  appointed,  and  when  the 
oudaws  found  their  occupation  gone,  they  retaliated  by  banding 
themselves  together  as  "  Reeulators  "  and  raidinor  the  settlements. 
For  some  years  a  desperate  warfare  was  waged  between  these 
outlaws  and  the  rest  of  the  community,  and  the  services  of  Judge 
Lynch  were  often  called  for. 

At  length  law  and  order  triumphed  ;  the  outlaws  were  driven 
out,  and  peace  and  quiet  were  established.  It  was  time.  Busi- 
ness was  paralyzed ;  and  ignorance  and  brutishness  prevailed. 
In  this  partial  restoration  to  order,  some  attention  was  paid  to 
education,  and  from  1850  to  i860  there  was  a  rapid  growth,  the 
population  doubling,  and  a  decided  advance  being  made  in  the 
social  condition  of  the  people.  The  number  of  slaves  was  very 
large,  and  some  of  the  worst  evils  of  slavery  were  rife  there. 
With  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the  old  outlaw  spirit  revived, 
and  for  some  years   there  was  anarchy  again.     But  the  friends 


-  ,g  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  law  and  order  were,  after  a  time,  in  a  majority,  and  they  have 
succeeded  in  putting-  down  ruffianism  completely.  The  era  of 
railroads  was  late  in  opening  in  Arkansas,  but  it  helped  materially 
in  producing  order,  enterprise  and  development  in  the  State. 
The  people  are  now  law-abiding  and  orderly ;  the  carrying  of 
fire-arms  is  prohibited,  and  the  prohibition  pretty  well  enforced. 
The  people  are  industrious  and  desirous  of  improvement; 
strangers  who  come  into  the  State  to  settle  are  cordially  welcomed 
and  protected  ;  ajid  all  things  being  taken  into  account,  the  State 
is  a  desirable  one  for  immigrants  to  setde  in.  Great  efforts  are 
now  making  to  improve  the  system  of  public  school  and  higher 
education,  and  an  advance  on  this  subject  is  perceptible. 

If  the  emigrant  from  the  busy  States  of  the  East  or  Europe 
find  the  citizens  a  litde  slow  or  apathedc,  in  regard  to  progress, 
it  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  infiuence  of  their  early  history.  There 
is  a  most  commendable  desire  for  improvement  manifested,  and 
if  an  intelligent  class  of  emicrrants  come  into  the  State  and 
endeavor  to  promote  its  interests,  the  State  will  become  in  a  few 
years  one  of  the  best  in  "Our  Western  Empire,"  in  all  the  elements 
which  conduce  to  a  permanent  prosperity. 

Relieiotis  Denominatiojzs. — The  Methodists  are  the  leadincr 
relieious  denomination  in  the  State,  but  are  divided  into  the 
adherents  of  the  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,"  and  those 
of  the  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  as  the  northern  body  is 
called.  The  next  denomination,  and  but  little  inferior  in  num- 
bers, are  the  Baptists,  with  whom  may  also  be  numbered  in  this 
general  estimate,  the  Christians,  Disciples  or  Campbellitcs. 
After  these  come  the  Presbyterians,  in  several  divisions,  such  as 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian, 
Presbyterian  Church  (north),  etc. 

There  is  a  Roman  Catholic  diocese  and  a  few  churches,  per- 
haps fifteen  or  twenty  ;  an  Episcopal  diocese  with  about  the  same 
number  ;  a  few  Lutherans,  etc. 

Education. — One  of  the  best  indications  of  progress  in  the 
State  is  the  advance  which  It  is  making  in  education.  In  1870 
two-fifths  of  the  population  above  ten  years  of  age  could  not 
read  or  write,  and  of  these  133,339  illiterates,  64,095  were  whites 


EDUCATION  IN  ARKANSAS.  e^g 

and  69,222  colored.  There  are  still  not  over  one-fifth  of  the 
school  population  (between  the  ages  of  six  and  twenty-one)  in 
attendance  upon  the  schools,  but  there  are  better  and  more  effi- 
cient teachers,  and  the  schools  are  held  for  a  greater  number  of 
weeks  in  the  year.  The  schools  assisted  by  the  Peabody  fund 
are  also  improving,  and  those  in  the  larger  towns  are  up  to  the 
grade  of  similar  schools  in  other  States.  The  half  dozen  colleges 
in  the  State  are  doing  well  and  advancing  their  requirements  for 
admission.  The  Industrial  University,  at  Fayetteville,  is  doing  a 
good  work,  but  there  is  great  need  of  more  thorough  agricultural 
education.  The  farming  is,  much  of  it,  slovenly,  and  calculated 
merely  to  skim  the  surface  of  the  soil  and  thus  render  it  barren, 
than  to  improve  it.  When  on  excellent  cotton  lands  the  average 
crop  is  but  273  pounds  to  the  acre,  but  little  more  than  half  a 
bale;  when  the  average  wheat  crop,  in  a  good  year,  is  but  six 
bushels  to  the  acre,  of  Indian  corn  but  twenty-four  bushels,  of 
oats  the  same,  and  of  potatoes  but  121  bushels,  the  fault  is  not 
in  the  land  but  in  the  cultivator,  and  there  should  be  some  force 
somewhere  to  stir  up  such  indolent  and  inefficient  farmers. 

There  are  a  few  men  of  force  in  the  State,  men  who  have  the  in- 
terests of  the  State  at  heart,  and  are  ready  to  do  all  they  can  to 
promote  its  prosperity ;  among  them  we  may  name  the  present 
Governor,  Hon.  W.  R.  Miller;  Hon.  A.  H.  H.  Garland,  United 
States  Senator;  Hon.  David  Walker,  Hon.  Charles  S.  Keyser, 
Dr.  G.  W.  Lawrence,  late  United  States  Centennial  Commis- 
sioner, Hon.  W.  A.  Webber,  and  others.  These  gentlemen  may 
be  too  sanguine  in  regard  to  the  rapidity  of  the  future  growth 
and  prosperity  of  the  State ;  but  they  are  well  versed  in  its  his- 
tory, and  they  have  proved  their  faith  by  their  works  and  the 
zeal  with  which  they  have  labored  for  its  interests.  We  should 
not  do  justice  to  the  State,  and  to  those  who  are  so  desirous  of 
its  growth  and  prosperity,  if  we  neglected  to  state  the  special 
advantages  which  are  offered  by  the  State  government  to  im- 
migrants. The  exemption  laws  of  the  State  are  singularly  favor- 
able to  the  settler. 

The  homestead  law  ot  the  State  is  more  liberal  than  that  of 
any  other  State  in  the  Union  ;  the  homestead  of  any  married 


ccQ  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

man  or  head  of  a  family,  to  the  value  of  $2,500,  or  160  acres  of 
land  outside  of  a  city  or  village,  and  the  homestead  in  any  city 
or  village,  not  over  one  acre  of  land  and  improvements  of  that 
value,  and  one-quarter  of  an  acre  and  improvements,  without 
regard  to  value,  are  exempted  from  execution.  The  benefits  of 
this  exemption,  should  the  head  of  the  family  be  removed  by 
death,  inure  to  his  widow  while  she  remains  unmarried;  also  to 
his  children  during  their  minority.  In  addition  to  his  wearing 
apparel,  the  personal  property  of  any  resident  citizen  of  the 
State,  to  the  value  of  $500,  to  be  selected  by  such  resident,  is 
exempted  from  sale  or  execution,  or  other  final  process  of  any 
court  issued  for  the  collection  of  any  debt.  No  taxation  for  State 
purposes  is  allowed  beyond  one  per  cent. 

All  capital  invested  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  woollen 
goods  and  yarns,  agricultural  implements  and  machinery,  in  tan- 
neries, in  the  manufacture  of  cotton-seed  oil,  in  mining  and  in 
smelting  furnaces,  shall  be  exempt  from  taxation  for  a  period  of 
seven  years  from  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  October,  1874, 
the  date  of  the  ratification  of  said  Constitudon :  provided,  that 
the  capital  invested  in  such  manufacturing  establishments  shall  ex- 
ceed $2,000  ;  and,  provided  further,  that  no  person,  corporation  or 
company  having,  prior  to  the  passage  of  this  act,  invested  capital 
in  any  such  manufacturing  establishment  in  this  State  shall  be 
entitled  to  the  exemption  herein  provided  for,  unless  the  capital 
stock  so  invested  shall  be  increased  twenty-five  per  centum  of 
its  value  as  determined  by  the  last  annual  assessment. 

The  United  States  lands  In  the  State  exceed  in  quantity 
7,500,000  acres,  all  of  which  are  for  sale  at  $1.25  and  $2.50  per 
acre.  Some  of  these  lands  are  excellent,  and  some  not  so  good. 
The  homestead  law  of  the  United  States  applies  to  them. 

The  State  has  also  about  3,000,000  acres  of  land  subject  to 
entry  and  sale,  besides  nearly  1,000,000  acres  of  swamp  lands, 
not  yet  approved  to  the  State  by  the  General  Government,  and 
about  681,000  acres  of  forfeited  lands  for  non-payment  of  taxes. 
Of  these  the  internal  improvement,  seminary,  saline,  and  swamp 
lands,  amounting  to  about  70,000  acres,  are  for  sale  at  from  %2 
to  %2  P^^  acre,  and  small  fees.    The  school  lauds,  of  which  there 


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SITUATION    OF  CALIFORNIA.  cei 

are  over  1,000,000  acres,  are  for  sale  at  ^1.25  to  ^2  per  acre,  and 
the  forfeited  and  unconfirmed  swamp  lands,  about  i  ,600,000  acres, 
are  for  sale  at  fifty  cents  per  acre  and  fees,  or  are  donated  to  the 
settler  in  quantities  of  160  acres  on  proof  of  residence  and  cul- 
tivation and  improvement  of  five  acres,  and  the  fees,  which  are 
about  six  dollars. 

The  railways  in  the  State  have  lands  to  the  amount  of  about 
2,600,000  acres  for  sale  on  several  years'  time  at  $2.50  per  acre. 

With  these  facilities  for  purchase  and  settlement,  the  lands  of 
Arkansas  offer  to  the  immigrant  homes  which  are  within  the 
reach  of  all.  The  land  may  not  all  of  it  be  of  the  highest  qual- 
ity, though  there  is  much  excellent  land  there,  but  there  is  none 
of  it  from  which  an  industrious  man  cannot  make  a  comfortable 
living. 


CHAPTER   III. 

CALIFORMA. 

Its  Situation — Topography — Mountains,  Valleys,  Lakes,  Rivers,  Harbors, 
Islands — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Soils  and  Vegetation — Zoology — 
Wonders — Prof.  E.  W.  Hilgard  on  Climates  of  the  State — Agricul- 
tural Products — Manufactures,  Mines  and  Mining  Industry — Rail- 
roads— Steamers — Its  Commerce  and  Navigation,  Imports  and  Exports, 
Banks,  etc. — California  as  a  Health  Resort — Population,  how  Classi- 
fied— Education — Churches — Counties  and  Principal  Towns — Its  His- 
tory AND  Probable  Future. 

California  is  one  of  the  larofest  States  of  "Our  Western 
Empire,"  and  stretches  for  700  miles  along  the  Pacific  coast.  It 
Is  between  the  parallels  of  32°  28'  and  42°  north  latitude,  and 
between  the  meridians  of  1 14°  30'  and  i  24°  45'  of  west  longitude 
from  Greenwich.  It  formed  a  part  of  the  territory  ceded  by 
Mexico  to  the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war, 
and  is  bounded  north  by  Oregon,  east  by  Nevada  and  Arizona, 
south  by  Lower  California,  and  west  by  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
Pacific  coast  of  California  trends  southward  from  the  Oreo-on  line 


rr2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

to  Cape  Mendocino  in  latitude  40°,  and  thence  in  a  nearly  south- 
easterly direction  to  the  coast  of  Lower  California.  The  area 
of  the  State  is  188,981  square  miles,  or  1 20,947,840  acres,  or 
about  the  combined  areas  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio  and  Michigan.  Its  length  is  700  statute  miles,  and 
its  averaee  breadth  more  than  200  miles. 

Topography. — The  mountain  systems  of  California  are  vast 
in  extent,  diversified  in  character,  rich  in  mineral  wealth,  and 
unsurpassed  in  beauty  and  grandeur  of  scenery.  They  may  be 
considered  under  two  ereat  divisions:  the  Sierra  Nevada  or 
Snowy  Mountains,  on  the  eastern  border,  stretching  with  its 
spurs  over  a  breadth  of  about  seventy  miles  in  a  series  of 
ranges ;  and  the  Coast  Range,  which,  in  its  several  chains,  in- 
cludes about  forty  miles  in  breadth,  extends  near  the  coast  the 
whole  length  of  the  State  and  into  Lower  California.  These 
tw^o  ranges  unite  near  Fort  Tejon  in  latitude  35°  and  again  in 
latitude  40°  35',  and  separating  again  form  the  extensive  and 
fertile  valleys  of  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacramento.  The  two 
lines  of  ranges  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  may  be  traced  In  regular 
order  for  a  distance  of  nearly  seven  degrees  by  their  two  lines 
of  culminating  crests,  which  rise  in  varying  heights  from  10,000 
to  I  5,000  feet  above  the  sea.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  as 
much  order  in  the  position  and  direction  of  the  summits  of  the 
Coast  Range,  peaks  of  widely  varying  heights  and  entirely 
different  mineral  constitution  being  found  in  close  proximity. 
The  summits  of  the  Coast  Range  vary  In  altitude  from  1,500  to 
8,000  feet.  The  highest  peaks  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  are  Mount 
Shasta,  Lassens  Butte,  .Spanish  Peak,  Pyramid  Peak,  Mounts 
Dana,  Lyell,  Brewer,  Tyndal,  Whitney,  and  several  others  of 
less  note.  Those  of  the  Coast  Range,  though  richer  In  minerals, 
are  less  lofty  and  less  noted. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  crest  line  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  are 
a  chain  of  lakes,  Including  the  Klamath  lakes,  Pyramid,  Mono 
and  Owen  lakes,  lying  wholly  east  of  the  range,  and  Lake  Tahoe, 
a  gem  of  the  purest  crystal  water,  far  u[)  In  the  mountains, 
occupying  a  depression  between  two  summits.  The  depression, 
in  which  most  of  these  lakes  are  situated,  continues  southward 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CALIFORNIA.  553 

to  the  entrance  of  the  Gila  river  into  the  Colorado.  For  a  con- 
siderable distance  northward  from  the  southern  limit  of  the  State 
it  is  many  feet  below  the  ocean  level,  and  geological  investiga- 
tions show  that  it  was  once  the  bed  of  a  large  lake  or  estuary 
communicating  with  the  ocean  bv  a  somewhat  narrow  strait.  It 
has  recently  been  proposed  to  reopen  this  strait  as  a  ship  canal, 
which  could  be  done  at  a  very  moderate  expense,  and  thus  re- 
store this  ancient  land-locked  sea,  to  modify  the  climate,  and 
remove  the  drought  from  a  region  once  populous,  but  now  exces- 
sively arid. 

A  similar  depression,  though  not  quite  so  extensive,  exists  on 
the  western  slope  of  these  mountains  for  a  width  of  about  fifty 
miles,  and  contains  several  lakes. 

The  region  lying  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  is  called  the  east- 
ern slope ;  that  between  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierras  and  the 
Coast  Range  is  known  as  the  California  Valley,  and  that  west 
of  the  Coast  Range  is  called  the  Coast  Valley,  or  simply  the 
Coast.  Another  geographical  division  is  made  by  drawing  an 
east  and  west  line  across  the  State  in  the  latitude  of  Fort  Tejon, 
that  part  of  the  State  lying  south  of  this  line  being  called  South- 
ern California.  The  country  between  this  line  and  one  extend- 
ing east  and  west  through  Trinity,  Humboldt,  Tehama  and 
Plumas  counties  is  called  Central  California ;  all  north  of  this 
is  known  as  Northern  California.  Central  California  contains 
about  three-fourths  of  the  known  wealth  and  population  of  the 
State. 

The  Monte  Diablo  division  of  the  Coast  Range,  about  150 
miles  long  by  50  miles  wide,  is  a  striking  landmark  of  the  State 
when  approached  by  sea,  and  from  its  summit  may  be  obtained 
the  finest  views  of  the  varied  scenery  and  landscapes  of  Cali- 
fornia which  can  be  found  anywhere. 

The  valleys  of  the  Sacramento  and  the  St.  Joaquin,  though 
the  largest,  are  by  no  means  the  only  valleys  of  California. 
There  are  hundreds  of  them  of  greater  or  less  extent,  and  many 
of  them  remarkable  for  fertility  and  beauty.  East  of  the  Sierras, 
in  Southern  California,  some  of  these  valleys,  the  deepest  por- 
tions of  a  former  extensive  inland  sea,  are  now  salt  lakes  and 


ec^  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

are  surrounded  by  most  forbidding  and  unpleasant  scenery.  In 
Mono,  Fresno  and  Kern,  Inyo  and  San  Bernardino  counties 
there  are  several  of  these  salt  lakes,  and  in  the  last-named 
county,  among  the  other  evidences  of  volcanic  action,  is  that 
combination  of  horrors  known  as  the  sink  of  the  Aniargoza 
river  or  "Death  Valley."  It  is  150  feet  and  probably  more 
below  the  level  of  the  sea,  intensely  hot,  dry,  and  sulphurous. 

California  is,  for  the  most  part,  well  watered,  but  the  Coast 
Range  limits  the  length  of  its  navigable  rivers  except  in  two  or 
three  instances.  The  Rio  Salinas  is  the  only  navigable  river  on 
the  coast  which  discharges  directly  into  the  Pacific  below  Cape 
Mendocino,  but  the  Sacramento  river  from  the  north  and  the 
San  Joaquin  from  the  south,  large  and  navigable  rivers,  both 
discharge  into  the  beautiful  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  The  Klamath 
river  at  the  north,  rising  in  the  Klamath  lake,  flows  through  a 
crooked  valley  to  the  ocean,  but  is  not  navigable  for  any  con- 
siderable distance.  This  is  also  true  of  the  other  rivers  north 
of  the  Golden  Gate.  Most  of  the  rivers  east  of  the  Sierras,  in 
the  long,  depressed  basin  already  described,  discharge  into  lakes 
in  the  basin,  and  have  no  connection,  direct  or  indirect,  with  the 
ocean. 

The  harbor  of  San  Francisco  is  the  finest  on  the  whole  Pacific 
coast,  fifty  miles  in  length  by  nine  in  width,  landlocked  and  ap- 
proached by  the  Golden  Gate,  five  miles  in  length  with  a  width 
of  one  mile,  and  having  nowhere  less  than  thirty  feet  of  water. 
That  of  San  Diego,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  State,  is 
next  in  importance,  and,  with  its  railway  connections  soon  to  be 
completed,  will  prove  a  formidable  rival  to  that  of  San  Francisco. 
The  other  harbors,  ten  or  twelve  in  number,  are  either  shallow 
or  not  well  protected  from  violent  winds,  and  need  breakwaters 
or  other  improvements.  There  are  many  islands  along  the 
coast,  some  of  them  small  and  rocky,  like  the  Farallones  off  the 
Golden  Gate,  and  inhabited  only  by  seals,  sea-lions,  and  aquatic 
birds  ;  others  are  large  and  adapted  to  grazing  or  cultivation. 

The  amount  of  arable  lands  in  California,  including  those 
which  only  require  irrigation  to  make  them  productive,  and  are 
so  situated   that  they  can   be  irrigated,  and  the  swamp  or  tide 


\  OP 


:•/ 


GE  OLOG  Y  A  ND   MINERAL  OGY.  ttt 

lands  which,  when  reclaimed  and  protected  from  overflow,  yield 
the  largest  crops  in  the  world,  is  estimated  at  not  less  than 
60,000,000  acres,  or  about  one-half  the  area  of  the  State  ;  the 
grazing  lands  on  the  mountain  slopes  and  on  the  sides  of  the 
valleys  are  estimated  at  40,000,000  acres  more,  and  the  forest 
areas,  much  of  them  too  steep  for  cultivation,  were  officially 
stated  at  9,604,607  acres  in  1872,  but  have  been  considerably 
diminished  since  that  time.  There  are  then  somewhat  more 
than  10,000,000  acres  which,  from  one  cause  or  other — some 
being  under  water,  some  volcanic  and  barren,  or  arid  and  not 
irrigable,  or  bald  and  bare  mountain  peaks — are  worthless. 
This  is,  however,  but  one-twelfth  of  the  area  of  the  State. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  Coast  Range  and  its  foot-hills 
generally  belong  to  the  tertiary  system,  but  at  San  Pedro  bay 
(about  latitude  34°)  the  cretaceous  rocks  come  to  the  coast,  to 
be  replaced  at  the  mouth  of  the  Margarita  river  (about  ^2)^  10') 
by  quaternary  or  recent  alluvial  deposits  which  extend  to  the 
southern  line  of  the  State.  It  is  these  alluvial  deposits  which 
General  Fremont  believes  have  filled  up  the  ancient  strait  or 
estuary  which  led  to  the  now  dry  and  desert  site  of  the  inland 
sea,  which  formerly  occupied  a  large  part  of  Southeastern  Cali- 
fornia, and  which  he  urges  our  government  to  re-open  and  thus 
render  an  extensive  portion  of  Western  Arizona  and  South- 
eastern California  aofain  habitable. 

At  twQ  points  of  the  Coast  Range,  viz.:  at  the  Monte  Diablo 
mines,  in  Contra  Costa  county,  nearly  east  of  San  Francisco,  and 
in  Mendocino  county  (about  latitude  39°  30'),  the  tertiary  coal 
or  lignite  crops  out  in  extensive  beds.  The  first  of  these  has 
been  worked  for  many  years,  and  produces  a  fair  burning  coal, 
of  which  about  150,000  tons  are  annually  sent  to  market. 

The  valleys  lying  between  the  Coast  Range  and  the  Sierras 
belong  mostly  to  the  cretaceous  formation,  though  in  the  extreme 
south  they  are  overlaid  by  alluvial  sands.  There  is  very  little 
gold  in  these  valleys  except  in  placers  which  have  been  washed 
down  from  the  mountains,  though  occasionally  pockets,  and  pos- 
sibly true  veins,  have  been  found  in  metamorphic  rocks  belono-- 
ing  as  high  up  in  the  series  as  the  cretaceous.  This  may  be 
due  to  volcanic  action  in  ages  long  past. 


f-^  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  greater  part  of  the  auriferous  and  argentiferous  rocks  of 
the  State  belongs  to  the  triassic  and  Jurassic  strata,  which  form 
the  surface  rocks  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  from  the  Columbia  river 
nearly  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  It  is  in  these 
triassic  and  Jurassic  strata  that  most  of  the  gold  and  silver 
deposits  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  occur.  South 
and  west  of  the  sierras,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  upper  waters 
of  Kern  river  and  its  tributaries,  is  an  extensive  volcanic  region, 
where  basaltic  and  porphyritic  rocks,  sulphurous  and  chalybeate 
springs,  deposits  of  sulphur  and  large  tracts  of  lava  and  lava 
ashes  are  found.  A  somewhat  similar  though  much  smaller 
tract  exists  in  Sonoma  county,  between  two  spurs  of  the  Coast 
Range.  There  are  geysers  here,  and  other  indications  of  former 
volcanic  action.  Much  of  the  region  east  of  the  sierras  is  of 
recent  formations,  though  modified  by  former  volcanic  acdon,  and 
is  forbiddinof  to  the  last  dec^ree.  The  lakes  or  sinks,  often 
very  deep,  are  always  salt  and  bitter,  and  often  without  water 
most  of  the  year.  The  beds  of  the  lakes  are  covered  with 
alkaline  deposits.  The  famous  Death  Valley,  the  Dry  Lakes,  of 
which  there  are  at  least  a  dozen.  Dry  Salt  Lake,  Owen's  Lake 
and  other  sinks  of  this  region  give  striking  evidence  of  its  former 
volcanic  character,  and  of  the  great  changes  which  have  taken 
place,  some  of  them  within  modern  times  in  this  part  of  the 
State.  The  earthquakes  of  1871  were  most  violent  in  this 
section,  especially  in  Kern,  Inyo,  and  San  Bernardino  counties. 

Mineralogy. — Gold  is  found  pure,  in  scales,  fine  dust,  in 
nuggets  and  in  crystals,  and  in  combination  with  copper,  silver, 
lead,  zinc,  cinnabar,  arsenic,  iron,  sulphur,  tellurium,  iridosmine, 
etc.  Silver  is  found  native,  though  very  rarely,  as  a  chloride 
(horn-silver),  in  combination  with  lead  as  argentiferous  galena, 
sulphurets  and  carbonates  of  silver  and  lead,  with  copper  as 
copper  glance,  red  silver  ore,  etc.,  and  with  several  of  the  rarer 
metals  as  well  as  with  sulphur,  iron,  etc.  Copper  exists  in  the 
form  of  native  copper,  and  as  malachite,  copper  glance,  rubescite, 
azurite,  chalcopyrite  and  chrysocolla,  in  combination  with  sulphur, 
etc.  Mercury  or  quicksilver  appears  as  cinnabar  very  abun- 
dandy  throughout  the  Coast  Range,  as  coccinite  in  Santa  Barbara, 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERALOGY.  55-r 

and  native  in  the  Pioneer  claim  and  elsewhere.  There  are  now 
about  sixty  mines  of  quicksilver  in  the  State,  and  the  supply- 
increases  with  the  ever  increasing  demand. 

Platinum  has  only  been  found  in  California  in  placers,  though 
its  occurrence  in  veins  with  gold  or  silver  is  not  improbable. 
Tin  is  found  as  cassiterite  or  binoxide  of  tin  in  the  Temiscal 
range  about  sixty  miles  from  Los  Angeles,  and  in  grains  else- 
where. Lead  is  abundant  as  galena  all  over  the  State,  and  in 
many  cases  carries  a  considerable  percentage  of  silver.  The 
molybdate  of  lead  (Wulfenite)  occurs  in  one  or  two  localities. 
Arsenic  occurs  pure  in  Monterey  county,  and  as  arsenilite  in 
one  or  two  counties,  and  is  extracted  as  white  oxide  in  smelting 
several  ores.  Iron  exists  in  various  forms,  as  chromic  iron,  as 
haematite,  as  magnetic  and  specular  ores,  and  as  oxide  or  bog 
iron  ore  in  several  localities.  Tellurium  occurs  native  and  in 
combination  with  gold  and  silver  and  copper,  and  forms  one  of 
the  most  refractory  of  ores.  Diamonds  (so  called)  are  found  in 
several  localities,  but  are  not  probably  the  genuine  article,  though 
they  possess  many  of  the  properties  of  the  diamond.  Graphite 
occurs  in  Tuolumne  county  and  elsewhere  ;  borax  and  boracic 
acid  in  one  or  more  lakes  and  in  the  marshes  adjacent ;  salt  as 
rock-salt,  as  brine,  and  evaporated  from  the  sea  water  and  from 
the  numerous  salt  lakes  ;  soda,  both  as  caustic  soda  in  deposits 
of  a  hundred  feet  or  more  in  thickness  and  of  great  extent,  and 
as  carbonate  of  soda  around  some  of  the  alkaline  lakes,  and  in 
the  volcanic  valleys ;  sulphur,  pure,  and  in  sulphurets  and 
sulphates  ;  gypsum,  barytes,  antimony,  ochre,  alabaster,  fluorspar, 
corundum,  and  cobalt  in  the  form  of  erythrine,  abound  in  various 
parts  of  the  State.  Magnesite,  iridosmine,  magnetite,  limonite, 
tourmaline,  pyrolusite  (binoxide  of  manganese),  zircon,  garnets, 
chrysolite  and  haysine  are  the  other  principal  minerals.  Coal, 
as  already  stated,  occurs  in  several  localities.  Petroleum  and 
bitumen  are  found  in  several  of  the  coast  counties,  and  the 
former,  after  many  mishaps  and  failures,  has  become  one  of  the 
standard  products  of  the  State,  and  is  now  supplying  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  local  demand. 

Mines  and  Mining. — California   Is   one   of  the   great   mining 


erg  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

States.  Her  production  of  the  precious  metals  has  been  larger 
than  that  of  any  other  State  or  Territory,  though  Nevada  has 
approached  it,  and  amid  all  changes,  and  with  the  exhaustion  of 
the  ordinary  placer-mining,  the  State  has  still  maintained  a  very 
large  yield,  and  is  likely  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  it. 
Gold  or  silver  or  both  have  been  discovered  in  paying  quantities 
in  eighteen  counties  of  the  State  and  possibly  more.  Of  these 
counties  all  (except  Humboldt,  Klamath  and  Del  Norte,  which 
have  deposits  only  in  the  shore  and  beach  sands,  being  all  coast 
counties,  and  Los  Angeles,  in  which  silver  mines  have  recently 
been  discovered)  are  situated  along  the  eastern  or  western  slopes 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada ;  some  of  them  extending  also  across  the 
vallev  to  the  eastern  foot-hills  of  the  Coast  Ranfje.  These 
counties,  with  the  character  of  their  product  and  the  processes 
used  in  obtaining  it,  are  as  follows,  beginning  with  the  southern- 
most: I.  Inyo — silver  mines  in  veins  or  lodes,  mostly  in  Owen's 
valley  and  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Inyo  or  Buena  Vista 
Mountains,  one  of  the  parallel  ranges  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
from  twelve  to  tliirty  miles  southeast  of  the  head  of  Owen's  Lake. 
There  are  700  or  800  claims  here,  and  many  of  them  are  worked 
successfully. 

2.  Maidposa  county,  lying  on  the  western  slope  of  the  main 
range  of  the  Sierras,  and  having  the  famous  valley  of  the 
Yosemite  within  its  borders.  The  mines  are  mostly  in  the  west 
and  southwest  part  of  the  county,  and  the  greater  part  of  them, 
on  tlie  Mariposa  estate,  were  once  the  property  of  General 
Fremont.  Besides  these  there  are  the  Oaks  and  Reese  mines, 
which  are  largely  productive.  These  are  gold  only,  and  in  quartz 
veins. 

3.  TuobLinne  coimty,  lying  immediately  north  of  Mariposa  on 
the  western  slope  and  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra.  The  mines,  mostly 
gold,  though  there  are  a  few  silver,  and  all  in  veins  or  lodes,  are 
in  the  west  and  southwest  portion  of  the  county.  There  are 
somewhat  more  than  fifty  mines. 

4.  Calaveras  county,  situated  northwest  of  Tuolumne,  but  on 
the  same  ranije.  The  mines  are  scattered  throuijhout  the 
county.  There  are  many  gold  mines  in  quartz  veins,  and  exten- 
sive placers  (of  gold),  but  they  are  very  nearly  exhausted. 


MINING   IN    THE    COUNTIES.  erg 

5.  Amador  county,  immediately  north  of  Calaveras,  a  small 
county,  but  rich  in  gold  deposits.  It  has  twelve  or  fifteen  mines, 
mostly  in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  gold  in  quartz  veins, 
and  yielding-  well. 

6.  Eldorado  county,  the  county  in  which  gold  was  first  discov- 
ered. This  county  is  partly  in  the  Sacramento  valley,  and  is 
drained  by  one  of  the  affluents  of  the  Sacramento  river.  Tlie 
mines  (gold  in  quartz  veins),  w^hich  have  always  been  produc- 
tive, though  the  placers  have  long  since  given  out,  are  situated 
mostly  in  the  western  part  of  the  county.  There  are  a  dozen  or 
more  large  stamp  mills  and  a  greater  number  of  mines. 

7.  Placer  county,  north  and  northwest  of  Eldorado.  Lake 
Tahoe  is  mostly  in  this  county,  and  the  Central  Pacific  Railway 
traverses  the  entire  length  of  the  county  from  southwest  to 
northeast.  There  are  many  placers  and  large  deposits  in  the 
former  beds  of  what  are  known  as  "dead  rivers,"  which  are 
being  worked  by  the  process  of  hydraulic  mining.  There  are 
also  some  quartz  veins  which  yield  liberally.  The  product  is 
gold  exclusively.  There  are  about  forty  mines  and  placers  now 
worked. 

8.  Nevada  county,  north  of  Placer  county,  is  probably  the  richest 
of  all  the  counties  of  California  in  mineral  wealth.  Its  eold  mines 
and  placers,  many  of  them  very  rich,  are  scattered  all  over  the 
county.  Its  placer  gold  is  nearer  to  absolute  purity  than  that 
of  any  other  mines  or  placers  in  the  State.  Of  the  130  placers 
recorded,  the  gold  product  in  most  ranged  from  900  to  976 
(absolutely  pure  gold  being  1,000),  and  the  "You  Bet"  claim 
gold  assayed  994.  The  gold  from  the  thirty-seven  quartz  veins 
of  the  county  did  not  assay  quite  so  high,  but  ranged  from  798 
to  875. 

9.  Sierra  county,  north  of  Nevada  county,  is  noted  for  its 
hydraulic  mining.  Through  this  county,  on  a  ridge  one  or  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  adjacent  lands,  is  the  ancient  bed  of  a 
river,  which  the  miners  know  as  the  Big  Blue  Lead,  whose  sands, 
for  a  depth  of  five  or  six  feet  or  more,  and  for  a  distance  of 
probably  a  hundred  and  ten  miles,  were  rich  with  gold.  It  had 
been  upheaved  in  the  volcanic  changes  through  which  the  Sierras 


c5q  our   western  empire. 

have  passed,  and  wherever  Hving  streams  cross  its  ancient  bed 
with  their  deep  canons,  they  wash  down  rich  masses  of  gold  dust. 
The  miners  have  been  breaking  down  the  blue  gravel  of  this 
"dead  river"  bed  by  tunnels,  blasting,  and  the  hydraulic  pro- 
cess, for  the  past  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  and  have  reaped  a 
rich  harvest.  In  this  county  was  found,  in  August,  1869,  a  nugget 
of  gold  weighing  953^  pounds,  worth  ^21,156.52. 

10.  Yitba  county,  southwest  of  Sierra,  is  also  a  famous  county 
for  hydraulic  mining,  having  five  or  six  large  deposits  of  gold. 

1 1 .  Biitlc  county,  west  -of  Yuba,  has  many  quartz  veins  rich  in 
eold.     Seven  or  eicfht  lartre  mines  are  worked. 

12.  Pliunas  county,  north  of  Sierra,  has  in  the  eastern  and  cen- 
tral portions  of  the  county  fifteen  or  twenty  gold  mines,  seme  of 
them  hydraulic,  others  quartz  mines. 

1 3.  Alpine  county,  situated  on  the  extreme  eastern  border  of 
the  State,  on  the  crest  of  the  Sierras,  between  latitude  38°  20'  and 
38°  50'.  The  ores  here  are  sulphuretsand  antimonial  sulphurets; 
in  all  of  them  silver  predominates,  in  some  with  a  liberal  per- 
centage of  gold,  in  others  with  considerable  copper.  The  claims, 
which  are  very  numerous,  are  all  of  them  worked  by  opening 
adits  or  tunnels.  This  requires  more  capital  at  first,  but  is 
necessary  in  so  mountainous  a  region.  The  mines,  so  far  as 
developed,  yield  very  w^ell, — from  $40  to  $75  per  ton  of  ore, — 
thouofh  there  are  difficulties  in  the  reduction. 

14.  SJiasta  county,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  the  forty- 
first  parallel  passing  through  it,  has  deposits  and  quartz  veins  of 
gold  and  copper.  The  gold  mines  yield  either  free-milling  gold 
or  gold  combined  with  sulphurets  of  copper,  lead  or  zinc.  The 
mines,  eight  or  ten  in  number,  which  are  worked,  are  in  the 
western  part  of  the  county. 

15.  It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  the  western  slope  of 
the  Coast  Range  was  barren  of  ores  of  the  precious  metals,  but 
recent  developments  show  that  the  silver-bearing  ledges  arc 
found  there  as  well  as  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  same  range, 
or  on  bodi  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Los  Angeles  county, 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  on  the  coast,  has  hitherto  been 
regarded  as   the    finest    agricultural    county   in   the    State,   but 


TERR  ACE- MINING..  eg  I 

recently  there  have  been  discovered  extensive  veins  of  silver 
there,  and  numerous  mines  are  clustering  around  Silverado  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  county.  The  ore  is  argentiferous 
galena  (sulphurets  of  silver  and  lead),  and  the  assays  range  from 
$i8  to  ^200  per  ton. 

The  beach  deposits  of  Del  Norte,  Klamath  and  Humboldt 
counties  of  gold  in  iron  sands  are  not  simply  those  found  in  the 
sands  washed  by  the  tides,  and  which  are  common  to  all  coasts 
which  have  rivers  discharoinof  into  a  sea  or  ocean  from  oold- 
bearinof  mountains  ;  these  sands,  thoucrh  extendino-  ten  miles  out 
from  the  coast,  contain  gold  in  such  small  quantities,  as  hardly 
to  repay  the  labor  of  collection  ;  but  they  occur  in  terraces  or  old 
beaches  and  bluffs,  sometimes  two  or  three  miles  back  from  high- 
water  mark,  and  from  250  to  1,200  feet  above  the  sea.  In  these 
bluffs  or  terraced  beaches  are  extensive  layers  of  iron  sand,  rich 
in  gold,  and  varying  in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  three  or 
four  feet.  The  miners  call  this  terrace-minincf.  Several  of  these 
strata  have  been  discovered,  one  at  five  miles  below  Trinidad,  in 
Klamatli  county,  one  at  Crescent  Cit}',  in  Del  Norte  county,  one 
in  Humboldt  county,  and  one  at  Randolph,  Curry  county, 
Oregon.  These  terraces  indicate  either  an  upheaval  of  the 
coast  or  a  retrocrradlncf  of  the  ocean. 

The  falling  off  in  the  production  of  silver  in  the  Comstock 
lodes  of  Nevada  has  produced  a  reaction  in  favor  of  the  gold 
placer  and  quartz  mines  of  California,  and  there  is  at  the  present 
time  (August,  18S0)  a  greater  activity  in  gold  mining  in  Cali- 
fornia, than  at  any  time  for  the  last  fifteen  years.  All  the  gold 
mines  in  the  counties  named  above  have  been  reopened,  and  are 
now  actively  worked  with  a  greatly  increased  production  ;  more 
than  a  hundred  new  quartz  mills  have  been  erected  within  the 
past  year  and  a  half,  and  are  now  actively  at  work,  and  many 
new  mines  and  placers  have  been  opened  and  developed  in  the 
counties  which  have  previously  yielded  gold,  while  Trinity, 
Klamath,  Fresno,  San  Bernardino,  and  Mendocino  counties  are 
added  to  the  list  of  mining  counties.  It  is  confidently  predicted 
that  the  gold  yield  of  California,  in  iSSo,  will  be  much  greater 
than  in  any  year  since  1866. 
36 


c52  OUR     VVESTERX    KMriRE. 

Soils  and  Vegetation. — "  In  a  region  of  such  vast  extent,"  says 
Professor  E.  \V.  Hilgard,  "  traversed  by  mountain  ranges  formed 
of  rocks  of  all  kinds  and  ages,  there  is,  of  course,  an  endless 
variety  of  soils,  to  describe  all  of  which  would  exceed  our  limits, 
even  if  the  data  were  available.  Unfortunately  this  is  lar  from 
beine  the  case,  the  ofeolocrical  survev"  (of  which  Professor  Hil- 
gard  was  the  chief)  "having  paid  but  little  attention  to  the  ex- 
amination of  soils,  which,  it  is  true,  is  a  subject  requiring  special 
qualifications  and  care  on  the  part  of  the  observer  to  insure  use- 
ful results.  There  are,  however,  some  general  features  devel- 
oped on  a  large  scale  in  the  more  thickly  settled  parts  ot  the 
State,  a  brief  summary  of  which  may  find  an  appropriate  place 
here." 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  main  axis  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  is 
formed  by  granitic  rocks,  which  in  the  northern  portion  of  the 
range,  as  well  as  on  the  slopes,  are  usually  overlaid  by  clay 
slates  and  shales,  forming  the  proverbial  'bed-rock'  of  the  gold- 
placers  and  gravel-beds.  The  soil  derived  either  directly  from 
the  granites  or  from  the  older  portion  of  the  slatee — in  other 
words,  the  gold-bearing  soil  of  the  Sierra  slope — is  an  orange- 
colored  (commonly  called  '  red ')  loam,  more  or  less  clayey  or 
sandy  according  to  location,  and  greatly  resembles,  on  the  whole, 
the  older  portion  of  the  'yellow  loam  '  subsoil  of  the  Gulf  States. 
Of  course  it  contains  much  more  of  coarse  materials  in  the  shape 
of  undecomposed  rock,  and  its  sand-grains  are  sharp  instead  of 
rounded.  It  is  the  predominant  soil  of  '  the  foot-hills,'  and 
where  ridges  extend  from  these  out  into  the  Great  Valley,  they 
are  usually  characterized  by  the  red  tint,  which  gradually  fades 
out  as  the  ridges  flatten  into  swales  in  their  approach  to  the  San 
Joaquin  and  Sacramento  rivers,  being  lost  in  the  gray  or  black 
of  the  '  adobe,'  or  the  buff  of  the  river-sediment  soils.  Its  admix- 
ture is  everywhere,  I  believe,  found  to  be  advantageous  to  the 
other  soils ;  and  in  the  foot-hills  themselves  it  proves  to  be 
highly  productive,  as  well  as  durable,  easy  of  tillage,  and  what 
is  termed  a  '  warm  '  soil.  The  rocks  ot  the  lower  slope  of  the 
Sierra,  but  more  especially  those  of  the  Coast  Range  opposite, 
are   predominanUy  of   a  very   clayey  character,  soft   gray  clay 


THE   SOIL    OF   THE    VALLEYS.  r^^ 

shales  and  laminated  clays  alternating  with  ledges  of  soft  clay 
sandstone  and  brittle  hornstone.  1  heir  mechanical  and  chemi- 
cal decomposition  results,  therefore,  in  the  formation  of  gray, 
buff,  or  sometimes  almost  white  clay  soils,  which  occupy  the  hill- 
sides and  higher  portions  of  the  valleys,  while  in  the  lower  por- 
tions the  admixture  of  vegetable  matter,  especially  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  comparatively  large  amount  of  lime,  causes  them  to 
appear  dark,  and  often  coal-black.  These  soils  constitute  the 
'adobe,'  so  often  mentioned  in  connection  with  California  agri- 
culture. They  are  substantially  the  same,  both  as  to  tilling 
qualities  and  chemical  composition,  as  the  prairie  soils  of  the 
Western  and  Southern  States.  Like  these,  they  are  rich  in 
plant  food,  durable  and  strong,  yielding  the  highest  returns  of 
field  crops  in  favorable  seasons  and  under  good  culture,  but 
sensitive  to  extremes  of  wet  or  dry  seasons,  and  of  course  more 
in  cultivation,  as  well  as  more  liable  to  crop  failures,  than  lighter 
soils. 

"  During  the  dry  season  the  adobe  soil,  unless  it  has  been  very 
deeply  and  thoroughly  tilled,  becomes  conspicuous  by  the  wide 
and  deep  gaping  cracks  which  traverse  it  in  all  directions,  some- 
times to  a  depth  of  several  feet,  precisely  as  in  the  '  hog-wallow 
prairies'  of  the  Southwestern  States.  Of  course  the  effect  of 
rains  is  here  also  similar  in  causing  a  bulging  up  of  the  masses 
between  the  cracks  when  the  material  which  has  fallen  into  the 
latter  expands  forcibly  on  wetting.  Hence  the  'hog-wallow' 
surface  is  as  familiar  in  California  as  in  Texas  ;  and  the  fact  that 
a  traveller  outside  of  the  Sierras  in  the  dry  season  is  rarely  out 
of  sight  of  some  such  land  is  eloquent  as  to  the  wide  prevalence 
of  the  'adobe.'  On  the  steep  hillsides  of  the  Coast  Range  the 
sun-cracks  aid  in  giving  foothold  to  stock  ;  and  during  the  rainy 
season  the  water  runnin^:  into  them  to  the  bed-rock  causes 
numberless  land-slides,  such  as  gave  rise  to  the  memorable  case 
of  Hvde  vs.  Morq-an.  As  It  is  well  ascertained  that  at  a  former 
geological  period  the  entire  interior  valley,  as  well  as  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco,  was  fresh-water  lake  basins,  the  bulk  of  the  adobe 
soil  would  seem  to  represent  ancient  lake,  or  rather,  perhaps, 
swamp   deposits,   which   are   therefore    found    in   corresponding 


r54  OUR    IVES  TERN  EMPIRE. 

positions  in  most  of  the  connecting-  valleys.  On  the  bay  we  find 
usually  only  a  narrow  strip  of  sandy  soil  running-  along  the 
beach  ;  inland  of  this  a  level  belt  of  black  adobe  (or  at  times  salt 
marsh),  from  which  there  is  a  gradual  ascent  toward  the  foot  of 
the  Coast  Rano;e,  the  soil  becomine:  liofhtcr  colored  and  mingled 
widi  bowlders  and  rock  fragments.  The  nature  of  the  materials, 
as  well  as  the  form  of  portions  of  this  slope,  characterizes  them 
almost  inevitably  as  the  result  of  glacial  action. 

"The  peninsula  on  which  San  PVancisco  is  situated  is  overrun 
with  the  dune  sand  drifted  from  the  ocean  beach  for  a  distance 
oi  several  miles  south  from  the  Golden  Gate,  so  that  the  hxincr 
of  the  sand  and  its  conversion  into  soil  is  one  of  the  chief  prob- 
lems of  the  gardens  and  parks  of  that  city.  The  city  of  Oak- 
land, also,  is  situated  on  a  somewhat  sandy,  but  nevertheless 
quite  productive,  soil ;  and  land  of  a  similar  character,  but 
stronger  by  admixture  of  the  adobe,  yet  easily  tilled,  forms  the 
soil  of  the  fertile  valleys  in  the  plain  lying  between  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  bav  and  the  Coast  Rancre,  which  are  laro-ely  devoted 
to  market-gardens  and  fruit-culture,  and,  farther  from  the  cities, 
to  that  of  barley.  The  comparative  difficult)'  and  more  or  less 
of  uncertainty  attendant  upon  the  cultivation  of  the  adobe  soils, 
unless  very  thoroughly  tilled,  has  caused  a  preference  to  be  very  \ 
commonly  given  to  the  lighter  soils  found  nearer  to  the  streams, 
which  are  formed  of  a  mixture  of  the  adobe  with  the  river  sedi- 
ment, or,  nearest  the  water-courses,  of  that  sediment  alone.  It 
is  suggestive  of  the  character  of  the  majority  of  California 
streams  that  the  word  'bottom,'  used  east  of  the  mountains  to 
designate  the  v/ell-defined  flood-plain,  is  scarcely  heard  in  the 
State,  the  more  indefinite  and  general  term  'valley'  being  in 
general  use.  The  obvious  reason  is  that  there  is  in  most  cases 
no  very  definite  terrace,  but  a  rather  gradual  slope  from  the 
bank  to  the  bordering  hills.  The  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin 
hav;:  not,  as  a  rule,  raised  their  immediate  banks  perceptibly 
above  the  rest  of  the  flood-plain,  because  the  sediment  they 
carry  is  not  such  as  will  subside  at  the  slightest  diminution  of 
velocity,  but  is  apt  to  be  carried  some  distance  inland.  At  the 
points  of  its  upper  course  the  San   Joaquin,  and  in   the  lower 


THE    TULE    LANDS.  565 

portions  both  It  and  the  Sacramento,  subdivide  Into  numerous 
sloughs  traversing  wide  belts  of  more  or  less  marshy  flats,  sub- 
ject to  overflow,  and  covered  with  a  rank  growth  of  '  tule.' 
This  name  applies,  strictly  speaking,  to  the  round  rush  {Scirpus 
Lacustris),  which  occupies  predominantly  the  tide- water  marshes, 
here  as  well  as  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  farther  from  salt 
water,  however,  the  more  it  Is  Intermingled  with  (or  locally 
almost  replaced  by)  other  aquatic  grasses,  sedges,  and  cat-tail 
flag  [7ypha),  affording,  together  with  the  young  *  tule,'  excellent 
pasture  nearly  throughout  the  year.  Mere  as  elsewhere  in  such 
districts,  the  cattle  soon  acquire  the  art  of  keeping  themselves 
from  getting  bogged,  by  maintaining  a  sort  of  paddling  motion 
when  on  peaty  ground,  while  draught-horses  require  to  be  pro- 
vided with  broad  'tule-shoes.'  These  tule  lands,  embracing  a  large 
number  of  rich  and  partly  reclaimed  Islands,  such  as  Union, 
Brannan,  Sherman,  and  others,  forming  part  of  the  counties  of 
Sacramento,  San  Joaquin,  and  Solano,  continue  with  varying 
width  along  the  east  shores  of  Suisun  and  San  Pablo  bays,  and 
up  the  tributary  valleys  of  Napa,  Sonoma,  and  Petaluma,  nearly 
to  the  limit  of  tide-water.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  as  regards 
salubrity,  the  tules,  at  least  so  far  as  they  are  within  reach  of 
brackish  tide-water,  are  less  liable  to  malarious  fevers  than  the 
upper  portions  of  the  great  valleys. 

"  The  soil  of  the  tule  lands  is  of  two  principal  kinds :  sediment 
land,  found  chiefly  along  the  Sacramento  and  other  streams, 
carrying  much  'slum'  from  the  hydraulic  mines;  and  peaty  land, 
more  prevalent  along  the  San  Joaquin  and  its  branches.  The 
latter  kind  consists  almost  entirely  of  tule  roots,  in  various 
stages  of  freshness  and  decay,  to  a  depth  of  from  two  to  twenty 
and  more  feet;  in  the  latter  case  we  have  the  'float  land,'  which 
rests  on  the  water-table  and  rises  and  falls  more  or  less  with  it. 
Like  the  '  Prairie  Tremblante,'  near  New  Orleans,  It  often  trem- 
bles under  the  tread  of  man,  but  will  nevertheless  sustain  herds 
of  cattle  without  the  least  danger.  Its  bulges  forming  places  of 
refuee  for  them  in  time  of  hiofh  water.  An  excellent  fuel  has 
been  made  by  pulping  this  mass  and  forming  it  into  bricks  like 
true  peat. 


c65  ^^^    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

"  The  tiile  lands  were  long  thought  to  be  worthless  except  for 
pasture  purposes;  but  it  has  now  come  to  be  well  understood 
that  they  are  in  large  part  of  extraordinary  fertility,  and,  if  pro- 
tected from  overliovv  by  levees,  are  almost  sure  to  yield  abundant 
crops  every  year,  even  in  seasons  when  those  of  the  uplands 
fail  for  want  of  moisture.  In  their  reclamation  the  construction 
of  levees  is  of  course  the  first  thing  needful.  The  sediment  land 
can  then  be  taken  into  cultivation  at  once  by  the  use  of  large 
sod-plows,  resembling  the  prairie  plows  of  the  Western  States. 
It  is  usual  to  burn  off  the  rushes  and  native  grasses  previous  to 
plowing,  especially  in  the  peaty  lands  where  the  plow  would 
otherwise  find  no  soil.  But  here  the  fire  penetrates  several  feet 
down,  either  to  the  underlying  soil  or  to  moisture,  leaving  behind 
a  layer  of  ashes  so  light  that  the  plow  is  useless.  At  the  proper 
season  grain  is  then  sown  upon  the  ashes,  and  either  brushed  in 
or  trodden  in  by  sheep,  and  extraordinary  grain-crops  are  thus 
produced  during  the  first  years,  the  duration  of  fertility  depend- 
ing, of  course,  upon  the  soil  underlying  after  the  ashes  have 
been  exhausted.  The  tule  lands  bordering  upon  Tulare  lake 
are  of  a  different  character  from  those  of  the  lower  rivers.  The 
soil  is  heavy,  consisting  of  fine  sediments  mixed  with  gray  clay 
and  shell  debris,  contains  a  large  supply  of  plant  food,  and  v/ith 
proper  cultivation  will  doubtless  prove  as  highly  productive  as 
are  the  soils  of  the  Great  Tulare  plains  themselves. 

"  The  soils  of  the  Mojave  desert  seem  on  the  whole  to  be 
rather  light,  whitish  silts,  of  whose  possible  productiveness  little 
can  as  yet  be  said,  except  that  without  irrigation  culture  is  hope- 
less. In  striking  contrast  with  these  close  soils  of  the  San 
Joaquin  valley  are  those  which  prevail  south  of  the  Sierras,  San 
Fernando,  and  San  Gabriel,  in  the  Los  Angeles  plain  and  its 
tributary  valleys,  the  home  of  the  orange,  lemon,  and  olive  in 
their  perfection.  The  fine  rolling  uplands  ('  mesas ')  of  that 
region  are  generally  covered  with  a  brownish,  gravelly  loam, 
from  eight  to  twenty  feet  in  thickness,  which,  with  tillage,  assumes 
the  most  perfect  tilth  with  ease.  It  is  a  generous,  'strong'  soil, 
varying  locally  so  as  to  adapt  itself  to  every  variety  of  crop,  yet 
readily  identifiable  by  its  general  cl'iaracter  from  Los  Angeles  to 


ALKALI  SOIL.  567 

San  Diego.  In  most  respects  it  may  be  considered  a  variety  of 
the  red  soils  of  the  Sierra  slope  already  described,  like  which  it 
appears  to  be  pre-eminently  adapted  to  fruit  culture. 

"  The  soils  of  the  plain  to  seaward  of  Los  Angeles,  and  of  the 
coast  plains  south  ot  Santa  Barbara  generally,  so  far  as  not 
modified  by  the  sediments  of  the  streams,  seem  to  be  uniformly 
characterized  by  a  very  large  amount  of  glistening  mica  scales, 
distributed  in  a  rather  sandy,  dark-colored  mass,  destitute  of 
coarse  materials.  They  are  easily  cultivated  and  highly  pro- 
ductive when  irrigated,  although  not  unfrequently  afflicted  with 
a  certain  taint  of  '  alkali.'  This,  however,  when  not  too  strong 
or  salt,  is  here  readily  neutralized  by  the  use  of  gypsum. 

"'Alkali'  soil  is  the  name  used  in  California  to  desienate  any 
soil  containing  such  unusual  quantities  of  soluble  salts  as  to  allow 
them  to  become  visible  on  the  surface  during  the  dry  season,  as 
a  v^^hite  crust  or  efflorescence.  They  are  of  course  found  chiefly 
in  low,  level  regions,  such  as  the  Great  Valley,  and  the  plains  to 
seaward  of  the  Coast  Range  ;  sometimes  in  continuous  tracts  of 
many  thousands  of  acres,  sometimes  in  spots  so  interspersed 
with  non-alkaline  land  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  till  one  kind 
without  the  other.  The  nature  and  amount  of  salts  in  these 
soils  is  of  course  very  variable.  Near  the  coast  the  'alkali'  is 
often  little  more  than  common  salt,  and  can  be  relieved  only  by 
drainage  or  appropriate  culture.  At  times  we  find  chiefly 
mafrnesian  salts,  when  limino-  will  relieve  the  trouble.  But  in 
the  Great  Valley  the  name  'alkali'  is  in  most  cases  justified  by 
the  nature  of  the  salt,  which  almost  always  contains  more  or  less 
carbonate  of  soda,  and  sometimes  potassa.  The  presence  of 
these  substances,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  fourth  of  one  per  cent., 
while  it  may  do  but  little  harm  during  the  wet  season,  results  in 
their  accumulation  at  the  surface  whenever  the  rains  cease,  and 
the  corrosion  of  the  root-crown,  stunting,  and  final  death  of  the 
plants.  But  when  stronger,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  the  seed  is 
killed  durin^f  cfermination.  Moreover,  land  so  afflicted  cannot 
be  brought  to  good  tilth  by  even  the  most  thorough  tillage. 
Fortunately,  a  very  effectual  and  cheap  neutralizer  of  this,  the 
true  'alkali,'  is  available  in  the  form  of  gypsum,  which  transforms 


08  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  caustic  carbonates  into  innocent  sulphates.  Wherever  the 
amount  of  alkaH  present  is  not  excessive,  the  use  of  gypsum 
relieves  all  difficulties  arising  from  the  presence  of  the  former. 
Moreover,  analysis  shows  that  in  many  cases  large  amounts  of 
important  mineral  plant-fooel,  such  as  potash,  phosphates,  and 
nitrates,  accompany  the  injurious  substances  ;  so  that  when  the 
latter  are  neutralized,  the  previously  useless  soil  may  be  expected 
to  possess  extraordinary  and  lasting  fertility.  Abundant  deposits 
of  gypsum  have  been  shown  to  exist  in  many  portions  of  the 
State  since  attention  has  been  directed  to  its  importance  in  this 
connection. 

"  On  the  eastern  affluents  of  the  Sacramento  river,  the  Ameri- 
can, Bear,  Yuba,  Feather,  and  other  streams  heading  in  the 
region  wlicre  h)'draulic  mining  is  practised,  a  new  kind  of  soil  is 
now  being  fornied  out  of  the  materials  carried  down  from  the 
ofold-bearincr  travels.  The  enormous  masses  of  detritus  washed 
into  the  streams,  filling  their  upper  valleys  to  the  height  of  sixty 
feet  and  more  with  boulders  and  gravel,  while  a  muddy  flood  of 
the  finer  materials  overruns  the  valley  lands  in  their  lower  course, 
have  given  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  complaint  on  the  part  of 
farmers ;  and  the  '  mining  debris  question  '  has  been  the  subject 
of  numerous  lawsuits,  and  of  much  angry  debate  in  the  legislative 
halls.  In  some  cases  the  lands  so  overrun  are  definitively  ruined; 
in  others  the  new  soil  formed  is  of  fair  quality  in  itself,  but  as  yet 
unthrifty;  in  man)',  the  best  quality  of  black  adobe  is  covered 
many  feet  deep  with  an  unproductive  'slum,'  By  the  same 
agency,  the  beds  of  the  Sacramento  and  its  tributaries  have 
become  filled  to  such  an  extent  as  to  greatly  obstruct  navigation 
and  to  cause  much  more  frequent  overflows,  whose  deposit, 
however,  appears  to  improve,  in  general,  the  heavy  lands  of  the 
plain,  as  well  as  the  tules.  It  is  difficult  to  foresee  a  solution 
of  this  question  that  would  be  satisfactory  to  all  parties  con- 
cerned ;  the  more  as  the  navigation  of  the  bay  itself  is  begin- 
ning to  suffer  from  the  accumulation  of  deposit,  the  reddish 
sediment-bearing  waters  of  the  Sacramento  being  always  distin- 
guishable in  front  of  the  city  from  the  blue  water  brought  in  by 
the  tides." 


THE   MARIPOSA    GROVE    OF  SEQUOIAS.  569 

Much  of  the  soil  of  the  State,  especially  of  the  mountain  slopes, 
is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  growth  of  gigantic  forest  trees.  Of 
these  there  have  been  recognized  and  described  forty-eight 
genera  and  one  hundred  and  five  species  in  the  State,  the  greater 
part  of  which  are  not  only  indigenous  but  only  to  be  lound  on 
the  Pacific  slope.  Of  these  forty  species  are  evergreens,  found 
mostly  on  the  mountains  of  the  Coast  Range  and  the  Sierras. 
The  most  remarkable  of  these  are  the  two  species  of  Sequoia, 
Sequoia  gigantea,  or  mammotii  tree,  and  Sequoia  scvipervirens, 
or  California  Redwood.  Of  the  former  there  are  nine  groves 
known  in  the  State,  thouo^h  the  laro;-est  trees  have  been  felled 
by  the  barbarity  of  the  showmen,  who  could  not  be  contented 
without  despoiling  the  forests  of  their  monarchs,  the  growth  of 
thousands  of  years,  only  that  they  might  exhibit  their  own  mean- 
ness and  brutishness  for  a  miserable  pittance.  Some  of  these 
trees  were  more  than  450  feet  in  height,  with  a  circumference 
near  the  ground  of  not  less  than  i  20  feet.  The  giant  Eucalypti 
of  Australia  may  have  had  a  somewhat  greater  circumference, 
but  they  were  not  as  tall  as  these.  The  largest  now  standing 
is  said  to  be  376  feet  in  height  and  106  in  circumference. 

The  Mariposa  and  Calaveras  groves  are  the  best  known, 
thou'jh  not  the  largest,  of  these  collections  of  miq-hty  trees. 
Mr.  A.  R.  Whitehill,  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  who  has  recently 
visited  several  of  these  groves,  thus  describes  the  "Grizzly 
Giant,"  and  the  Mariposa  grove  in  that  paper: 

"The  principal  tree  in  the  grove  is  the  one  known  as  the 
'  Gri-^zly  G'ant,'  and  the  eye  and  sense  of  the  spectator  are  at 
once  bewildered  at  the  size  of  its  mighty  proportions.  At  the 
base  of  this  tree  the  carriage  road  stops,  and  the  trail  for  horses 
begins.  Carefully  measuring  the  circumference  with  a  line  car- 
ried for  that  purpose,  we  found  it  to  be  over  ninety-diree  feet  at 
the  base,  and  this  not  counting  the  burnt-away  portions,  which 
would  have  made  the  total  still  greater.  We  measured  thirty- 
one  feet  as  the  diameter.  At  the  base  were  five  openings,  any 
one  of  which  seemed  large  enough  for  die  accommodation  of  a 
camping  party;  and  immediately  around  these  the  bark  was 
gone,     ['"roni   the  ground  to  a  height  of  about  eleven   feet  the 


-~o  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

tree  contracted  perceptibly;  then,  perfectly  round,  it  shot  up 
with  scarcely  a  change  to  the  lowest  limbs,  which  were  fully  lOO 
feet  from  the  ground.  On  one  side  were  about  ten  limbs,  vary- 
ini^  from  two  to  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  on  the  other  about 
twelve  almost  as  large.  The  largest  limb  was  probably  i  50  feet 
from  the  ground,  ami  this  was  fully  twenty  feet  in  circumference 
where  it  left  the  trunk.  Shooting  out  in  a  straight  line  for  a 
distance  of  thirty  feet  or  more,  it  curved  then  suddenly  upward 
in  a  perpendicular  direction,  and,  at  a  distance  of  seven Ly-five 
feet  more,  was  lost  in  the  upper  foliage.  Secondary  branches, 
as  lar<re  as  a  full-orown  eastern  oak,  shot  out  from  this  primary 
branch  as  a  trunk,  and  there  again  produced  other  branches,  to 
the  third  and  fourth  generation.  Some  of  these  branches  were 
decayed  ;  some  were  moss-covered  ;  some  were  in  the  full  vigor 
of  their  extraordinary  growth.  The  top  of  the  tree  seemed  to 
have  been  broken  off,  perhaps  by  ligluning;  and  the  appearance 
of  the  whole  was  that  of  a  war-worn  veteran  of  the  Sierra. 

"  It  was  near  dusk  when  we  had  finished  our  inspection  of  this 
mighty  tree.  We  were  over  a  mile  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  six  miles  from  our  stopping-place  for  the  night.  Still  we 
lingered.  Although  it  was  then  June,  yet  the  eternal  snows  of 
the  mountains  w^ere  everywhere  around  us,  and,  as  the  huge 
banks  and  drifts  stretched  away  off  in  the  distance,  the  melting 
power  of  heat  and  the  elements  was  on  every  side  defied.  Not 
a  weed  or  blade  of  grass  relieved  the  monotony  of  the  view;  not 
the  chirping  of  an  insect  or  the  twittering  of  a  bird  was  heard. 
The  solemn  stillness  of  the  night  added  a  weird  grandeur  to  the 
scene.  Now  and  then  a  breath  of  wind  stirred  the  topmost 
branches  of  the  pines  and  cedars,  and,  as  they  swayed  to  and  fro 
in  the  air,  the  music  was  like  that  of  Ossian,  'pleasant,  but 
mournful  to  the  soul.'  There  were  sequoias  on  every  side 
almost  twice  as  high  as  the  Falls  of  Niagara  ;  there  were  pines 
rivaling  the  dome  ot  the  Capitol  at  Washington  in  grandeur; 
there  were  cedars  to  whose  tops  the  monument  of  Bunker  Hill 
would  not  have  reached.  There  were  trees  which  were  in  the 
full  viiror  of  manhood  before  America  itself  was  discovered ; 
there  were  others  which  were  yet  old  belore  Charlemagne  was 


THE    GIANT   TREES   OF  MARIPOSA.  r^I 

born  ;  there  were  others  still  f^rowinof  when  the  Saviour  himself 
was  on  the  earth.  There  were  trees  which  had  witnessed  the 
winds  and  storms  of  twenty  centuries;  there  were  others  which 
would  endure  long  after  countless  generations  of  the  future 
would  be  numbered  with  the  past.  There  were  trees  crooked 
and  short  and  massive  ;  there  were  others  straieht  and  tall  and 
slender;  there  were  pines  whose  limbs  were  as  finely  propor- 
tioned as  those  of  the  Apollo  Belvidere ;  there  were  cedars 
whose  beauty  was  not  surpassed  in  their  counterparts  of  Leba- 
non ;  there  were  firs  whose  graceful  foliage  was  like  the  fabled 
locks  of  the  gods  of  ancient  story.  It  was  a  picture  in  nature  \ 
which  captivated  the  sense  at  once  by  its  grandeur  and  extent; 
and,  as  we  drove  back  through  six  miles  of  this  forest  luxuri- 
ance, with  the  darkness  fallino-  about  us  like  a  black  curtain  from 
the  h(;avens,  and  the  mighty  canons  of  the  Sierra  sinking  away 
from  our  pathway  like  tlie  openings  to  another  world,  tlum  it 
was  not  power,  but  majesty  ;  not  beauty,  but  sublimity  ;  not  the 
natural,  but  the  supernatural,  which  seemed  above  us  and 
before  us." 

The  Sequoia  sempervirens,  or  Redwood,  is  a  very  stately  tree, 
attaining  a  height  of  300  feet  and  a  circumference  of  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  feet.  It  is  the  most  valuable  timber-tree  of  Cali- 
fornia, but  is  fast  disappearing,  being  confined  to  the  upper  por- 
tion of  the  Coast  Range,  not  appearing  below  San  Luis  Obispo 
and  but  sparingly  below  San  Francisco,  and  disappearing  entirely 
when  h-lled,  being  replaced  by  other  trees.  Its  gioantic  congener 
docs  not  appear  on  the  Coast  Range,  but  is  confined  to  four  or 
five  counties  along  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierras.  Both  of 
these-  trees  belong  to  the  cedar  family.  The  sugar  pine  {Pinus 
Lambcrtiana)  is  almost  the  peer  of  the  Redwood  in  size  and 
commercial  value.  Its  wood  is  white,  straioht-irrained,  clear  and 
free-splitting.  Its  height  is  sometimes  300  feet,  and  its  ciic  i:m- 
ference  forty-five  feet.  It  has  cones  eighteen  inches  long  and 
four  thick  ;  a  sweetish,  resinous  gum  exudes  from  the  harder 
portion  of  the  wood,  tasting  much  like  manna,  and  liaving  cathar- 
tic properties.  There  are  fifteen  other  species  of  pine,  of  which 
the  finest  are  the  Pimis  pondci'osa,  or  yellow  pine,  225  feet  lu'gh, 


.^2.  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Piiuis  Sah'uiiana,  Sabine's  or  nut  pine,  which  has  an  edible  cone 
or  nut,  much  vakiecl  by  the  hidians,  and  PlUks  insignis,  or  Mon- 
terey pine.  I'his  and  the  yellow  pine  arc  siinihir  to  our  yellow 
and  pitch  pines  at  the  East,  and  are  in  demand  for  flooring  pur- 
poses. The  other  species  of  pines  rise  from  30  to  100  feet 
in  height,  but  are  not  so  much  prized.  There  are  six  species  of 
true  fir,  one  of  them,  Abies  Doiiglasii,  Douglas's  spruce,  being 
300  feet  in  height,  and  three  of  the  others,  stately  trees,  100  feet 
or  more  in  height;  the  western  balsam  fir,  Flcea  gnindis,  grows 
to  the  height  of  i  50  feet. 

The  California  white  cedar — Liboccdnis  dccnrrcns — grows 
to  the  height  of  140  or  150  feet.  There  are  also  four  species  of 
cypress,  three  of  juniper,  two  of  arbor-vitx,  and  one  of  yew — 
Taxiis  brevifolia — which  attains  the  height  of  seventy-five  feet. 
The  wild  nutmeg — Torrcya  Califoiiiica — the  California  laurel — 
Oreodaphne  Californica — the  madrona — Arbtitus  Menziesii — and 
the  manzanita — Arctostaphylos  glaiica — are  all  beautiful  ever- 
o-reens.  There  are  twelve  species  of  oak,  two  of  them  ever- 
green  or  live  oaks,  the  rest  deciduous.  The  burr  oak — Oucrais 
vmcrocarpa? — is  the  largest  of  these,  but  its  wood,  like  most  of 
the  others,  is  principally  valuable  for  fuc;l.  The  Qucrais  Garry- 
ana,  sometimes  called  white  oak,  though  not  a  large  tree,  has  a 
dense,  fine-grained  wood,  used  for  making  agricultural  imple- 
ments. There  is  one  of  the  chestnut  family,  the  Western  chin- 
quapin, a  fine  tree,  sometimes  attaining  a  height  ot  125  feet. 
There  arc  four  acacias,  thorny  enough  ;  three  poplars,  or  cotton- 
woods,  one  very  large  ;  two  alders  ;  the  Mexican  sycamore  ;  one 
species  of  walnut — yiiglans  riLpcstris — a  fine  tree  ;  three  species 
of  doo-wood  or  Cornel,  all  differiuLT  from  the  Eastern  doowoods ; 
four  wild  li.lacs ;  two  wild  cherries,  both  shrubs;  two  maples — 
Acer  inacs'ophylhini — a  large  and  beautiful  tree — and  Acer  circi- 
natiun — the  vine  maple,  a  smaller  tree,  found  onb;  in  tlie  moun- 
tains. Tiu-re  are  three  yuccas,  two  species  of  willow,  a  box 
elder,  an  Oregon  ash,  and  the  fiowcring  ash,  which  is  not  a  true 
ash,  one  species  of  buckeye,  one  of  iron  wood,  a  Parkinsonia  or 
i>reenwood,  small  but  elesfant ;  two  or  more  species  of  cactus,  a 
native   persimmon,  and  the  valuable  Japanese  species ;  the  pis- 


CALIFORNIA    TREES,    SHRUBS  AXD     GRASSES.  573 

tachio-nut  and  many  species  of  semi-tropical  trees  which  are 
unknown  elsewhere.  The  shrubs  and  small  fruits  are  numerous, 
but  the  cultivation  of  these  and  of  grapes  and  edible  nuts  and 
berries  belongs  rather  to  liorticulture.  There  are  many  medi- 
cinal plants  and  shrubs,  some  of  them  possessing  very  valuable 
qualities.  Grasses  are  very  numerous,  and  some  of  them  highly 
nutritious,  but  they  are  nearly  all  annuals,  and  except  in  the 
foggy  regions  along  the  northwestern  coast,  there  are  hardly 
any  native  grasses  which  will  make  a  sod  or  which  are  adapted 
for  hay.  The  greater  part  of  the  State  is  entirely  destitute  of 
anything  like  a  permanent  sod,  and  aside  from  the  wild  oat 
{^Avaia  safiva),  the  wild  barley  {^Hordeinn  jubahtm),  the  burr 
clover  [Afcdicago  deiitiaila^a)  and  four  or  five  species  of  native 
clovers,  which  are  annuals,  and  are  cured  by  the  sun  at  the 
beginning  of  the  dry  season,  but  form  for  a  time  good  pasturage, 
the  farmer  and  stock-raiser  is  compelled  to  rely  on  Alfalfa  and 
the  forage  grasses  and  cereals,  Hungarian,  German,  and  pearl 
millet,  Egyptian  rice-corn  or  Dhurra,  oats,  wheat,  rye,  sor- 
ghum as  a  forage  plant,  etc.,  for  late  feeding  of  his  stock. 

Wild  flowers  abound  in  California,  many  of  them  those  highly 
prized  by  florists  elsewhere,  of  remarkable  beauty  of  form  and 
color,  and  some  of  them  exceedingly  fragrant.  The  lily  and 
syringa  families,  many  of  them  shrubs  and  even  trees,  and  con- 
spicuous alike  for  beauty  and  fragrancy,  are  found  growing  wild 
and  filling  the  air  for  long  distances  with  their  perfume.  Of 
cryptogamous  plants,  the  quantity  and  variety  is  almost  without 
limit.  One  hundred  species  of  mosses  have  been  described, 
and  the  mushrooms,  seaweeds,  lichens  and  fungi  are  still  more 
abu.i-iant. 

Zodlo<^y. — There  are  115  species  of  mammalia  in  California, 
of  which  twenty-seven  are  carnivorous,  including  the  grizzly, 
black,  and  brown  or  Mexican  bear,  the  raccoon,  badger,  two 
species  of  skunk,  the  wolverine  fisher,  American  sable  or  mar- 
ten, mink,  yellow-cheeked  weasel.  California  otter  and  sea  otter, 
the  cougar,  jaguar,  wild  cat,  red  lynx  and  banded  lynx,  raccoon 
fox  or  mountain  cat,  gray  wolf,  coyote  or  barking  w^olt  (this 
differs  somewhat  from  the  prairie  wolf,  and  is  becoming  annoy- 


f.y.  OCR    IVESl^ERN  EMPIRE. 

ingly  abundant  in  the  State,  preying  upon  lambs,  younor  pigs, 
fowls,  etc.),  five  species  of  fox,  three  or  four  species  of  sea-lion, 
two  species  of  seal,  and  the  sea-elephant.  The  larger  and  more 
formidable  of  these  carnivora  are  becoming  rare  in  the  State 
except  in  some  of  the  more  sparsely  inhabited  counties ;  the 
grizzly  and  other  bears  are  found  in  the  mountains,  but  the 
felidce,  especially  the  cougar,  jaguar,  and  the  lynxes  are  rare, 
and  the  gray  wolf  is  not  often  found  near  the  setdements. 

Of  the  insect  eaters,  there  are  two  moles,  two  shrews,  and  six- 
teen species  of  bats.  Of  the  rodents,  there  are  the  beaver,  the 
sewellel  or  mammoth  mole,  five  species  of  ground-squirrels, 
pests  which  multiply  by  the  million  and  levy  their  assessments 
upon  the  grain  crop,  often  carrying  off  half  the  crop  and  riddling 
the  stacks  and  sacks  of  grain,  and  even  finding  their  way  into 
the  barns  and  storehouses.  There  are  also  five  species  of  tree- 
squirrels,  more  harmless  in  their  character.  Of  the  mouse  family 
there  are  eighteen  species,  including  three  naturalized  ones. 
The  musk-rat,  jumping  mouse,  four  species  of  kangaroo  mice, 
and  five  of  gophers,  a  pest  almost  as  destructive  of  trees,  shrubs, 
and  plants  as  the  squirrel  is  of  the  grain.  There  is  a  yellow- 
haired  porcupine,  six  species  of  hares  and  rabbits,  some  of  them 
peculiar  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  a  coney  or  rat-rabbit.  Of 
ruminants,  there  are  tlie  elk,  the  white-tailed,  black-tailed,  and 
mule-deer,  the  American  antelope,  the  mountain  goat  or  goat- 
antelope,  and  the  big-horn  or  mountain  sheep. 

Of  the  cetacea,  as  well  as  of  the  sea-fishes,  California  claims 
jusdy  all  that  are  found  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  within  the 
bounds  of  the  United  States,  possibly  excluding  Alaska.  This 
includes  the  right  and  the  California  gray  whale,  the  hump-back 
and  fin-back,  two  of  the  beaked  whales,  die  sperm  whale,  the 
black  fish  and  three  species  of  porpoise. 

Of  birds  there  are  350  species  or  more,  recognized  as  natives 
of  California.  There  are  twenty  species  of  climbers,  fifteen  of 
them  wood-peckers ;  of  birds  of  prey  there  are  thirty-seven 
species,  including  five  of  the  eagle  family,  ten  species  of  buzzard- 
hawks,  four  hawks  and  four  falcons  ;  twelve  species  of  owls  ;  the 
king  of  the  vultures,  and  the  turkey-buzzard,  or  turkey-vulture. 


OBJECTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  CALIFORNIA.  j-jr 

There  are  eleven  species  of  perchers  in  tlie  first  group,  including 
the  crows,  ravens,  magpies,  jays,  and  king-fishers;  148  species 
in  the  second  and  third  groups,  the  insectivorous  and  granivor- 
ous  perchers,  including  the  fiy-catchers,  humming-birds,  swallows, 
wax-wings,  shrikes,  tanagers,  robins  and  thrushes,  wrens,  chicka- 
dees, grosbeaks,  finches,  linnets,  larks,  orioles,  and  sparrows. 
There  are  but  three  species  of  pigeons,  the  band-tailed  pigeon, 
and  the  turtle  and  ground-doves.  Of  grouse  there  are  the  blue 
grouse,  sage-cock,  prairie-hen,  and  ruffed  grouse,  and  three  new 
species  of  quail.  The  waders  are  numerous,  fifty-one  species 
having  been  described.  These  include  cranes,  herons,  bitterns, 
ibises,  plover,  kill-deer,  avocets,  snipes,  sandpipers,  curlews,  rails 
and  coots.  Of  swimmers  over  ninety  species  have  been  de- 
scribed, including  many  species  of  geese,  brant,  teal,  ducks, 
scooters,  coots,  sheldrakes,  mergansers,  pelicans,  cormorants, 
albatrosses,  fulmars,  petrels,  gulls,  terns,  loons,  clippers,  auks, 
sea-pigeons  and  murres. 

Of  the  fishes,  about  240  species  have  been  discovered  in  the 
lakes,  bays,  rivers,  and  on  the  sea-coast  of  California,  of  which 
more  than  200  are  edible.  These  include  nine  species  of  the 
salmon  family,  four  of  the  cod  family,  a  dozen  eels,  seven  or 
eight  species  of  mackerel;  numerous  species  of  the  perch  family 
and  the  allied  genera ;  two  tautogs,  viz.,  the  red-fish  and  the 
kelp-fish;  fifteen  flat  fish  and  flounders;  nine  species  of  shad, 
herring  and  anchovies,  two  of  them  introduced  from  the  East; 
twenty-two  carps,  and  thirty-five  species  of  cartilaginous  fishes, 
sturgeons,  sharks,  rays,  sun -fish,  etc.,  etc. 

There  are  sixty  species  of  mollusks,  including  a  great  variety 
of  clams,  oysters,  mussels,  scollops,  whelks,  limpets,  sea-snails, 
cuttle-fish,  squids,  nautiluses,  etc.,  etc.  Of  crustaceans  there  are 
eight  or  ten  species,  including  crabs,  king-crabs,  lobsters,  shrimps 
and  craw-fish.  Of  the  reptiles  there  are  great  numbers,  though 
there  are  no  true  saurians  (alligators  or  crocodiles),  except  in 
the  Colorado  river  on  the  southeast  border  of  the  State.  There 
are  three  species  of  tortoise,  possibly  some  terrapins,  thirty-one 
lizards,  five  ratde-snakes,  twenty-five  species  of  harmless  snakes, 
twenty-three  frogs,  several  toads,  horned  toads,  salamanders,  etc. 


^-5  O^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Objects  of  Interest  and  Wonder. — First  among-  these  is  the  far- 
famed  valley  of  the  Yosemite,  known  everywhere  as  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  The  best  and  most  accurate  and  satis- 
factory description  of  this  wonderful  valley  ever  written  is  that 
from  the  pen  of  Josiah  D.  Whitney,  LL.  D.,  State  Geologist  of 
California,  and  a  member  of  the  National  Academy  of  Science. 
This  description,  slightly  condensed,  we  give  below: 

"  The  word  Yosemite  means  '  a  full-grown  grizzly  bear,'  and 
was  not  the  aboriginal  name  of  the  valley  itself,  but  that  of  a 
noted  chief  of  the  tribe  inhabiting  it.  The  present  Indian  name 
of  the  Yosemite  is  said  to  be  Ah-wah-nee. 

"The  Yosemite  valley  is  situated  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  of 
California,  about  150  miles  in  a  direct  line  a  little  south  of  east 
from  San  Francisco,  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  State  of  Califor- 
nia, north  and  south,  and  about  midway  between  the  east  and 
west  bases  of  the  Sierra,  which  is  here  not  far  from  seventy  miles 
in  width.  It  is  a  level  area,  about  six  miles  in  length,  and  from 
half  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  width,  and  is  sunk  nearly  a  mile  in  depth 
below  the  general  level  of  the  adjacent  region.  It  has  ver}^ 
much  the  character  of  a  SToree  or  trough,  hollowed  in  the  moun- 
tains  in  a  direction  nearly  at  ri'dit  angles  to  their  i^eneral  trend. 
This  gorge  has  not  a  regular  form,  but  while  its  general  direc- 
tion remains  nearly  the  same,  its  sides  advance  and  retreat,  with 
angular  projections  and  recesses,  thus  giving  a  great  variety  of 
outline  to  the  enclosing  masses.  The  river  Merced,  which  rises 
in  the  Sierra,  some  fifteen  miles  higher  up  than  the  head  of  the 
valley,  in  the  group  of  mountains  of  which  Mount  Lycll  is  the 
doniinating  peak,  runs  through  the  Yosemite  with  many  graceful 
windings,  and  gives  rise  at  the  head  of  the  valley  to  the  remark- 
able waterfalls,  which  will  be  noticed  farther  on.  Two  branches 
of  the  main  Merced  also  enter  the  valley  near  its  head;  one,  the 
Tenaya  Fork,  which  rises  in  a  beautiful  mountain  lake  of  the 
same  name,  comes  in  from  the  northeast;  the  other,  the  Illilou- 
ette,  enters  from  the  south.  These  tributaries  join  the  Merced 
through  deep  canons,  as  the  mountain  irorees  in  the  Sierra  are 
always  called;  but  there  are  several  other  smaller  streams  which 
also  enter  the  valley,  leaping  over  its  walls,  anci  giving  rise  in 


THE    y OS E MITE    VALLEY.  577 

almost  every  instance,  to  interesting-  falls ;  which,  however,  are 
not  in  general  of  any  great  size,  except  during  the  early  part  of 
the  season,  when  the  snow  upon  the  adjacent  mountains  is 
melting, 

"  The  pleasure-seeking  traveller,  who  visits  the  Yosemitc,  does 
not  confine  his  explorations  to  the  valley  proper,  but  from  vari- 
ous commanding  points  adjacent  to  it  obtains  a  great  variety  of 
views  of  the  groups  of  peaks  which  form  the  crest  of  the  Sierra 
in  that  region,  as  well  as  of  the  spurs  which  extend  down  from 
the  main  range,  or  stretch  along  parallel  with  it.  Thus  a  jour- 
ney to  the  Yosemite  properly  includes  a  tour  around  its  exterior, 
or  at  least  one  or  more  visits  to  prominent  points  of  view  above 
it,  from  which  the  observer  cannot  only  look  directly  down  into 
the  depths  of  the  valley  below  him,  but  also  command  a  variety 
of  views  of  lofty  and  in  part  snow-clad  ranges,  which  ofler  among 
themselves  most  remarkable  contrasts  of  form  and  structure. 

"  In  noticing  the  details  of  the  scenery  of  the  Yosemite,  the 
valley  proper  may  first  be  considered.  The  prominent  features 
here  are :  the  great  elevation  of  the  w^alls  which  enclose  it ;  the 
remarkable  approach  to  verticality  in  these  walls ;  their  great  ■ 
height  and  their  wonderful  variety  and  beauty  of  form.  To 
these  features  may  also  be  added  the  attractions  of  the  mag- 
nificent waterfalls  which  occur  at  various  points  on  both  sides  of 
the  valley,  although  these,  as  already  noticed,  must  be  seen  early 
in  the  season  in  order  that  the  traveller  may  be  gready  im- 
pressed by  them.  In  entering  the  Yosemite  by  the  roads  which 
approach  it  from  the  lower  end,  the  visitor  notices  that  he  has 
before  him  a  valley  of  a  different  type  of  form  from  those  he 
has  before  been  accustomed  to  see.  He  passes  from  a  V-shaped 
gorge  or  canon  into  one  which  may  be  fairly  called  U-shaped, 
since  its  walls  rise  almost  vertically  from  its  fioor.  This  change 
of  form  is  strikingly  impressed  on  the  visitor  as  he  approaches 
what  may  be  called  the  gateway  of  the  Yosemite.  Here  he 
sees  before  him,  on  the  north  side  of  the  valley,  the  mass  of 
rock  called  El  Capitan,  and  exactly  opposite  the  Bridal  Veil  and 
Cathedral  Rocks.  At  this  point  the  distance  across  the  valley  is 
only  a  mile,  measured  from  the  summit  of  the  Bridal  Veil  Rock 

Z7 


r-8  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

to  that  of  El  Capitan,  and  at  the  base  of  these  chffs  there  Is  only 
just  room  for  the  river  to  pass.  El  Capitan  is  an  immense 
block  of  granite  projecting  squarely  out  into  the  valley,  and 
prcs(;nting  two  almost  vertical  faces,  which  meet  in  a  sharp  edge 
3.300  feet  in  perpendicular  elevation.  The  sides  or  walls  of  this 
mass  are  bare,  smooth  and  entirely  destitute  of  vegetation.  It 
is  doubtful  if  anywhere  in  the  world  there  is  presented  so 
squarely  cut,  so  lofty  and  so  imposing  a  face  of  rock.  On  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  valley  is  the  grand  mass  of  the  Cathedral  Rocks, 
divided  into  two  parts  by  a  deep  notch  between  them.  The 
most  striking  face  of  the  larger  Cathedral  Rock  is  turned  up 
the  valley,  but  on  the  side  facing  the  entrance  there  is  a  feature 
of  great  beauty,  namely,  the  Bridal  Veil  Falls,  made  by  the  creek 
of  the  same  name,  which,  as  it  enters  the  valley,  descends  in  a 
vertical  sheet  of  630  feet  perpendicular,  striking  there  a  pile  of 
debris,  down  which  it  rushes  in  a  series  of  cascades,  with  a  vertica^ 
descent  of  nearly  300  feet  more,  the  total  height  of  the  fall  being 
900  feet.  This  creek  flows  through  the  entire  year,  but  the  fall 
is  only  great  when  the  amount  of  water  is  near  its  maximum. 
When  the  stream  is  neither  too  full  nor  too  low,  the  mass  of  water, 
in  its  fall,  vibrates  with  the  varying  pressure  of  the  wind  blowing 
in  the  daytime  up  the  valley  in  the  most  beautiful  and  remark- 
able manner.  It  is  this  fluttering  and  waving  of  the  sheet  of 
water  which  has  given  it  the  poetic  but  somewhat  fanciful  name 
it  now  bears,  that  of  the  Indians  having  been  Po/iono,  a  term 
having  reference,  it  is  said,  to  the  chilliness  of  the  air  under  the 
hio'h  cliff  and  near  the  fallin^r  waters.  There  is  also  a  charmincr 
fall  in  a  deep  square  recess  of  the  rocks  opposite  the  Bridal 
Veil,  and  just  below  El  Capitan.  This  fall,  which  is  over  1,000 
feet  hieh,  is  called  the  Virgin's  Tears.  It  runs,  however,  but  a 
short  time  during  the  early  summer  months. 

"Passing  up  the  valley  after  entering  between  the  Cathedral 
Rocks  and  El  Capitan,  the  level  area  or  river-bottom  increases 
to  nearly  half  a  mile  in  width.  This  area  is  broken  up  into 
small  meadows,  gay  with  flowers  in  the  early  summer,  and 
sandier  regions  on  which  grow  numerous  pitch-pinos,  and  some 
oaks,  cedars  and  firs.     The  walls  of  the  valley  continue  lofty  and 


THE    YO SEMITE    VALLEY.  5-0 

broken  into  the  most  picturesque  forms.  Of  these  the  Three 
Brothers  and  the  Sentinel  Roclc  are  the  most  conspicuous. 
Nearly  opposite  the  Sentinel  Rock  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
features  of  the  Yosemite>  namely,  the  fall  made  by  the  descent 
of  Yosemite  creek  down  the  wall  on  the  north  side  of  the  valley. 
The  vertical  elevation  of  the  edge  of  this  fall  is  2,600  feet,  but 
the  descent  is  not  in  one  unbroken  sheet.  There  is  first  a 
verdcal  fall  of  1,500  feet,  then  a  descent  of  626  feet  in  a  serie.'^ 
of  cascades,  and  finally  one  plunge  of  400  feet  on  to  a  low  talus 
of  rocks  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice.  The  body  of  water  is  not 
large,  and  it  decreases  considerably  as  the  season  advances,  be- 
coming very  small,  in  ordinary  years,  by  the  end  of  August. 
The  width  of  the  stream  in  June  and  July  is  usually  about  twenty 
feet,  and  its  depth  about  two  feet.  The  beauty  and  grandeur  of 
this  fall,  how^ever,  taken  in  connection  with  the  majesty  of  its  sur- 
•roundines,  o"ive  it  a  claim  to  be  ranked  amontr  the  most  remark- 
able  natural  objects  in  the  world.  There  are  certainly  very  few 
waterfalls  which  can  compete  with  it. 

"At  the  head  of  the  valley  the  falls  of  the  Merced  river  are  of 
great  interest.  There  are  two  of  them  with  beautiful  interven- 
ing rapids.  The  lower  one  is  called  the  Vernal  Fall,  and  is 
about  400  feet  in  vertical  height.  The  upper,  the  Nevada  Fall, 
is  about  600  feet  in  elevadon.  The  body  of  water  in  these  falls 
is  large,  and  the  effect  very  grand.  As  the  Merced  river  is  fed 
by  melung  snows  high  up  in  the  Sierra,  the  amount  of  water  is 
not  so  much  diminished  toward  the  end  of  the  season  as  it  is  in 
the  case  of  the  smaller  creeks  heading  at  an  inferior  elevadon  ; 
thus  the  falls  of  the  Merced  usually  remain  extremely  picturesque 
and  attractive  objects  during  the  whole  summer. 

"The  dome-shaped  masses  of  granite  which  characterize  the 
vicinity  of  the  Yosemite  are  also  extremely  grand.  The  North 
Dome,  on  the  nordi  side  of  the  valley,  lends  itself  to  beautilul 
combinations  of  scenery,  as  seen  froni  various  points  a  little 
above  the  Yosemite  Falls.  The  Sendnel  Dome,  on  die  opposite 
side,  is  not  visible  from  the  valley  itself,  but  it  affords  a  magnifi- 
cent view^  from  its  summit  of  the  valley  and  its  surroundings, 
and  especially  of   the    high    Sierras.     A   projecting   cliff  called 


ego  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE.      . 

Glacier  Point,  a  little  lower  than  this,  and  just  on  the  edge  of 
the  valley,  is  also  much  visited  for  the  sake  of  the  grand  view 
which  it  offers  of  the  whole  region,  but  especially  on  account  of 
its  favorable  situation  with  reference  to  the  Half-Dome,  of  which 
it  commands  a  most  wonderful  view.  The  rock  thus  named  is 
the  highest  point  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Yosemite,  rising 
to  an  elevation  of  4,737  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the 
valley.  The  Half-Dome  has  the  appearance  of  having  been 
orio-inally  a  dome-shaped  mass  which  has  been  split  into  two 
parts,  one  of  which  has  sunk  down  and  disappeared;  hence  the 
name.  It  fronts  the  Valley  of  the  Tenaya  fork  of  the  Merced 
with  a  very  steep  slope,  crowned  by  a  vertical  wall  of  fully  1,600 
feet  in  elevation,  forming  together  a  mass  of  rock  of  the  most 
astonishing  form  and  imposing  magnitude.  Arrangements  are 
now  made  by  which  this  Half-Dome,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  the 
South  Dome,  may  itself  be  ascended.  It  is  a  weary  climb,  pos-' 
sible  only  by  the  aid  of  a  rope  of  great  strength  fastened  to  the 
rock  by  iron  staples  every  fifteen  feet,  by  which  the  climber 
works  his  way,  hand  over  hand,  for  about  1,500  feet;  but  the 
view  at  the  top  is  grand  and  beautiful.  Still  more  magnificent 
is  the  view  from  Cloud's  Rest,  fourteen  miles  away  by  the  trail, 
and  a  most  fatiguing  journey,  but  once  reached,  the  traveller 
feels  that  he  has  seen  '  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the 
oflorv  of  them.' 

"The  rocky  citadel  juts  out  into  space,  so  that  you  se6m 
isolated  from  the  world,  and  held  pendant  over  the  valley. 
Around  you  is  an  unbroken  horizon  of  mountain  peaks,  with 
the  great  valley  in  the  centre,  its  walls  dwarfed  to  pigmy  pro- 
portions. The  lesser  mountains  and  barren  rolling  ridges  re- 
semble nothing  so  much  as  a  storm-tossed  ocean  turned  to 
stone.  A  more  absolute  desolation  could  not  be  conceived. 
You  feel  the  weight  of  the  centuries  that  look  down  upon  you 
from  the  lonesome  peaks  of  the  Sierras.  The  spectacle  reminds 
one  strongly  of  maps  of  the  moon  ;  it  gives  the  same  impres- 
sion of  lif(dess  repose  after  giant  upheavals  of  mountains  and 
rendincr  of  rock-buttressed  walls.  Thomas  Hill,  the  artist,  says 
that  he  once  took  a  seven   days'  camping  excursion  about  the 


YOSEMITE   AND    TUOLUMNE    VALLEYS.  58 1 

valley,  with  a  nephew  of  the  present  Czar  of  Russia.  At  all  the 
other  peaks  the  Prince  found  some  mountain  in  the  Alps  or  the 
Himalayas  the  view  from  which  surpassed  the  one  before  him. 
But  when  the  summit  of  Cloud's  Rest  was  reached,  he  took  off 
his  hat  and  said:  'I  salute  the  grandest  view  in  the  world.'" 

The  Yosemite  valley  was  given  by  Congress  to  the  State  ot 
California  in  1864  to  be  "held  for  public  use,  resort,  and  recrea- 
tion," to  be  also  "  inalienable  for  all  time "  with  the  condition 
that  portions  of  the  valley  might  be  leased,  the  income  arising 
from  such  leases  to  be  expended  "  in  the  preservation  of  the 
property  or  the  roads  leading  thereto."  The  grant  is  managed 
by  commissioners  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State. 
Wacfon  roads,  railroads  and  trails  have  been  built  to  aftbrd  more 
convenient  access  to  the  valley,  and  to  various  points  command- 
ing remarkable  views  of  the  valley  and  its  surroundings. 

The  Tuolumne  river,  another  tributary  of  the  San  Joaquin, 
w^hich  enters  it  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Merced  and  drains  Tuo- 
lumne county  as  the  Merced  does  Mariposa,  also  has  its  sources 
in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  about  fifty  miles  northwest  of  the 
Yosemite  valley,  flows  through  another  valley  nearly  or  quite 
as  picturesque  and  grand  as  the  Yosemite  and  with  as  many 
and  as  lofty  waterfalls. 

But  these  remarkable  valleys  do  not  furnish  all  the  natural 
wonders  of  California.  In  Tulare,  Fresno,  Mariposa,  Tuo- 
lumne, and  Calaveras  counties  there  are  groves  of  the  gigantic 
Sequoias,  whose  vast  height  and  wondrous  beauty  would  well 
repay  a  journey  across  the  continent. 

In  Napa  county,  near  Calistoga,  is  a  narrow  valley  where  are 
all  the  evidences  of  recent,  and,  indeed,  existing  volcanic  action. 
The  whole  valley  or  canon  is  filled  wiUi  flowing  (not  spouting) 
hot  springs,  which  are  called  geysers  (an  inappropriate  name, 
though  they  are  very  singular  in  their  action,  flowing  with  inter- 
missions), and  the  whole  soil  is  covered  with  a  crust  of  sulphur, 
iron-rust,  and  other  mineral  deposits,  and  filled  with  steam  Irom 
the  boiling  water.  The  ground  shakes  under  the  foot-steps,  and 
is  so  hot  as  to  be  uncomfortable  to  the  feet. 

Besides  these  there  are  the  natural  bridges  and   the   chyote 


582  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

caves  of  Calaveras  county,  with  their  bell-son nding  rocks,  the 
magnificent  grotto  near  Grizzly  Flat,  in  El  Dorado  county;  of 
the  lakes,  Tahoe,  the  gem  of  the  mountains,  almost  at  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Sierras,  and  the  smaller  but  romantic  Lake  Donner 
on  the  boundary  line  of  Nevada ;  Mono  (salt)  lake,  in  Mono 
county,  not  far  from  Yosemite ;  Klamath  lake,  in  the  north; 
Tulare  lake  in  the  county  of  the  same  name  ;  and  the  wild  vol- 
canic region  in  the  southeast  in  Inyo,  Mono,  San  Bernardino,  and 
Kern  counties  ;  that  remon  of  horrors  enclosing:  the  sink  of  the 
Amargoza  river,  the  "  Death  X^alley,"  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken,  400  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea,  while  within  sight 
of  it  the  Sierras  tower  14.000  or  15,000  feet  above  the  sea. 
This  deep  depression,  forty  miles  long  and  eight  or  ten  wide,  is 
partly  crusted  over  with  salt  and  soda  and  other  alkalies  several 
inches  thick,  and  partly  composed  of  an  ash-like  earth  mixed 
with  a  tenacious  clay,  sand, -and  alkali  so  soft  that  no  animal  can 
cross  it  without  being  mired.  There  is  no  vegetation  on  any 
part  of  it,  and  the  temperature  during  at  least  six  months  of  the 
year  ranges  from  110°  to  140°  Fahrenheit. 

Climates. — Prof  E.  W.  Hilgard  thus  describes  the  various 
climates  of  the  State: 

"Taking  as  a  convenient  point  of  view  the  central  portion  of 
the  State,  the  climates  of  California  may  be  roughly  classified  as 
follows : 

"I.  TJic  bay  and  coast  clhnatc.  Its  prominent  characteristics 
are,  first,  the  small  range  of  the  thermometer,  caused  by  the 
tempering  influence  of  the  sea,  the  prevailing  winds  being  from 
the  west.  The  average  winter  and  summer  temperature  at  San 
Francisco  thus  differs  by  only  about  6°  Fahrenheit  (53°  and  59° 
respectively).  Snow  rarely  reaches  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  is 
sometimes  not  seen  for  several  seasons,  even  on  the  summits  of 
the  Coast  Rane^".'*'  A  few  lleht  frosts  with  the  thermometer  at 
between    28°  and    32°  Fahrenheit   for  a  few  hours   during   the 

*  The  winter  of  iSSo  was  one  of  (he  exceptional  years  in  which  snow  did  reach  the  coast, 
and  the  tliermoniettr  marl^ed  l8°  r\\hrenheit.  This  severe  weather  was  very  destructive  to 
flowering  jilants  and  shruli'^,  Im!  was  sai<l  not  to  liave  occurred  for  more  thnn  thirty  years  ])re- 
viously.     Ordinarily,  tlic  fuclisia  and  heliotrope  live  and  tiirive  in  the  open  air  there  in  winter. 


BAY  AND    COAST  CLIMATE.  53, 

night  is  the  ordinary  expectation  for  winter,  while  in  summer  the 
number  of  'hot'  days  on  which  the  thermometer  reaches  80°  or 
more,  rarely  exceeds  eight  or  ten.  These  occur  chiefly  in  Sep- 
tember and  under  the  influence  of  the  '  norther,'  which  causes 
the  hot  dry  air  of  the  interior  valleys  to  overflow  the  barrier  of 
the  Coast  Range.  Under  a  brilliantly  clear  sky,  it  sweeps  over 
the  mountains,  accompanied  by  clouds  of  dust,  and,  like  the  hot 
breath  of  a  furnace,  it  licks  up  all  moisture  before  it,  wilting  and 
withering  the  leaves  of  all  but  the  most  hardy  plants,  cracking 
and  baking  the  soil,  loosening  the  joints  of  all  wooden  structures, 
whether  w^agons,  furniture,  or  houses,  and  causing  the  latt(;r  to 
resound  at  night  with  the  splitting  of  panels  and  similar  unearthly 
noises,  to  the  discomfort  of  the  nervous  sleepers,  that  at  such 
times  comprise  the  vast  majority  of  the  population.  This  uni- 
versal infliction  fortunately  lasts  but  rarely  more  than  three  days, 
w^hen  the  welcome  sea-fog,  which  has  been  kept  standing  like  a 
wall  forty  or  fifty  miles  in  the  offing,  gradually  advances,  and 
with  its  orfateful  coolness  and  moisture  infuses  fresh  life  into  the 
parched  vegetation  and  the  irritable,  panting  population. 

"  During  the  winter  months  the  north  wind  is  equally  dry,  but 
at  the  same  time  cold  ;  and  w^hile  it  then  sometimes  lasts  a  week 
or  more,  it  causes  but  little  discomfort  or  damage,  save  occa- 
sionally to  the  young  grass  and  grain.  The  second  distinctive 
feature  of  the  coast  climate  is  the  foo^s  brouorht  in  from  the  sea 
by  the  prevailing  west  winds  or  summer  trades,  as  the  result  of 
their  crossinor  the  cold  Alaskan  current  in-shore.  The  sea-foo-s, 
coming  in  regularly  almost  every  afternoon  from  the  latter  part 
of  June  to  that  of  August,  and  more  or  less  throughout  the  )ear, 
often  with  a  gorgeous  display  of  cloud  pictures,  temper  materi- 
ally not  only  the  heat,  hut  also  the  summer  drought;  so  that 
under  their  influence  plants  requiring  but  a  moderate  degree  of 
moisture  can,  in  a  loose  soil,  o-row  throui^hout  that  season.  In 
the  latitude  of  San  Francisco  it  thus  happens  that  in  the  coast 
climate  sub-tropical  and  northern  plants  may  thrive  side  by  side; 
the  latter  (such  as  currants  and  cranberries)  ripening  with  ease 
and  in  great  perfection,  while  the  fig,  grape,  orange,  etc.,  though 
growing  luxuriandy,  can   ripen   their   fruit  only  in  valleys  pro- 


cg4  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

tected  by  mountain  ridges  from  the  direct  inlluence  of  the  sum- 
mer trade-winds.  Thus  while  a  broad  river  ol  fog  may  be  pour- 
ing in  at  the  Golden  Gate,  covering  the  two  cities  and  spreading 
out  on  the  opposite  shore  to  a  width  of  eight  or  ten  miles,  the 
hamlet  of  San  Rafael,  only  fourteen  miles  to  the  north,  but  under 
the  lee  of  Mount  Tamalpais,  and  the  old  town  of  San  Jos^e,  under 
the  protection  of  its  seaward  mountains,  forty  miles  to  the  south, 
are  mosdy  basking  in  full  sunshine,  and  ripen  to  great  perfec- 
tion not  only  the  grape,  but  also  the  more  tender  fruits  of  their 
groves  of  fig  and  orange. 

2.  Climate  of  /he  great  interior  valley.  "The  average  winter 
temperature  is  lower  than  that  of  corresponding  portions  of  the 
coast,  although  the  miniiniini  is  little,  if  at  all,  below  that  of  the 
latter.  Sub-tropical  plants,  therefore,  winter  there  almost  as 
readily  as  on  the  coast.  In  summer,  however,  the  average 
temperature  is  high,  often  remaining  above  ioo°  Fahrenheit  for 
many  days,  the  nights  also  being  very  warm.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  the  air  is  so  dry  as  to  render  the  heat  much  less 
oppressive  than  is  the  case  east  of  the  mountains,  sunstroke 
beinor  almost  unknown.  Standing  on  the  summits  of  the  Coast 
Range  in  summer,  and  looking  down  upon  the  thick  shroud  of 
fog  covering  all  to  seaward,  the  white  masses  can  be  seen  drift- 
ing against  the  mountain  side,  and,  rising  upward,  dissolving 
into  thin  air  as  soon  as,  on  passing  the  divide,  they  meet  the 
warmth  of  the  Great  Valley.  From  points  in  the  latter  the 
cloud-banks  may  be  seen  filling  the  mountain  passes  and  some- 
times pouring  like  a  cataract  over  the  summit  ridges,  but  power- 
less to  disturb  even  for  a  moment  the  serenity  of  the  summer 
sky,  or  to  yield  a  drop  of  moisture  to  the  parched  soil  of  the  San 
Joaquin  plains.  The  unwary  traveller,  starting  from  Sacramento 
or  Stockton  on  a  hot  summer's  day  without  the  thought  of  shawl 
or  overcoat,  may  find  himself  chilled  to  the  bone  on  crossing  the 
Coast  Range,  and  runs  imminent  risk  of  rheumatism  or  pneu- 
monia. On  the  other  hand,  the  San  Franciscan,  feeling  the  need 
of  having  his  pores  opened  by  a  good  perspiration,  can  have  his 
wish  gratified  in  an  hour  or  two  by  taking  the  reverse  direction. 
The   'norther'   is,  of  course,  more   frequent  in   the  great  valley 


INTERIOR    CUM  ATE.  egq 

than  on  the  coast ;  but  its  dryness  and  high  temperature  are  not 
so  much  of  a  change  from  the  ordinary  condition  of  things,  and 
it  therefore  does  not  cause  such  general  remark,  disturbance,  or 
damage  unless  unusually  severe. 

3,  Ciiinate  of  tJic  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  "  The  essential 
features  of  the  climate  of  the  Great  Valley  may  be  roughly  said 
to  extend  to  the  height  of  about  2,000  feet  up  its  flanks  into  the 
'  foot-hills,'  with,  however,  an  increasing  rainfall  as  we  ascend, 
and  therefore  greater  safety  for  crops  and  less  absolute  depend- 
ence upon  irrigation.  Higher  up,  the  influence  of  elevation 
makes  itself  felt ;  snow  falls  and  lies  in  winter,  while  the  summers 
are  cool ;  and  we  thus  return  to  the  familiar  regime  of  seasons 
as  understood  in  the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  including, 
especially  in  the  more  northern  portion,  the  phenomenon  of 
summer  thunder-storms,  which  are  almost  unknown  on  the  coast 
and  in  the  San  Joaquin  valley.  The  same  general  features 
come  into  play  more  and  more  as  we  advance  northward  in  the 
hilly  and  mountainous  regions  lying  north  of  San  Francisco  bay, 
toward  the  Orei^'on  line,  marked  also  in  creneral  by  a  ""radual 
increase  of  timber  growth.  The  features  of  the  three  principal 
climates  described  intermingle,  or  are  interspersed,  according  as 
the  valleys  are  open  to  seaward,  run  parallel  to  the  coast,  or  are 
in  communication  with  the  great  interior  valley.  We  thus  find 
numberless  local  climates,  'thermal  belts,'  and  privileged  nooks 
adapted  to  special  cultures  which  may  be  impracticable  in  an 
adjoining  valley,  and  almost  insular  as  regards  the  region  where 
similar  conditions  are  predominant.  To  the  southward,  the  chief 
climates  above  defined  are  modified  by  three  factors,  viz. :  the 
increase  of  temperature,  the  decrease  of  rainfall,  and  the  de- 
crease, from  about  San  Francisco  southward,  of  the  feature  of 
summer  fogs.  As  regards  temperature,  the  extreme  range  is 
still  very  nearly  the  same  at  Los  Angeles  as  at  San  Francisco  ; 
but  the  averages  are  very  considerably  higher  at  the  former 
point,  that  of  the  winter  being  60°,  that  of  summer  about  75° 
Fahrenheit.  At  intermediate  points  along  the  coast,  local  varia- 
tions excepted,  the  averages  vary  as  sensibly  as  the  latitude. 
As  to  rainfall  along  the  coast,  its  decrease  is  slow,  descending 


r85  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE.      ■ 

from  twenty-four  inches  at  San  Francisco  to  fifteen  at  Santa 
Barbara,  twelve  at  Los  Angeles,  and  nine  to  ten  at  San  Diego. 
But  in  the  interior  valley  the  decrease  is  much  more  rapid,  as 
previously  stated,  modified  locally,  according  as  the  divide  of  the 
Coast  Range  is  so  high  as  to  preclude  the  access  ol  moisture 
from  the  sea,  or  low  enouo^h  to  admit  its  inHuence.  The  same 
factor  influences  also  the  cooling  and  moistening  effect  of  the 
summer  winds  and  fogs,  which  temper  the  summer  climate  of 
the  Los  Angeles  plain,  but  fail  to  reach  the  Mojave  desert  or 
the  fervid  plains  of  the  upper  San  Joaquin  valley." 

We  supplement  this  general  statement  by  the  following  table, 
corrected  to  the  latest  date.  It  is  the  average  in  most  cases  of 
twenty  years : 


Places. 


San  Francisco 
Sacramento 
Humboldt  Bay 
Benicia  . 
Monterey    . 
V-isalia  . 
San  Diego  . 
Los  Angeles 
Fort  Yuma 


Mean 

perature. 

pring. 

Mean 
perature. 

ummer. 

Mean 
perature. 

utumn. 

perature. 
V  Miter. 

Mcari 
perature. 

Year. 

ainfall. 
cceniber 
)  May. 

ainfall. 
une  to 
)veniber. 

1^ 

S  "' 

c  W 

e  <; 

»0- 

f^-^ 

Pi 

■^ 

*^ 

56.3° 

59-5° 

58.8= 

51-9° 

56.6' 

24.97 

2.31 

27. 28 

58-5" 

71-5^ 

62.1° 

47-9" 

59-9" 

19.80 

1.70 

21.50 

52.0" 

57-.S^ 

53-o^ 

43-5" 

51-5" 

.     .    . 

.     .     . 

57-24 

56.5  = 

67.0° 

60.5" 

49.0^ 

58.0° 

.    . 

.     .     . 

22.86 

,S4.o^ 

59-o^ 

57-o^ 

51-0^ 

.S.S-5^ 

.     . 

.     •     . 

12.20 

60.6° 

79-5° 

60.9° 

48.6^ 

62.4° 

9.96 

^■%l 

10.49 

59-4° 

69.1° 

6.3.8-^ 

54-1" 

61.6° 

11.70 

.80 

12.50 

58.6° 

ez.e'' 

6,S.i° 

54-3'^ 

Ci.7° 

19. 88 

1.38 

21.26 

72.0° 

90.0° 

75-5^ 

57-o= 

73-5° 

1.89 

•73 

2.62 

In  1878,  the  maximum  temperature  was  reached  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, September  15th  to  18th,  when  the  thermometer  stood  at 
86°,  90°,  92°  and  93°  Fahrenheit.  In  no  other  days  of  the  year, 
except  one  in  October,  did  it  reach  80°.  The  lowest  point  was 
reached  on  the  4th  of  January  and  was  39°  F^ahrenheit.  There 
were  no  frosts  during  the  year.  The  extreme  range  of  the  year 
was  54°. 

In  Sacramento  the  highest  point  reached  was  103°;  for  three 
days  the  thermometer  rose  above  100°  ;  for  twenty-three  da)  s  it 
exceeded  95°,  and  for  sixty-three  days  it  was  above  90°.  The 
lowest  point  was  reached  January  3d.  It  was  27°.  For  six 
days  there  were  frosts.     The  extreme  range  was  76°. 

In  San  Diego  the  thermometer  indicated  91°  on  the  first  of 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS.  eg- 

September,  but  did  not  reach  90°  on  any  other  day.  It  exceeded 
80°  only  eleven  days  of  the  year.  The  minimum  was  for  three 
days  in  January,  38°.     The  range  was  53°. 

Visalia  (latitude  36°  20',  west  longitude  from  Greenwich 
1 19.16)  reached  106.5°,  J^'b'  H^^^-  During  twenty-three  days 
the  temperature  exceeded  100°,  and  for  sixty-nine  days  it  ex- 
ceeded 95°.  The  minimum,  January  4th,  was  24°.  There  were 
eight  days  of  frost.     The  range  was  82.5°. 

Los  Angeles  (latitude  34°  3',  west  longitude  from  Greenwich 
118°  16')  reached  93°  on  the  20th  of  July  and  the  ist  of  Septem- 
ber. Seven  days  exceeded  90°.  The  minimum  was  36.5°  on 
the  ^ist  of  December.     There  were  no  frosts.     The  ran<'e  was 

56.5^ 

Fort  Yuma  (latitude  32°  43',  west  longitude  114°  36')  reached 
113°,  July  19th;  four  days  were  above  112°;  eleven  days  above 
110°;  fifty-three  above  105°,  and  one  hundred  and  six  above 
100°.  In  other  years  the  maximum  had  been  as  high  as  126°. 
The  minimum,  December  31st  and  January  3d,  was  ^iZ^- 
Range  80°. 

AoTicidhuml  Products. — Professor  Hilfrard  has  treated  these 
in  a  manner  so  attractive,  that  we  quote  from  him,  in  part,  in  re- 
gard to  them.     Speaking  at  first  of  cereal  crops,  he  says: 

"  Of  all  the  field-crops  grown  in  the  State,  wheat  is  the  most 
important  at  this  time.  It  was  the  first  culture  on  a  large  scale 
introduced  on  the  subsidence  of  the  gold  fever,  and  the  returns 
received  proved  to  be  so  much  greater  and  more  certain  than 
those  froni  the  placer  mines  that  it  extended  rapidly,  and  has 
ever  since  remained  the  largest  and  most  generally  appreciated 
product  of  California  agriculture.  The  amount  produced  in 
1878,  an  average  year,  was  22,000,000  of  centals,  of  which 
8,069,825  were  exported  as  grain,  and  about  500,000  barrels  of 
flour.  In  the  markets  of  the  world  the  wheats  of  the  Pacific 
coast  are  noted  for  their  high  quality,  the  plumpness  and  light 
color  of  the  '  berry,' and  the  high  percentage  of  first-class  flour  it 
furnishes  in  milling.  At  home  the  extraordinarily  high  product 
per  acre  of  forty  to  sixty  bushels,  and  even  more,  under  \cry  im- 
perfect tillage,  for  a  number  of  consecutive  years,  forms  a  strong 


e38  O^^R     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

incentive  to  this  culture.  Nor  is  the  California  wheat-grower 
obliged  to  be  very  careful  in  the  choice  of  his  seed.  Probably 
every  known  variety  of  wheat  has  in  the  course  of  time  been 
brought  and  tried  here  ;  but  all,  in  a  short  time,  seems  to  assume 
very  nearly  the  same  peculiar  California  type,  upon  which,  in 
fact,  it  would  seem  hard  to  itnprove  materially.  It  is  almost 
ludicrous,  at  times,  to  compare  the  eastern  seed  with  its  Califor- 
nia offspring,  which  has  undergone  the  'swelling  process'  of  one 
season's  erowth  in  her  crenerous  soil  and  climate.  It  is  but  fair 
to  say  that  substantially  the  same  peculiarities  are  observable  in 
the  wheats  of  Oregon,  grown  in  the  valley  of  the  Willamette  and 
on  the  plains  of  the  Upper  Columbia.  Since  the  growing  season 
in  the  greater  part  of  California  extends,  with  little  interruption 
from  cold,  from  tlie  begmning  of  November  to  June,  the  distinc- 
tion between  winter  and  spring  grain  is  also  in  a  great  measure 
lost.  The  farmer  plows  and  sows  as  early  as  practicable,  watch- 
incr  his  chances  between  rains,  in  November  and  December  if 
he  can,  in  March  if  he  must,  or  at  any  convenient  time  between  ; 
increasing  the  amount  of  seed  sown  per  acre  in  proportion  as 
there  remains  less  time  for  the  grain  to  tiller.  Should  the  ears 
fail  to  fill,  he  can  still  make  hay. 

"  Much  discussion  has  been  had  concerning  the  merits  of  early 
as  compared  with  late  sowing.  The  objections  against  the  former 
practice  are  that  copious  early  rains  niay  start  the  growth  too 
rapidly,  the  chances  being  that  in  that  case  but  litde  more  water 
will  fall  until  Christmas.  It  is  true  that  the  weather-wise  may 
sometimes  gain  materially  by  delay  in  sowing;  but  the  general 
result  of  experience  seems  to  be  that  it  is  better  in  the  long  run 
to  take  the  risk  of  havinof  to  sow  twice,  rather  than  that  of  being 
kept  from  sowing  at  all,  until  too  late,  by  persistent  rains.  It 
has  therefore  become  a  very  common  practice  to  *  dry-sow  '  grain 
in  summer-fallowed  land  in  September  and  October.  The  seed 
lies  quiescent  in  the  parched  and  dusty  ground  until  called  forth 
by  the  rains,  and  in  clean  fields  and  ordinary  seasons  such  grain 
generally  yields  the  highest  returns.  The  preparation  of  the 
ground  for  the  crop  on  the  large  wheat  farms  is  usually  made 
by  means  of  gang-plows  with  from  two  to  six  shares,  drawn  by 


HARVESTING  IN   THE  LARGE    WAY.  c%q 

from  three  to  five  horses  or  mules,  three  animals  very  commonly 
walking  abreast.  At  the  critical  season  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
see  half  a  dozen  such  implements  and  teams  at  work  in  a  single 
field,  closely  followed  by  a  wagon  carrying  seed-grain  and  the 
centrifugal  sower,  which  showers  the  grain  upon  the  fresh-turned 
furrows,  in  strips  thirty  or  more  feet  wide.  Before  the  day  ends 
the  great  (usually  flexible)  harrows  have  also  performed  their 
work,  and  thirty  or  forty  acres  of  what  was  a  stubble-field  in  the 
mornincr  have  been  converted  into  a  well-seeded  orain-field.  Of 
late,  appliances  for  seeding  and  covering  have  been  attached  to 
the  gang-plows  themselves,  so  that  the  whole  task  is  performed 
in  one  operation — certainly  the  perfection  of  labor-saving 
machinery.  Seed  drills  are  as  yet  in  but  limited  use  ;  although 
nowhere,  probably,  would  drilling  be  more  desirable,  in  order  to 
admit  of  subsequent  culture,  for  want  of  which  crops  often  totally 
fail  on  the  heavier  soils.  During  the  rainy  season  the  covering 
is  often  done  by  rolling  alone,  and  on  harrowed  ground  the 
roller  is  frequently  used  later  in  the  season,  in  order  to  compact 
the  surface  so  as  to  mitigate  the  drying  effects  of  '  northers.' 

"In  the  erain  harvest  (which  begins  in  the  second  week  of 
June)  the  'wholesale'  mode  of  procedure  is  equally  prevalent. 
The  scythe  is  used  only  to  cut  the  way,  and  that  on  small  farms; 
then  follows  the  reaper,  hired  if  not  owned  by  the  farmer  himself 
But  the  binding  and  shocking  process  that  is  to  succeed  is  far 
too  slow  for  the  larere  erain-erower,  who  has  his  hundreds,  and 
sometimes  thousands,  of  acres  to  reap  within  the  short  time 
allowed  by  the  exceedingly  rapid  maturing,  which  threatens  him 
widi  serious  loss  by  shedding,  the  air  being  at  that  season  very 
dry  even  at  night.  His  implement  is  the  giant  header,  pushed 
into  the  golden  fields  by  from  four  to  eight  horses.  Its  vibrating 
cutters  clip  off  the  heads  with  only  a  few  inches  of  straw  attached, 
on  a  swath  sixteen  and  even  twenty-eight  feet  wide,  while  a  re- 
volving apron  carries  the  laden  ears  to  a  wagon  driven  along- 
side, and  having  a  curious,  wide,  slanting  bed  for  their  reception. 
Several  of  these  wagons  drive  back  and  forth  between  the  swaths 
and  the'^team-thresher,  where,  within  half  an  hour,  the  grain  that 
was  waving  in  the  morning  breeze  may  be   sacked    ready  for 


ego  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

shipment  to  Liverpool.  Even  this  energetic  mode  of  procedure, 
however,  has  appeared  too  slow  to  some  of  the  progressive  men 
in  business,  and  we  have  seen  a  wondrous  and  fearful  combina- 
tion of  header,  thresher  and  sacking-wagon,  moving  in  procession 
side  by  side  through  the  doomed  grain.  If  this  stupendous  com- 
bination and  last  refinement  shall  prove  practically  successful, 
we  shall  doubtless  next  see  the  (louring-mill  itself  form  a  part  of 
this  agricultural  pageant.  Where  farming  is  not  done  on  quite 
so  energetic  a  plan,  the  reaped  and  bound  grain  being  at  that 
season  perfectly  safe  from  rain,  is  left  either  in  shocks  or  stacks 
until  the  threshing  party  comes  around,  mostly  with  a  portable 
engine  often  fed  with  straw  alone,  to  drive  the  huge  'separator,' 
whose  combined  din  and  puffing  \vill  sometimes  startle  late  sleep- 
ers, as  it  suddenly  starts  up  in  the  morning  from  the  most  unex- 
pected places.  Two  wagons  usually  aided  by  some  'bucks'  (a 
kind  of  sled<je-rake,  which  also  serves  to  remove  the  straw  from 
the  mouth  of  the  thresher)  feed  the  devouring  monster.  In  an 
incredibly  short  time  the  shocks  or  stacks  are  cleared  away  and 
in  their  stead  appear  square  piles  of  turgid  grain-sacks  and  broad, 
low  hillocks  of  straw.  Both  products  often  remain  thus  for  six 
or  eight  weeks,  the  grain  getting  so  thoroughly  dry  in  the  interval 
that  there  is  frequently  an  overweight  of  five  or  more  per  cent, 
when,  after  its  long  passage  in  the  damp  sea  air,  the  cargo  reaches 
Liverpool.  The  moral  question  thus  arising  as  to  who  is  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  this  increase  I  will  not  pretend  to  determine  ; 
but  the  producers  say  that  they  rarely  hear  of  any  differences  in 
their  favor. 

"The  manner  of  disposing  of  the  straw  is  one  of  the  weakest 
points  of  California  agriculture.  Near  to  cities  or  cheap  trans- 
portation, much  of  it  is  baled  like  hay,  and  finds  a  ready  market, 
but  in  remote  districts  it  is  got  rid  of  by  applying  the  torch ;  and 
these  'straw  fires'  habitually  redden  the  autumn  skies  as  do  the 
prairie  fires  in  the  Western  States,  covering  the  whole  country 
with  a  smoke  haze,  as  a  faint  reminiscence  of  the  Indian  summer, 
which  is  not  otherwise  well-defined  on  the  Pacific  coast.  This 
holocaust  of  valuable  materials,  which  might  be  made  the  means 
of  some  slight  return  of  plant-food  to  the  soil,  is  a  standing  re- 


CALIFORNIA   BARLEY,   RYE  AND    OATS.  cqi 

proach  to  those  who  practise  it;  yet  they  have  some  excuse  in 
the  fact  that  the  pecuHarities  of  the  cHmate  do  not  make  it  as 
easy  to  convert  it  into  manure  as  is  the  case  in  countries  having 
summer  rains.  For  in  winter  the  temperature  is,  after  all,  too 
low  to  favor  rapid  decay,  while  during  the  summer  months  the 
intense  drought  soon  puts  an  end  to  fermentation.  It  therefore 
takes  two  seasons  to  render  the  straw  fit  for  plowing  in  ;  and  in 
the  mean  time,  as  left  by  the  thresher,  it  occupies  considerable 
ground.  As  yet,  the  conviction  that  straw-burning  is  penny-wis- 
dom and  pound-foolishness  has  not  gained  sufficient  foothold  to 
induce  the  majority  of  wheat-growers  to  take  the  pains  of  putting 
the  straw  into  stacks  with  concave  tops,  to  collect  and  retain  the 
water.  But  those  who  have  done  so  report  that  the  resulting 
improvement  of  the  soil  pays  well  for  the  trouble.  The  practice 
of  burning  will,  of  course,  disappear  so  soon  as  the  system  of 
large-scale  planting  gives  aw^ay,  as  it  soon  must,  to  that  of  mixed 
farmino"  on  a  smaller  scale. 

**  Of  the  other  cereals,  barley  and  oats  are  the  only  ones  that 
can  as  yet  lay  claim  to  general  importance  ;  and  the  methods  of 
culture  are  much  the  same.  Like  the  w^heats,  so  the  barleys  of 
California  are  of  exceptionally  fine  quality,  that  of  the  '  Cheva- 
lier '  variety  being  so  eagerly  sought  for  by  eastern  brewers  that 
but  little  of  it  finds  its  way  into  California-brewed  beer.  The 
common  (six  and  four  rowed)  barleys  are,  however,  themselves 
of  such  high  quality  that  the  absence  of  the  highest  grade  grain 
is  certainly  not  perceptible  in  the  quality  of  the  beer,  into  which, 
unlike  most  of  its  eastern  brethren  of  St.  Louis  and  Chicafjo, 
nothing  but  barley  and  hops  find  their  way.  The  various  kinds 
of  oats  are  produced  for  home  consumption  only,  the  difficulty 
being  very  commonly  that  the  straw  becomes  so  strong  as  to 
interfere  seriously  with  its  use  for  forage.  Rye  is  grown  to 
some  extent  in  the  mountain  counties,  and  yields  a  splendid 
grain,  called  for  chiefly  by  the  taste  of  the  German  population 
for  rye  bread.  'Some  Polish  wheat  [Triticwn poUmicMm)  is  grown 
under  the  name  of  'white  rye.'  Alaize  is  thus  far  grown  but  to 
a  small  extent,  compared  with  wheat,  barley,  and  oats ;  not,  how- 
ever, because  of  any  difficulty  in  producing  corn,  which,  both  as 


-02  O^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

to  quality,  size,  and  yield  per  acre,  can  compete  uith  any  In  the 
Mississippi  valley.  The  large  foreign  element  in  the  population 
limits  the  demand  for  corn-meal,  and,  as  before  remarked,  on 
account  of  the  mild  winters,  hoof-raisinof  on  a  lar^e  scale  is  not 
likely  to  become  important  in  the  State.  A  good  deal,  however, 
is  planted  for  green-soiling  purposes  in  connection  with  dairies. 
The  planting  is  generally  done  very  late  in  April,  and  in  May 
after  everything  else  has  been  attended  to,  since  in  the  coast 
climate  a  crop  of  corn  is  often  made  without  a  drop  of  rain  from 
the  time  of  planting,  when  the  season  has  been  one  of  abundant 
moisture.  Of  late,  several  millets,  and  among  them  especially 
the  DJuLvra  or  Egyptian  corn,  are  coming  into  favor.  The 
Dhurra,  though  not  as  much  relished  by  cattle  as  maize  fodder, 
will  admit  of  three  cuttings  each  season,  when  irrigated,  and  the 
meal  made  from  its  grain  is  by  many  preferred  to  corn-meal, 
while  as  a  chicken-feed  it  is,  apparently,  superior  to  anything 
else. 

"  Of  other  field  crops,  the  'beans'  that  formed  the  chief  solace 
of  the  Argonauts  of  early  days  are  still  prominent,  especially 
where  the  Mexican  element  is  somewhat  strono-.  To  them 
'frijoles'  are  still  the  staff  of  life,  supplemented  by  the  '  tamales,' 
the  native  preparation  of  the  '  roasting-ears '  of  green  corn. 

"The  Irish  potatoes  grown  in  California  are  not,  as  a  rule,  of 
first  quality,  but  incline  to  be  watery.  The  tuber  is  largely  im- 
ported from  Utah  under  the  name  and  style  of '  Salt  Lake  pota- 
toes,' albeit  much  that  is  sold  under  that  brand  is  of  California 
growth.  The  sweet-potato  flourishes  especially  in  the  lighter 
soils  of  the  coast  south  of  San  Francisco  ;  its  quality  would  not 
be  likely  to  be  criticised  by  any  but  those  who  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  the  product  of  the  Gulf  States  or  of  the  Antilles. 

"The  big  pumpkins  of  California  have  acquired  a  world-wide 
reputation  not  unlike  that  enjoyed  by  the  sea-serpent.  The  un- 
prejudiced observer,  however,  readily  appreciates  the  fact  that 
when  a  well-organized  pumpkin  has  ten  months'  time  to  grow 
instead  of  three  or  four,  it  has  every  reason  to  give  a  corre- 
sponding account  of  its  stewardship.  But  while  a  laudable 
ambition  to  excel  may  result  in  the  production  of  three  hundred- 


SUGAR-BEE  TS—IIOP-  GROWING.  ^q^ 

pound  pumpkins,  it  is  but  fair  to  say  they  are  not  the  rule  ;  being 
inconvenient  to  handle,  and,  like  other  organisms  exceeding  a 
certain  a^e,  inclined  to  be  hard  and  touorh.  The  same  is  true 
of  mammoth  beets  (mangel-wurzel),  carrots  and  turnips,  which, 
when  left  out  in  the  field  during  a  mild  winter,  continue  incon- 
tinendy  to  grow  and  develop  until  the  time  comes  to  put  in 
another  crop.  The  dairy-men  and  stock-breeders  raise  these 
crops  largely,  and  are  chielly  responsible  for  the  production  of 
the  monsters. 

"  The  sugar-beet  succeeds  admirably  in  a  large  portion  of  the 
State,  and  in  appropriate  locations  yields  a  juice  of  extraordinary 
richness ;  as  much  as  nineteen  per  cent,  is  clarified  in  some  cases 
(but  I  can  vouch  for  fifteen  only  from  personal  experience),  and 
a  fair  degree  of  purity.  Several  prosperous  beet-sugar  factories 
already  exist,  the  failures  reported  having  apparently  been  due 
to  mismanagement.  It  is  difficult  to  see  why,  with  such  material 
and  the  possibility  of  keeping  up  the  supply  for  nine  months  by 
the  planting  of  successive  crops,  this  industry  should  not  become 
one  of  the  most  important  and  lucrative  in  the  State,  and  fully 
able  to  compete  with  any  sugar-cane  planting  that  may  hereafter 
be  introduced  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  coast. 

"  Hop-growing  is  an  important  industry  in  the  middle  portion 
of  the  State,  especially  in  the  Sacramento  valley  and  in  the 
Russian  river  region,  north  of  San  Francisco  bay.  The  pro- 
duct is  of  excellent  quality,  and  is  much  sought  after  by  Eastern 
brewers. 

"  Of  other  crops  of  minor  or  only  local  importance  may  be 
mentioned  the  culture  of  pea-nuts,  chiefiy  in  the  coast  region 
south  of  San  Francisco  ;  of  the  chiccory  root,  in  the  naighbor- 
hood  of  Stockton,  supplying  a  large  amount  of  the  parched  and 
ground  'old  government  Java  coffee'  sold  by  grocers..  In  the 
same  neighborhood  the  culture  of  the  '  Persian  insect-powder 
plant'  {Pyreihnnn  car7icwii)  is  being  successfully  carried  out,  the 
product  being  in  very  general  requisition  on  account  ot  the  pre- 
vailing abundance  of  ileas.  This  neighborhood  supplies  a  quality 
of  mustard  that  is  somewhat  overwhelming  to  the  novice,  and 
even  for  plasters  should  be  diluted  with  flour.  Were  rape-seed 
38  • 


en^  067?    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

oil  in  'demand,  the  fact  that  the  whole  State  is  overrun  with  the 
plant  that  produces  it,  as  a  most  troublesome  weed,  proves  what 
could  be  done  with  it  if  fostered. 

"  Nothing,  probably,  strikes  the  new-comer  to  California  more 
forcibly,  and  nothing  certainly  more  agreeably,  than  the  advan- 
tages offered  by  a  climate  where  plants  can  ordinarily  be  kept 
growing  from  ten  to  twelve  months  in  the  year,  provided  water 
is  supplied.  The  immigrant  desiring  to  make  a  home  for  him- 
self is  delighted  to  find  that  the  rapid  growth  of  shrubbery  and 
flowers — and  among  them  many  that  he  has  so  far  seen  only 
nurtured  in  greenhouses — will  enable  him  to  create  around  him 
in  the  course  of  three  seasons,  on  a  bare  lot,  a  home  atmosphere 
that  elsewhere  it  would  have  required  ten  or  more  years  to 
establish.  The  housewife,  however  industriously  disposed,  is 
not  ill-pleased  to  find  herself  relieved  from  the  annual  pressure 
of  the  *  preserving  season '  by  the  circumstance  that  fresh  fruits 
are  in  the  market  at  reasonable  rates  durinof  all  but  a  few  weeks 
in  the  year ;  so  that  a  few  gallons  of  jellies  is  all  that  is  really 
called  for  in  the  way  of  'putting  up.'  It  is  not  less  pleasing  to 
her,  as  well  as  to  the  rest  of  the  family,  that  a  good  supply  of 
fresh  vegetables  is  at  her  command  at  all  seasons,  and  that  the 
Christmas  dinner,  if  the  turkey  docs  cost  thirty  cents  a  pound, 
may  be  graced  with  crisp  lettuce,  radishes,  and  green  peas  just 
as  readily  as  it  may  be  celebrated  by  an  open-air  picnic  on  the 
green  grass  under  blooming  bushes  of  the  scarlet  gooseberry. 
Of  course  there  are  seasons  of  preference  for  each  vegetable, 
but  among  the  great  variety  naturally  introduced  by  the  various 
nationalities  there  are  few  that  cannot  be  found  in  the  San  Fran- 
cisco market  at  almost  any  time  in  the  year — if  not  from  local 
culture,  then  from  some  point  between  Los  Angeles  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia.  The  truck-gardens  are  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  Italians  and  PortuQruese,  who  have  broufjht  with 
them  from  their  home  habits  of  thrift;  and  their  manure  piles, 
windmills  for  irrigation,  and  laborious  care  of  their  unceasinof 
round  of  crops  on  a  small  area,  render  their  establishments  easy 
of  recognition.  Their  products  are  distributed  partly  by  them- 
selves, partly  by  the   ubiquitous  Chinese  huckster,  trotting  with 


FRUIT  CULTURE   IN   CALIFORNIA.  5^5 

his  two  huee  baskets  under  a  weiorht  that  few  Caucasians  would 
carry  for  any  length  of  time.  Not  a  few  Chinese  also  are  en- 
gaged in  the  truck-farming  business.  The  vegetables  are  in 
general  of  excellent  quality,  and  it  may  be  truly  said  that  in  no 
city  in  the  United  States  is  the  general  quality  of  fare  so  good, 
so  well  adapted  to  every  variety  of  taste,  and,  last  but  not  least, 
so  cheap,  as  in  the  city  of  the  Golden  Gate ;  and  nowhere  is  the 
decoration  of  even  the  humblest  homes  with  flowers  and  shrub- 
bery more  universal,  and  at  the  same  time  so  generously  aided 
by  nature. 

"In  no  department  of  industry,  probably,  is  the  reputation  of 
California  better  established  than  in  regard  lo  fruit  cultui'e.  Its 
pears  seem  to  have  been  the  pioneer's  in  gaining  the  award  of 
special  excellence ;  grapes  and  cherries  have  rapidly  taken  a 
place  alongside,  and,  last,  oranges  and  lemons  have  come  to  dis- 
pute the  palm  with  Sicily  and  the  Antilles.  The  most  striking 
peculiarity  of  California  fruit  culture  is  its  astonishing  versatility, 
not  to  say  cosmopolitanism  ;  for  the  variety  of  fruits  capable  of 
successful  culture  within  the  limits  under  consideration  in  this 
article  probably  exceeds,  even  at  this  time,  that  found  elsewhere 
in  any  country  of  similar  extent,  and  is  constantly  on  the  in- 
crease by  the  introduction  of  new  kinds  from  all  quarters  of  the 
globe.  Doubtless,  in  time,  each  district  will  settle  down  to  the 
more  or  less  exclusive  production  of  certain  kinds  found  to  be 
most  profitable  under  its  particular  circumstances,  so  far  as  the 
large-scale  cultures  are  concerned ;  but  whosoever  raises  fruit 
mainly  for  home  consumption  will  hardly  resist  the  temptation 
offered  by  the  possibility  of  growing  side  by  side  the  fruits  of 
the  tropics  and  those  of  the  north  temperate  zone — the  currant 
and  the  orange,  the  cherry  and  the  fig,  the  strawberry  and  the 
pineapple,  the  banana  and  plantain,  as  well  as  the  apple  and  the 
medlar.  It  would  be  supposed  that  the  quality  of  these  products 
must  of  necessity  suffer  grievously  under  the  stress  of  their 
mutual  concessions  of  habit ;  and  this,  of  course,  is  true  as 
regards  the  highest  qualities  of  the  extremes,  under  the  judg- 
ment of  the  expert,  but  unperceived  to  a  surprising  degree  by 
the  taste  of  the  public  in   tJie  general   market.     The  oranges 


e„5  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

grown  in  some  of  the  sheltered  valleys  of  the  Coast  Range,  and 
on  the  red  soils  of  the  foot-hills,  as  far  north  as  Butte  county, 
often  successfully  dispute  the  precedence  of  the  product  of  Los 
Aneeles  and  San  Bernardino, 

"  In  view  of  the  short  time  within  which  this  industry  has 
developed,  and  of  the  multitude  of  nadonalities  which  have  taken 
part  therein,  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  important  quesdons 
relatin^T  to  it  should  still  remain  unsetded,  and  that  the  best 
regular  roudne  for  the  several  districts,  or  even  for  general 
practice,  should  as  yet  not  have  been  established.  Too  many 
different  variedes,  whose  adaptation  to  the  local  and  general 
climate  is  undetermined,  fill  the  orchards,  and  give  rise  to  im- 
mense quandties  of  unmarketable  fruit,  that  ultimately  fall  to  the 
share  of  catde  and  hogs.  The  high  price  of  labor  and  of  trans- 
portation from  remote  districts  condemns  another  large  part  to 
a  similar  fate,  especially  in  favorable  seasons,  when  the  local 
market  soon  becomes  glutted  with  fruit  unable  to  bear  shipment 
to  the  East.  Curiously  enough,  even  at  such  times,  the  prices 
of  fruit  to  the  consumer  are  generally  higher  than  is  the  case  at 
corresponding  times  in  the  Western  States,  showing  irrefragably 
that  the  cost  of  production  is  higher,  and  consequendy  that  only 
fruit  of  high  quality  can  bear  exportation.  Inattention  to  this 
point  has  rendered  unprofitable,  or  worse,  many  of  the  refrigera- 
tor-car shipments  heretofore  made,  and  die  same  want  of  proper 
care  in  assorting  the  various  qualldes  is  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  frequent  business  failures  of  those  supplying  the  markets  of 
San  Francisco.  This  practice,  however,  is  fast  being  improved 
upon,  and  the  disposal  of  the  surplus  fruit  by  drying  is  beginning 
to  relieve,  to  a  very  great  extent,  the  glut  that  has  often  de- 
pressed prices  below  the  paying  point.  The  exportation  of 
dried  fruits  of  all  kinds  is  doubdess  destined  to  become  one  of 
the  most  important  branches  of  agricultural  industry  in  the  State, 
both  on  account  of  quality  and  of  the  natural  facilities  for  the 
drying  process  offered  by  the  dry  summer  air.  It  is  found  to  be 
absolutely  necessary  to  exclude  in  the  drying  operations  all 
access  of  insects,  which  otherwise  lay  their  eggs  on  the  fruit  and 
spoil  it  within  a  year.     This  is  now  very  generally  and  effectu- 


THE   CULTURE    OF   SUB-TROPICAL    FRUITS.  jc)/ 

ally  accomplished  by  the  use  of  the  best  drying  apparatus,  not 
uncommonly  in  co-operative  factories  erected  by  companies  or 
granges.     The  quality  of  the  prunes,  plums,  apricots,  pears,  etc., 
cured  by  some  of  these  establishments  is  not  behind  the  best  of 
the  kind  imported  from  France  and  Italy,  but  as  yet  the  neatness 
and  convenience  of  the  packages  is  not  so  generally  what  would 
be  necessary  to  render  them  equally  attractive  to  the  purchaser. 
"While  the  orange,  lemon,  lime,  and  other  sub-tropical  fruits 
are  more  or  less  in  cultivation  up  to  the  northern  third  of  the 
State,  they  form  the  specialty  of  Los  Angeles,  San  Bernardino, 
and  adjoining  counties,  where  also  the  pineapple,  banana,  guava, 
and  other  more  strictly  tropical  fruits  are  mainly  under  trial.    In 
a  measure,  what  has  been  said  above  of  the  more  northern  fruits 
applies   here  also.     While  much  fruit  of  the  highest  quality  is 
produced,  much  also  is  still  in  the  experimental  stage,  and  some 
very  poor  lots  are  occasionally  thrown  upon  the  market.     The 
subject  has  lately,  however,  been  earnestly  taken  in  hand  by  the 
young  but    proportionally  energetic    Horticultural    Society  of 
South  California,  in  which  a  number  of  the  most  intelligent  men 
have  combined  to  determine  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  by 
systematic  experiments,  discussion,  and   scientific  investigation, 
in  connection  with  the  agricultural  department  of  the  university, 
the   practically  important    questions    relating    to    this    culture. 
While  the  orange  and  lemon  product  is  marketed  without  diffi- 
culty and  at  good  prices,  the  millions  of  excellent  limes  borne 
by  the  hedges  customary  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  are 
still  mosdy  allowed  to  decay  where  they  fall.     The  manufacture 
of  citric  acid  can  hardly  fail  before  long  to  put  an  end  to  this 
waste  of  precious  material.     The  pomegranate,  which  is  to  some 
extent  similarly  used,  generally  finds  a  ready  sale  for  its  fruit. 
The  olive,  so  universally  found  around  the  old  missions  as  a  relic 
of  the  past,  has  not  so  far  found  its  place  in  general  culture  ; 
and  on  the  shelves  of  the  <rrocers  in  the  cides  we  still  find   the 
same  mixtures  of  cotton-seed,  pea-nut,  and   other  oils,  with  a 
modicum   of  the   genuine   product   of  the   olive,  that   form   the 
standing  complaint  of  salad-eaters  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  subject  of  olive  culture  has  of  late  attracted  considerable 


kq8  our  western  empire. 

attention,  and  small  quantities  of  excellent  oil  have  been  made 
in  various  parts  of  the  State,  proving  beyond  cavil  that  its  pro- 
duction can  be  made  an  important  industry.  The  culture  of 
the  fio-  in  California  is  co-extensive  with  that  of  the  vine,  and 
both  fresh  and  dried  fruit  of  the  highest  quality  is  found  in  the 
market. 

"As  to  nuts,  the  European  walnut,  Italian  chestnut  and  almond 
are  those  whose  culture  on  a  large  scale  has  been  successfully 
carried  out.  The  filbert  may  also  be  mentioned.  Of  these,  the 
almond  has  been  made  the  subject  of  the  largest  experiments, 
and,  as  might  be  expected,  there  have  been  numerous  disappoint- 
ments in  consequence  of  the  selection  of  unsuitable  localities, 
subject  to  light  frosts  at  the  time  of  bloom.  The  best  results 
have  been  obtained  in  situations  moderately  elevated  above  the 
valleys,  '  thermal  belts,'  where  the  cold  air  cannot  accumulate. 
The  quality  of  the  product  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired,  where 
proper  care  is  had  in  selection  of  varieties. 

"  The  Japanese  persimmon  promises  here,  as  in  the  Southern 
United  States,  to  prove  an  important  acquisition.  The  jujube, 
the  carob,  the  pistachio  nut,  and  many  others  are  under  trial. 

"Of  small  fruits,  the  strawberry  is  in  the  market  during  the 
twelve  months  of  the  year.  Raspberries  and  blackberries  are 
largely  grown,  both  for  market  and  canning.  The  currant  is  of 
especial  excellence  and  size,  and  is  extensively  grown  between 
the  rows  in  orchards.  Gooseberries  have  not  been  altogether 
successful  in  ofeneral  culture. 

"A  o-ood  deal  has  been  said  and  written  about  coffee  culture. 
It  was  currendy  reported  that  a  kind  of  coffee  grew  wild  in  the 
foot-hills,  and  of  course  the  real  coffee  must  succeed.  The  'wild 
coffee,'  however,  is  simply  the  California  buckthorn  {^Frangula 
Calijoj-mca),  and  of  course  no  more  suitable  for  a  beverage  than 
turnip-seed.  True,  coffee  trees  are  now  growing  at  numerous 
points  in  the  State,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  the  culture  will 
prove  a  success  outside  of  South  California. 

"The  grape-vine  was  among  the  culture  plants  introduced 
earliest  by  the  Catholic  missionaries.  The  similarity  of  the  Cali- 
fornia climate  to  that  of  the  vine-growing  regions  of  the  Mediter- 


COFFEE  AND    GRAPE    CULTURE.  ^C)^ 

ranean  would  naturally  suggest  the  probable  success  of  vine 
culture,  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  a  native  vine,  albeit  with  a 
somewhat  acid  and  unpalatable  fruit,  grows  abundantly  along  the 
banks  of  all  the  larger  streams.  The  grape  variety  introduced 
by  the  missionaries,  and  still  universally  known  as  the  '  Mission ' 
grape,  was  probably  the  outcome  of  seed  brought  from  Spain  ; 
it  "most  resembles  that  of  the  vineyards  which  furnish  the  '  Beni- 
carlo '  wine.  It  is  a  rather  pale-blue,  small,  round  berry,  forming 
at  times  very  large  and  somewhat  straggling  bunches.  It  is  very 
sweet,  especially  in  South  California,  has  very  little  acid,  very 
little  astringency,  no  definite  flavor,  and,  on  the  whole,  commends 
itself  as  a  wine-grape  only  by  the  abundance  of  its  juice  and  its 
great  frultfulness.  The  American  immigrants  found  this  vine 
growing  neglected  around  the  old  missions,  along  with  the  olive, 
fig  and  pomegranate.  It  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
European  emigrants  from  wine-growing  countries,  was  resusci- 
tated and  propagated,  and  sdll  forms  the  bulk  of  the  vineyards 
of  California.  We  have  good  testimony  to  the  effect  that  the 
wines  made  by  the  missionaries  were  of  very  indifferent  quality, 
owing  partly,  of  course,  to  the  inferiority  of  the  grape  used,  but 
chiefly  to  the  primitive  mode  of  manufacture  ;  the  entire  caskage 
consisting  of  a  few  large,  half-glazed  earthenware  jars  (tiiiajas), 
from  which  the  fermented  wine  was  rarely  racked  off,  being 
mostly  consumed  the  same  season.  Still,  the  luscious  grapes 
and  refreshing  wines  of  the  missions  are  dwelt  upon  with  all  the 
delight  that  contrast  can  impart  by  travelers  just  from  the  fiery 
ordeal  of  the  Arizona  deserts,  or  the  thirsty  plains  of  the  Upper 
San  Joaquin.  The  European  wine-makers  soon  improved  vastly 
upon  the  processes  and  product  of  the  padres,  but,  in  accordance 
with  the  fast  ideas  of  the  early  times  of  California,  they  impru- 
dendy  threw  their  immature  product  upon  the  general  market, 
and  thereby  damaged  the  reputation  of  California  wines  to  such 
a  degree  that  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  the  prejudice  thus 
created  has  been  overcome,  not  only  in  consequence  of  better 
methods  of  treatment,  and  greater  maturity  of  the  wines  when 
marketed,  but  also,  and  most  essentially,  by  the  introduction  of 
the  best  grape  varieties  from  all  parts  of  the  world.     The  result 


5oo  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

is,  that  at  this  time,  a  large  part  of  the  wines  exported  are  either 
partially  or  wholly  made  of  foreign  grape  varieties,  and,  as  a 
whole,  will  compare  favorably  with  the  product  of  any  European 
country,  while  ainong  the  choicer  kinds  now  ripening  there  are 
some  that  will  take  rank  with  the  high-priced  fancy  brands  of 
France.  It  is  true  that  so  far  all  California-grown  wines  are 
recognizable  to  experts,  a  peculiar  flavor  difficult  to  define,  which 
has  been  called  *  earthy,'  recalling  to  mind  that  of  the  wines  of 
the  Vaud  and  of  some  of  Burgundy.  But  this  peculiarity  re- 
mains unpercelved  by  most  persons,  and  is  not  comparable  in 
intensity  to  the  '  foxy '  aroma  of  wines  made  from  the  American 
grape  varieties. 

"  Another  prominent  peculiarity  of  the  California  wines  is  that 
they  are  generally  of  considerable  alcoholic  strength,  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  intense  and  unremitting  sunshine  under  which  they 
invariably  ripen.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  the  Los  Angeles 
region,  whose  natural  wines  are  by  many,  at  first  blush,  thought 
to  be  *  fortified,'  since  they  not  only  reach  the  maximum  alcoholic 
strength  attainable  by  fermentation,  but  even  then  retain  a  very 
perceptible  amount  of  unchanged  sugar.  This  circumstance 
interferes,  of  course,  vv'ith  the  safe  daily  and  sanitary  use  of  the 
native  wines  at  home,  and  explains  the  fact  that  as  yet  a  not  in- 
considerable amount,  of  French  clarets  especially,  is  imported 
into  California  for  table  use  by  the  foreign-born  population. 
This  folly  (for  such  it  must  be  considered  in  this  point  of  view) 
has  already  been  in  a  measure  remedied  by  the  use  of  such 
varieties  as  the  Hunorarian  '  Yinfandel '  and  others  of  a  more  acid 
and  tart  character  ;  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  it  will  be  found 
desirable  to  limit  the  time  of  exposure  of  the  ripe  grapes  to  the 
sufrar-makinof  autumn  sun  in  order  to  restrict  still  further  the 
alcoholic  strength  of  some  of  the  wines.  Of  course,  the  German 
and  French  vintners  are  difficult  to  convince  that  there  may  be 
in  California  too  much  of  the  blessed  sunshine,  every  hour  of 
which,  in  their  native  climes,  adds  to  the  market  value  of  their 
product.  This  is  but  one  of  the  many  points  in  which  the  vini- 
cultural  practice  of  California  seems  susceptible  of  improvement. 
We  find  elsewhere  that  long  experience  teaches  the  vintners  of 


CALIFORNIA    WINES.  5oi 

each  country  how  to  obtain  the  best  possible  results  under  their 
particular  conditions;  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  during  the 
short  period  of  experience  had  in  California,  and  with  the  tend- 
ency of  Spaniards,  Portuguese,  Italians,  French  and  Germans  to 
introduce  each  the  practice  of  his  own  country  under  circum- 
stances so  different,  the  best  methods  and  uniformity  in  quality 
should  not  yet  have  become  fixed.  What  is  true  of  wine-making 
proper  is  equally  so  of  the  modes  of  culture.  The  padres  natur- 
ally adopted  the  system  of  short  pruning  prevailing  in  their  own 
country,  and  the  later  comers  as  naturally  continued  it,  and, 
oddly  enough,  applied  it  almost  indiscriminately  to  the  other 
grape  varieties  brought  from  Northern  France,  Germany  and 
Hungary,  in  some  cases  even  to  the  varieties  of  the  native 
American  stock,  altogether  unused  to  such  summary  treatment. 
The  experimental  stage  in  California  wine-making  is  also  strik- 
ingly evidenced  by  the  great  variety  of  grapes  still  found  in  the 
vineyards  of  progressive  growers,  as  the  result  of  which  we  find 
in  the  markets  and  in  fairs  a  most  tempting  and  beautiful  dis- 
play of  the  grape  varieties  of  all  countries  ;  and  nothing  can  be 
more  convincing  as  regards  the  peculiar  adaptability  of  the  State 
to  this  industry  than  the  excellence  of  most  of  these,  often  sur- 
passing in  this  respect  the  best  of  their  kind  in  their  original 
homes.  Yet  we  can  hardly  wonder  at  this  in  a  climate  which 
allows  the  currant  and  the  orange  to  ripen  side  by  side. 

"Another  drawback  to  the  quality  of  the  wines  thus  far  is  the 
tendency  of  each  vine-grower  to  make  his  own  wines,  involving 
not  only  an  unnecessary  multiplication  of  costly  buildings, 
caskage,  etc.,  but  also  the  unfounded  assumption  that  wine- 
making  is  an  easy  thing,  and  can  be  managed  by  any  one  having 
a  moderate  amount  of  common  sense;  whereas,  on  the  contrary, 
the  production  of  the  best  possible  result  from  a  given  material 
requires  in  this  case,  as  in  other  manufacturing  industries,  a  very 
considerable  amount  of  knowledge  and  good  judgment,  which 
can  be  in  some  degree  replaced  by  mere  practice  only  in 
countries  where  long  experience  has  settled  all  into  a  regular 
routine.  The  introduction  of  large  wineries,  managed  by  pro- 
fessional experts  (like  the  magnificent  establishment  of  Buena 


5o2  <>^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Vista,  near  Sonoma  Town),  has  gone  far  toward  redeeming  the 
wines  of  California  from  the  reproach  cast  upon  them  by  the 
hasty  marketing  of  first  crude  efforts,  which  has,  until  lately, 
caused  much  of  the  native  product  to  be  sold  under  foreign 
labels.  They  have  always  possessed  at  least  the  merit  of  being 
made  of  the  grape  pure  and  simple,  ungallized  and  unpainted, 
not  so  much,  perhaps,  as  the  result  of  superior  virtue  of  wine- 
makers  on  the  Pacific  coast  as  because  the  superabundance  and 
low  price  of  grapes  reduces  the  temptation  to  adulterate  or 
'correct'  the  natural  product  to  a  minimum.  Even  within  the 
last  few  years  some  vineyards  in  the  interior  have  been  in  part 
harvested  by  turning  in  hogs;  and  other  uses  for  the  surplus 
product  have  been  sought  and  found  in  the  making  of  an  excel- 
lent syrup  by  evaporation  of  the  must.  The  growing  appre- 
ciation and  consequent  better  price  of  California  wines  will 
probably  hereafter  prevent  recourse  to  such  expedients. 

"A  detailed  consideration  of  the  methods  of  wine-making  is  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  present  article,  but  it  should  be  said  that 
after  the  picking  of  the  grapes  (usually  by  Chinese)  the  means 
and  appliances  used  in  the  succeeding  processes  are  generally 
(as  in  other  branches  of  agriculture  in  California)  of  the  most 
approved  and  efficient  kind,  and  the  operations  conducted  in  the 
most  cleanly  manner.  The  reported  treading  of  the  grapes  by 
the  feet  of  'Greasers'  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  applies 
only  to  the  pommace  destined  for  distillation  into  brandy ;  albeit 
for  certain  kinds  of  wine  {e.  g.,  Port)  the  treading  process  is 
deemed  indispensable  in  Europe,  and,  after  all,  feet  can  be 
washed  as  clean  as  hands. 

"Again,  there  are  in  California,  as.  elsewhere,  regions  whose 
soil  and  climate  favor  the  development  of  the  highest  qualities 
in  wines,  while  there  are  others  whose  product,  however  abun- 
dant, good-looking,  and  pleasant  to  the  palate  when  fresh  from 
the  vine,  will  fail,  even  with  the  best  management,  to  yield  a 
beverage  fit  for  exportation. 

"The  volcanic  soils  of  the  beautiful  valleys  of  Napa  and  Sonoma 
have  thus  far  achieved  the  highest  general  reputation  for  wines 
of  fine  bouquet ;  yet  even  there  the  products  of  adjacent  vine- 


THE  BEST   VINEYARDS.  5q^ 

yards  sometimes  differ  widely,  and  these  differences  are  not  yet, 
as  a  rule,  sufficiently  considered  by  the  producers,  or  by  those 
who  blend  the  several  products  for  market.  The  red  soils  of  the 
foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  also  give  high  promise  of  fine  wines,  and 
in  the  Coast  Range  those  of  the  valley  of  San  Jose  are  note- 
worthy. The  wines  made  from  the  sugary  berries  of  Los 
Angeles  are,  of  course,  very  similar  to  those  of  South  France, 
Spain  and  Portugal — fiery,  and  with  a  heavy  body,  but  less 
'  bouquet '  than  those  grown  farther  north.  Its  least  deserving 
wine  (if  it  may  be  so  classed  at  all)  is  perhaps  the  far-famed 
Angelica  ;  and  the  mission  grape  almost  alone  is  in  bearing  there 
as  yet. 

"  The  vineyards  planted  on  the  heavier  soils  of  the  Sacramento 
plain  yield  a  large  part  of  the  table  grapes  for  the  home  and 
eastern  markets,  and  seem  destined  to  become  one  of  the  chief 
regions  for  the.  raisin-making  industry,  to  which  the  climate  of 
the  great  interior  basin  is,  of  course,  especially  adapted  in  conse- 
quence of  its  rainless  summers  and  intense,  dry  heat,  sweetening 
the  grape  to  the  utmost,  and  rendering  the  curing  process  easy. 
Owing  probably  to  a  combination  of  favorable  soils  and  good 
managem»ent,  some  of  the  Muscatel  raisins  from  near  Woodland, 
in  Yolo  county,  have  proved  fully  equal  to  the  highest  quality  of 
those  imported  from  Malaga,  Unfortunately  the  commercial 
standing  of  California  raisins,  like  that  of  its  wines,  has  been  in- 
jured by  putting  into  market  such  as,  from  the  mode  of  curing, 
did  not  possess  the  requisite  keeping  qualities.  The  efficient 
drying  apparatus  now  introduced  obviates  this  objection,  and 
being  accompanied  by  a  superior  style  of  packing,  it  is  probable 
that  raisin-making  will  hereafter  take  its  place,  alongside  of  wine- 
making,  among  the  most  important  industries  of  the  State,  as  in- 
deed the  increased  demand  and  large  advance  in  price  already 
indicates. 

"  Brandy-making,  also,  has  not  been  neglected,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  unfavorable  Federal  legislation  has  until  lately  labored 
under  o-reat  disadvantao-es.  Most  of  the  native  'Aeuardiente ' 
has  been  distilled  from  pommace,  and  is,  of  course,  rather  hot 
and  rank-flavored.     In  the  Los  Angeles  region  it  is,  to  a  great 


5o4  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

extent,  the  'first  run '  of  the  grapes  only  that  is  made  into  wine, 
no  presses  being  used ;  hence  the  brandy  made  from  the  residue 
is  of  higher  quahty.  The  distillation  of  brandy  from  wine  itself 
(now  so  rare  in  France)  from  the  best  of  foreign  grapes  has  been 
made  a  specialty  by  General  H.  Naglee,  of  San  Jose,  and  the 
quality  of  the  product  is  far  above  that  of  any  imported  now  in 
the  market.  That  the  extensive  importation  of  grape  varieties 
should  result  in  the  introduction  of  their  formidable  enemy,  the 
Phylloxera,  is  not  surprising ;  but  we  may  well  wonder  at  the  in- 
difference with  which  that  now  well-known  fact  is  regarded  by 
the  majority  of  wine-growers,  even  in  districts  in  which  the  in- 
sect has  already  made  its  appearance,  and  has  shown  its  power 
for  harm.  This  is  due  largely  to  the  fortunate,  as  well  as  unex- 
pected and  hitherto  unexplained,  circumstance  that  the  progress 
of  the  pest  has  been  remarkably  slow  as  compared  with  its  sweep- 
ing advance  in  Europe,  though  evidently  not  less  sure.  It  is  as 
though  the  winged  form  were  not  produced  at  all,  or  very  much 
restricted  in  its  powers  of  locomotion.  It  therefore  seems 
quite  possible  to  check,  and  perhaps  stamp  it  out  by  timely  pre- 
cautions. But  nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  done,  and  the 
penalty  of  this  neglect  has  already  been  dearly  paid  in  the 
Sonoma  valley,  the  region  chiefly  afflicted.  Sonoma  Mountain 
seems  to  have  proved  an  effectual  barrier  against  its  transmission 
to  the  Napa  valley.  The  ravages  of  the  insect  are  also  reported 
from  some  other  localities,  but  no  noteworthy  damage  has  thus 
far  been  heard  of.  Of  other  vine  pests,  the  Oidiiun  and  a  kind 
of  black  knot  are  the  chief;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  -damage  done 
has  been  merely  local  and  easily  checked,  and  it  may  be  truth- 
fully said  that  to  the  grape  vine,  as  to  the  human  race,  the  climate 
of  California  is  exceptionally  kind." 

''Forage  Crops. — The  strong  tendency  of  the  farming  popula- 
tion of  California  to  engage  in  stock-raising,  dairying,  and  wool- 
erowine,  and  the  fact  that  the  rainless  summers  of  the  p-reater 
part  of  California  exclude  from  its  agricultural  system,  at  least 
on  unirrigated  land,  both  permanent  meadows  and  clover,  render 
absolutely  necessary  the  cultivation  of  forage  plants  suitable  for 
such  climatic  conditions.  The  search  for  these  was  early  begun 
and  is  far  from  being  yet  concluded. 


FORAGE    CROPS.  goq 

"The  most  obvious  expedient,  adopted  at  the  outset,  and  still 
supplying  the  bulk  of  dry  forage,  is  the  cutting  of  the  ordinary 
cereal  crops  for  hay  before  the  grain  ripens.  '  Wheat  hay '  and 
'barley  hay,'  which,  with  oats  similarly  cured,  constitute  the  main 
mass  of  the  hay  crop,  are  among  the  Californian  oddities  that 
first  strike  the  agricultural  immigrant.  Most  of  the  late  sown 
grain,  as  well  as  so  much  of  the  early  sown  as  from  any  cause 
does  not  promise  a  good  grain  crop,  and  the  '  volunteer  crop ' 
that  commonly  springs  up  from  the  seed  shed  in  harvesting  the 
previous  season's  grain  on  land  left  untilled,  is  devoted  to  this 
purpose,  for  which  it  generally  becomes  fit  some  time  in  May, 
according  to  location.  Oddly  enough,  embarrassment  not  un- 
commonly arises  on  fresh  and  strong  land,  from  the  fact  that  the 
straw  is  so  strong^  and  tall  as  to  render  it  unsuitable  for  cuttino- 
into  hay.  A  great  deal  also  is  cut  at  too  late  a  period,  when  the 
grain  is  almost  full-grown — it  being  well  known  that  it  is  then 
that  the  greatest  total  weight  is  harvested ;  the  quality,  however, 
is  in  that  case  of  course  injured.  During  hay-making  time  (end 
of  April  to  that  of  May)  the  weather  is  usually  so  dry  that  there 
is  little  difficulty  about  curing.  There  are  no  sudden  thunder- 
storms to  call  for  a  hasty  garnering  of  the  hay.  So  little  danger 
is  there  that  injury  from  rains  will  occur  after  May  that  the 
shocks  are  often  left  exposed  for  many  w^eeks  to  the  bleaching 
action  of  dew  and  sunshine.  The  regular  practice,  however,  is 
to  gather  them  into  large  rectangular  ricks,  built  without  much 
reference  to  protection  frorrt  rain,  but  mainly  with  regard  to  the 
convenience  for  pressing  into  bales.  This  is  mostly  done  by 
contract  with  gangs  or  '  pressers,'  usually  consisting  of  four  men 
with  a  wagon  and  press,  who  perambulate  the  country  from 
June  to  October. 

"Undoubtedly  the  most  valuable  result  of  the  search  after 
forage  crops  adapted  to  the  California  climate  is  the  introduction 
of  the  culture  of  Alfalfa;  this  being  the  name  universally  applied 
to  the  variety  of  Lucerne  that  was  introduced  into  California 
from  Chili  early  in  her  history,  differing  from  the  European 
plant  merely  in  that  it  has  a  tendency  to  taller  growth  and 
deeper  roots.     The  latter  habit,  doubtless  acquired  in  the  dry 


5o6  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

climate  of  Chili,  is  of  course  especially  valuable  in  California,  as 
it  enables  the  plant  to  withstand  a  drought  so  protracted  as  to 
kill  out  even  more  resistant  plants  than  red  clover;  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  latter,  it  is  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  importance 
of  Alfalfa  to  California  agriculture;  which  will  be  more  and  more 
recognized  as  a  regular  system  of  rotation  becomes  a  part  of  the 
general  practice.  At  first  Alfalfa  was  used  almost  exclusively 
for  pasture  and  green-soiling  purposes;  but  during  the  last 
three  or  four  years  Alfalfa  hay  has  become  a  regular  article  in 
the  general  market,  occasional  objections  to  its  use  being  the 
result  of  want  of  practice  in  curing.  On  the  irrigated  lands  of 
Kern,  Fresno,  and  Tulare  counties,  three  and  even  four  cuts  of 
foraee,  aeerecfatinor  to  somethino-  like  twelve  to  fourteen  tons 
of  hay  per  acre,  have  frequently  been  made.  As  the  most  avail- 
able green  forage  during  summer,  Alfalfa  has  become  an  invalu- 
able adjunct  to  all  dairy  and  stock-farming,  wherever  the  soil 
can,  during  the  dry  season,  supply  any  moisture  within  two  or 
three  feet  of  the  surface. 

^^Gi'asses. — Of  the  ordinary  pasture  and  meadow  grasses  of 
Europe  and  the  East,  but  a  few  have  to  any  extent  gone  into 
cultivation.  One  of  the  most  unsuited  to  the  climate,  viz.,  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass,  is  carefully  nurtured  by  daily  sprinklings  as 
the  chief  ingredient  of  lawns,  for  which  the  Eastern  immigrant 
generally  maintains  a  preference,  often  satisfied  at  an  inordinate 
cost  of  money  and  labor,  and  sometimes  of  health.  As  water 
for  household  purposes  is  almost  universally  kept  under  press- 
ure from  elevated  tanks  or  water-works,  the  hose  and  lawn- 
sprinkler  are  probably  in  more  general  use  here  than  in  any 
other  country;  and  innumerable  attacks  of  rheumatism  and 
malarious  fever  are  traceable  to  their  intemperate  use,  even  to 
the  injury  of  the  coveted  grass  itself.  But  few  attempts  have  as 
yet  been  made  to  find  an  acceptable  substitute  for  the  costly 
blue-grass  lawn.  Among  those  which  promise  best  are  the 
Italian  rye  grass,  which  remains  green  all  summer  without  irri- 
gation in  tlic  bay  climate;  and,  with  proper  treatment,  doubtless 
the  Bermuda  grass  could  also  be  used.  In  either  case,  fully  six 
out  of  seven  weekly  sprinklings  might  be  dispensed  with.     This 


STOCK-BREEDING  AND  DAIRYING.  5o7 

rye  grass  {Loliu7n  Italicum,  viultifiorimi)  has  in  some  districts 
become  so  naturalized  as  to  be  cut  for  'volunteer  hay,'  while  at 
other  points  it  is  regularly  cultivated  with  irrigation,  if  needed. 
In  the  tule  lands  and  other  naturally  or  artificially  irrigated 
regions,  the  soft  meadow  grass  [Holacs  lanatus),  under  the  sin- 
gularly inappropriate  name  of  'mezquite,'  as  well  as  the  orchard 
grass  [Dactyiis  giomerata)  have  come  into  use  for  pasture  as 
well  as  hay ;  but  the  latter  is  not  found  in  market.  So  of  the 
millets  {^Panicum  Italicwn,  Geinnanictmi),  which  are  locally  in 
use.  Of  late  various  species  and  varieties  of  sorghum  are  com- 
ing into  favor ;  among  these  especially  the  Dhurra,  or  Egyptian 
corn,  and  the  pearl  millet  [^Penicillara  spicata).  Other  forage 
plants  are  under  trialin  various  portions  of  the  State  ;  but  thus 
far  none  can  compare  in  importance  with  the  cereal  grasses  and 
Alfalfa,  It  is  probable  that  hereafter  some  of  the  native  grasses 
and  clovers,  now  considered  as  weeds  only,  will  be  found  profit- 
able for  culture. 

"  Stock-breedbig  and  Dairying. — Prior  to  the  American  occu- 
pation, the  breeding  of  sheep,  horses,  and,  to  a  less  extent,  of 
neat  cattle,  roaming  in  flocks  over  the  extensive  ranches,  was 
the  chief  occupation  of  the  inhabitants ;  and  to  a  great  extent 
the  remnant  of  the  original  Spanish-Mexican  population  still 
clings  to  the  old  pursuit,  which  affords  an  easy  livelihood,  and 
permits  of  indulgence  in  that  dolce  far  niente  which  seems  to  be 
impossible  to  the  'Americanos,'  however  varied  may  be  the 
nationalities  that  compose  the  population  of  the  United  States. 
It  thus  happens  that  even  where  the  '  ranche '  and  stock  are 
owned  by  Americans,  the  herders  are  to  a  great  extent  still  the 
native  'vaqueros,'  who,  mounted  on  their  hardy  mustangs,  and 
with  the  old-time  lasso  (more  properly  '  lazo '),  coiled  around 
the  horn  of  their  high  Mexican  saddles,  and  rarely  more  than  a 
rope  to  guide  their  steed,  may  be  seen  careering  around  the 
steep  hill-sides  with  a  disregard  of  all  the  ordinary  precautions 
against  the  breaking  of  necks,  that  is  quite  straining  to  the 
nerves  of  novice  lookers-on.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  accidents  very 
rarely  happen  to  these  wild  riders ;  and  their  efficiency  in  keep- 
ing in  bounds  and  'corraling'  the  cattle  intrusted  to  their  care, 


(3o8  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

on  the  most  rugged  ground,  is  remarkable.  It  is  but  fair  to  say, 
however,  that  their  practice  has  been  quite  successfully  imitated 
by  other  nationalities,  and  that  many  a  swarthy  herdsman  now- 
a-days  responds  more  promptly  to  the  Saxon  or  Norse  saluta- 
tion than  to  that  of  the  Mexican-Spanish  dialect. 

"The  purely  pastoral  method  of  stock-raising  is,  of  course, 
gradually  receding  before  the  advance  of  agriculture  proper  to 
the  more  thinly  settled  regions;  maintaining  itself,  however,  in 
some  of  the  large  ranches  owned  by  parties  declining  to  sell  to 
small  farmers.  The  obvious  disadvantage  of  being  entirely  at 
the  mercy  of  the  seasons,  thus  sometimes  losing  in  a  single  dry 
year  all  the  increase  of  a  previous  succession  of  favorable  ones, 
has  gone  far  toward  the  introduction  of  a  safer  system,  in  which 
the  hardy  and  nutritious  Alfalfa  serves  to  carry  reduced  numbers 
of  stock  of  correspondingly  higher  quality  safely  through  the 
dry  months.  In  few  States,  probably,  is  the  value  of  improved 
breeds  more  highly  appreciated  than  in  California ;  and  nowhere, 
probably,  can  the  best  strains  of  the  more  important  breeds  be 
seen  in  greater  perfection.  The  one  domestic  animal  of  com- 
mon note,  not  as  well  represented  in  California  as  elsewhere,  is 
the  hog;  the  obvious  cause  of  the  comparative  neglect  being  the 
absence  of  a  sufficiently  long  and  regular  period  of  freezing 
weather,  whereby  the  safe  packing  and  curing  of  pork,  hams, 
etc.,  is  rendered  too  precarious.  While,  therefore,  fresh  pork 
of  excellent  quality  is  commonly  found  in  the  markets,  the  sup- 
plies of  bacon,  ham,  and  lard  are,  as  a  rule,  furnished  by  the 
Western  States,  and  partly  by  Oregon.  Foremost  in  numbers 
among  the  rest  is  undoubtedly  the  sheep,  in  its  double  capacity 
of  wool-bearer  and  producer  of  some  of  the  best  mutton  in  the 
world ;  a  combination  which  has  doubtless  contributed  much  to 
the  preference  given  it  on  the  part  of  the  somewhat  inert  native 
population.  Easily  satisfied  with  scanty  pasturage,  and  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  State  scarcely  needing  shelter,  the  sheep  is 
tlie  very  animal  *"or  the  swarthy  inhabitant  of  the  adobe  house, 
who  loves  to  take  his  ease  lounging  on  the  airy  veranda,  asking 
of  fate  no  luxury  beyond  a  due  allowance  of  cigaritos,  and  not 
at  all  envious  of  the  greater  comforts  and  riches  of  his  unquiet, 
hard-working,  and  ever-scheming  Saxon  neighbor. 


CALIFORNIA   SHEEP.  gOQ 

"The  common  sheep  of  the  country,  while  far  from  being  a 
high-bred  animal,  is  yet  superior  in  many  points  to  the  stock 
commonly  found  in  other  countries,  and  its  adaptation  to  the 
climate  has  rendered  it  profitable  in  cases  where  improved  stock 
failed  to  pay.  The  Spanish  Merino,  whose  blood  doubtless  runs 
in  the  veins  of  the  native  stock,  seems  to  be  best  adapted  to  its 
improvement,  and  the  best  of  this  breed  has  been  imported  into 
the  State.  The  wool-clip  is  among  the  most  important  products 
of  South  California  ;  but  it  would  seem  that  the  attainment  of 
the  highest  quality  requires  some  change  from  the  natural  con- 
ditions of  pasturage,  which  present  too  great  a  contrast  between 
the  wet  and  dry  seasons  to  insure  perfect  uniformity  of  the  fibre. 
This,  however,  can  undoubtedly  be  accomplished  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  proper  forage  plants.  In  dry  seasons,  such  as 
that  of  \^']6-']'],  the  mortality  among  the  larger  flocks  has  some- 
times amounted  almost  to  annihilation.  The  sheep-owners  of 
the  plains,  in  order  to  save  something,  have  driven  their  flocks, 
to  the  foot-hills  and  valleys  of  the  high  Sierras,  leaving  their- 
route  marked  with  the  festering  carcasses  of  the  weaker  animals,, 
and  sweeping  every  green  thing  before  them,  to  the  dismay  of 
the  dwellers  in  the  invaded  regions,  who  were  thus  sometimes 
themselves  reduced  to  extremities.  In  ordinary  seasons,  this 
micrration  has  its  regular  methods  and  routes,  the  herds  ascend- 
ing  the  mountains  in  the  wake  of  the  summer's  drought,  and 
returning  to  the  foot-hills  or  plains  to  winter. 

"  Of  other  fleece-bearinor  animals  the  An":ora  or  Shawl  i^oat  has 
attracted  considerable  attention,  and  seems  to  succeed  well;;  but 
the  industry  has  not  as  yet  assumed  large  proportions,  chiefly,. it 
seems,  on  account  of  the  want  of  a  regular  market  sustained  by 
competition  among  the  purchasers. 

''Of  Horses. — The  Mexican  mustang,  a  rather  undersized  yet 
hardy  and  serviceable,  but  proverbially  tricky,  race,  descended 
from  the  Spanish  breed,  and  therefore  far  from  being  inferior 
blood,  still  forms  the  greater  portion  of  the  horses  in. common 
use  In  California.  The  laro^er  American  horse  brouoht  from  the 
Eastern  States,  although  preferred  for  heavy  work,  is  not  so 
well   adapted   to   the   mountains,   and  requires   higher,  feeding. 

39 


6io  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  two  varieties  are,  of  course,  rapidly  mixing,  and  better 
blood  than  that  of  many  California  studs  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
anywhere.  Fast  horses  and  fast  men  have  here,  perhaps,  more 
than  elsewhere  been  the  bane  of  the  ai^ricultural  fairs,  whose 
real  and  important  objects  have,  until  lately,  been  most 
frequently  swallowed  up  in  that  of  an  opportunity  for  betting 
and  horse-racing,  to  the  disgust  of  the  agriculturists.  The  in- 
troduction of  the  more  useful  breeds  has  not,  however,  been 
neglected,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fine  Norman  and  Percheron 
dray-horses  seen  on  the  streets  of  San  Francisco.  A  tolerable 
riding-horse  can  probably  be  bought  for  less  money  in  California 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  United  States,  the  mustangs  (which 
are  generally  of  light  build)  being  bred  in  large  herds  on  pas- 
tures, with  little  care  and  therefore  little  expense.  But  when 
the  excursionist  pays  twenty  or  thirty  dollars  for  his  steed  he 
must  not  expect  to  find  it  trained  to  gentleness  and  affection,  for 
the  '  breaking-in  '  process  which  these  animals  undergo  on  the 
ranches  has  but  few  of  the  features  that  Mr.  Rarey  would  recom- 
mend. The  unwary  horseman  wall  pay  for  his  experience  by 
many  an  unexpected  nip  or  kick,  or  by  being  left  on  foot  at  in- 
convenient distances  from  his  destination,  in  consequence  of  a 
dexterous  slip  of  the  rein  from  his  arm,  a  sudden  rush  under  a 
tree  with  low  branches,  or  a  'bucking'  process  of  exceptional 
suddenness  and  violence.  The  mustang  will,  ordinarily,  abandon 
these  practices  in  proportion  as  it  feels  that  the  rider  is  'up  to' 
its  tricks  ;  but  the  latter  should  never  be  found  altogether  off  his 
guard  against  them,  as  he  might  safely  do  with  a  well-educated 
horse. 

"  The  neat  cattle  of  California,  previous  to  the  American  occupa- 
tion, were  chiefly  of  a  type  whose  ancestry  may  still  be  seen  on 
the  pastures  of  Andalusia — a  middle-sized  race,  lightly  built, 
bearing  medium,  long,  but  aggressively-pointed  horns,  which, 
combined  with  an  irritable  temperament  and  a  fair  capacity  for 
speed,  render  the  proximity  of  a  herd  of  these  cattle  not 
altogether  pleasant  to  the  novice.  Like  its  cousin,  the  Texas 
Long-horn,  now  familiar  to  the  West,  it  is  a  hardy,  prolific  race, 
yielding  a  fair  quality  of  beef,  and  a  thick  and  tough  hide,  well 


NEAT  CATTLE    OF  CALIFORNIA.  6lj 

adapted  either  to  the  production  of  sole  leather  or  to  that  of  the 
strong  rawhide  thongs,  which  serve  the  Mexicans  in  place  of 
rope,  twine,  nails  and  other  domestic  appliances  deemed  indis- 
pensable by  more  pampered  nations.  As  milkers,  however,  its 
cows  are  a  failure  ;  nor  are  its  oxen  remarkable  for  either  docility 
or  disposition  to  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits,  being  the  natural 
result  of  a  nomadic  life  on  wild  pastures,  from  which  they  were 
driven  in  and  *  corraled,'  for  branding  or  slaughtering,  only  a  few 
times  in  the  course  of  the  year.  All  this,  of  course,  has  mate- 
rially changed  since  the  advent  of  the  American.  The  immi- 
grants brought  their  cattle  Avith  them  over  the  plains,  and  found 
no  reason  to  exchange  the  progeny  of  these  for  the  pugnacious 
natives.  The  latter  have,  therefore,  greatly  diminished  in  num- 
bers, and  are  little  seen  in  the  more  populous  regions,  retiring 
before  the  advance  of  culture  like  their  original  masters.  The 
gentler  race  that  accompanied  the  Americans  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  now  dots  the  plains  and  foot-hills  of  the  Great  Valley 
of  California ;  and  since  their  weaker  brethren  mostly  perished 
on  that  trying  and  weary  voyage,  a  process  of  selection  has  taken 
place,  as  a  result  of  which  the  worst  breeds  of  '  scrubs  '  are  rarely 
seen  in  the  State.  Moreover,  the  tendency  to  improvement  that 
is  so  apparent  in  the  use  of  perfected  appliances  of  every  kind 
has  manifested  itself  at  least  equally  in  the  importation  of  the 
best  breeds  of  neat  cattle,  among  which  the  Short-horn,  Jersey, 
Alderney  arid  Ayrshire,  and  to  some  extent  the  Devon,  have 
found  especial  acceptance,  and  are  represented  by  some  of  their 
best  strains.  Much  discussion  prevails  as  yet  in  regard  to  the 
relative  merits  of  the  various  breeds  under  the  peculiar  climatic 
conditions  of  California  ;  but  already  they  are  beginning  to  be- 
come localized  in  accordance  with  their  several  adaptations  to 
local  climates,  which  can  be  found  to  suit  all ;  and  perhaps  in 
time  the  tawny  race  of  the  Swiss  Alps  will  find  a  congenial  range 
on  the  Sierra  Nevada. 

"  The  production  of  beef  is  as  yet  limited  by  the  requirements 
of  home  consumption  ;  but  the  dairy  interest  is  rapidly  assuming 
a  wilder  range,  and  with  an  increasing  knowledge  of  the  modifi- 
cations of  the  processes   demanded  by  climatic   conditions,  the 


gj2  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

quality  of  dairy  products  is  improving  so  much  that  as  a  market 
for  all  but  the  choicest  kinds,  California  will  soon  be  closed  to 
the  Eastern  producer,  and  will,  perhaps,  compete  with  him  in 
foreir^n  markets.  The  average  quality  of  the  milk  supplied  to 
San  Francisco  and  Oakland,  from  the  numerous  'dairy  ranches' 
on  the  coast  and  bay  and  in  the  Coast  Range,  is  greatly  superior 
to  that  generally  found  in  Eastern  cities;  one  obvious  reason 
beino-  that  in  the  absence  of  distilleries  there  is  no  opportunity 
or  temptation  to  feed  the  cows  on  unhealthy  offal;  nor  do  the 
sleek  and  healthy  cows  that  range  the  breezy  hills  of  the  coast 
ever  need  to  be  propped  or  slung  up  in  order  to  enable  them  to 
stand  the  milking  process.  It  is  believed  that  an  undue  increase 
of  bulk  from  a  too  free  use  of  the  pump  is  all  that  the  milk  con- 
sumers of  these  cities  ever  have  to  complain  of. 

''Diilter  is  now  very  generally  of  fair  quality,  some  brands 
being  quite  up  to  the  'gilt-edge  '  standard.  It  is  usually  sold  in 
rolls  supposed  to  weigh  two  pounds,  but  in  reality  always  several 
ounces  below  that  weight — a  circumstance  so  well  understood, 
however,  that  the  practice  hardly  amounts  to  deception.  The 
price  per  roll  rarely  falls  below  fifty  cents  to  the  consumer,  and 
ranches  more  generally  from  sixty  cents  to  $i.io  about  Christmas 
time,  when  even  that  which  has  been  packed  in  casks  with  salt 
during  the  spring  and  summer  brings  seventy  cents. 

"The  intimate  connection  (to  the  housekeeper  at  least)  of 
butter  with  ecrcrs  suecrests  a  few  words  on  that  subject  in  this 
place.  The  demand  for  eggs  is  unusually  large  in  California 
cities,  in  consequence  of  the  comnionly  prevailing  practice  of  not 
only  single  men  and  women,  but  also  small  families  in  moderate 
circumstances,  living  in  lodgings,  and  taking  an  easily  made 
breakfast  of  eggs,  bread  and  coffee,  thereafter  going  to  the  res- 
taurant for  dinner,  and  thus  avoiding  the  pains  and  pleasures  of 
housekeeping.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  desirability  of  this 
practice  in  a  social  point  of  view,  it  manifests  its  effects  in  the 
price  of  eggs,  which  rarely  falls  below  thirty  cents  per  dozen  to 
the  consumer,  and  is  more  frequently  among  the  fifties  and  up- 
ward ;  even  so,  fowls  cannot  often  be  bought  at  less  than  eighty 
cents  apiece,  and  ^i    is   a  common   price.     Poultry-keeping  is 


BEES  IN  CALIFORNIA.  gl^ 

therefore  a  very  remunerative  pursuit  when  judiciously  managed, 
since  feed  is  as  cheap  as  elsewhere  ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  indus- 
tries which  have  not,  as  yet,  been  overdone.  There  are  no 
special  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  poultry-raising  in  Califor- 
nia ;  yet  a  great  deal  of  money  has  been  lost  in  attempts  made 
by  persons  unfamiliar  with  its  proper  management.  There  is  no 
lack  of  the  improved  breeds,  but  among  them  the  Leghorns  seem 
to  enjoy  the  widest  acceptance  at  this  time. 

"■  Apiaculiiire  is  common  throughout  the  State,  and  nowhere  is 
the  product  of  the  bee  of  finer  flavor,  or  marketed  in  a  more 
attractive  form.  The  best  of  improved  hives  are  in  common  use, 
and  the  market  is  always  supplied  with  the  frames  filled  with  the 
delicate,  almost  white,  comb.  Of  course  the  improved  varieties 
of  bees  have  been  introduced,  and  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
State  especially  this  industry  is  practised  on  a  scale  not  often  to 
be  met  with  elsewhere,  as  can  readily  be  seen  from  the  figures 
showing  the  export,  amounting  in  1878  to  no  less  than  three  and 
a  half  millions  of  pounds.  How  kindly  the  honey-bee  takes  to 
even  the  desert  region  of  that  country  is  well  illustrated  in  what 
has  been  supposed  by  many  to  be  a  '  snake'  story,  but  what  is 
an  unquestionable  fact;  namely,  that  some  miners,  prospecting 
in  Arizona,  struck  a  regular  '  fissure  vein  '  of  honey  in  a  rocky 
ridge,  where  the  bees  had  been  making  deposits  for  years,  and, 
although  the  vein-contents  were  not  what  they  had  been  search- 
ing for,  they  took  to  it  kindly  and  worked  it,  extracting  therefrom 
a  fabulous  amount  of  honey.  Another  adventurous  colony  took 
possession  of  the  court-house  cupola  at  San  Bernardino,  and  had 
accumulated  several  hundred  pounds  of  honey  when  discovered. 
The  bee  is  very  fond  of  the  flower  of  the  mountain  sage  {Arle- 
fiiisia),  as  well  as  of  a  number  of  other  desert  plants,  and  is  thujs 
afforded  unlimited  pasture  through  three-fourths  of  the  year.  It 
seems  that  certain  kinds  of  flowers,  not  yet  identified,  impart  to 
the  honey  a  tendency  to  become  turbid  after  straining,  irom  the 
separation  of  minute  white  crystals,  whose  nature  has  not  as  yet 
been  ascertained.  Such  honey,  whose  other  qualities  are  gener- 
ally of  the  highest,  has  been  unjusdy  suspected  of  adulteration 
in  Eastern  and  English  markets.     The  prejudice  arising  from 


5 14  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

this  merely  conventional  defect  will  soon  be  overcome,  and  South 
California  will  doubtless  become  one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the 
largest,  honey-producing  country  of  the  world. 

''Silk-cidliire  is  at  present  almost  extinct  in  California  in  con- 
sequence of  the  reaction  against  the  mania  for  this  industry  that 
beo^an  in  the  State  some  eighteen  years  ago  and  raged  with 
unabated  fury  for  several  years,  inllicting  severe  losses  upon 
those  who  indulged  in  the  popular  delusion  that  the  silk-worm 
would  thrive  in  the  State  without  any  special  precautions  in  the 
way  of  shelter  and  such  intelligent  care  as  can  be  given  only  by 
those  versed  in  its  treatment.  Some  of  the  airy  sheds  that  were 
supposed  to  be  an  adequate  protection  against  the  compara- 
tively slight  changes  of  temperature  are  still  extant,  as  monu- 
ments of  that  flush  period  when  mulberry  trees  were  thought  to 
be  the  only  nursery  stock  worth  having.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  the  advantages  offered  by  a  climate  in  which  the 
food  of  the  worm  is  available  during  all  but  two  or  three  months 
in  the  year,  yet  free  from  the  excessive  heat  that  elsewhere  mili- 
tates against  the  insect's  well-being,  will  ultimately  assert  them- 
selves in  the  resumption  of  silk-culture  in  a  calmer  mood.  It 
has  been  very  successfully  kept  up,  on  a  small  scale,  by  Mr. 
Gustavus  Neumann,  of  San  Francisco,  showing  pretty  conclu- 
sively that  it  is  not  the  nature  of  the  climate,  but  adverse  com- 
mercial and  industrial  circumstances  that  at  present  keep  the 
rise  of  silk-culture  in  check." 

The  tables  on  page  615  show  the  leading  agricultural  products 
of  the  State  (except  grapes  and  wine)  for  the  year  1878  as  esti- 
mated by  the  Agricultural  Department;  the  statistics  of  1879 
are  not  yet  received.  They  give  also  the  estimated  live-stock 
of  the  State  in  January,  1879. 

In  regard-  to  items  not  entering  into  these  statistics,  we  may 
say  that  in  1877  California  had  30,000,000  grape  vines,  most  of 
them  in  bearing,  one  county  (Los  Angeles)  alone  having  over 
6,000,000 ;  of  fruit  trees,  common  to  temperate  climates,  340,000 
in  bearing,  and  of  sub-tropical  fruit  trees,  the  almond,  lemon, 
orange,  olive,  fig,  etc.,  500.000.  Of  wine  6,400,000  gallons  were 
exported  in   1877  over  the  Central  Pacific  Railway,  and  about 


CA'OPS  AND   LIVE-STOCK  IN  CALIFORNIA.  gje 

45,000,000  pounds  of  wool,  beside  die  large  amount  retained  for 
home  consumption.  Of  salmon,  mosdy  in  tins,  7,841,680  pounds 
were  shipped  eastward  in  1877  ;  of  borax  536,000  pounds. 


Crops. 
Products. 


Indian  corn 
Wheat 
Rye  . 
Oats  . 
Barley 
Potatoes 
Hay  . 


Measures. 


bushels 


tons 


Quantity 
produced. 

Av'gc  yield 
per  acre. 

34-5 

3,467,250 

41,990,000 

17- 

195,000 

15- 

4,350,000 

30. 

14,950,000 

23- 

4,377,600 

114. 

1,271,000 

2.05 

Number  of  acres 
of  each  crop. 

Value  per 

bushel  or 

ton. 

100,500 

.60 

2,470,000 

1.03 

13,000 

•75 

145,000 

.69 

650,000 

•65 

38,400 

.98 

620,000 

12.61 

4,036,900 

Total  valuation. 


$2,080,350 

43,249,700 

146,250 

3,001,500 

9'7i7,5oo 

4,290,048 

16,027,310 

$78,512,658 


Live-stock. — Animals. 

Number. 

Average  price. 

Value. 

Horses      .... 

Mules 

Milch  cows    . 

Oxen  and  other  cattle 

Sheep  

Swine 

273,000 
25,700 

459,600 
1,010,000 
6,889,000 

565,000 

^43-95 
66.24 

25.90 

18.91 

1. 61 

5-95 

$11,998,350 

1,702,368 

11,903.640 

19,099,100 

11,091,290 

3.361,750 

^^59.156,498 

Manufacturing  Prodticts. —  California,  not  content  with  being 
the  richest  acrricultural  State  and  one  of  the  best  minino-  States 
of  "  Our  Western  Empire,"  aspires  also  to  a  high  rank  as  a  manu- 
facturing State,  for  which,  indeed,  she  has  many  facilities.  Her 
earliest  manufactures  were  connected  with  her  minino-  interests, 
mining  implements  and  machinery,  and  generally,  miners'  sup- 
plies. In  these  she  has  been  remarkably  successful,  and  at  the 
present  time  some  of  the  best  mining  machinery  known  is  pro- 
duced at  San  Francisco,  and  in  other  California  cities ;  the  excep- 
tional size  and  excellence  of  her  forest  trees  led  to  the  produc- 
tion of  lumber  for  mining,  building,  and  railroad  purposes,  and 
to  the  finer  manufactures  of  wood  as  furniture,  etc.;  the  vast 
herds  of  cattle  and  the  great  quantities  of  hides  placed  upon  her 
market  led  to  the  establishment  of  tanneries  and  to  the  produc- 
tion of  leather  for  harness,  saddles,  hunters'  trappings,  etc.,  a 
class  of  manufactures  very  greatly  to  the  taste  of  her  Hispano- 


(5 1 6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

American  population  ;  and  her  vast  flocks  of  sheep  made  her 
chief  city  one  of  the  best  wool  markets  in  the  country  and  stimu- 
lated manufactures  of  several  classes  of  woollen  goods,  in  which 
she  has  attained  great  excellence.  Her  immense  production  of 
wheat  led  to  the  establishment  of  extensive  flouring  mills,  and 
the  San  Francisco  flour  has  a  great  reputation.  The  develop- 
ment of  grape  culture  naturally  led  to  the  manufacture  of  wine 
and  brandy.  Carriages  and  wagons,  and  iron  manufactures  and 
iron  castings  were  the  outc6me  of  the  production  of  mining 
machinery  and  miners'  supplies.  Of  other  manufactures,  most 
have  grown  out  of  her  commerce.  She  buys  largely  of  unmanu- 
factured tobacco,  which  is  made  up  there  into  cigars,  chewing 
and  smokino-  tobacco.  The  raw  suo-ar  received  from  the  Sand- 
wich  Islands  is  manufactured  into  refined  sugar,  syrup,  and  can- 
dies ;  and  the  bags  in  which  her  grain  is  exported  are  manufac- 
tured in  her  own  mills.  Gunpowder,  dynamite,  giant-powder, 
and  chemicals,  which  also  figure  among  her  products,  are  mostly 
in  demand  for  the  mining  districts  and  miners'  supplies.  What 
amount  of  capital  is  invested  in  her  manufactures,  and  what  is 
the  annual  value  of  the  products  now,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  In 
1870  the  amount  of  capital  reported  (and  very  much  under- 
stated) by  the  census  was  $39,728,202,  and  the  annual  product 
stated  was  ^66,594,556.  It  would  undoubtedly  be  three  times 
the  amount,  if  not  more,  in  both  cases  at  the  present  time. 

Mining  Products. — The  official  statement  of  the  production  of 
gold  and  silver  in  California  in  1879  gives  $18,190,973  as  the 
amount,  but  this  does  not  include  considerable  sums  forwarded 
to  the  East  in  private  hands,  nor  the  amount  used  for  manufac- 
turing and  other  purposes  in  the  State,  nor  what  was  on  hand 
at  the  mines,  mills,  and  smelting  works  at  the  close  of  the  year, 
but  only  what  was  either  deposited  at  the  mint  or  passed  through 
the  express  companies.  There  is  to  be  added  to  this  also  about 
$1,000,000  worth  of  lead  (5.55  per  cent.),  parted  from  the  silver 
in  the  smelting  works.  Dr.  Rossiter  W.  Raymond,  late  United 
States  Mining  Commissioner,  and  now  editor  of  tine  Alining 
Exchange  yctirnal,  the  higliest  autliority  on  this  subject,  esti- 
mates that,  throuMiout  all  these  mining  States  and  Territories, 


J^AILIVAYS  IN  CALIFORNIA.  617 

and  especially  In  California,  the  gold  and  silver  product  is  only 
about  one-tenth  of  all  the  mineral  products  of  the  State  ;  that 
the  quicksilver,  platinum,  copper,  lead,  iron,  tin,  coal,  borax,  soda, 
salt,  sulphur,  gypsum,  marble,  granite  and  other  building  stone, 
mineral  waters,  etc.,  together  aggregate  nine  times  as  much  as 
the  precious  metals.  However  it  may  be  with  the  other  mining 
States  and  Territories,  this  estimate  probably  very  closely  ap- 
proximates the  truth  in  California  ;  so  that  we  may  put  the  entire 
amount  of  mining  and  mineral  products  for  the  year  1879  at 
about  $  1 8 1 ,900,000. 

Raikvays. — The  present  railway  system  of  California  is  very 
simple,  though  it  traverses  almost  the  entire  State.  The  Central 
Pacific  and  its  branches,  one  of  which  stretches  up  almost  to  the 
Oregon  boundary,  and  others  extend  to  Calistoga,  San  Jose, 
Santa  Cruz,  Soledad,  and  Monterey;  and  the  Southern  Pacific, 
composed  mainly  of  the  same  stockholders  and  directors,  extend 
from  Reddinof  on  the  north  to  Fort  Yuma  in  the  southeast  and 
from  the  Nevada  line  to  a  dozen  places  on  or  near  the  coast. 
The  Central  Pacific  extends  to  Ogden,  where  it  joins  the  Union 
Pacific  ;  and  the  Southern  Pacific,  crossing  the  Colorado  at  Yuma, 
has  nearly  traversed  Arizona,  and  is  making  its  way  as  rapidly 
as  possible  to  El  Paso  on  the  Rio  Grande.  The  Southern 
Pacific  is  now  pressing  forward  its  construction  with  all  speed, 
intending  by  arrangements  with  roads  already  built,  to  make  its 
eastern  terminus  within  a  twelvemonth  at  Galveston,  Texas, 
and  thus  find  an  outlet  for  the  rich  products  of  Southern  California, 
by  way  of  the  Mexican  gulf,  and  the  Atlantic.  Two  other  roads 
are  proposing  to  enter  California  at  the  south;  the  Atchison, 
Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe,  or  its  extension,  the  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco,  already  beyond  Santa  Fe,  will  probably  cross  Arizona 
on  or  near  the  thirty-fifth  parallel,  and,  sending  one  branch 
throuofh  the  rich  Mexican  State  of  Sonora,  make  one  terminus 
at  Guaymas  on  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  another  either  at 
Santa  Barbara  or  San  Diego ;  while  the  Texas  Pacific,  following 
the  valley  of  the  Gila  river,  will  also  make  its  western  terrriinus 
at  San  Diego.  With  the  exception  of  the  completion  of  the 
Oregon    Railway   and    the    extension    of   some    two    or   three 


gjg  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

branches  to  the  coast,  these  seem  to  be  nearly  all  the  railways 
which  are  practicable  for  the  State. 

Coimncrce  and  Navigation  of  the  State. — The  two  customs 
districts  of  San  Francisco  and  San  Diego  (the  latter,  however, 
being  of  only  small  account)  stand  third  in  the  United  States  in 
the  amount  of  their  imports,  which  in  1879  were  $35.io5'639.  sixth 
in  the  amount  of  their  exports,  which  were  in  1879  $35'575.838. 
and  second  in  the  amount  of  foreign  exports,  which  were  the 
same  year  $4,117,886. 

The  number  of  vessels  entering  these  two  seaports  from  for- 
eign countries  in  1879  was  579,  having  a  tonnage  of  645,262 
tons ;  the  number  which  cleared  for  foreign  ports  was  676, 
having  a  tonnage  of  752,431  tons,  in  both  cases  about  equally 
divided  between  American  and  foreign  vessels. 

The  vessels  eneafred  in  the  coasting  trade  and  fisheries  are 
not  reported  at  the  custom  houses,  except  when  they  have  for- 
eio-n  goods  on  board,  so  that  the  greater  part  of  the  coasting 
trade  is  not  reported.  But  of  the  number  which  come  under 
the  conditions,  there  were  382  vessels  entered  of  417,992  tons, 
and  389  vessels  cleared  with  an  aggregate  of  378,627  tons.  The 
number  of  registered,  enrolled  and  licensed  vessels  in  the  two 
districts  was  918,  their  tonnage  200,319  tons. 

But  the  ereatest  commerce  of  the  State  is  conducted  over  her 
railways.  We  have  no  returns  of  this  commerce  later  than  the 
close  of  1878,  and  these  only  over  the  Central  Pacific  and  its 
branches,  which,  however,  carries  the  greater  part  of  the  freight. 
The  freight  over  this  road  in  that  year  was  3.575'573.390  pounds 
==1,787,786/0^0  tons — and  the  freight  received  therefor  was 
$10,802,276. 

The  ocean  steamers  from  the  port  of  San  Francisco  ply  be- 
tween that  port  and  Panama,  between  that  port  and  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  and  those  crossing  the  Pacific  go  to  Hong  Kong  and 
Yokohama.  There  is  also  an  indirect  steamer  trade,  and  a 
direct  one  with  sailing  vessels  with  the  South  American  ports  on 
the  west  coast,  and  with  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  the  islands 
of  the  southern  seas. 

Banks. — There  are  seven  national  banks  in  California,  all  re- 


CALIFORNIA   AS  A   HEALTH  RESORT.  (5iq 

deemincT  their  own  notes  in  cfold,  as  all  the  California  banks 
have  done  since  1861.  These  banks  have  a  capital  of  $4,000,000 
and  a  circulation  of  $1,534,000,  and  a  large  amount  of  deposits. 
There  are  besides  these  115  State  banks  and  trust  companies, 
private  banking  houses  and  savings  banks,  with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  $31,707,107,  and  deposits  in  December,  1879,  of 
$81,019,951.  Some  of  the  private  banking  houses  do  an  im- 
mense business. 

California  as  a  Health  Resort. — The  data  which  we  have 
already  given  show  conclusively  that  the  coast  region  of  Cali- 
fornia from  San  Francisco  southward,  with  its  small  annual 
range  of  temperature,  and  the  very  slight  mean  difference  be- 
tween the  averages  of  the  winter  and  summer  months,  its  clear, 
dry  and  bracing  air,  and  its  abundant  nitrogenous  food  and  lus- 
cious fruits,  Is  the  best  reofion  to  which  an  invalid  with  weak  luno-s 
or  a  tendency  to  predominance  of  the  white  tissues  could  pos- 
sibly come.  What  has  been  deduced  theoretically  from  these 
premises  proves  to  be  true  in  practice ;  there  is  no  better  cli- 
mate for  consumptives,  scrofulous  persons,  or  those  of  ansemic 
tendency  than  the  coast  of  California  from  the  38th  parallel 
southward.  The  ocean  winds  may  be  a  little  harsh  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, though  the  temperature  is  otherwise  unobjectionable ;  but 
at  San  Jose,  Santa  Cruz,  Monterey,  Soledad,  Santa  Barbara,  San 
Buenaventura,  Los  Angeles,  Florence,  Anaheim,  Wilmington, 
San  Bernardino  and  San  Diego,  the  climate  is  simply  perfect. 
Farther  north,  from  the  39th  to  the  420!  parallel,  the  mountains 
come  closer  to  the  coast,  the  shores  are  forbidding  and  very 
sparsely  inhabited,  and  the  rains  are  too  many  and  too  heavy  to 
make  it  pleasant.  The  valleys  between  the  Sierras  and  the  Coast 
Range  are  very  pleasant  in  winter,  but  the  summers  are  intensely 
hot  and  dry.  On  the  mountain  slopes  there  is  every  variety  of 
climate,  but  Lake  Tahoe,  the  Yosemite  and  the  Sequoia  groves, 
though  healthful  and  pleasant  summer  resorts,  are  not  spe- 
cially adapted  to  invalids  of  this  class.  Many  of  the  mineral 
.springs  of  the  State  have  a  high  reputation  for  rheumatic  and 
cutaneous  diseases.  The  Warm  Springs  of  Calistoga,  in  Napa 
county,  and  the  Sulphur  Springs  and  waters  at  the  "  Geysers," 
not  far  distant,  are  largely  visited  by  invalids. 


520  O^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Populatio7i. — The  population  of  California  in  1S70  was,  ex- 
cluding tribal  Indians,  560,247  ;  with  these  Indians,  582,031.  Of 
these  499,424  were  whites,  4,272  colored  (/.  c,  of  Alrican  de- 
scent), 49.310  Chinese  and  Japanese,  7,241  civilized,  and  21,784 
tribal  Indians.  Of  the  560,247  inhabitants  (exclusive  of  tribal 
Indians),  349,479  were  males,  and  210,768  were  females.  The 
census  of  1880  makes  the  population,  exclusive  of  tribal  In- 
dians, 864,686,  or  with  them,  about  875,350.  The  number  of 
persons  of  African  descent  has  probably  moderately  increased; 
the  Chinese  are  stated  by  the  census  as  only  51,000,  but  the 
largest  accessions  to  the  population  have  been  from  the  Eastern 
States  and  from  Great  Britain,  Germany,  the  Scandinavian  States, 
and  other  European  countries. 

Of  late  years  there  has  been  violent  opposition  on  the  part  of 
a  portion  of  the  workingmen  and  some  other  classes  in  the  State 
to  the  influx  of  Chinese  immigrants,  of  whom  considerable  num- 
bers had  come  into  California  as  house-servants,  mechanics,  rail- 
road laborers  and  miners.  The  Chinese  have  been  very  useful 
in  all  these  capacities,  and  have  unquestionably  added  materially 
to  the  wealth  of  the  State,  but  it  is  objected,  that  they  work  for 
lower  wages  than  other  workingmen  ;  that  they  send  back  their 
money  and  their  bones  to  China,  and  many  of  them  return 
thixher  themselves  carrying  their  earnings  with  them  ;  that  they 
are  addicted  to  opium-eating  and  other  vices  ;  that  the  Chinese 
women  do  not  mii>-rate  hither,  and  that  their  habits  and  modes 
of  life  are  uncleanly.  Moreover  they  are  idolaters  or  at  least 
heathen,  and  are  under  the  control  of  the  six  Chinese  companies 
in  San  Francisco,  who  contract  for  their  labor,  and  govern  and 
rule  them  absolutely.  There  are,  undoubtedly,  valid  objections 
to  the  admission  of  a  class  of  laborers  in  a  community,  who  are 
wholly  foreign  to  our  religion,  language,  customs  and  authority, 
who  are  really  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  and  irresponsible  power,  and 
especially  when  the  greater  part  of  them  are  coolies,  or  in  reality 
the  slaves  of  the  Chinese  companies,  who  exercise  over  them  a 
really  absolute  authority.  The  difficulty  is  enhanced  when  these, 
foreigners  do  not,  and  cannot,  become  nor  seek  to  become 
citizens.    As  General  Garfield  has  well  said,  their  coming  "  is  too 


THE  CHINESE   IN  CALIFORNIA.  521 

much  like  an  importation  to  be  welcomed  without  restriction,  too 
much  like  an  invasion  to  be  looked  upon  without  solicitude. 
We  cannot  consent  to  allow  any  form  of  servile  labor  to  be 
introduced  among  us  under  the  guise  of  immigration."  Still 
the  objections  urged  against  the  Chinese  as  a  race,  and  which 
have  led  to  serious  riots  and  great  injustice  against  them,  seem 
at  this  distance  trivial.  Our  country  boasts  that  it  is  the  refuge 
and  home  of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  and  if  some  of  these 
objections  are  to  be  regarded  as  valid  against  the  Chinese,  it 
might  be  well  to  inquire  whether  most  of  them  might  not  be 
urged  with  the  same  propriety  against  other  nationalities,  some 
of  which  are  now  the  bitterest  persecutors  of  the  Orientals. 

It  is  rather  because  of  the  danger  of  the  introduction  of 
a  servile  class  wholly  irresponsible  to  our  laws  and  institutions, 
than  from  any  regard  to  the  demonstrations  of  the  hoodlums  and 
dangerous  classes  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  the  demaeoeue 
leaders  who  have  urged  them  on,  that  our  government,  recog- 
nizing its  duties  and  responsibilities  to  a  nation,  with  whom  all 
our  relations  have  been  as  friendly  as  they  have  been  with  China, 
have  sent  a  commission  composed  of  three  of  our  most  eminent 
citizens  to  treat  concerninor  these  and  other  matters,  with  the 
Chinese  government,  and  while  preventing  this  coolie  immigration, 
to  encourage  the  coming  of  respectable  Chinese  citizens  and 
their  families.  We  must  admit  these,  and,  admitting  them,  we 
are  firmly  persuaded  that  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  will 
see  a  population  of  not  less  than  ten  millions  of  Chinese  in 
"Our  Western  Empire." 

Education. — The  educational  position  of  California  is  worthy 
of  all  praise.  No  child  in  the  State  need  grow  up  in  ignorance. 
She  has  a  permanent  school-fund  of  about  $2,000,000,  but  her 
annual  expenditures  for  her  public  schools  alone  exceed  $5,000,- 
000,  and  include  a  tax  of  ten  cents  on  every  hundred  dollars  of 
taxable  property.  Her  teachers  are  well  paid,  and  somewhat 
more  than  $2,000,000  is  expended  annually  for  teachers'  wages. 
There  are.  besides  these  public  schools,  which  are  free  to  the 
children  of  the  whole  State,  a  great  number  of  private  and 
endowed  academies,  institutes  and  high  schools  for  secondary 


522  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

instruction  ;  many  of  them  of  the  highest  character.  A  State 
university,  well  endowed  both  by  the  State  and  United  States; 
a  State  normal  school,  an  agricultural  college,  and  a  military 
academy,  all  well  and  efficiendy  managed,  and  thirteen  other 
universities  and  colleges,  mosdy  sustained  by  the  different  reli- 
gious denominadons.  These  have  i8o  professors  and  about 
2,500  students,  and  property,  including  their  permanent  funds, 
to  the  amount  of  about  $2,500,000.  There  are  also  professional 
schools  of  law,  medicine,  theology  and  science,  and  there  is  now 
building  an  observatory  in  an  eligible  site,  endowed  most  liber- 
ally by  a  former  cidzen  of  California,  Mr.  James  Lick. 

Churches. — Every  denominadon  known  in  the  United  States 
has  its  representatives  in  California.  The  Roman  Catholics 
have  several  dioceses  and  one  arch-diocese  there,  nearly  200 
priests,  and  an  adherent  population  (estimated)  of  somewhat 
more  than  100,000  persons,  made  up  of  Mexicans,  Spanish,  Irish, 
Germans,  Italians  and  some  Americans.  The  Methodists  are 
probably  quite  as  numerous,  having  about  225  churches  and  a 
still  larger  number  of  preachers.  The  Presbyterian  churches 
have  somewhat  more  than  100  churches  and  ministers.  The 
Baptists  about  ninety  churches.  The  "  Christian "  connection 
and  the  Disciples  about  fifty  churches.  The  Protestant  Episco- 
pal about  fifty-five  churches;  the  Congregationalists  about 
seventy  churches.  There  are  also  "  Friends,"  Jewish  Syna- 
eoeues,  "  Evanofelical  Association,"  Lutherans,  German  Re- 
formed  "  United  Brethren  in  Christ,"  Unitarians,  Universalists, 
New  Jerusalem  Church,  Second  Adventists,  Greek  Church,  six 
Spiritualist  organizations,  four  Mormon  churches,  seven  Chinese 
congregations  with  five  temples,  etc.,  etc. 

Comities  and  Cities. — There  are  fifty-three  counties  in  the 
State,  some  of  them  of  great  extent,  but  sparsely  inhabited. 
The  most  populous  counties  (most  of  them  also  the  smallest  in 
area)  are  San  Francisco,  Alameda,  Sacramento,  Santa  Clara, 
Sonoma,  San  Joaquin,  Nevada,  Los  Angeles,  Solano,  Placer, 
Butte,  Humboldt,  Yuba,  Amador,  Napa,  Yolo,  Mendocino,  Mon- 
terey and  Contra  Costa.  Of  cities  and  towns  San  Francisco 
has,  by  the  census  of  1S80,  233,956  inhabitants.     It  is  much  the 


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THE   FUTURE    OF  CALIFORNIA.  ,  623 

largest  city  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  has  an  extensive  commerce 
and  a  large  amount  of  manufacturing,  Sacramento,  the  capital 
of  the  State,  had  16,283  inhabitants  in  1870,  and  the  census  of 
1880  gives  it  21,420.  Oakland,  across  the  bay  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, had  34,556  in  1880  ;  San  Jose,  12,567  ;  Los  Angeles,  1 1,31 1  ; 
and  Stockton  in  the  San  Joaquin  valley  10,287  inhabitants;  Marys- 
ville,  Santa  Cruz,  San  Diego,  and  Santa  Barbara  are  the  other 
towns  of  importance. 

California,  as  the  gateway  of  the  Pacific,  holds  a  different 
position  to  "  Our  Western  Empire "  from  any  other  State  or 
Territory  in  it.  With  its  fine  climate,  its  vast  extent  of  fertile 
soil,  its  rich  and  abundant  pasturage,  its  great  mineral  wealth, 
its  extensive  commerce,  and  its  growing  manufactures,  it  has  a 
career  before  it  much  like  that  of  the  State  of  New  York  on  the 
Atlantic  coast.  If  it  shall  shake  off  the  death-grapple  of  the 
horde  of  political  communists  and  demagogues,  the  miserable 
miscreants,  who  call  themselves  "  workingmen,"  but  most  of 
whom  never  did  an  honest  day's  work  in  their  lives,  w'ho  are 
now  trying  to  throttle  it,  it  will  have  a  great  and  glorious  future 
as  the  leading  State  of  this  great  Western  Empire  ;  but  if  not — 


CHAPTER   IV. 

COLORADO. 

Situation,  Boundaries,  Area — Topography — Mountains,  Valleys,  Plains, 
Parks,  Rivers,  Lakes,  Canons — Climate,  Soil,  and  Vegetation — Geol- 
ogy, Mineralogy,  Animals — Mines  and  Mining  Industry — The  Extra- 
ordinary Development  of  Mining  in  the  State  since  1875 — Mining  Dis- 
tricts —  Farming  —  Stock-raising  —  Wool-growing  —  Railroads  —  Com- 
merce —  Population  —  Increase  since  1S70  —  Counties  —  Education — 
Churches — The  Future  of  Colorado. 

Colorado,  often  called  "  the  Centennial  State,"  because  it  was 
admitted  to  the  Union  in  1876,  the  year  of  our  Centennial 
celebration  of  our  national  existence,  is  situated  very  nearly  in 
the  centre  of  "Our  Western  Empire,"  the  distance  in  a  direct 


624  ^'-^''^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

line  being  about  the  same  to  St.  Louis  and  to  San  Francisco — 
to  the  frontier  of  British  America  and  to  that  of  Mexico.  It  Hcs 
between  the  thirty-seventh  and  the  forty-first  parallels  of  north 
latitude,  and  between  the  i02d  and  the  109th  meridians  of  longi- 
tude west  from  Greenwich.  Its  width  from  north  to  south  is 
about  280  miles,  and  its  length  from  east  to  west  about  370 
miles.     Its  area  is  104,500  square  miles,  or  66,880,000  acres.  ^ 

The  great  plains  which  stretch  from  the  Missouri  river  to  the 
foot-hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  rising  slowly  but  steadily  with 
each  mile  of  their  advance  westward,  have  attained,  when  they 
reach  the  mountains,  an  elevation  of  between  6,000  and  7,000 
feet  above  the  sea.  Eastern  Colorado,  for  about  three-sevenths 
of  its  extent,  from  east  to  west,  consists  of  the  most  elevated 
part  of  these  plains,  which  reach  as  far  as  Denver.  West  of  the 
105th  meridian  come  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  here  attain 
their  greatest  breadth.  The  mountains  consist  of  several  prin- 
cipal ranges  (which,  however,  do  not  extend  continuously  from 
north  to  south,  but  are  broken  off  and  made  irregular  by  the 
great  parks  which  are  a  feature  of  the  mountains  in  Colorado), 
and  of  numerous  spurs  or  short  ranges  extending  westward, 
southwestward  and  northwestward,  and  terminating  usually  in 
broad  plateaux,  which  are  suddenly  broken  off  by  the  deep 
canons  of  the  Green,  Grand,  and  other  tributaries  of  the  Colo- 
rado of  the  West.  It  is  a  feature  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
perhaps  of  all  mountain  chains  on  this  continent,  that  the  eastern 
slope  of  each  range  is  generally  much  more  gradual  than  the 
western,  and  that  the  ascent,  even  of  its  highest  summits,  Is  less 
difficult  on  the  eastern  than  the  western  face.  The  western 
slope  of  each  range  is  generally  precipitous  and  sometimes  im- 
practicable. The  ranges  in  their  order,  beginning  with  the  east- 
ernmost, are  the  Colorado  Front  Range,  which,  though  adopting 
some  local  names  in  the  southern  part  of  Its  course,  extends  from 
the  northern  to  the  southern  bounds  of  the  State.  It  has  several 
lofty  peaks,  among  which  are  Mount  Evans,  Mount  Rosalia,  Pike's 
Peak,  and  Chief  Mountain.  The  first  three  are  over  14,000  feet 
in  height.  The  next  in  order  is  the  Northern  Colorado  or  Main 
Range,  which  joins  the  Front  Range  at  the  northern  face  of  the 


COLORADO   MOUNTAINS.  525 

South  Park.  It  has  three  summits  above  14,000  feet,  and  three 
above  13,000;  the  first  three  are  Gray's  Peak,  Irwin's  Peak,  and 
Long's  Peak  ;  the  second  three,  Arapahoe  Peak,  Mount  Guyot, 
and  James  Peak.  Bald  Mountain,  in  Gilpin  county,  10,322  feet, 
is  also  in  this  range.  The  Park  Range,  between  which  and  the 
preceding  are  situated  the  three  great  parks,  North,  Middle  and 
South,  extends  from  the  northern  border  of  the  State  nearly  to 
the  Arkansas  river,  in  latitude  38°  40'.  This  range  has  six  sum- 
mits of  14,000  feet  or  above,  viz. :  Buckskin  Mountain,  Mount 
Cameron,  Horseshoe  Mountain,  Mount  Lincoln,  Quandary  Peak, 
Silverheels,  and  Sheep  Mountain,  12,589  feet. 

The  Sawatch  or  Saguache  Range,  which  is  reckoned  a  part  of 
the  Main  Range,  begins  at  the  Grand  river  and  extends  south  as 
far  as  the  Saguache  river,  where  it  sends  out  a  spur  to  the  south- 
west, known  as  the  Cochetopa  Hills — has  ten  summits,  all  but 
one  of  them  over  14,000  feet ;  these  are  :  Mount  Antero,  Mount 
Elbert,  Mount  Harvard,  Holy  Cross  Mountain,  La  Plata,  Mas- 
sive Mountain,  Mount  Princeton,  Shavano  and  Mount  Yale, 
while  Mount  Grizzly  is  13,956  feet  in  height. 

Between  the  Saguache  and  the  Park  ranges  is  interposed,  in 
Southern  Colorado,  the  Sangre  de  Christo  Range,  which  has 
four  summits  over  14,000  feet;  one  of  them,  Blanca  Peak,  the 
highest  in  Colorado,  and  the  highest,  except  one,  in  the  whole 
West.  Besides  Blanca,  Baldy  Peak,  Culebra  and  Hunt's  Peak 
are  above  14,000  feet,  and  the  two  Spanish  Peaks  are  13,620 
and  12,720  feet  respectively. 

In  Southwestern  Colorado  there  is  a  confused  group  of  moun- 
tains, consistino-  of  the  main  or  dividino-  rano-e  and  numerous 
spurs,  known  as  the  Uncompahgre  Mountains,  San  Miguel 
Mountains,  Dolores,  La  Plata,  etc.  There  are  thirteen  principal 
peaks  in  this  group,  eleven  of  them  over  14,000  feet,  several  of 
which  are  within  a  few  feet  of  the  altitude  of  Blanca  Peak. 
These  summits  are.  Mount  ^olus,  Handle's  Peak,  Pyramid, 
Pridgeon's  San  Luis  Peak,  Simpson's,  Mount  Sncffles,  Stewart's 
Peak,  Uncompahgre,  Wetterhorn,  Mount  Wilson,  and  the  two 
lower  summits,   Blaine's   Peak,  13,905,  and   Engineer  Mountain, 

13,076  feet.     On  the  west,  these  mountains  terminate  in  broad 
40 


526  <^^^     WESTER X    EMPIRE. 

and  elevated  plateaux  and  mesas,  which  extend  to  the  river  banks 
and  there  are  riven  by  the  deep  canons  of  the  affluents  of  the 
Colorado,  Among  these  plateaux  are  the  Grand  Mesa,  north  of 
Gunnison  river,  the  Uncompahgre  Plateau,  between  the  Gunni- 
son and  the  Dolores,  and  extending  to  the  Grand  river ;  tlie 
Dolores  Plateau,  between  the  Dolores  and  the  San  Miixuel 
river,  and  the  Southwest  Plateau,  between  the  Dolores  and  the 
Rio  Mancos,  and  extending  to  the  San  Juan  river. 

\\\  Western  Colorado,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Gunnison 
country,  there  is  another  mass  of  mountains,  probably  spurs  from 
the  Sao-uache  or  Sawatch  ranore,  which  trend  northwestward, 
westward  and  southwestward.  There  are  many  summits  in  this 
group  which  is  known  as  the  Elk  Mountains;  more  than  twenty 
being  visible  from  the  summit  of  Castle  Peak,  but  only  four  rise 
to  14,000  feet,  and  one,  Teocalli,  is  but  13,113. 

Besides  those  which  we  have  named,  there  are  several  hun- 
dred peaks  in  the  State  ranging  from  10,000  to  12,000  feet  above 
the  sea,  which  would  be  noticeable  in  any  other  State,  but  rising 
from  elevated  table-lands  6,000  to  8,000  feet  above  the  sea,  they 
seem  much  less  lofty  than  they  otherwise  w^ould.  Of  the  twent)' 
most  famous  passes  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  this  State  only 
two  are  below  9,000  feet,  and  only  five,  of  which  the  noted  Vela 
Pass  is  one,  are  below  10,000,  while  five  are  above  12,000  feet, 
and  one,  the  Argentine,  is  13,100  feet  above  the  sea,  and  is  only 
-practicable  in  summer. 

Of  the  oreat  numbers  of  lakes  scattered  in  the  mountain  val- 
leys,  only  one  group,  the  San  Luis  lakes,  situated  in  the  beauti- 
ful San  Luis  Park,  are  below  8,000  feet  in  altitude,  while  the 
Green  Lakes  are  10,000  feet,  and  the  Chicago  Lakes  1 1,500  feet 
above  the  sea. 

Of  seventy-three  important  towns  or  locations  in  Colorado, 
only  twelve  are  below  5,000  feet,  and  ten  are  above  10,000  feet, 
the  Present  Help  Mine  on  Mount  Lincoln  being  14,000  feet. 

"The  parks  of  Colorado  are  a  distinct  and  remarkable  feature 
of  this  mountain  system.  They  are  generally  composed  of  level 
or  rolling  lands,  covered  with  luxuriant  grasses,  and  dotted  here 
and  there  with  groves  of  timber.     They  are  walled  about  with 


THE   PAEKS   OI'    COLO li ADO.  ^27 

mountains  grand  and  high,  and  are  watered  by  streams  of  the 
purest  character." ''' 

The  North,  Middle,  and  South  Parks,  and  the  San  Luis  Park 
form  an  almost  continuous  belt  across  the  State  from  north  to 
south,  varying  in  width  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles,  and  only  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  mountain  chains.  The  North  Park 
has  a  diameter  of  about  thirty  miles,  an  area  of  somewhat  less 
than  1,000  square  miles,  or  over  600,000  acres,  and  an  average 
elevation  of  about  0,000  feet.  The  Middle  is  much  laro-er.  hav- 
ing  a  length  of  sixty-five  miles  by  a  breadth  of  forty-five  miles, 
an  area  of  about  2,800  square  miles,  or  1,900,000  acres,  and  an 
altitude  of  about  8,000.  The  South  Park  is  closed  in  by  moun- 
tains on  all  sides,  except  the  east;  its  elevation  is  nearly  9,000 
feet,  its  area  about  1,200,000  acres.  The  San  Luis  is  lower 
(about  7,000  feet  above  the  sea),  but  as  large  as  all  the  rest, 
having  an  area  of  about  4,000,000  acres.  The  North  Park  is 
drained  by  the  north  fork  of  the  Platte;  the  Middle  by  tributa- 
ries of  the  Grand  river;  the  South  by  affluents  of  the  South 
Platte,  and  the  San  Luis  by  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  and  its 
tributaries,  and  by  streams  flowing  into  the  San  Luis  lakes. 

Egeria,  Estes,  Animas,  and  Huerfano  Parks  are  also  of  con- 
siderable size  and  of  great  beauty.  Monument  Park  and  the 
Garden  of  the  Gods  adjacent,  are  not  so  much  parks  as  natural 
phenomena  illustrating  the  erosion  of  the  rocks.  It  is  the  opinion 
of  geologists  that  these  parks  were  ages  ago  the  beds  of  vast 
lakes,  but  that  by  some  volcanic  or  other  cosmical  convulsion 
they  were  upheaved  and  drained  of  their  waters,  though  their 
relative  position  to  the  mountains  was  not  disturbed. 

The  mountains  of  Colorado  are  covered  with  pine,  fir,  spruce, 
aspen,  and  other  forest  trees  up  to  elevations  varying  from 
10,800  to  12,800  feet.  Above  the  timber  line  all  is  bleak  and 
barren  rock,  varied  by  the  occasional  presence  of  grass  and 
Alpine  flowers. 

Rivers  and  Streams. — Thouorh  within  tlie  meridians  of  loniji- 
tude  which  but  five  years  ago  were  declared  to  be  those  of  the 
"  Great  American  Desert  "  par  excellence,  it  cannot  be  justly  said 

*  Frank  Fossetl's  "COLORADO." 


628  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

that  Colorado  is  not  well  watered.  Its  higher  lands  may  require 
some  irrigation,  but  the  streams  are  there  to  irrigate  them.  On 
the  east  of  the  "  Great  Divide  "  the  South  Platte  river,  with  about 
twenty  tributaries  on  each  side,  rises  far  up  among  the  summits 
of  the  Park  Range,  and  pursuing  a  north-northeast,  and  then  an 
easterly  course,  drains  ten  of  the  central  and  northeast  counties ; 
while  the  North  Platte,  taking  its  rise  in  the  Rabbit  Ears  Range, 
drains  the  whole  of  the  North  Park.  Returning  to  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State  the  Republican  river,  an  affluent  of  the  Kansas, 
with  its  four  principal  tributaries  drains  the  eastern  portion  of 
Weld,  Arapahoe,  and  Elbert  counties.  But  the  royal  stream 
of  Eastern  Colorado  is  the  Arkansas,  v/hich  rises  in  the  Saguache 
or  Sawatch  range,  its  sources  interlacing  with  those  of  the  Grand 
river,  the  largest  affluent  of  the  Colorado  of  the  West,  and  in 
its  passage  downwards  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  State 
receives  more  than  sixty  tributary  streams.  It  is  a  noble  river, 
and,  in  its  passage  through  the  mountain  chains,  cuts  deep  and 
friohtful  canons  almost  to  the  base  of  the  mountains  themselves. 
Some  of  its  tributaries,  like  the  Purgatoire,  Big  Sandy  creek. 
Horse  creek,  Apishapa,  Huerfano  river  3.nd  J^oJitame  qui Bo7iille, 
are  themselves  rivers  of  considerable  macrnitude.  The  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte  rises  in  the  San  Juan  Range,  where  it  inter- 
laces with  the  sources  of  the  Gunnison,  Dolores  and  San  Juan 
rivers,  and  flowing  east-southeast  receives  numerous  tribu- 
taries from  San  Juan,  Hinsdale,  Rio  Grande,  Saguache,  Conejos, 
and  Costilla  counties,  turns  south  near  Alamosa  and  passes  out 
of  the  State  very  nearly  midway  of  its  southern  border. 

The  western  slope  of  the  "  Great  Divide "  is  drained  wholly 
(except  for  some  small  streams  which  fall  into  the  San  Luis 
lakes)  by  the  principal  affluents  which  go  to  make  up  the  Rio 
Colorado  of  the  West.  All  of  these  except  the  main  stream 
and  some  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Green  river  have  their  sources 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  Colorado,  and  most  of  them  either 
in  the  Park,  the  Saguache,  the  Elk  or  the  San  Juan  Mountains. 
The  tributaries  of  the  Green  river  are,  the  Yampah  or  Bear  river, 
with  its  branches.  Elk  and  Elkhead  creeks.  Little  Snake  river 
and  Vermillion   creek,   and   the  White   river  with   its   numerous 


V 


UNiVcrtiiifY 


ANoN    <il'    TIIK    COLORADO. 


CANONS    OF  COLORADO.  629 

tributaries.  The  Grand  river  has  its  sources  in  the  North  Park, 
traverses  with  its  tributaries  the  Middle  and  Egeria  Parks,  and 
by  its  affluents,  Eagle  river  and  Roaring  F"ork,  distributes  its 
waters  through  all  the  valleys  of  the  northern  Sangre  de  Christo 
Mountains  and  the  Elk  range,  while  its  two  great  affluents,  the 
Gunnison  and  the  Rio  Dolores  and  their  numerous  tributaries, 
the  Uncompahgre,  the  San  Miguel  and  Disappointment  creek, 
drain  all  the  western  slope  lying  between  40°  and  i-]""  30'  north 
latitude.  In  the  extreme  southwest  the  Rio  San  Juan  and  its 
numerous  branches  drain  the  whole  of  La  Plata,  San  Juan,  Hins- 
dale, and  the  western  part  of  Conejos  counties.  All  these  rivers 
have  scores  of  creeks  and  streams  tributary  to  them,  so  that 
there  are  but  few  square  miles  in  the  State  which  are  destitute 
of  one  or  more  living  streams. 

Mr.   Frank  Fossett,  a  recent  able  writer   on    Colorado,  thus 
speaks  of  the  canons  of  these  rivers : 

"The  river  canons,  or  deeply  cut  ravines  that  are  found  in  all 
of  the  more  elevated  portions  of  Colorado,  constitute  a  peculiar 
and  striking  feature  of  the  great  Rocky  Mountain  system.  In 
the  countless  ages  of  the  past,  the  waters  of  the  streams  have 
worn  channels  deep  down  into  the  hearts  of  the  mountains, 
leaving  the  perpendicular  granite  or  sandstone  standing  on  either 
side  for  hundreds,  and  in  some  localities  for  thousands  of  leet. 
Nowhere  are  the  grand  and  beautiful  in  Nature  more  effectually 
illustrated  than /in  these  mountain  caiions.  The  glories  of 
Boulder,  Clear  Creek,  Cheyenne,  and  Platte  canons,  and  the 
Grand  canon  of  the  Arkansas,  all  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Continental  Divide,  defy  description.  The  walls  of  the  Colorado, 
Gunnison,  and  Uncompahgre  rivers,  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State,  are  still  more  massive  and  wonderful.  In  many  sections 
they  rise  without  a  break  or  an  incline  to  heights  of  thousands 
of  feet,  and  along  the  Colorado  continue  in  that  way  w^ith  hardly 
an  outlet  of  any  kind  for  hundreds  of  miles.  The  Grand  canon 
of  the  Gunnison  is  one  of  the  world's  wonders.  Its  walls  on 
either  side  of  the  stream,  and  bordering  it  for  miles,  are 
usually  not  far  from  300  feet  in  width,  and  are  composed  of 
stratified  rock.     In  places  these  perpendicular  sides,  rising  from 


^^Q  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  water  for  distances  of  from  one  to  three  thousand  feet,  ter- 
minate in  level  summits  surmounted  by  a  second  wall  of  pro- 
digious heic^ht,  thus  forming  a  canon  within  a  canon.  Through 
the  chasm  between  these  giant  formations  and  huge  bastions  and 
turrets  one  above  another,  dashes  the  river,  its  surface  white 
with  foam.  The  heights  of  these  perpendicular  canon  walls  and 
their  elevations  with  that  of  the  river  above  sea-level  at  several 
points,  are  as  follows:  Level  of  the  Gunnison  at  mouth  of 
Mountain  creek  above  sea-level,  7,200  feet;  of  top  of  wall  or 
plateau  on  north  side,  8,000  feet;  height  of  wall,  1,600  feet; 
heio-ht  of  wall  at  point  below  on  east  side,  1,900  feet;  on  west 
side,  1,800  feet;  height  of  wall  in  gneiss  rock,  900  feet.  Some 
distance  below,  the  canon  wall  rises  directly  from  the  river, 
3,000  feet,  of  which  the  1,800  feet  nearest  the  water  is  gneiss 
rock  ;  total  elevation  of  top  of  wall  or  plateau  above  the  sea, 
9,800  feet." 

Climate. — The  great  elevation  of  most  of  the  places  of  resi- 
dence in  Colorado  insures  a  temperate  climate,  rather  too  cool 
than  too  hot.  The  mean  annual  temperature  of  most  of  the 
towns,  which  are  5,000  feet  or  thereabouts  above  the  sea,  is  not 
far  from  50° — perhaps  for  a  long  term  of  years  48.5°  to  49.3°. 

The  summer  mean  ranges  from  64.6°  to  69.2°,  and  the  winter 
mean  from  31.3°  to  32.8°,  so  that  the  mean  difference  or  range 
does  not  exceed  37°  or  38°.  The  extremes  are  93°  to  99°  max- 
imum in  summer,  with  from  six  to  thirty  da)s,  according  to  the 
elevation,  above  90°,  and  the  minimum  in  winter — 3°  to  — 12° 
with  an  average  of  six  to  ten  days  with  the  mercury  below  zero. 
There  is,  therefore,  an  extreme  range  in  the  whole  year  of  from 
96°  to  110°. 

The  rainfall  averages  about  18.84  inches,  and  is  increasing. 
The  dry  and  bracing  character  of  the  air  at  5,000  to  6,000  feet 
above  the  sea  renders  the  climate  a  desirable  one  for  invalids 
with  weak  lungs,  where  the  disease  is  not  too  far  advanced, 
and  thousands  who  have  resorted  thidier  have  been  temporarily, 
and  many  of  them  permanently  benefited.  Generally  it  is  not 
safe  for  persons  who  are  suffering  from  pulmonary  diseases  to  re- 
turn  to  the   East,  at  least  not  for  four  or  five  years,  however 


CLIMATE,    SOIL    AND    VEGETATION  OE  COLORADO.  (^^^ 

complete  may  seem  to  be  the  recovery,  as  the  return  of  tlie 
disease  at  the  East  is  almost  sure  to  follow  even  a  brief  visit 
thither.  Those  whose  lungs  are  diseased  should  also  avoid  the 
higher  elevations.  An  altilude  exceeding  7,000  feet  is  danger- 
ous, because  the  rarefaction  of  the  atmosphere  makes  respira- 
tion more  difficult,  and  will  often  brinof  on  hemorrhao-e  of  the 
lungs.  We  give  below  the  Signal  Service  reports — the  average 
from  three  points,  one  of  them  the  station  on  the  summit  of 
Pike's  Peak,  14,147  feet  above  the  sea,  for  the  sake  of  comparison  : 


PLACES. 

> 
0 
.0  .. 

B   to 

U 

C   Jt 

0   V 

> 

w 

c    3 

Si- 

Si; 

II 

c  0. 

«  P 

c    . 

e  V. 

2  B 
5  ^ 

-2 

Mean  winter 
temperature. 

Ma.ximum 

temperature  in 

summer. 

Number  of  days 

therniomettr 

above  90°. 

Minimum 

temperature  in 

winter. 

Number  of  daysj 
thermometer 
below  zero. 

CI 

•s 

« 
c 
a 

-2. 

■u 

c 
< 

Denver 

Colorado  Springs 

Pike's  Peak 

5  197  ft. 
6.023  ft. 

I4.r47  ft 

49.5° 
47.8° 

.8.7° 

48.1° 
45.° 

13.6° 

69.2° 
64.6° 

35.5° 

49-5° 
48.8^ 

206° 

31.3° 
32.8° 

5-03° 

99° 
93° 

58.2° 

32 

6 

above  50°. 

25 

—12° 
-3° 

— 23.6^ 

9 
2 

86 

111° 
96.° 

81.8= 

18.63° 
19.48° 

27.82° 

West  of  the  mountains  the  snow  comes  earlier  and  lies  lonn-er 
and  the  mean  temperature  of  winter  is  lower.  The  average 
elevation  of  the  towns  is  hicfher,  averacrinor  at  least  8,000  feet. 
These  towns  ar  so  new  that  we  have  not  statistics  of  their 
climate  which  can  be*  depended  upon. 

The  quantity  of  the  snow-fall  is  not  great  except  on  the  moun- 
tain ranges  and  higher  elevations.  In  the  mountain  towns  it 
begins  early  and  lies  late,  blocking  the  trails  and  passes  over  the 
mountains,  and  requiring  often  a  circuitous  journey  to  reach 
them.  The  railways  now  building  will  be  protected  from  these 
heavy  snows  generally  by  snow  sheds.  The  snow  never  entirely 
disappears  from  altitudes  of  from  12.000  to  14,400  feet. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — Of  the  104,500  square  miles  which  con- 
stitute the  area  of  Colorado,  It  Is  difficult  to  estimate  very  accu- 
rately what  proportion  should  be  considered  as  arable  land,  for 
several  reasons.  But  a  small  portion,  comparatively,  of  the 
State  has  been  surveyed ;  only  one-third  In  all.  Including  the 
great  area  of  pasturage,  mining  and  timber  lands.  The  great 
amount  of  land  Included  in  railroad  (grants,  and  the  still  ercater 
quantity  In  Indian  reservations,  most  of  which  are  now  in  process 


532  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

of  extinction,  the  uncertainty  whether  land  at  first  regarded  as 
desert,  or,  at  most,  as  sterile  grazing  lands,  may  not  prove  to  be 
arable  land  of  the  very  best  quality  when  irrigated  ;  and  the 
almost  daily  discovery  of  new  means  of  irrigation.  It  wa.;  roughly 
estimated  in  1878  that  there  were  about  15,000  square  miles  of 
arable  lands,  or  lands  which  would  become  arable  with  irrigation, 
in  the  State.  With  the  great  increase  of  irrigating  canals  con- 
structed since  that  time,  and  the  large  body  of  good  lands  which 
will  be  thrown  on  the  market  by  the  treaty  with  the  Utes,  con- 
firmed by  Congress  in  June,  iSSo,  which  sets  free  nearly 
1 1,400,000  acres,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  great  parks  which  is 
just  beginning,  there  can  hardly  be  less  than  25,000  square  miles 
entitled  to  that  designation  to-day,  or  in  round  numbers,  1 6,000,000 
acres.  Probably  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  this  is  under  cultiva- 
tion, though  the  amount  is  rapidly  increasing.  "The  soil  at  the 
first  glance  does  not  look  promising.  It  is  composed  of  a  fine, 
dark-brown  mould  mixed  with  gravel,  very  compact,  but  at  the 
same  time  very  porous  and  friable.  When  the  gravel  has  been 
completely  decomposed,  or  the  soil  consists  of  fine  dust,  blow^n 
or  washed  from  the  higher  portions  of  the  plains  (called  bluffs), 
it  inclines  to  clay.  Near  the  surface  the  earth  is  darker  than 
lower  down,  but  the  quality  is  essentially  the  same  and  very  uni- 
form throughout.  The  soil  is  indeed  so  rich  in  the  mineral  con- 
stituents of  plants,  and  its  depth  so  great,  that  with  a  proper 
supply  of  water,  it  yields  larger  and  finer  crops  of  wheat,  barley 
and  oats  than  any  other  State  in  America.  Water,  however,  is 
necessary,  except  in  the  bottoms  of  the  shallower  valleys  trav- 
ersed by  streams  ;  and  the  cultivable  land  is  thus  limited  to  the 
area  that  the  water  of  the  mountain  streams  will  suffice  to  irri- 
gate. The  agricultural  portion  of  the  State  is  now  mainly  the 
strip  of  land,  ten  to  thirty  miles  broad,  which  extends  from  north 
to  south,  the  whole  width  of  the  State,  along  the  plains  at  the 
base  of  the  foot-hills.  Owing  to  the  general  flatness  and  gradual 
sloping  character  of  the  ground  the  land  can  be  irrigated  at  small 
cost.  Between  Denver  and  the  northern  boundary  of  Colorado, 
six  principal  streams,  besides  the  river  Platte,  (low  from  the  foot- 
hills across  the  plains.     The  water  from  these  streams  is  con- 


IRRIGATION  IN  C 010 RAD O.  6^3 

veyed  in  canals  or  ditches,  which  are  sometimes  as  much  as  fifty 
mil"S  long.  Some  of  the  smaller  canals  have  been  built  by  co- 
operation among-  the  farmers.  In  other  cases  they  are  owned 
by  local  joint-stock  companies,  of  which  the  shares  are  held  prin- 
cipally by  the  farmers  themselves.  The  largest  of  all — the  Lari- 
mer and  Weld  Canal — is  the  property  of  the  Colorado  Mortgage 
Company  of  London.  It  is  fifty  miles  long,  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  carries  water  to  irrigate  40,000 
acres.  The  company  itself  owns  20,000  acres,  which,  with  a  right 
In  perpetuity  to  sufficient  water  for  irrigation,  it  is  selling  at  ^13 
to  ^15  per  acre.  The  land  is  sold  in  quantities  of  eighty  acres 
and  upwards.  At  this  rate  the  land  is  freely  purchased,  payment 
being  taken  in  five  installments  for  the  convenience  of  buyers. 
Settlers  on  the  public  lands  can  buy  water  for  1^5  per  acre.  By 
homesteadine  a  settler  can  become  owner  of  160  acres  for  a  few 
dollars,  but  he  must  reside  on  it  for  five  years  before  he  can  get 
a  title.  The  settler  may  choose  to  pre-empt,  in  which  case  resi- 
dence for  six  months,  together  with  the  execution  of  certain  im- 
provements, gives  a  title.  By  pre-emption  the  land  may  be 
obtained  for  $1.25  an  acre  if  distant  from  a  railway,  or  $2.50  an 
acre  if  in  the  vicinity  of  a  railway.  A  settler  can  only  homestead 
or  pre-empt  once.  Railways  are  owners  of  land  along  their 
lines,  in  square  miles  alternately  with  the  public  lands,  which  are 
subject  to  homesteading  and  pre-emption.  Railways  sell  their 
land  at  prices  varying  from  ^3  to  ;^6  an  acre,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. 

"The  undulation  of  the  plains  makes  plowing  and  irrigation 
very  easy.  The  water  is  supplied  to  the  farmer,  not  directly 
from  the  main  canal,  but  from  a  subsidiary  ditch,  formed  with  a 
plow  along  the  surface  of  the  plain,  on  a  nearly  uniform  slope. 
The  farmer  excavates  with  his  plow  a  similar  smaller  trench 
along  the  top  of  the  land  he  intends  to  plow,  and  then,  making 
breaks  in  the  lower  side,  allows  the  water  to  (low  over  the  whole 
surface  of  the  field.  After  two  or  three  days  the  land  is  ready 
for  plowing,  and  the  water  is  turned  off  After  irrigation,  a  pair 
of  li^ht  horses  will  turn  over  the  soil  at  the  rate  of  an  acre  a 
day,  or  a  gang-plow,  drawn  by  four  or  six  horses,  will  break  up 


5^4  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ten  acres  in  the  same  time.  Cereals  require  to  be  watered  once 
or  twice  in  the  season.  The  custom  is  to  break  new  land  in 
Auo'ust,  September,  and  October,  turning  the  sod  two  or  three 
inches  deep,  and  the  winter  frost  pulverizes  it,  and  makes  it  into 
a  i^ood  seed-bed  by  spring.  Old  stubbledand  is  irrigated  in  a 
similar  maimer  before  being  plowed,  either  in  autunui  or  spring, 
and  the  seed  is  sown  as  soon  after  plowing  as  possible.  The 
soil,  once  thoroughly  wet,  is  very  retentive  of  moisture,  and  no 
more  irrigation  is  necessary  till  June,  when  the  \vater  is  again 
turned  over  the  crops  for  a  day  or  two.  The  land  is  very  easily 
tilled  and  cleaned,  and  irrigation  is  a  simple  process,  as  niay  be 
easily  understood  from  the  fact  that  one  man  alone  (exchanging, 
it  may  be,  help  with  a  neighbor  in  harvest)  can  cultivate  eighty 
acres  under  crops  in  rotation,  and  that,  too,  without  working  so 
hard  as  a  small  farmer  in  this  country  (England).  Self-binding 
reaping  machines  are  in  general  use,  and  give  complete  satis- 
faction. Threshing  machines,  driven  by  steam  or  horse-power, 
are  driven  from  farm  to  farm  as  at  home. 

"  Colorado  produces  all  kinds  of  crops  and  vegetables  grown  in 
England,  with  the  addition  of  many  that  ilourish  only  in  a 
warmer  climate,  such  as  Indian  corn,  sugar-beet,  tomatoes,  etc. 
Grapes  and  peaches  ripen  in  the  open  air,  and  in  the  southern 
parts  of  the  State  grapes  and  plums  grow  wild.  Flax  is  also 
occasionally  met  with,  growing  wild.  The  wheat  and  barley 
raised  on  the  irrigated  lands  are  as  fine  as  any  in  the  world. 
The  average  crop  of  wheat  is  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  bushels 
per  acre  ;  of  barley,  about  thirty-five  bushels;  and  of  oats,  it  is 
asserted  that  in  the  uplands  the  yield  is  occasionally  as  high  as 
from  eighty  to  ninety  bushels  per  acre.  Specimens  of  cabbages, 
mangolds,  swedes,  and  beet  root  of  enormous  size,  are  exhibited 
at  the  State  fair ;  but  as  cattle-feeding  is  not  yet  practised,  they 
are  raised  chiefly  for  domestic  use.  But  the  average  of  crops  is 
not  mucli  indication  of  what  the  soil,  in  the  hands  of  a  skillful 
farmer,  may  be  made  to  yield.  The  majority  of  those  who  have 
taken  to  farmino-  in  Colorado,  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  busi- 
ness  when  they  settled,  and  their  cultivation  would  generally  be 
considered   slovenlv  at   home.     When    the   soil   is  well   cleaned 


CROPS    OF  COLORADO.  5^^ 

and  tilled,  and  the  supply  of  water  adequate,  a  return  of  thirty- 
five  and  forty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  may  be  reasonably  ex- 
pected ;  and  in  several  cases  last  season  (1879),  although  the 
crops  are  not  considered  generally  large,  over  forty-five  bushels 
of  wheat  have  been  threshed  out.*  The  prices  to  be  obtained 
are,  and  must  continue  to  be,  tolerably  high.  The  quantity  of 
land  as  yet  under  cultivation  is  not  sufficient  to  supply  the  fast 
increasing  mining  population,  and  as  the  nearest  competitor  is 
about  500  miles  away,  the  Colorado  farmer  has  the  cost  of  car- 
riage in  his  favor.  The  demand  for  poultry,  butter,  egos,  and 
milk  is  great,  and  in  supplying  it  the  industrious  farmer's  wife 
can  add  very  materially  to  his  income.  Wheat  sells  at  from 
$8  to  ^9  per  quarter  (eight  bushels)  ;  barley,  from  $6.25  to 
$7.50 ;  oats  from  $4.38  to  ^5  per  quarter.  Hay  is  sold  at  from 
^12.50  to  ^15  per  ton  of  2,000  pounds;  butter  from  25  to  38 
cents  per  pound,  and  eggs  from  25  to  31  cents  per  dozen. 
Farm  labor  of  satisfactory  quality  can,  without  difficulty,  be 
obtained.  Wages  are  about  ^25  per  month,  with  board  and 
lodging,  which  cost  as  much  more.  The  laborer  is  engaged  by 
the  month,  and,  although  he  is  dispensed  with  from  October  to 
April,  he  finds  employment  at  the  stock-ranches  or  the  mines, 
and  the  farmers  easily  get  hands  when  they  need  them.  As  a 
general  rule,  however,  farmers  in  Colorado  work  on  their  farms 
themselves ;  but  they  have  the  satisfaction  that  the  land  is  their 
own,  and  that  in  such  a  climate,  and  with  such  a  soil,  labor  is 
much  lighter  and  more  agreeable  than  is  dreamed  of  in  this 
country  (Great  Britain).  For  the  same  reasons  the  cost  of  labor 
per  acre,  although  the  wages  paid  to  the  laborer  are  high,  is 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  greater  than  the  farmer  has  to  pay  in  Scotland, 
and  by  those  who  have  capital,  farming  is  being  prosecuted  on  a 

*Mr.  Barclay  is,  as  he  should  lie,  wisely  conservative  in  his  stnteinenis  concerninLj  the  crops 
in  Colorado  as  affected  hy  irri;Tr\tion.  Where,  ns  in  Greeley,  Evans,  I.onymoiit,  elc,  and  still 
more  in  the  south  of  the  State,  the  farmers  are  skillful,  and  apply  the  water  judiciously,  crojis  of 
wheat  of  ci;^hly  or  one  hundred  acres  have  turned  o\U  sixty  to  scvciuy  bushels  of  wheat  to  the 
acre  for  the  whole  crop,  and  in  some  instances  even  more;  while  Indian  corn,  which  our  Ih'ilish 
friends  do  not  fully  appreciate,  yields,  under  irrif^ation,  not  the  fifty  or  seventy  hushels  which  are 
elsewhere  considered  a  good  crop,  hut  two  hundred  bushels  and  more,  over  large  tracts  of  land, 
and  oats  yield  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  bushels.  15.irl;y  is  not  so  lars^ely  grown  in  Colorado 
as  to  make  the  amount  raised  at  all  certain,  but  it  would  iloublless  do  (juile  as  well  as  wheat. 


5 -,5  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


'J 


larcre  scale  with  great  profits.  During  two  or  three  months  in 
the  year  there  is  Httle,  if  any,  work  to  be  done  on  farms,  but  a 
pushing  man  may  hire  out  his  team  and  make  a  good  bit  of 
money  in  the  winter  months."'^ 

In  1871  the  amount  of  wood-land  and  forest  growths  in  Colo- 
rado was  esdmated,  by  the  United  States  Land  Office,  at 
6,667,000  acres,  or  one-tenth  of  the  area  of  the  State.  The  esti- 
mate was,  of  necessity,  a  mere  guess,  since  at  that  time  not  more 
than  one-sixth  of  the  area  of  the  State  had  been  surveyed,  and 
much  of  it  was  entirely  unexplored.  Very  large  quantities  of 
the  timber  have  since  been  sacrificed  for  railway  ties,  buildings, 
and  machinery,  for  mining  supports  and  machinery  ;  for  dwell- 
ings and  fuel,  for  flumes,  aqueducts  and  bridges,  and  the  thou- 
sand uses  to  which  wood  is  put.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  the 
present  forest  area  of  the  State  exceeds  one-fifteenth  of  its  sur- 
face. Much  of  the  timber  on  the  mountains  is  large,  but  it 
ceases  before  the  snow-line  is  reached.  The  principal  forest 
trees  are  the  pines  of  six  or  eight  species,  including  the  white, 
the  yellow  (a  large  fine  tree,  much  like  the  Georgia),  the  nut- 
pine,  and  some  others  ;  several  species  of  fir  and  spruce,  large 
and  beautiful  trees,  the  cypress  in  Southern  Colorado,  several 
species  of  oak,  the  chestnut  and  the  chinquepin,  the  hickory, 
black  walnut,  horse-chestnut,  etc.,  etc. 

The  great  parks  in  the  spring  and  early  summer  are  resplend- 
ent with  beautiful  wild  flowers. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — Within  the  limits  of  the  State,  on 
its  varied  surface,  down  the  precipitous  sides  of  its  lofty  moun- 
tains, and  on  the  deeply  eroded  sides  of  its  great  canons  may 
be  found  every  geological  formation  known  on  this  continent. 
In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  plains  of  Eastern  Colorado 
are  tertiary  and  alluvial,  being  formed  largely  of  the  loess  which 
has  for  acres  washed  down  from  the  mountain  summits.  The 
axis  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  ranges  is  eozoic,  and  yet  it  has  been 
so  completely  upheaved  that  the  granite  strata  are  completely 
broken  and  reversed,  and  form  the  surface  rock  of  the  summits 
of  the  highest  mountains.     In  the  valleys  between  the  ranges 

*Hon.  J.  W.  Barclay,  M.  P.,  in  tlie  Foitnighlly  Review,  January,  18S0. 


THE  NATURAL    WONDERS    OF  COLORADO.  637 

the  great  parks  are  tertiary.  At  numerous  points  on  the  moun- 
tain sides  and  in  the  canons  the  coal  crops  out,  sometimes  ter- 
tiary lignites,  but  as  often  from  the  upper  coal  measures,  and  in 
the  southwest  from  the  lower  coal  measures.  Sandstones,  lime- 
stones, slates  and  shales  of  every  geologic  age  crop  out,  espe- 
cially in  Western  Colorado,  and  triassic  and  Jurassic  rocks  appear 
both  in  the  San  Juan  country  and  in  the  region  lying  between 
Pueblo  and  the  Spanish  peaks.  In  the  vicinity  of  many  of  the 
coal  beds  the  rocks  are  cretaceous ;  while  the  Devonian  and 
Silurian  systems  are  largely  represented  in  tlie  south  and  south- 
west. In  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  some  of  the  affluents  of  the  Grand  river,  there 
are  evidences  of  extensive  volcanic  action. 

The  erosive  action  of  large  streams  having  a  rapid  descent 
and  perhaps  also  of  glaciers  (though  this  is  not  quite  settled) 
has  nowhere  produced  such  remarkable  results  as  in  Colorado. 
It  is  not  only  manifest  in  those  deep  canons  which  are  only 
rivalled  in  Arizona,  but  in  such  wonderful  productions  as  the 
"  City  of  the  Gods,"  in  the  White  river  region,  in  the  northwest 
part  of  Summit  county,  where  a  tract  large  enough  for  a  city  is 
cut  into  the  semblance  of  cathedrals,  castles,  towers,  and  dwell- 
ings, in  ruins  indeed,  but  glorious  in  their  ruin — the  spires,  domes, 
terraces  and  many  storied  temples  set  in  such  regular  order  and 
with  such  broad  avenues  between  that  it  seems  impossible  that 
it  should  be  other  than  the  work  of  human  hands;  or  the  similar 
though  less  extensive  wonders  of  Monument  Park,  Talhott  Hill 
and  the  Botde  Rocks ;  or  the  remarkable  arrangement  of  the 
rocks  (which  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  result  of  erosion) 
in  the  "  Garden  of  the  Gods ;"  or  the  Royal  Gorge,  or  the  Grape 
Creek  and  Temple  canons,  or  the  Grand  canon  of  the  Arkansas, 
and  farther  west  the  Great  canon  of  the  Gunnison. 

For  an  interesting  account  of  some  of  these  wonders,  especially 
those  of  Fremont  county,  as  well  as  of  the  remarkable  bones  ot 
the  mSf^ntic  Camarasuras  and  other  fossils,  reptiles  and  mam- 
mals  of  the  Jurassic  period  which,  in  size  as  well  as  geologic  age, 
surpass  all  previous  discoveries,  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  G. 
Pangborn,  author  of  the  "New  Rocky  Mountain  Tourist,"  a  part 


^^8  ^^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

of  whose  very  vivid  description  of  a  tour  through  this  true  won- 
derland we  here  introduce  to  our  readers. 

"  RattHng-  over  the  bridge  spanning  the  Arkansas  at  the  city's* 
feet,  we  speed  on  through  clumps  of  richly  foliaged  trees,  and  in 
a  few  moments  are  at  the  entrance  of  the  caiion,  catching  a 
glimpse,  just  as  we  enter  between  its  towering  walls,  of  the 
Grand  caiion  of  the  Arkansas  and  the  cosy-looking  bath-houses 
at  the  springs  near  by.  A  quick  word  of  wonder  at  the  height 
and  the  closeness  of  the  walls,  a  sharp  turn  of  the  road,  and  look- 
inor  back,  the  way  is  lost  by  which  we  came.  Here  in  the  solitary 
mountains  we  are  alone.  No  world  behind ;  no  world  before. 
Turn  upon  turn,  and  new  walls  rise  up  so  abruptly  before  us  as 
to  cause  an  involuntary  cry  of  terror,  soon  relieved,  however,  as 
our  excited  senses  become  more  familiar  with  the  new  tension 
upon  them.  Awe  still  holds  us  bonden  slaves,  but  the  eye  drinks 
in  such  beauty  as  fairly  intoxicates  the  soul.  On  either  hand  the 
walls  loom  up  until  only  the  slender  opal  of  a  narrow  strip  of 
sky  forms  exquisite  contrast  with  the  pine-covered  heights. 
Rilled  boulders  every  now  and  then  wall  in  the  road  on  the 
river  side,  their  base  washed  by  the  creek,  wild  and  beautiful 
in  its  whirl  and  roar.  Here  the  perpendicular  piles  of  rock  are 
covered  with  growths  of  trees  that  ascend  in  exact  line  with  the 
wall  and  cast  their  shadows  on  the  road  below.  Nature's  grape- 
vines trail  alons:  the  crround  and  clino^  around  die  trunks  of  the 
trees,  hanpine  like  Arcadian  curtains  and  makinc:  bowers  of  the 
most  exquisite  character  imaginable.  Between  these,  we  catch 
bewitching  glances  of  the  creek  on  its  merry,  tempestuous  way 
to  the  Arkansas,  its  sparkling  surface  throwing  back  rapid  re- 
flections of  masses  of  green  foliage  and  trailing  vines.  Deep 
pools  give  back  the  blue  of  the  cloudless  sky,  and  as  base  accom- 
paniments come  in  the  dark  shadows  of  the  canon  walls  with  their 
sharply  drawn  ridges  and  truncated  cones.  Here  and  there,  all 
along  the  wild  way,  are  rushing  cascades,  tortuous  twists  of  the 
stream,  gayly  lichened  or  dark  heeding  rocks,  mossy  nooks  or 
glowing  lawns,  and  overhead  the  cotton  woods  mingling  their 
rare  autumnal  splendors  of  red  and  gold  with  the  sombre  green 

*  Canon  City. 


GRAPE    CREEK  CANON.  639 

of  pine  and  cedar.  The  canon  is  beyond  question  tlie  most 
beautiful  in  marvellous  coloring-,  wondrous  splendor  of  foliage, 
picturesque  cascades  and  winding  streams  of  any  in  Colorado. 
The  Grand  canon  of  the  Arkansas  is  deeper,  but  it  is  awful  as 
seen  from  the  only  point  of  view,  that  from  the  top,  and  the  sen- 
sations caused  in  strongest  of  contrast  with  those  experienced  in 
Grape  Creek  canon.  The  walls  of  the  latter  are  so  gorgeous  a 
variety  of  colors  as  to  iairly  bewilder  with  their  splendor:  red — 
from  the  darkest  tinge  of  blood  to  the  most  delicate  shades  of 
pink  ;  green — from  the  richest  depths  to  the  rarest  hues  of  the 
emerald  ;  blue — from  the  opal  to  the  deepest  sea,  variegated 
until  almost  defying  the  rainbow  to  excel  in  exquisite  blending. 
These  glorious  transitions  of  color  meet  one  at  every  turn,  and 
the  contrast  formed  every  now  and  then  by  tremendous  walls  of 
bare,  black  rock,  or  broad  seams  of  iron  ore  set  in  red  or  green, 
render  all  the  more  striking  the  singular  beauty  of  tlie  canon. 
Over  the  walls  on  either  side,  the  grapevine,  from  which  the 
canon  takes  its  name,  climbs  in  wonderfully  rich  profusion,  and 
in  autumn,  when  the  leaves  become  so  delicately  tinted  and  the 
vines  hang  thick  with  their  purple  fruit,  the  effect  is  something  to 
call  to  mind  but  never  to  describe.  Added  to  the  indescribable 
beauty  of  the  vines  are  the  many-colored  mosses  which  paint  the 
rocks  in  infinite  variety  of  hue,  ofttimes  growing  so  high  and  rank  as 
to  reach  to  the  very  pinnacle  of  the  topmost  rocks  and  fringe  their 
craggy  brows  so  lavishly  as  to  render  them  almost  symmetrical 
in  appearance  as  seen  below.  At  different  points  these  moss- 
covered  walls  rise  to  the  height  of  1,000  feet,  and  so  completely 
do  they  hem  one  in  on  all  sides  that  with  but  slight  stretch  of  im- 
agination the  place  could  be  viewed  from  below  as  a  gigantic, 
moss-covered  bucket,  but  one  that  never  'hung  in  the  well.' 
Just  above  Temple  caiion,  and  where  Grape  creek  enters  the 
canon  of  its  name,  the  walls  are  exceedingly  high  and  precipitous, 
and  in  the  coolest  nook  of  their  shadows,  where  sunlight  can 
never  reach,  is  a  quiet,  placid  pool  of  water  clearer  than  a  crys- 
tal, and  so  faithfully  reflecting  back  the  curiously  and  brilliantlv 
colored  rocks  overhanging  it,  as  to  have  gained  the  name  of 
Painted  Rock   Pool.     It  is  a  very  gem   in  itself,  and  its  setting 


540  (^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

and  the  rare  grandeur  of  the  surroundings,  is  well  in  keeping. 
Those  visiting  the  caiion  should  not  fail  to  follow  up  the  course 
of  the  creek  from  the  point  where  it  debouches  into  the  canon. 
It  will  have  to  be  done  on  foot,  but  the  wholly  unexpected  sur- 
prises of  the  hour  or  two's  ramble  will  more  than  repay  the  ex- 
ertion. The  walls  of  the  sides  of  the  parent  canon  are  fully 
1,500  feet  in  height,  and  so  narrow  that  the  tall  pines  and  cot- 
tonwoods  keep  the  gorge  in  a  tender  half-light,  broken  at  mid- 
day by  glaring  rays  that  give  a  magical  charm  to  the  scene.  On 
all  sides  from  points  in  the  walls  of  rock,  tufts  of  grass  and  blue- 
bells grow,  forming,  with  the  grapevines,  most  pleasing  pictures 
in  contrast  with  many-tinted  rocks,  in  the  crevices  of  which  their 
roots  have  found  nourishment.  The  walls  are  of  almost  as  many 
colors  as  there  are  sharp  turns  in  the  creek's  course,  and  rare 
and  perfect  in  beauty  is  the  amphitheatre  of  black  rock  with 
pearly-white  veins  running  in  every  direction,  the  whole  over- 
hung by  climbing  vines  and  their  pendant  berries.  Just  at  the 
entrance  to  Temple  canon  is  a  little  grove  of  cottonwoods. 
Their  pendant  swinging  boughs  meet  in  perfect  arches  over- 
head, and  the  profusion  of  their  polished,  brilliant  leaves  renders 
complete  the  most  charming  of  bowers  in  which  to  take  the  noon- 
day lunch  and  prepare  for  the  climb  into  Temple  canon,  which 
must  be  done  on  foot.  Temple  is  a  side  canon,  with  entrance 
from  Grape  Creek  canon,  some  four  and  a  half  miles  from  Canon 
City,  and  was  discovered  but  a  year  or  two  ago. 

"The  climb  is  not  steep,  though  rather  rough,  especially  to 
effect  an  entrance  into  the  Temple  proper,  which  is  to  the  right 
of  the  little  canon,  and  can  only  be  accomplished  by  clambering 
over  several-huge  boulders,  which,  if  removed,  would  render  the 
illusion  of  a  temple  and  stairway  all  the  more  striking.  Once 
passing  in  through  the  great  rifts  of  rock,  for  all  the  world  like 
the  stairway  to  some  grand  place  of  amusement,  the  body  of  the 
Temple  is  reached,  and  to  the  tourist's  astonishment,  before  him 
is  a  sta";e  with  overhanQrine  arch,  with  '  llats '  and  '  flies,'  with 
dressing-rooms  on  either  side,  and  a  scene  already  set  as  if  for 
some  grand  tableau.  If  so  intensely  realistic  from  the  parquet, 
as  the  broad  circling  floor  might  aptly  be  termed,  or  from  the 


TEMPLE   CANON  AND    THE    TEMPLE.  64I 

parquet  or  dress-circles,  as  the  higher  ledges  would  suggest,  the 
clamber  up  to  the  stage  itself  renders  it  all  the  more  so,  for 
there  is  found  ample  room  for  a  full  dramatic  or  operatic  com- 
pany to  disport  upon,  while  in  the  perpendicular  ledges  and 
caves  on  either  side,  twenty-five  to  thirty  people  might  retire  and 
not  be  observed  from  the  body  of  the  hall.  The  stage  is  at  the 
least  thirty  feet  deep,  and  some  sixty  to  seventy  broad  ;  the  arch 
above  fully  one  hundred  feet  from  the  floor  of  the  canon,  the 
stage  itself  being  about  forty  feet  above  the  floor.  The  arch  is 
almost  as  smooth  and  perfectly  proportioned  as  if  fashioned  by 
the  hand  of  man,  and  during  the  wet  season  the  water  from  a 
stream  above  falls  in  a  great  broad  sheet  over  its  face  to  the 
floor  of  the  caiion  below.  At  such  times  the  effect  from  the 
stage  of  the  Temple  is,  as  can  be  imagined,  exceedingly  fasci- 
nating, for  there,  entirely  protected  from  the  water,  one  looks 
through  the  silvery  sheen  out  upon  the  scene  below.  Upon  the 
rear  wall  of  the  stage  quite  an  aperture  has  been  hewn  out  by 
some  action,  and  the  shape  it  is  left  in  is  peculiarly  suggestive 
of  tableaux  preparation.  Away  up  in  the  very  highest  crevice 
under  the  arch  a  pair  of  eagles  have  mated  for  years,  and  though 
most  darino-  efforts  have  been  made  to  reach  the  nest  none  have 
succeeded.  The  coming  of  visitors  is  almost  invariably  the 
occasion  of  a  flight  from  the  nest,  and  breaking  in  so  suddenly 
upon  the  supernatural  stillness  of  the  place  is  apt  to  cause  a 
shock  to  the  timid  not  readily  forgotten.  There  is  absolutely 
not  a  solitary  sign  of  vegetation  about  the  Temple  ;  all  is  bleak, 
bare  and  towering  walls,  and  a  more  weird  spot  to  visit  cannot 
possibly  be  imagined.  Coming  out  from  the  Temple  itself  the 
tourist  should  by  all  means  clamber  up  to  one  of  the  lofty  pinna- 
cles in  the  adjoining  canon,  for  the  sight  from  them  down  upon 
the  mighty  masses  of  rock  below,  the  cottonwoods,  the  stream 
in  Grape  Creek  canon  and  the  lofty  walls  beyond  is  one  to  be 
treasured  up  among  the  brightest  recollections  of  the  tour, 

"  One  could  spend  days  in  Grape  Creek  and  Temple  canons 
alone,  but  our  week  demands  that  we  should  spend  the  second 
day  in  Oak  Creek  canon,  with  its  wonderful  formations  of  arches, 
deep  tints  of  evergreens  and  wealth  of  wild  flowers. 
41 


6^2  OCR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

"  Oak  Creek  canon  is  left  with  unfeigned  regret,  and  as  we 
toil  up  the  ascent  on  the  return  trip  we  cast  many  glances  back  to 
aid  memory  in  fixing  its  beauties  upon  the  mind.  A  couple  of 
miles  over  a  road  the  tamest  imaginable,  alter  the  three  miles 
of  down  grade,  brings  us  to  the  base  of  Curiosity  Hill,  well 
named,  as  is  speedily  proven  by  the  discovery  of  all  sorts  of  odd 
and  beautiful  little  specimens  of  ribbon  moss  and  linear  agate 
crystals  and  the  like.  The  surface  of  the  hill  is  one  vast  field  of 
curiosities,  and  so  plentiful  and  varied  are  they  that  even  those 
usually  wholly  indifferent  to  such  things  soon  find  themselves 
vying  with  the  most  enthusiastic  in  exclamations  ot  delight  upon 
finding  some  particularly  attractive  specimen.  By  blasting, 
large  bodies  of  the  most  perfect  crystals  are  obtained,  invariably 
bedded  in  ribbon  agate  of  the  most  beautiful  colors  and  shapes, 
and  polishing  readily,  they  form  beyond  all  comparison  the  love- 
liest of  cabinet  attractions.  Many  very  valuable  specimens  of 
blood  agate  have  been  found  on  Curiosity  Hill,  and  for  agates 
of  all  hues  and  forms  it  is  possibly  the  most  satisfactory  field  for 
the  specimen-seeker  in  Southern  Colorado.  Trotting  homeward 
we  watch  the  blazing  splendor  of  the  sunset  upon  the  lofty  heads 
of  the  rocky  monarchs  around  us,  while  the  cool  twilight  of  the 
open  park  between  us  and  Canon  City  envelops  all  about  our 
road. 

"Next  morning  we  are  off  for  Oil  Creek  canon,  which  is  wholly 
different  from  others  seen  thus  far.  The  windinofs  of  the  road 
in  following  the  heavily-wooded  stream  are  decidedly  of  a  ro- 
mantic character,  runninof  now  throucfh  a  bewitching  little  orove, 
and  the  next  moment  joining  with  the  merry  waters  and  keeping 
them  close  company  until  another  cluster  of  aspens  or  firs  causes 
a  separation  of  sight  only,  for  the  music  of  the  foaming  stream 
comes  to  us  through  the  leaves,  thus  rendering  the  meeting  all 
the  more  delightful.  A  half  mile  from  the  mouth  of  the  canon 
we  come  upon  the  oil  wells  from  which  the  stream  takes  its 
name,  and  about  which  its  perfect  purity  is  polluted  by  the  pe- 
troleum that  lies  thick  upon  its  surface.  Some  considerable 
surface  work  has  been  done  at  the  wells  in  the  way  of  tubing 
and  the  like,  and   they  have   been   yielding  more  or  less  oil  for 


THE    TWIN  I  ORIS. 


643 


the  past  fifteen  years.  Preparations  are  now  being  made,  how- 
ever, for  boring  for  Bowing  wells,  and  the  probabilities  are  that 
more  oil  will  be  taken  from  them  this  year  than  ever  before  since 
the  first  discovery.  Beyond  the  wells  the  road  winds  around  and 
about  in  enticing  proximity  to  the  stream,  and  then  leaving  it, 
winds  high  above,  crossing  picturesque  bridges,  and  finally 
emerges  into  the  open  known  as  Oil  Creek  Park,  hemmed  in  on 
all  sides  by  ranges  of  sandstone  that  show  a  countless  succession 
of  rock  sculptures,  the  effect  heightened  by  the  brilliancy  and  va- 
riety of  the  coloring.  High  up  on  the  ridges  are  the  crumbling 
ruins  of  castellated  battlements,  formidable  bastions  suo-orestive 
of  frowning  guns,  lofty  and  imposing  sally-ports,  portcullis,  moats 
and  drawbridges.  Great  cliffs  have  fallen,  and  avalanches  of 
rock  have  plunged  their  way  down  the  hillsides;  yet  here  and 
there  and  everywhere,  upon  the  walls  stand  the  grim  battlements, 
as  if  defying  wind,  storm  and  time.  The  most  imposing  of 
these  tremendous  ruins  are  the  Twin  Forts,  standing  upon  the 
very  verge  of  a  precipitous  wall  of  500  feet  of  alternate  layers 
of  creamy  yellow  and  brilliant  red.  One  looms  up  a  hundred 
feet  or  more  above  the  wall,  but  the  other  is  sadly  battered  and 
rapidly  crumbling  away.  .  Along  the  wall  are  numberless 
towers  of  rock  worn  by  the  action  of  the  elements  into  fantastic 
shapes,  and  many  of  them  looking  as  if  the  breath  of  a  child 
would  topple  them  over.  Progressing  on  through  the  park  we 
fancy  in  each  transformation  of  rock  some  familiar  thing,  while 
the  mighty  tiers  extending  toward  us  ofttimes  call  vividly  to  mind 
the  bulwarks  of  great  ships  of  the  sea  stranded  here  to  be  worn 
away  to  dust.  Directly  ahead  of  us,  as  we  near  the  centre  of 
the  park,  we  catch  full  glimpsesof  new  and  singular  rock  sculpture, 
the  entire  south  end  of  the  park  showing  tier  upon  tier  ol  rock 
so  striking  in  resemblance  to  stockades  and  outlying  fortifica- 
tions as  to  cause  one  to  involuntarily  seek  not  only  for  the  colors, 
but  the  soldiers  defending  them.  Back  of  the  stockades,  stern, 
dark  and  cold,  rises  Signal  Mountain,  and  still  back  of  it  the  long, 
wave-like  lines  and  great  snowy  domes  of  the  Sangre  de  Christo 
range,  their  stupendous  proportions  dwarfing  all  below  into  little-- 
ness. 


5^4  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

"  The  road,  as  it  nears  the  head  of  the  park,  abruptly  dashes 
into  a  thickly  grown  grove  of  pinon  trees.  We  halt  for  a  mo- 
ment to  get  a  full  view  of  the  largest  pinon  tree  in  Colorado, 
and  probably  in  the  country,  and  after  entertaining  something  of 
a  contempt  for  the  scraggy  litde  trunk  of  the  average  pinon 
tree,  it  is  quite  refreshing  to  behold  one  fully  three  feet  in  di- 
ameter, though  all  the  more  uncouth  and  ugly  for  its  unwonted 
circumference.  The  pinons  bear  extraordinary  quantities  of  the 
sweetest  litde  nuts,  but  outside  of  this  they  are  of  no  possible 
worth.  Around  the  sharpest  and  steepest  of  curves,  a  dash 
across  the  madly-surging  stream,  and  a  helter-skelter  scramble 
up  a  low  but  exceedingly  rocky  ascent,  and  we  are  at  the  mouth 
of  Marble  Cave,  so  near  in  fact  as  to  barely  escape  falling  into  it 
in  looking  for  it.  The  ragged,  jagged  crevice  by  which  the  cave 
is  entered  is  anything  but  enticing,  and  the- sensation  experienced 
as  one's  head  is  all  there  is  left  above  ground  is  far  from  the 
pleasantest. 

"The  descent  is  almost  perpendicular  for  a  hundred  feet  or 
more,  and  the  staircase  formed  by  the  broken  ledges  on  either 
side  of  the  chasm  far  from  soothing  to  one's  nerves,  especially  as 
all  the  lights  obtained  are  the  meagre  glintings  which  steal 
throuo-h  the  three-cornered  opening  above  and  struggle  faintly 
half  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  rift  of  rocks.  Stumbling  over  un- 
seen boulders,  and  barely  escaping  serious  contact  with  the  en- 
compassing walls,  we  grope  to  the  point  where  our  guide  has 
kindled  a  fire,  and  find  it  the  intersection  of  the  two  main  halls 
of  the  cave.  The  ghastly  flare  thrown  upon  the  walls  by  the 
burning  pine  chills  us  to  the  bone,  and  a  tremulous  inspection 
of  the  situation  adds  no  warmth.  We  are  in  a  strange  and 
awful  rift  in  some  buried  mountain,  the  walls  so  narrow  that  our 
elbows  touch  on  either  side,  and  so  weird  and  terrific  in  height, 
as  seen  through  the  heavily-rolling  smoke,  as  to  look  ten  times 
the  150  feet  our  guide  informs  us  is  the  distance  to  the  roof. 
The  pine  burns  brighter,  the  smoke  grows  thicker,  but  we  press 
on,  now  crawlinof  on  all-fours  into  some  wondrous  chamber  of 
stalactite  and  stalagmite,  and  anon  tugging  up  a  strand  of  rope 
over  frightful  boulders   that  have  fallen   from   tlio   dizzy  height 


MARBLE    CAVE   AND    TALBOTT  HILL.  5^5 

above,  to  obstruct  man  in  learning  the  secrets  of  this  awful  con- 
vulsion of  nature.  We  penetrate  into  Satan's  Bower,  we  look 
shudderingly  into  his  Punch  Bowl,  and  gasp  as  we  throw  our- 
selves into  his  Arm-Chair.  We  draw  longest  of  breaths  in 
Queen's  Grotto,  and  the  shortest  when  thoughts  of  the  way  back 
over  those  fearful  rocks  crowd  in  and  demand  consideration. 
Certainly  the  clear  blue  sky  never  was  half  so  lovely  as  when  we 
finally  stand  under  it  again.  The  cave  is,  as  its  name  implies, 
encompassed  by  marble  walls,  and  the  specimens  of  marble 
brought  from  its  innermost  recesses,  as  seen  in  the  full  glare  of 
the  sun,  are  exceedingly  beautiful  in  their  rtiottled  surface  of  red 
and  white.  The  marble  is  susceptible  of  the  highest  and  richest 
polish,  and  parties  in  Canon  City  use  it  for  artistic  as  well  as 
practical  purposes.  All  about  the  hill,  from  the  low  crest  of 
which  the  cave  is  entered,  are  the  finest  specimens  of  jasper, 
aoate  and  shell  rock,  and  not  far  distant  are  immense  trees 
petrified  to  solid  rock,  and  where  broken  often  showing  beauti- 
ful veins  of  agate  and  crystals.  On  the  return  trip  we  take 
more  notice  of  the  cosy  and  comfortable  farm-houses  scattered 
throughout  the  park,  and  become  much  interested  in  the  details 
of  the  yield  of  grain — principally  wheat — secured  through  the 
system  of  irrigation  practised  so  extensively  in  the  State  ;  in  fact, 
no  grain  whatever  can  be  successfully  cultivated  in  Colorado 
without  irrigation.  Midway  in  the  park  we  pull  up  at  the  pleas- 
ant home  of  the  gentleman  who  is  to  show  us  to  the  top  of  Tal- 
bott  Hill,  where  Professor  Marsh,  of  Yale  College,  and  Professor 
Cope,  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  have 
parties  at  work  exhuming  the  recently  discovered  bones  ot  ani- 
mals, compared  to  which  in  proportions  and  importance  the 
mastodon  sinks  to  insiornificance.  W^e  at  once  leave  the  road 
and  make  direct  for  the  wall  of  blood-red  rock  on  the  west  side 
of  the  park,  and  a  short  drive  bringing  us  to  its  base,  we  alight. 
Reachinof  the  summit,  the  long-drawn  breath  of  relief  is  half 
choked  by  the  indescribable  magnificence  of  the  view,  and  for 
the  first  time  we  appreciate  the  sublimity  and  grandeur  of  the 
Sangre  de  Christo  range.  A  few  more  steps  and  we  are  at  the 
tent  of  Professor  Cope's  party,  and   all   within   and  without  is 


5^6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

heaped-ijp  bones,  rocks  now,  and  many  of  them  so  perfecdy 
agatized  diat  at  a  casual  glance  it  would  stagger  any  but  a 
scientist's  belief  that  diey  were  ever  covered  with  flesh.  As 
seen,  here,  however,  it  is  so  palpably  apparent  that  the  seeming 
rock  and  agate  are  bone  as  to  leave  no  room  for  shadow  of 
doubt.  Before  us  are  perfect  parts  of  skeletons  so  huge  as  to 
prepare  one  for  the  belief  that  Noah's  Ark  was  a  myth;  sections 
of  vertebrae  three  feet  in  width  ;  ribs  fifteen  feet  long  ;  thigh-bones 
over  six  feet  in  length — and  the  five  or  six  tons  of  bones  thus 
far  shipped  East  comprising  only  the  parts  of  three  animals.  In 
one  pit  the  diameter  of  the  socket  of  the  vertebrae  measured  fif- 
teen inches,  width  of  spinal  process  forty-one  inches,  and  depth 
of  vertebrae  twenty-nine  inches.  In  another  place  there  was  a 
thiorh-bone  six  feet  and  two  inches  in  lencrth  ;  a  section  of  back- 
bone  lying  just  as  the  monster  rolled  over  and  died,  with  eleven 
ribs  attached,  the  back-bone  twenty  feet  long  and  from  sixteen 
to  thirty  inches  deep,  and  the  ribs  five  to  eight  feet  in  length  and 
six  inches  broad.  Just  showing  upon  the  surface  was  a  part  of 
a  thigh-bone  twenty-two  inches  in  width  and  thirty  in  length,  and 
near  it  a  nine-foot  rib  four  inches  in  diameter,  a  foot  wide  at  six 
feet,  and  where  it  articulated  with  the  vertebrae,  twenty-three 
and  a  half  inches  in  width.  The  entire  rib  Vv'as  fifteen  feet  in 
length.  All  over  the  hill  we  come  upon  little  piles  of  broken 
bones  which  will  require  days  of  patient  labor  and  skillful  hand- 
ling to  properly  set  in  place.  The  first  discovery  of  the  fossils 
was  made  in  April  last  by  a  young  graduate  of  Oberlin  College, 
who,  teaching  a  country  school  in  the  park  five  days  in  the  week, 
spent  his  Saturdays  about  the  hills  hunting  deer,  and  occasion- 
ally getting  a  shot  at  a  grizzly.  Immediately  upon  satisfying 
himself  of  the  character  of  the  discovery,  the  young  man  wrote 
to  his  old  Professor  in  Ohio,  and  subsequently  to  Professor  Cope, 
of  Philadelphia.  Hardly  had  the  latter  organized  his  party  of 
exploration  before  Professor  Marsh  had  his,  under  the  leadership 
of  Professor  Mudge,  of  Kansas,  duly  equipped,  and  by  the  mid- 
dle of  May  both  parties  were  actively  engaged  excavating, 
setting  up  and  preparing  for  shipment  the  bones  which  Professor 
M  irsh  declares  are  seven  million  years  old. 


GIGANTIC  CHARACTER    OF  FOSSILS.  647 

"The  first  animal  discovered  was  of  entirely  new  genus  and 
species  in  scientific  circles,  and  was  named  the  camarasuras  su- 
premus,  from  the  chamber  of  caverns  in  the  centres  of  the 
vertebrae.  Of  the  first  petrifactions  exhumed  was  a  femur  or 
thigh-bone  six  feet  in  length,  scapular  or  shoulder-blade  five  and 
a  half  feet  long,  sacrum,  or  the  part  of  the  backbone  over  the 
hips — corresponding  to  four  vertebrae  united  in  one — forty  inches. 
Vertebrae  immediately  in  front  of  this  measured  in  elevation 
two  feet  six  inches,  and  the  spread  of  the  diapophyses  was  three 
feet.  Professor  Hayden,  the  widely-known  chief  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  upon  visiting  this  place  and  inspecting 
these  and  other  parts  of  the  animal,  declared  it  his  conviction 
that  the  beast  must  have  been  fully  a  hundred  feet  in  length. 
The  thigh-bone,  measuring  some  six  feet,  stood  over  the  hips 
eighteen  to  twenty  feet.  The  animal  was  undoubtedly  shorter  of 
front  than  of  hind  legs,  and  Professor  Marsh  thinks  it  had  the 
power  to  raise  up  like  a  kangaroo  on  its  hind  legs  and  browse 
off  the  leaves  of  the  trees  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  in  height. 
The  professor  also  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  'critter'  fed 
entirely  upon  grass  and  leaves,  the  vertebrae  of  the  neck  being 
some  twenty-one  inches  in  length,  and  the  spread  of  the 
diapophyses  three  feet,  this  being  understood  of  cervical  vertebrae. 
The  skeleton  is  not  completely  exhumed,  though  between  7,500 
and  8,000  pounds  of  bone  have  been  shipped  to  Professor  Cope. 
A  part  of  the  jaw  of  a  laelaps  trihedrodon,  ten  inches  long,  and 
containing  eight  teeth  varying  from  five  to  eight  inches  in  length, 
has  also  been  shipped.  Recently  a  leg  bone  of  this  same  animal 
was  exhumed  and  found  to  measure  a  little  over  four  feet,  and 
with  a  portion  of  the  head  all  crushed  into  small  pieces,  sent  on 
to  the  professor.  A  part  of  the  femur  of  anotlier  animal  has 
been  found,  measuring  six  feet,  but  somewhat  liofhter  than  the 
others.  The  vertebrae  are  three  feet  six  inches  in  eleavtion, 
showing  a  very  tall  brute,  but  not  so  heavy  as  the  camarasuras. 
When  found,  it  was  lying  on  the  right  side  with  vertebrae  and 
ribs  of  that  side  in  place,  the  ribs  measuring  over  six  feet  in 
length,  and  the  prongs  where  they  join  the  back  fifteen  inches  in 
width.     Man3'  of  the  bones   of  the  camarasuras  are   misplaced 


5^^8  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

and  broken  up,  quite  a  pile  being  found  at  the  spot  where 
several  of  the  teedi  of  the  trihedrodon  were  discovered,  thus  indi- 
cating; the  preying  of  the  one  upon  the  other.  While  the  general 
estimate  of  the  aofe  of  these  hucrc  fossils  amono^  American  sjeol- 
ogists  is  seven  million  years,  English  scientists  declare  them 
fourteen  million  years  old.  Both  the  camarasuras  and  the 
trihedrodon  were  of  the  Jurassic  period,  being  found  in  beds, 
which,  according  to  Professor  Marsh,  correspond  with  the 
Wealden  beds  of  England.  All  diis  section  of  the  country  must 
have  been  a  plain  when  so  much  of  Colorado  was  covered  by  an 
ocean,  and  before  the  mountains  were  formed.  The  fossils  are 
found  in  rock  long  upheaved,  its  character  now  a  sort  of  shale  or 
marlite,  which  upon  being  dug  out  and  exposed  to  the  air  crumbles 
to  pieces.  In  most  instances  it  is  free  from  bone  decay,  the  parts 
of  animals  taken  out  being  remarkable  for  their  clean  and  per- 
fect solidity.  Marsh  and  Cope  agree  that  the  camarasuras  was 
the  largest  and  most  bulky  animal  capable  of  progress  on  land 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  it  being  very  much  larger  than 
the  mastodon,  which  was  of  a  much  later  period. 

"Professor  Mudge,  with  his  party,  is  working  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  distant  from  Professor  Cope's  camp,  and  very 
recently  discovered  portions  of  an  animal  of  even  more  monstrous 
proportions  than  those  already  referred  to,  and  of  entirely  dif- 
ferent genus  and  species  from  either.  The  explorations  of  the 
Marsh  and  Cope  parties  will  be  pushed  with  all  possible  vigor, 
the  qntire  scientific  world  being  intensely  interested  not  only  in 
the  work  here  on  Talbott  Hill,  but  in  the  setting  up  of  the  gi- 
gantic skeletons  at  Yale  College  and  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  at  Philadelphia.  Excursions  from  several  of  the  leading 
colleges  to  the  scene  of  the  discoveries  are  planned  for  the  sum- 
mer, and  the  season's  work  promises  to  add  to  the  lively  in- 
terest in  scientific  circles. 

•'The  next  morning  our  way  is  southward  ten  miles  or  more  to 
the  coal  mines,  stopping  at  the  iron  spring  a  little  over  three  miles 
from  town.  It  is  up  a  short,  dry  gulch  leading  off  from  the  road, 
and  quite  peculiar,  inasmuch  as  the  water  springs  from  and  has 
worn  its  tiny  channel  up  the  very  edge  of  a  long,  thin  ridge  that 


COAL    DEPOSITS    OF   CANON   CITY.  ^^g 

juts  out  into  the  gulch.  Over  the  face  of  the  ridge  the  water 
has  scattered  its  iron  sediment  with  lavish  freedom,  but  only  in 
this  is  there  anything  that  to  the  eye  indicates  aught  but  spotless 
purity  in  the  wonderful  clearness  of  the  spring.  To  the  taste, 
however,  the  iron  at  once  asserts  itself,  and  the  water  is  so 
strongly  charged  with  it  as  to  render  it  the  healthiest  of  bever- 
aofes.  \Vc  drink  our  fill,  and  are  off  for  the  coal  mines.  An 
hour,  and  Vv'C  are  bowline:  alonij  in  a  coal  truck  attached  to  a 
blind  mule,  throuMi  a  vein  of  solid  coal  something-  over  five  feet 
in  diameter.  It  is  a  weird  ride,  this  mile  or  more  into  the  inky 
bowels  of  the  earth,  the  faint  shadows  from  our  diniinutive  lamps 
causing  a  ghastly  effect  not  at  all  lessened  by  the  blackness  of 
the  coal  on  either  side  and  overhead.  Every  few  feet  we  peer 
into  the  dusky  depths  of  the  apparently  unending  series  of  side 
chambers,  catching  quick  glimpse  of  the  little  fire-bugs,  as  the 
miners  look  to  be,  as  we  pass  so  swiftly  on.  We  see  not  the 
forms  of  the  men,  their  faces,  nor  their  hands,  only  the  lamp- 
wicks'  sickly  flaring  from  the  unseen  hats.  Every  now  and  then 
piles  of  powder  in  canisters  almost  block  up  the  entrance  to  the 
chambers, -and  at  one  point  we  are  shown  the  very  fuse  that  sent 
a  poor  miner  to  his  death  but  a  day  or  two  before.  But  still  the 
old,  blind  mule  trots  on,  and  the  passing  through  and  rapid 
closing  behind  us  of  the  heavy,  oaken  door,  that  preserves  the 
little  of  wholesome  air  left  in  the  drift,  is  as  if  it  barred  us  for- 
evermore  from  the  world  behind.  The  ride  in  appears  an  age  ; 
the  ride  out  but  of  a  moment's  time  in  comparison.  There- are 
eighty-six  side  chambers,  or  rooms,  as  the  miners  know  them,  in 
the  main  entry,  fifty-seven  in  another  entry,  and  in  all,  four  miles 
of  track  upon  which  the  coal  is  carried  to  the  outer  world.  The 
veins  average  five  feet  two  inches,  and  run  three  and  one-half 
miles  east  and  west,  and  ten  miles  north  and  south.  A  hundred 
miners  are  at  work,  and  the  yield  averages  400  tons  per  da)'. 
The  gigantic,  solid  lump  of  coal  eight  feet  nine  inches  long,  six 
feet  across  and  four  feet  four  inches  high,  that  attracted  such 
great  attention  at  the  Centennial,  being  beyond  all  comparison 
the  greatest  single  piece  of  coal  on  exhibition,  was  taken  from 
this  mine.     It  weighed  seven  tons,  and  was  cut  and  brought  out 


g..^  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

of  the  mine  in  three  clays.  Canon  City  coal  Is  probably  the  finest 
bituminous  coal  in  the  world,  and  is  so  extensively  used  through- 
out the  West  as  to  require  the  runnini^  of  special  trains  for  coal 
alone,  on  the  Denver  and  Rio  Cirande  road,  which  has  its  own 
track  to  the  mines.  The  supply  is  beyond  all  human  calculation, 
for  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  is  one  vast  coal  bed  for  mile  'ipon 
mile. 

"On  the  return  trip  we  make  quite  a  detour  to  the  east,  to 
spend  a  little  time  at  the  gypsum  beds,  which  are  twelve  feet  in 
thickness. 

"  Leaving  the  hotel  immediately  following  an  early  breakfast, 
next  morning,  a  drive  of  twelve  miles  brings  us  to  the  Grand 
Canon  of  the  Arkansas.  Disappointment  is  bitter,  and  feelings 
of  resentment  almost  beyond  control,  as  nowhere  can  the  eye 
discover  the  canon.  In  the  immediate  foreground  the  pinon 
growth  is  rank  and  dense  ;  just  beyond,  great,  bleak  ridges  of 
bare,  cold  rock  contrast  strongly  with  the  profusion  of  foliage 
hiding  everything  beneath  froni  sight,  while  away  in  the  dim  dis- 
tance the  snow-crowned  peaks  of  the  continental  dixide  are  out- 
lined sharp  and  clear  against  the  solid  blue  of  the  morning  sky. 
Though  grand  beyond  anything  we  have  seen  in  amazing  extent 
of  vision,  the  mind  is  so  wrapped  up  in  the  anticipation  of  full 
realization  of  the  gloom,  and  vastness,  and  solemn  grandeur  of  the 
Grand  Canon,  as  to  resent  almost  angrily  their  apparent  absence. 
A  half  dozen  steps  from  the  clump  of  pinon  trees  where  the 
horses  have  been  fastened,  and  all  thoughts  of  resentment,  of 
disappointment  and  chagrin  vanish,  and  a  very  cry  of  absolute 
terror  escapes  us.  At  our  very  feet  is  the  canon — another  step 
would  hurl  us  into  eternity.  Shuddering,  \ve  peer  down  the 
awful  slopes;  fascinated  we  steal  a  little  nearer  to  circumvent  a 
very  mountain  that  has  rolled  into  the  chasm,  and  at  last  the  eye 
reaches  down  the  sharp  incline  3,000  feet  to  the  bed  of  the  river, 
the  impetuous  Arkansas,  forty  to  sixty  feet  in  width,  yet  to  us  a 
mere  ribbon  of  molten  silver.  Though  surging  madly  against 
its  rocky  sides,  leaping  wildly  over  gigantic  masses  of  rock  and 
hoarsely  murmuring  against  its  imprisonment  within  these  lofty 
walls,  it  finds  no  avenue  of  escape.     Every  portion  of  these  marble 


THE   ROYAL    GORGE.  ge  I 

bastions  is  as  smooth  as  if  polished,  and  as  stationary  as  the 
mighty  walls  that  look  down  upon  them  from  such  fearful  height. 
"  Fairly  awed  into  a  bravado  as  reckless  as  it  is  strange  to  us, 
we  crawl  out  upon  tottering  ledges  to  peer  into  sheer  depths  of 
untold  ruggedness ;  we  grasp  with  death-like  clutch  some  over- 
hanging limb  and  swing  out  upon  a  promontory  beside  which  the 
apex  of  the  highest  cathedral  spire  in  the  world  would  be  as  a 
sapling  in  height.  We  crawl  where  at  home  we  would  hardly 
dare  look  with  telescope,  and  in  the  mad  excitement  of  the  hour 
tread,  with  perfect  abandon,  brinks,  the  bare  thoughts  of  which, 
in  after  recollection,  make  us  faint  of  heart  and  dizzy  of  head. 
Eager  now  for  still  greater  horrors  of  depth,  blind  to  every- 
thing but  an  intolerable  desire  to  behold  the  most  sava^je  of 
nature's  upheavals,  the  short  ride  to  the  Royal  Gorge  is  made 
with  ill-concealed  impatience.  If  our  first  experience  upon  the 
brink  of  the  Grand  Canon  was  startling,  this  is  absolutely  terrify- 
ing, and  the  bravest  at  one  point  become  the  most  abject  of 
cowards  in  comparison  at  the  other.  At  the  first  point  of  obser- 
vation the  walls,  though  frightfully  steep,  are  nevertheless  sloping 
to  more  or  less  extent ;  here  at  the  Royal  Gorge  they  are  sheer 
precipices,  as  perpendicular  as  the  tallest  house,  as  straight  as 
if  built  by  line.  So  narrow  is  the  Gorge  that  one  would  think 
the  throwing"  of  a  stone  from  side  to  side  the  easiest  of  accom- 
plishments,  yet  no  living  man  has  ever  done  it,  or  succeeded  in 
throwing  any  object  so  that  it  would  fall  into  the  water  below. 
Many  tourists  are  content  with  the  appalling  view  from  the  main 
walls,  but  others,  more  venturesome,  work  their  way  600  to  a 
1,000  feet  down  the  racf^ed  edofes  of  a  mountain,  that  has  parted 
and  actually  slid  into  the  chasm,  and  as  we  have  come  to  see  it 
all,  the  clamber  down  must  be  accomplished.  For  some  distance 
we  scramble  over  and  betv.een  monstrous  boulders,  and  then 
reach  the  narrow  and  almost  absolutely  perpendicular  crevice  of 
a  eic'antic  mass  of  rock,  down  which  we  must  let  ourselves  100 
feet  or  more.  As  we  reach  the  shelf  or  ledge  of  rock  upon  which 
the  great  rock  has  fallen  and  been  sundered,  we  glance  back, 
but  only  for  a  second,  the  thought  of  our  daring  making  us  grow 
sick  and  dizzy.      But  a  step  or  two  more,  and  the  descent  just 


(5-2  OUR     WESTERN  EM  PI  RE. 

made  sinks  Into  utter  insignificance  compared  to  what  is  before 
us.  Then  we  had  the  huge  walls  of  the  parted  rock  as  the  rails 
of  a  staircase;  now  we  have  naught  but  the  smooth,  rounded 
surface  of  the  storm-washed  boulders  to  cling  to,  and  on  either 
side  of  our  narrow  way,  depths,  at  the  bottom  of  which  a  man's 
body  could  never  be  discovered  with  human  eye.  Behind  us 
the  precipitous  rocks,  over  and  through  which  we  came  ;  ahead 
of  us  the  slender  barrier  of  rock  overhanging  the  appalling 
chasm,  and  all  there  exists  between  us  and  it.  Cowards  at  heart, 
pale  of  face  and  with  painful  breath,  we  slowly  crawl  on  hands 
and  knees  to  the  ledire,  and  as  the  fated  murderer  feels  the 
knotted  noose  fall  down  over  his  head,  so  feel  we  as  our  eyes 
extend  beyond  the  rocks  to  catch  one  awful  glimpse  of  the  eter- 
nity of  space.  Few  dare  to  look  more  than  once,  and  one  glance 
suffices  for  a  comprehension  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  depth 
never  before  even  dreamed  of,  and  never  afterward  forgotten. 
The  Gorge  is  2,008  feet  sheer  depth,  the  most  precipitous  and 
sublime  in  its  proportions  of  any  cliasm  on  the  continent.  The 
opposite  wall  towers  hundreds  of  feet  above  us,  and  if  possible 
to  imagine  anything  more  terrifying  than  the  position  on  this 
side,  that  upon  the  other  would  be,  were  its  brink  safe  to  ap- 
proach. Overhanging  crags,  black  and  blasted  at  their  summits 
or  bristling  with  stark  and  gnarled  pines,  reach  up  Into  pro- 
foundly dizzy  heights,  while  lower  down  monstrous  rocks  threaten 
to  topple  and  carry  to  destruction  any  foolhardy  climber  who 
would  venture  upon  them.  Among  all  the  thousands  who  have 
visited  the  Grand  Canon  and  the  Royal  Gorge  harm  has  befallen 
none,  for,  despite  the  seeming  horror  of  the  situation,  the  appall- 
ing depths  and  rugged  paths,  the  fascination  of  the  danger 
appears  to  give  birth  to  greatest  caution.  The  Canon,  except  in 
the  dead  of  winter,  is  approachable  only  from  the  top,  the  walls 
below  being  so  precipitous,  and  the  river  such  a  torrent,  as  to 
defy  all  access.  When  frozen,  as  the  waters  are  for  brief  periods 
during  the  coldest  months,  the  way  up  the  canon  may  be  accom- 
plished, but  only  at  the  risk  of  personal  comfort  and  not  a  little 
danger,  Mr.  Talbott,  the  photographer  at  Canon  City,  ventured 
into  the  canon  last  winter  with  his  aj)paratus,  and,  after  infinite 


THE    WET  MOUNTAIN   VALLEY.  653 

trouble,  secured  the  excellent  views  which  afford  us  some  con- 
ception of  the  grandeur  of  the  gorge  from  the  bottom, 

"Returning  to  Canon  City,  we  conclude  to  remain  about  the 
hotel  for  a  day  resting,  and  deciding  upon  the  route  of  a 
tour  through  Southern  Colorado,  taking  in  the  San  Juan  country, 
Chalk  Creek,  California  Gulch,  Twin  Lakes,  South  Park,  etc. 
We  have  enjoyed  to  the  fullest  the  jaunts  of  a  day,  and  now  long 
for  a  month  on  the  road  with  headquarters  wherever  night  may 
overtake  us.  The  reader  may  be  inclined  to  ask  if  there  are  no 
more  comparatively  short  trips,  with  Canon  City  as  the  base, 
and  the  reply  would  be,  there  are,  and  so  many  in  fact  as  to  be 
almost  beyond  enumeration.  A  most  enjoyable  four  to  five 
days'  tour  is  that  from  Canon  City  to  the  wild  and  picturesque 
region  of  the  Sierra  Mojada,  or  Wet  Mountains,  thirty  miles  via 
Oak  Creek  Canon  to  Rosita,  altitude  8,600  feet,  and  return  via 
Wet  Mountain  valley  and  Grape  Creek  canon.  This  is  a  '  tim- 
ber liner,'  as  an  old  prospector  w^ould  denominate  so  wide  and 
high  a  range  of  altitude,  and  affords  capital  opportunities  for  the 
enjoN'ment  of  life  ofttimes  above  the  clouds.  Near  Rosita  are 
several  distinct  craters,  and  in  the  very  accessible  grass-covered, 
cone-shaped  hills  that  rise  500  feet  or  more  above  the  town 
are  innumerable  mines.  About  them  are  found  the  most  beau- 
tiful specimens  of  crystallization,  different  kinds  of  spar  and 
pyrites  of  most  brilliant  hues.  The  ride  down  the  little  grassy 
gulch  or  glade  to  obtain  a  nearer  view  of  the  W^et  Mountain 
valley,  and  the  Sangre  de  Chri^to  range  beyond  its  western  limit, 
is  a  very  delightful  one,  looking  at  sunset  time  like  some  grand 
painting  with  the  point  of  view  at  the  small  end  of  the  vista,  and 
the  eye,  ranging  down  the  timber-girted  glade  to  mountains 
13,500  feet  in  altitude,  beholds  the  massive  and  majestic  peaks 
rolling  and  swelling  against  the  clearest  sky  ever  mortal  eye  was 
gladdened  with.  Many  Englishmen  have  made  homes  in  the 
valley,  often  called  'The  Britons'  Paradise,'  a  name  which  seems 
appropriate  to  the  tourist,  after  leaving  the  grayish  green  of  the 
foot-hills  and  reaching  its  bright  green  meadows,  starting  up 
here  a  prairie  dojj  and  there  a  rabbit,  and  crossing-  and  recross- 
ing  its  trout-filled   silver^'  streams.     In   the  valley  Is  the  famous 


6c J.  CL'K    llESTEA'N    EMPIRE. 

Lake  of  the  Clouds.  The  fourth  night  ends  at  Canon  City,  and 
the  expense  of  the  trip  hardly  averages  $5  per  day,  including 
everything.  Another  exceedingly  pleasant  trip  from  Canon  City 
is  to  Poncho  Springs,  sixty-five  miles  up  the  Arkansas  river,  for 
which  a  running  description  of  the  drive  through  the  Upper 
Arkansas  caiion  will  suffice.  Engaging  a  seat  in  the  regular 
buckboard  line  leaving  Canon  City  every  other  day,  the  start  is 
made  immediately  after  early  breakfast,  and  the  sun  is  hardly 
over  the  mountains  before  the  sublimely  grand  confines  of  Grape 
Creek  canon  are  reached.  A  word  as  to  the  buckboard,  for 
beyond  all  comparison  the  most  comfortable  and  enjoyable  of 
all  vehicles  for  mountain  travel,  it  deserves  at  the  least  a  passing 
mention.  Built  expressly  for  Barlow  &  Sanderson,  the  great 
stage  men  of  Colorado,  the  buckboard  of  their  lines  is  a  roomy, 
double-seated,  open  vehicle,  the  slatted  bed  lying  directly  upon 
the  axles,  and  the  seats  set  well  up  on  fish-plate  springs,  the  jar 
consequent  upon  striking  rock  or  stone  is  almost  lost  before  it 
reaches  the  seat.  There  is  none  of  the  rollincr,  swa\'ino-  motion 
of  the  bulky  coach,  or  of  the  short,  jerky  action  of  the  aptly 
named  '  Jerkee.'  There  being  no  top,  the  eye  ranges  at  will, 
and  the  bed  of  the  conveyance  is  so  near  the  ground  one  can 
readily  spring  out  and  walk  when  so  inclined,  many  preferring 
so  to  do  when  climbinor  lono^  hills. 

"  Emereinof  from  Grape  Creek  canon  the  road  winds  throuoh 
Webster  Park,  thence  into  Copper  Gulch,  at  the  head  of  which 
is  a  towering  gateway  of  solid  rock,  and  passing  through  it  to 
the  top  of  the  divide  the  scene  is  grand  beyond  all  conception. 
Directly  ahead  is  the  snowy  range,  widi  its  white-capped  crests 
looming  high  above  the  clouds,  which  hang  about  the  rocky 
breasts  below  as  if  loth  to  leave  their  ample  resting-place.  To 
the  left  is  the  Greenhorn  range,  to  the  right  the  great  conti- 
nental divide,  and  imagination  could  not  picture  sight  more  sub- 
lime. Through  Seven-mile  Gulch  the  road  enters  Pleasant  Park, 
with  its  rugged  rock  sculptures,  its  densely-wooded  slopes  and 
grassy  lawns.  0\'^  every  side  are  most  curious  monuments 
formed  of  nionster  boulders  one  atop  the  other,  and  holding 
position,  by  apparently  so  frail  a  thread,  that  the  gust  of  a  mo- 


THE   CLIFF   HOUSES   OF   THE   SAN  JUAN.  5- r. 

merit's  duration  would  hurl  them  from  dizzy  heights  to  the  level 
of  the  park.  While  in  the  park,  mag-nincent  views  are  obtained 
of  Mount  Blanca  and  Pike's  Peak,  either  of  them  not  less  than 
eighty  miles  away,  and  at  the  summit  of  the  divide  between 
Pleasant  Park  and  the  South  Arkansas — altitude  7,800  feet — the 
view  in  all  directions  is  beyond  description.  From  this  the 
descent  is  commenced  ;  at  nightfall  the  solid,  comfortable  and 
roomy  old  stone  house,  known,  Colorado  over,  as  Bales',  is  reached, 
and  with  it  the  South  Arkansas,  Twenty  miles  farther  is  the 
Chalk  Creek  region,  with  its  hot  springs,  fishing  and  hunting, 
and  thirty  miles  beyond  are  the  noted  Twin  Lakes.  Fifteen 
miles  from  the  lakes  is  California  Gulch,  w'ith  the  wonderful 
Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross  to  the  north." 

There  are,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State,  in  La  Plata, 
Conejos,  and  San  Juan  counties,  and  around  the  head-waters  of 
the  sources  of  the  San  Juan  river,  many  ot  those  ruins  of  houses 
cut  in  the  rocks  of  the  perpendicular  cliffs,  or  on  the  summits  of 
the  isolated  mesas  or  table-rocks,  of  which  there  are  so  manv 
hundreds  of  examples  in  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  Southern 
Utah.  This  whole  region  was  densely  populated  ages  ago,  and 
by  races  far  superior  to  the  existing  tribes  of  Indians.  The 
Moquis,  already  described  in  our  account  of  Arizona,  may  possi- 
bly belong  to  the  same  race  with  these  cliff-dwellers,  for  they 
have  similar  ideas  in  regard  to  their  dwellings  and  languages, 
custom's,  habits  and  religion,  entirely  diverse  from  any  of  the 
other  Indian  tribes,  but  some  of  these  ruins  are  many  centuries 
old.  They  were  in  their  present  condition  of  ruins  when  the 
Spaniards  first  penetrated  here,  330  or  340  years  ago.  That 
they  had  formidable  enemies,  whose  attacks  they  evaded  by 
their  fortified  dwelling-places,  seems  evident;  but  whether  those 
enemies  were  Apaches,  Aztecs,  or  other  tribes  or  nations,  now, 
like  themselves,  extinct,  does  not  clearly  appear.  The  extent 
of  these  ruins,  often  250  by  600  or  700  feet,  the  massive  blocks 
of  stone  of  which  some  of  them  are  constructed,  and  the  vast 
labor  by  which  others  were  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  are  well 
fitted  to  excite  our  admiration.  The  Estufas  or  chapels,  for 
their  worship  of  the  sun  in  these  buildings,  were  very  large  and 


5-5  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

elaborately  constructed.  It  is  believed  that  they  were  so  iinwar- 
like  as  to  have  no  offensive  weapons.  They  probably  burned 
the  bodies  of  their  dead.      (See  Arizona.) 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Colorado  docs  not  consist  alone  in  the 
amount  of  the  precious  metals  contained  in  its  broad  mineral 
belt,  though  this  will  eventually  be  found,  we  think,  greater  than 
that  of  any  other  State,  but  includes  also  copper,  lead,  zinc, 
platina,  tellurium,  iron  in  vast  quantities  and  of  all  kinds  of  ore.s, 
coal,  gypsum,  salt,  kaolin,  and  pottery  clays,  etc.,  etc. 

The  coal  of  Colorado  is  worthy  of  special  remark.  It  is  widely 
distributed,  being  found  and  worked  in  Weld,  Boulder,  Jefferson, 
El  Paso,  Fremont,  Huerfano,  Las  Animas,  and  La  Plata  coun- 
ties, and  is  known  also  to  exist  in  San  Juan,  Ouray,  Gunnison 
and  Summit  counties.  It  is  of  very  different  qualities  and  of 
different  eeolocric  as^es.  In  the  north  it  is  a  lio^nite  of  the  terti- 
ary  period,  of  very  good  quality.  Toward  the  centre  of  the 
State  it  is  a  lignite  of  the  cretaceous  period,  but  of  still  better 
quality.  In  the  south,  in  the  vicinity  of  Trinidad,  Las  Animas 
county,  the  true  coal  measures  have  been  reached,  and  the  coal 
is  a  bituminous  coking  coal  of  great  value.  West  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  La  Plata  county,  it  is  from  the  true  coal  measures, 
semi-bituminous  or  semi-anthracite.  Volcanic  action  in  Las 
Animas  and  La  Plata  counties  has  probably  affected  the  quality 
of  the  coals,  much  as  it  has  in  some  parts  of  New  Mexico,  mak- 
ing, what  would  otherwise  have  been  a  soft,  bituminous  coal,  a 
hard  and  dense  anthracite.  It  is  believed  that  the  coal  mines  of 
Gunnison  county,  which  are  known  to  be  anthracite,  have  been 
changed  in  the  same  way,  but  the  quality  is  not  inferior  to  that  of 
Pennsylvania  and  a  coking  coal  of  the  best  quality.  The  area 
in  this  county  is  about  600  square  miles,  and  the  beds  are  from 
ten  to  fifty  feet  or  more  in  thickness.  There  are  two  distinct 
beds,  separated  only  by  four  feet  of  iron  shale.  Some  of  it  is 
said  to  be  a  true  anthracite  of  excellent  quality,  whether  affected 
by  volcanic  action  or  not  is  not  fully  settled.  The  coal  mines  of 
Colorado  will  eventually  be  sufficient  to  supply  the  entire  West, 

Zoology. — The  wild  animals  of  Colorado  are  usually  those  of 
the  plains,  though  there  are  a  few  not  found  in  any  considerable 


ZOOLOGY  OF  COLORADO.  ^cy 

numbers  on  the  plains  or  elsewhere  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  black  and  brown  bear  occur  in  considerable  numbers 
both  in  Eastern  and  Western  Colorado,  and  are  hunted  to  some 
extent.  The  grizzly  bear  is  not  common  even  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  is  unknown  in  Eastern  Colorado.  He  is  a  for- 
midable customer  in  a  close  fight,  but  is  easily  frightened  away 
by  shouts  or  yells,  when  uninjured.  The  puma,  cougar  or  panther 
is  somewhat  rare,  except  in  the  northwest  of  the  State,  but  his 
congener,  the  jaguar,  American  or  mountain  lion,  is  found 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  San  Juan  country,  though 
his  habitat  has  been  generally  supposed  to  be  limited  to  Texas 
and  Arizona,  The  gray  or  black  wolf  is  found  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and,  perhaps,  east  of  them  ;  the  prairie  wolf, 
usually,  though  perhaps  incorrectly,  called  coyote,  is  frequent 
enough  in  Eastern  Colorado,  but  not  plenty  in  the  west.  The 
lynx,  ocelot,  wild  cat,  martin,  fisher,  and  skunk  are  here,  as  else- 
where, in  considerable  numbers.  The  buffalo  still  frequents,, 
though  in  greatly  decreased  numbers,  the  elevated  plains  of 
Eastern  Colorado,  but  never  appears  in  the  mountains  or  west 
of  them.  His  rare  congener,  the  mountain  or  wood  buffalo,,is 
occasionally  found,  solitary,  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  elk 
[wapiti],  the  finest  game  animal  of  the  West,  has  been  thus  far 
very  abundant  in  the  West  and  especially  in  the  great  parks ; 
but  it  has  been  so  destructively  hunted  that  its  numbers  are  fast 
diminishinor.  The  Vircrinia  and  mule-deer  are  numerous,,  and 
the  antelope  is  found  on  the  plains,  while  in  the  mountains  the 
bighorn,  or  Rocky  Mountain  sheep  and,  more  rarely,  the  Rocky 
Mountain  goat,  are  plenty  enough  to  make  hunting  of  them  rare 
sport.  The  smaller  rodents  and  munchers,  squirrels  ot  many 
species,  beavers,  minks,  muskrats,  rats,  mice,  moles,  gophers, 
marmots,  rabbits,  sage,  and  jackass  hares,  etc.,  etc.,  are,  in  the 
agricultural  districts,  more  plentiful  than  desirable. 

Birds,  though  not  as  numerous  as  in  California,  are  yet 
abundant  and  of  many  genera  and  species.  Of  birds  of  prey, 
there  are  two,  possibly  three,  species  of  the  eagle,  several  of  the 
vulture,  and  hawks  and  owls  in  abundance.  In  and' around  the 
lakes,  in  the  parks  and  elsewhere,  and  on  the  plains,  are  a  great 

4^ 


(5-8  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

abundance  of  game  birds,  the  wild  goose  migrating  southward, 
ducks,  brant,  teal,  and  other  water  and  marsh  birds,  including 
cranes,  ibises  and  English  and  jack-snipe.  The  prairie-hens  and 
other  species  of  grouse,  partridges,  ptarmigan,  quail,  and,  more 
rarely,  the  wild  turkey  and  pheasant,  are  found  in  countless 
numbers  on  the  plains  and  in  the  parks,  hi  the  mountains  are 
many  soncr  birds.* 

Reptiles  are  not  very  numerous  nor  formidable.  There  are 
lizards,  horned  toads  and  frogs,  terrapins  and  turtles  of  the 
smaller  kinds,  one  species  of  rattlesnake,  and  many  harmless 
snakes. 

Fish  abound  in  the  rivers  and  lakes,  most  of  them  edible. 
Trout  are  plentiful,  and  of  large  size  in  all  the  mountain  streams, 
and  grayling,  black  bass,  pickerel,  etc.,  are  found  in  the  lakes 
and  larger  streams.  Many  of  the  streams  have  been  stocked 
with  fish  from  the  United  States  F"ish  Commission.  The  insect 
tribes,-  though  numerous  enough,  are  not  as  annoying  as  in 
some  sections.  Even  the  fly,  which,  in  the  West,  accompanies 
civilization,  has  been  known  to  the  hunters  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  less  than  ten  years.  The  mosquito  does  not  "  pipe 
his  soft  note,"  nor  present  his  formidable  bill  as  ferociously  as  in 
Arkansas,  nor  are  the  other  insect  pests  troublesome.  The 
Rocky  Mountain  locust,  rather  contemptuously  called  "grass- 
hopper," and  the  ten-lined  spearman,  generally  known  as  the 
"Colorado  beetle"  or  potato-bug,  are  both  popularly  supposed 
to  be  natives  of  Colorado.  We  doubt  whether  the  State  is  en- 
tided   to  the  honor  or  the  reproach.     Many  circumstances  seem 

*  Mr.  S.  Nugent  Townshend,  an  eminent  English  sportsman  and  correspondent  of  T/ie  Field 
(London),  thus  speaks  of  some  of  tlie  rarer  game  birds  and  animals  he  had  shot  in  Northern 
Colorado  : 

"  A  few  of  the  rare  s^iecies  we  have  seen  in  the  Rockies,  all  of  which  are  worth  preserving, 
are  the  hlue  hares  (white  in  winter)  ;  the  gray-crowned  finch,  supposed  to  be  the  rarest  bird  in 
America,  because  lie  is  always  above  timber-line,  where  few  go  to  look  for  him  ;  Clarke's  crow, 
or  the  noisy  chatterer,  also  living  only  at  great  altitudes;  the  pine  grosbeak,  also  found  only  at 
high  elevations,  red  in  summer,  in  winter  gray,  with  yellow  head;  long-crested  jay,  black  head 
and  crest,  blue  and  black  transverse,  ribbed  wings  and  tail;  red-shafted  woodpecker,  rather 
rare  and  a  beauty,  body  cuckoo-marked,  with  regular  gray  woodpecker  head  and  breast,  red  under 
the  wings.  Great  horned  owls  are,  though  handsome,  very  common,  as  is  the  towhee  finch. 
The  cross-bied  foxes,  between  red  and  gray,  are  large,  abundant,  and  very  pretty  when 
stuffed.  " 


MINES  AND   MINING   IN  COLORADO.  550 

to  indicate  the  origin  of  the  latter  from  some  part  of  the  Great 
Basin,  possibly  in  Western  Utah ;  while  the  locust,  according 
to  its  usual  habit  of  making  its  original  home  in  the  desert,  prob- 
ably made  its  way  into  Colorado  from  the  arid  plains  and 
mesas  of  Southern  Utah  and  Southern  Nevada,  or  possibly  from 
Arizona.  At  all  events,  they  have  never  proved  as  destructive 
to  the  crops  in  Colorado  as  they  have  in  States  farther  east  and 
northeast. 

Mines  and  Mining  Industry. — Though  Colorado  is  likely  to 
achieve  some  distinction  and  reputation  for  her  agricultural  and 
horticultural  productions,  and  a  much  larger  measure  for  her  large 
stock-raising  and  wool-growing  interests,  which  are  now  attaining 
such  a  wonderful  development ;  yet  she  is  and  will  be  par  excel- 
lence a  mining  State.  About  100,000  mining  claims  have  been  en- 
tered upon  her  county  records,  more  than  80,000  of  which  have 
been  filed  since  1875.  Of  these,  of  course,  a  considerable  propor- 
tion have  lapsed  from  not  being  worked  during  the  time  prescribed 
by  law,  and  others  perhaps  from  the  poverty  of  the  veins  or 
lodes ;  while  of  the  placers  some  are  exhausted,  and  others  have 
been  turned  into  hydraulic  mines.  But  every  day  adds  largely 
to  the  recorded  claims.  Those  of  Lake  county,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Leadville,  are  many  of  them  in  litigation,  claims  having  been 
abandoned  or  forfeited,  or  jumped  and  re-entered  over  and 
over  again.  Just  now  the  drift  of  the  mining  population  is 
mainly  to  Western  and  Southwestern  Colorado,  the  San  Juan 
and  the  Gunnison  regions  in  the  mountains  and  basins,  and  the 
streams  having  their  sources  in  the  Elk,  Uncompahgre,  San 
Miguel,  San  Juan,  Dolores  and  La  Plata  Mountains.  Most  of 
the  streams  in  these  mountains — all  of  them,  indeed,  except  the 
highest  sources  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  and  the  Sag- 
uache, which  falls  into  the  San  Luis  lakes — flow  westward ; 
here  are  found  the  Roarincr  Fork,  the  Gunnison,  the  Uncom- 
pahgre,  the  San  Miguel,  the  Dolores,  and  numerous  affluents  of 
each,  all  tributaries  of  the  Grand  river,  one  of  the  two  constit- 
uents of  the  Rio  Colorado  of  the  West,  and  in  the  extreme 
southwest,  the  Rio  Navajo,  Rio  Blanca,  Rio  Piedra,  Rio  de  los 
Pefios,  Rio  Florida.  Rio  de  las  Animas  (a  large  stream),  Rio  la 


56o  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Plata,  Rio  Mancos  (also  an  important  river),  McElmo,  Hovcn- 
weep  and  East  Montezuma  creeks — all  tributaries  of  the  San 
Juan  river,  another  of  the  principal  affluents  of  the  Rio  Colorado. 
This  whole  region  of  Western  and  Southwestern  Colorado,  com- 
posed of  the  spurs  and  outlying  ridges  of  tlie  westernmost  range 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  full  of  veins  and  lodes  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  unless  portions  of  Arizona  may  be  excepted,  there  is 
no  richer  region  for  the  precious  metals  in  the  whole  West. 

But  let  us  go  into  the  mining  history  of  the  State  somewhat 
more  in  detail.  Gold  was  discovered  in  the  Colorado  Territory, 
not  far  from  Pike's  Peak,  in  1859;  it  was  in  refractory  forms, 
mostly  sulphurets  of  iron  and  gold,  a  pyrites  of  iron  and  gold 
reduced  with  great  difficulty,  though  in  the  placers  there  was 
some  free  gold.  The  production  for  ten  years  after  1859  was 
on  an  average  about  ^3,000,000  per  annum,  exceeding  that 
amount  by  $300,000  or  $400,000  each  year  of  the  first  five,  and 
falling  -short  of  it  by  about  the  same  amount  in  the  last  five. 
All  of  this  product  was  gold  except  about  $330,000  of  silver 
and  $40,000  in  copper,  both  parted  from  the  gold. 

The  entire  production  of  the  Colorado  mines  and  placers  up 
to  the  close  of  1869  was  estimated  at  $27,583,081,  and  as  it  was 
apparently  diminishing  and  was  difficult  of  reduction,  while  that 
of  Nevada  and  California  was  increasing,  the  population  did  not 
greatly  increase  and  many  of  the  miners  migrated  to  Nevada 
and  elsewhere.  Thus  far  all  the  gold  and  silver  had  been  pro- 
duced either  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  or  at 
least  on  the  slopes  of  the  front  or  lower  range  and  east  of  the 
Main,  Park,  or  Sangre  de  Christo  range.  But  in  1870  the  silver 
product  began  to  increase,  moderately  at  first,  but  soon  more 
largely.  Lake  county  had  been  among  the  earliest  gold  pro- 
ducing counties,  and  its  placers,  though  yielding  from  $100,000 
to  $230,000,  yet  seemed  to  be  gradually  diminishing,  till,  in  1876, 
they  yielded  but  about  $91,000;  then  came  the  wonderful  dis- 
coveries of  silver  at  Leadville  and  its  vicinity,  and  the  large  silver 
and  gold  developments  elsewhere.  The  following  tables  show 
first  the  metallic  production  of  the  State  up  to  the  close  of  1879, 
classed  first  as  gold,  silver,  copper  and  leadj  and  total  for  each 


STATISTICS  OF  MINING   PRODUCTS. 


66 1 


year;  and  second  by  counties  in  each  year  since   1870,  so  far  as 
they  have  been  officially  reported. 


COLORADO'S  MINING  PRODUCT  PRIOR  TO  1880. 

(  Coin   Value. ) 


Year. 

Gold. 

Silver. 

Copper. 

Lead. 

ToTxf. 

Previous  to  1870 

1870     

jf27, 213,081  00 
2,000,000  00 
2,000,000  00 
1,725,000  00 
1,750,000  00 
2,002,487  00 
2,161,475  02 
2,726,315  82 
3,148,707  56 

3.49^.384  36 
5.700,000  00 

$330,000  00 
650,000  00 
1,029,046  34 
2,015,000  00 
2,185,000  00 
3,096,023  00 
3,122,912  00 
3,315,592  00 
3.726,379  33 
6,341,807  81 
13,100,000  00 

$40,000  00 
20,000  00 
30,000  00 
45,000  00 

65,000    OO 

90,197  00 
90,000  00 
70,000  00 

93,796  64 

89,000  00 
150,000  00 

j5,ooo  00 

28,000  00 

73,676  00 

60,000  00 

80,000  00 

247,400  00 

636,924  73 

829,584  61 

$27,583,081  00 
2,670,000  00 
3,059,046  34 
3,790,000  00 
4,028,000  00 
5,262,383  00 

5.434,387  02 

6,191,907  82 

7,216,283  53 

10,558,116  90 

19,679,584  61 

1S71 

1872 

iS?^ 

1874 

187^ 

IS76 

1877  

1878 

IS79 

Total 

S53,9>  7.450  76 

!)!38,9ii,76o  48 

$782,993  64 

$1,960,584  34 

$95,472,790  22 

COLORADO'S  MINING  PRODUCT  BY  COUNTIES,  1870-71-'72-'73. 


Names. 

1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

'873- 

Gilpin 

31,552,000  00 
481,354  08 
125,000  00 
60,000  00 
130,000  00 
150,000  00 
171,645   92 

31,400,000  00 
869,046  34 
100,000  00 
100,000  00 
250,000  00 
66,000  00 
274,000  00 

31,389,289  00 
1,503,291  00 
133,000  00 
250,000  00 
346,540  00 
125,000  00 
50,000  00 

31,340,502  00 
1,205,761  00 
230,000  00 
459,000  00 
390,000  00 
106,000  00 
297.737  00 

Clear  Creek 

Lake 

Park 

Boulder 

Summit 

Olher  Products 

Total  of  Colorado 

32,670,645  92 

$3,059,046  34 

33,790,000  00 

34,028,000  00 

COLORADO'S  MINING  PRODUCT  BY  COUNTIES,  lS74-'75-'76. 


Counties. 

1874. 

.873. 

T876. 

Clear  Creek . 

Gilpin 

32,203.947  00 
1,531,863  00 
596,392  00 
539,870  00 
223,503  00 
126,108  00 

31,780,054  31 
1,520,677   13 
716,258  62 
605,000  00 
104,258  6;: 
122,413  78 
294,827   58 
90.517  24 
200,380  55 

31,982.548  28 

2,105,544  7S 
550,044  84 
547.085  20 
90.900  00 
350,000  00 
251,121  06 
244,663  66 
70,000  00 

Park 

Boulder 

Lake 

Summit 

Fremont 

The  San  Tuan  Region 

Other  sources  and  unaccounted  for..  . 
Totals 

40,620  00 

35,362,383  00 

35.434.387  02 

36,191,907  82 

^^2  0^^     WESTERN'    EMPIRE. 

COLORADO'S  MINING  PRODUCT  BY  COUNTIES,  lS77-'7S-79. 


Counties 

Lake 

Gilpin 

Clear  Creek 

Boulder 

Custer 

Park 

Gunflison 

Summit 

Chaffee 

The  San  Juan  Region, 
Oilier  sources 

Totals 


.877. 


3555.330  30 
2,208,037  09 
2,206,577  91 

593.325  35 
354,081  34 
616,459  32 

190,000  GO 

377.472  52 
118,000  00 


37,216,283  53 


1S78. 


33.152,925  44 

2,280,901  1 1 

2,511,105  85 

679,123  50 

452,500  00 

426,698  00 

320,774  00 

534,089  00 
200,000  00 


$10,558,116  90 


1S79. 


$12,032,808  61 

2,608,055  00 

1,912,410  00 

800,000  00 

720,000  00 

434.749  00 
300,000  00 
295,717  00 

71,240  00 
483,500  00 

12,940  00 


819,679,584  61 


The  first  of  these  tables  is  remarkable  as  showing  the  won- 
derful development  of  silver  production  in  the  last  ten  years, 
and  especially  in  the  last  five  or  six  years.  The  carbonate  silver 
lodes  of  Leadville  and  its  vicinity,  and  the  silver  production  in 
other  counties  in  1879  brought  the  aggregate  of  silver  product 
to  $13,100,000,  and  will  probably  bring  it  to  $17,000,000  or 
$18,000,000  the  present  year.  Meanwhile,  the  production  of 
gold  is  not  only  not  diminishing,  but  last  year  was  almost  double 
what  it  had  previously  been,  and  the  present  year  will  probably 
advance  still  more  rapidly.  Gold  production  has  passed  through 
three  successive  stages  in  Colorado.  From  1859  to  1869  it  was 
obtained  very  largely  from  placer  deposits ;  and  later  from 
hydraulic  mining,  which  is  only  placer  mining  on  a  larger  scale ; 
then  came  the  era  of  the  sulphurets  of  gold  and  iron,  and  the 
tellurides,  refractory  ores,  but  rich  in  gold  ;  now  the  mines  of  the 
San  Juan  region  (the  coundes  of  Hinsdale,  San  Juan,  Ouray,  and 
La  Plata)  as  well  as  those  of  the  Gunnison,  so  far  as  they  are 
gold,  are  mosdy  free-milling  gold,  easily  extracted,  and  yielding 
large  amounts  to  the  ton  of  ore ;  the  mines  of  Silver  Cliff  and 
Rosita,  in  Custer  county,  so  far  as  they  yield  gold,  which  many 
of  them  do,  differ  from  all  the  other  gold  mines  of  the  State,  but 
are  not  specially  difficult  of  reduction.  The  mining  product  of 
Colorado  seems  likely  to  be,  when  it  shall  be  well  developed,  of 
nearly  equal  values  of  gold  and  silver  ;  while  its  mines  of  copper, 
lead,  zinc,  iron,  and  coal  are  of  great  and  constantly  Increasing 


MINING    TOPOGRAPHY.  55, 

value,  Nevada,  a  much  older  State,  has  produced  much  more 
silver  thus  far,  but.  with  her  rapid  and  scientific  development, 
and  her  wide  diffusion  of  the  precious  metals  (the  w^estern  half 
of  the  State  being  a  vast  series  of  ore  beds),  Colorado  bids  fair 
within  twenty  years  to  pass  her  sister  of  the  "  snowy  plume." 

The  Gunnison  region,  though  but  little  explored  as  yet,  p-ives 
promise  of  immense  mineral  wealth,  as  does  also  the  whole  of 
the  San  Juan  country,  and,  when  the  Ute  reservation  is  opened 
to  settlers  under  the  new  treaty,  there  will  be  such  an  abundance 
of  mineral  wealth  that  the  old  story  will  be  revived,  "  that  the 
miners  are  completely  discouraged,  because  they  have  to  dio- 
through  four  feet  of  solid  silver  to  get  down  to  the  gold." 

Let  us  take  another  glance  at  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  State 
from  the  topographical  point  of  view.  The  only  part  of  the 
State  which  has  not,  up  to  the  present  time,  given  indications  of 
deposits  of  the  precious  metals,  is  the  region  lying  east  of  the 
meridian  of  105°  west  from  Greenwich,  and  extending  eastw^ard 
to  the  ieastern  boundary  of  the  State  on  the  i02d  meridian. 
This  embraces  the  large  grazing  and,  to  some  extent,  farming 
counties  of  Weld,  Arapahoe,  Elbert,  Bent  and  Las  Animas,  as 
well  as  parts  of  Huerfano,  Pueblo,  El  Paso  and  Douglas,  and 
small  fractions  of  Fremont  and  Larimer.  It  is  about  three- 
sevenths  of  the  State,  and  is  a  part  of  the  great  plateau  or  plain 
which  extends  with  a  very  gradual  slope  to  the  Missouri  river, 
and  includes  the  whole  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  There  are 
not  as  yet  any  manifestations  of  mineral  wealth  in  Costilla 
county,  which  includes  the  great  San  Luis  Park,  and  is  largely 
inhabited  by  Mexicans,  Hor  very  much  in  Conejos,  both  counties 
being  largely  inhabited  by  Mexicans.  But  the  whole  region 
west  of  the  105th  parallel,  except  the  two  counties  named,  is  a 
congeries  of  mountains,  all  or  nearly  all  of  which  are  rich  in  gold, 
silver,  copper  and  lead. 

"A  belt,"  says  Mr.  Fossett,  "showing  but  slight  interruptions, 
has  been  traced  from  the  North  Park  and  the  northern  part  of 
Boulder  county,  south  through  Gilpin  and  Clear  Creek,  thence 
southwesterly  through  Summit,  Park,  Lake  Chaffee,  and  into 
Gunnison   county.      It  approaches   the   point  where   the  great 


(554  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Sawatch  (Saguache)  or  main  range  divides  into  the  Sangre  de 
Christo  on  the  southeast,  and  the  vSan  Juan  Mountains  on  the 
southwest.  The  belt  appears  at  intervals  in  each  of  these  moun- 
tain systems  or  their  outlying  spurs  and  valleys  down  to  the 
New  Mexico  boundary,  and  across  it. 

"  In  the  San  Juan  Mountains,  which  form  the  Continental 
Divide  in  the  south,  it  is  rich  in  silver  veins,  extending-  all 
through  the  counties  of  Hinsdale,  San  Juan  and  Ouray.  Gold 
is  also  found  there,  as  well  as  in  Rio  Grande  county.  The  gold 
and  silver  bearing  deposits  of  the  Sierra  Mojada  and  of  the  hills 
and  valleys  skirting  the  Sangre  de  Christo  range  are  fast  bring- 
ing Custer  county  into  notoriety. 

"The  Sawatch  (Saguache)  range  extends  from  the  point  of 
union  of  the  more  southerly  mountain  systems  northward  to  the 
Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas, 
and  is  but  another  name  for  a  portion  of  the  main  Rocky  Moun- 
tain divide.  It  forms  the  dividing  line  between  Gunnison  county 
and  Chaffee  and  Lake  counties,  and  also  separates  Summit  from 
the  latter.  Rich  mineral  discoveries  have  been  and  are  still 
beino-  made  on  both  its  eastern  and  western  slopes,  silver  being 
the  predominating  metal. 

"East  of  this,  and  of  the  upper  Arkansas  valley,  is  the  Park 
rano-e  of  mountains,  separating  the  latter  from  South  Park,  and 
unidno-  with  the  main  rano^e  at  Mount  Lincoln.  This,  w^th  its 
foot-hills,  is  enormously  productive.  On  the  western  slope  are 
the  world-renowned  carbonate  deposits  and  veins  of  Leadville, 
immeasurably  rich  in  silver  and  lead,  and  the  gold  veins  and 
alluvial  deposits  of  California  Gulch.  On  the  range  itself  and 
its  eastern  slopes  are  vast  numbers  of  deposits  and  veins.  Sil- 
ver predominates  there,  but  gold,  copper  and  lead  are  mined. 
Down  in  the  park  are  gold  placer  mines." 

Northward  extends  the  main  range  which,  all  along  its  course 
between  Summit  and  Grand  counties  on  the  western  slope  and 
Park,  Clear  Creek,  Gilpin,  and  Boulder  on  the  east,  is  more  or 
less  rich  in  silver  veins.  Its  extending  foot-hills  possess  veins 
and  alluvial  deposits  ricli  in  gold.  The  outlying  mountain  spurs, 
hills  and  ufulches  are  also  ribbed  with  metalliferous  veins,  some 


MOUNTAINS  FULL    OF  GOLD  AND   SILVER.  55^ 

producing  silver  and  copper,  others  silver  and  lead,  and  others 
gold  and  silver,  with  one  or  both  of  the  baser  metals.  Close 
beside  each  other,  on  this  eastern  slope,  are  the  famous  mining 
districts  of  Clear  Creek  and  Gilpin.  The  latter  has  produced 
most  of  Colorado's  gold,  and  the  former  gave  much  the  laro-er 
part  of  its  silver  for  years,  up  to  the  time  when  Leadvllle  came 
to  the  front.  Both  counties,  however,  have  gold  and  silver 
mines,  and  so  has  Boulder,  whose  telluride  veins,  carrying  the 
precious  metals,  are  something  rarely  encountered  elsewhere. 
Ouray,  and  indeed  all  the  San  Juan  counties,  and  Gunnison, 
possess  rich  deposits  of  both  metals,  and  will  henceforth  take  a 
prominent  place  among  the  gold  and  silver  producing  counties. 

Westward,  over  among  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Summit, 
Grand,  and  Routt  counties,  are  numerous  argentiferous  and 
galena  veins  and  gold-producing  gulches  and  placers.  Some  of 
these  have  been  worked  for  years,  and  others  are  of  recent  dis- 
covery, such  as  those  of  the  ''  Ten  Mile  Range."  Some  are  in- 
cluded in  the  great  Ute  ReservaUon,  and  cannot  be  explored  or 
wrought  until  the  recent  treaty,  which  will  open  this  vast  tract 
to  the  market,  is  fully  settled. 

The  great  central  mineral  belt  of  Colorado  has  a  width  of 
from  twenty  to  eighty  miles,  but  often  branches  off  to  the  right  or 
left,  and  again  contracts,  so  that  the  breadth  is  by  no  means  uni- 
form. Condnued  discoveries  indicate  that  its  extent  is  not  yet 
ascertained.  It  is  impossible  to  make  anything  like  a  close  esti- 
mate of  the  wealth  that  lies  imbedded  in  these  mountains,  where 
constant  developments  show  that  only  the  beginning  of  it  has  yet 
been  found. 

Let  us  then  briefly  pass  in  review  the  mining  counties,  and 
classify  as  far  as  we  may  their  mineral  wealth. 

We  begin  with 

Boulder  coimty,  as  the  first  in  which  gold  was  discovered  as 
early  as  1858.  Boulder  county  is  not  only  rich  in  mineral  wealth 
but  possesses  a  large  amount  of  fertile  lands  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation.  Its  combination  of  mountain,  valley  and  plain 
renders  it  admirably  adapted  to  farming  and  horticulture  as  well 
as  to  mining,  while  its  mineral  deposits  are  of  great  extent  and 


(5(56  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

variety.  Flourishing  towns  and  beautiful  farms  dot  its  surface, 
and  mines  and  mills  are  profitably  operated  all  over  the  moun- 
tain sections,  from  the  sunny  plains  at  Boulder  back  to  the  snow- 
barren  summit  of  the  snowy  range.  On  the  plains  are  extensive 
coal  measures,  and  on  hill-slope  and  in  valley  are  rich  and  pleas- 
ant farms.  The  mineral  deposits  of  Boulder  are  very  extensive, 
and  embrace  a  wonderful  variety.  First,  there  are  alluvial 
deposits  in  creeks  and  gulches,  but  these  are  of  limited  extent 
and  mostly  worked  out.  The  gold  and  silver  lode  veins  and 
the  coal  measures  are  the  main  sources  of  mineral  wealth.  The 
former  are  located  on  the  mountains  and  the  latter  on  the  plains. 
The  lode  veins  may  be  classed  under  three  heads :  silver,  gold 
and  telluride  ;  the  latter  carrying  both  metals.  They  are  gen- 
erally of  the  kind  denominated  true  fissure  veins,  very  many  of 
them  having  well-defined  walls,  and  seemingly  unending  depth. 
They  commonly  occur  either  in  gneiss  or  granite  rock  or  between 
the  two.  There  are  exceptions,  however,  in  regard  to  forma- 
tion, regularity  and  continuity.  Several  thousands  of  locations 
have  been  recorded,  and  the  number  profitably  worked  is  large. 
.Here,  as  in  California,  the  placer  deposits  were  first  worked,  but 
some  large  gold-bearing  lodes  were  discovered  as  early  as 
1859-60,  and  the  quartz  mills  for  several  years  turned  out  a 
great  deal  of  bullion.  After  a  time  more  difficulty  was  experi- 
enced in  reducing  the  ores  and  extracting  the  gold  than  was 
usual  with  free  gold  ores  in  other  counties.  Many  processes 
were  devised  of  reducing  these  refractory  ores,  but  none  of  them 
were  very  successful.  In  1S69  silver  ores  were  discovered  near 
Arapahoe  peak,  in  and  about  what  has  since  been  known  as  the 
Caribou  mine.  This  has  proved  one  of  the  most  uniformly  pro- 
ductive silver  mines  in  Colorado  for  the  past  ten  years.  Many 
other  silver  mines  have  been  opened  on  the  same  or  adjacent 
veins. 

The  prospectors  searching  for  new  gold  or  silver  lodes  in 
1871,  1872  and  1873  often  encountered  mineral  of  great  weight 
but  of  a  peculiar  appearance,  which  they  passed  over  as  worth- 
less. In  1873  Professor  J.  Alden  Smith  and  others  began  to 
test  this  mineral  and  found  it  to  be  tellurides  of  gold  and  silver, 


GOLD  AND   SILVER  LV  GILPIN  COUNTY.  55^ 

and  especially  the  former,  and  that  it  was  remarkably  rich  in 
gold.  The  combination  of  tellurium  with  gold  prevented  its 
yielding  well  in  the  stamp  mills,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to 
smelt  the  ores.  By  smelting  they  were  found  very  profitable. 
With  the  exception  of  one  mine  each  in  California,  Montana  and 
North  Carolina,  the  telluride  compounds  of  the  precious  metals 
are  only  found  in  Boulder  county.  They  are  somewhat  difficult 
to  reduce,  and  only  in  Colorado  and  in  Boulder  county  has  their 
working  been  found  profitable.  The  tellurium  itself  has  no 
economic  value,  and  many  of  its  compounds  are  intensely  poison- 
ous and  foetid.  The  silver  mines  have  proved  profitable.  The 
amounts  of  eold  and  silver  taken  iron  the  mines  of  Boulder  are: 
of  gold  about  two-thirds,  silver  one-third,  in  value.  There  are 
eight  mining  districts,  viz. :  Caribou  or  Nederland,  Boulder, 
Ward,  Gold  Hill,  Central,  Orodelfan,  Salina  and  Sugar  Loaf. 
The  actual  production  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  county  in  1878, 
was  5^704,123.50;  that  of  1879  about  ^800,000.  The  coal  mines 
of  Boulder  county  are  lignites  of  the  tertiary  period,  but  are  of 
excellent  quality  though  not  coking  coals. 

Gilpin  cottnty  is  the  smallest  county  in  the  State,  and  is  mainly 
important  for  its  mines,  though  it  has  some  good  farming  and 
grazing  lands,  and  some  which  are  of  very  little  value.  It  lies 
directly  south  of  Boulder,  and  is  bounded  by  that  county,  Jef- 
ferson, Clear  Creek  and  Grand.  Most  of  its  population  is  con- 
centrated in  Central  City,  Black  Hawk  and  Nevadaville,  while  a 
few  are  gathered  in  Smith's  Hill,  Empire  City  and  Lawson's. 
The  remainder  of  the  county  consists  of  farms  and  scattering 
mining  camps.  The  gold  belt  of  Gilpin  county  is  a  continuation 
of  that  in  Boulder,  and  extends  into  Clear  Creek  county  south 
of  it,  crossing  the  county  diagonally.  Its  greatest  development 
and  most  valuable  deposits  are  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
almost  continuous  city  known  under  the  names  of  Black  Hawk, 
Central  City  and  Nevadaville,  though  there  are  some  valuable 
gold  lodes  outside  of  this.  These  mines  have  proved  very  rich, 
though  owing  to  the  combination  of  iron  and  sulphur  with  the 
gold,  there  has  until  within  a  few  years  been  a  difficulty  in 
reducing  them.     The  new  silver  belt  in  the  county  extends  to  the 


^58  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

north  and  northwest  of  Black  Hawk,  across  North  Clear  Creek 
and  other  hills  from  York  Gulch  to  the  Day  Hill.  Some  of  the 
silver  lodes  here  rank  with  the  best  in  the  State.  The  production 
of  the  precious  metals  began  in  Gilpin  county  in  1859,  and  has 
steadily  increased  in  value,  except  in  1861  and  1866,  to  the 
present  time.  More  than  ^30,000,000  of  gold  and  silver  have 
been  produced  in  the  county  in  that  time.  The  yield  in  1878 
was  ^2,280,871,  and  in  1879,  $2,608,159.  Of  this  about  nine- 
tenths  is  gold,  eight  per  cent,  silver,  and  the  remainder  copper 
and  lead.  The  ores  are  not  rich,  but  for  the  most  part  are  now 
easily  reduced.  Most  of  them  are  treated  by  the  stamp  mill 
processes,  though  a  few  of  them  are  more  readily  and  profitably 
reduced  by  the  smelter. 

No  other  county  in  the  State  has  given  so  uniform  and  ample 
returns  in  gold  mining  as  Gilpin,  and  recent  developments,  both 
in  gold  and  silver  lodes,  give  good  reason  to  believe  that  its 
past  production  will  very  soon  be  doubled  and  perhaps  quad- 
rupled. The  richest  gold  lodes  on  Quartz  Hill  and  elsewhere 
are  being  consolidated,  and  contrary  to  usual  experience  are 
found  to  yield  more  largely  the  deeper  they  go.  At  a  thousand 
feet  depth  the  ore  is  very  rich.  There  are  now  in  the  county 
over  1,000  stamps  and  all  are  kept  busy.  The  mines  are  splen- 
didly equipped,  have  a  large  capital,  and  the  universal  practice 
now  is,  to  have  large  reserves  of  ore  constandy  on  the  dump,  so 
as  to  avoid  stripping  the  mine  at  any  time  of  ore.  In  1878  and 
1879,  new  discoveries  of  silver  ore  were  made  of  exceptional 
richness,  yielding  at  the  rate  of  several  thousand  dollars  to 
the  ton. 

Clear  CreeJz  county  includes  the  region  drained  by  South  Clear 
creek,  south  and  southwest  of  Gilpin,  and  bounded  by  that 
county  on  the  north,  Jefferson  county  on  the  east.  Park  on  the 
south,  and  Summit  and  Grand  on  the  west.  The  western  part 
of  the  county  is  covered  with  lofty  mountains  rising  to  a  height 
of  11,000  to  14,000  feet.  There  are  twelve  or  fifteen  of  these 
summits,  spurs  of  the  Colorado  Front  Range,  and  the  streams 
which  descend  from  their  snow-clad  heights  cut  deep  canons 
and  long  narrow  valleys  and  ravines,  which  are  ribbed  with  veins 


SILVER   IN  CLEAR    CREEK  COUNTY.  5(5q 

of  silver.  In  these  valleys  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  county 
have  their  dwelling-places.  Clear  Creek  county,  until  the  recent 
wonderful  discoveries  at  Leadville,  was  considered  the  best 
known  and  best  developed  silver  district  in  Colorado.  Mining 
for  gold  commenced  there  in  1859,  and  the  first  silver  discovery 
was  made  late  in  1864  on  McClellan  Mountain.  At  first  the  sil- 
ver ores  could  not  be  reduced  in  the  county,  and  it  was  not  till 
1868  that  smelting  was  carried  on  to  any  great  extent  in  the 
county.  Since  1871  the  annual  product  has  averaged  ^2,000,000, 
reaching  ^2,206,578  in  1877;  $2,511,106  in  1878,  and  falling  off 
to  $1,912,410  in  1S79,  About  nine-tenths  of  this  was  silver  and 
the  remainder  gold,  lead,  and  copper,  the  value  of  the  two  base 
metals  nearly  equalling  that  of  the  gold.  There  is  a  probability 
of  an  increase  in  the  gold  production  in  the  future,  as  the  Free- 
land,  Hukill  and  some  other  lodes,  carrying  gold,  silver  and  cop- 
per in  nearly  equal  quantities,  have  now  come  into  the  posses- 
sion of  an  energetic  and  wealthy  California  company  which  is 
driving  them  forward  to  their  utmost  limit  of  production.  Many 
of  the  silver  mines,  especially  those  on  Sherman,  Republican, 
Democrat  and  Brown  Mountains,  are  yielding  very  large  quan- 
tities of  silver  ores  which  are  easily  reduced.  There  are  eight 
extensive  reduction  mills  and  works  in  the  county,  six  of  them 
in  Georofetown. 

Lake  County  and  Leadville. — Lake  county  is  not  new  as  a  gold- 
producing  region,  hi  i860  Gilpin  county  miners  had  penetrated 
there  and  found  rich  gold  placers  in  a  ravine  which  they  named 
California  Gulch.  So  abundant  was  the  yield  of  gold  and  so 
easily  and  rapidly  was  it  washed  out  that  claims  were  staked 
out  in  a  continuous  line  for  the  whole  lenirth  of  the  oulch,  about 
33,000  feet  or  six  miles.  At  one  point  the  hills  which  bordered 
the  ravine  partially  broke  away,  and  the  trade  of  the  mining  vil- 
lage, which  soon  had  about  5,000  inhabitants,  pardy  concentrated 
at  this  point,  which  was  called  Old  Oro.  This  is  partly  on  the 
site  of  the  Leadville  of  to-day.  Another  centre  of  trade  was 
two  and  a  half  miles  farther  up  the  gulch  and  is  still  known  as 
Oro.  The  water  supply  was  limited,  and  the  site  was  so  ele- 
vated, over  10,000  feet  above  the  sea,  that  little  could  be  done 


(^-jQ  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

in  placer  mining-  from  the  middle  of  October  to  May  or  June. 
The  greater  part  of  the  miners  went  to  Denver  or  to  the  States 
on  the  approach  of  winter,  and  stayed  till  the  next  summer,  most 
of  them  squandering  their  gains  before  their  return. 

But  the  placers  were  very  rich.  Some  claims  yielded  over  a 
thousand  dollars  a  day,  and  one  firm  was  said  to  have  taken  out 
;^  1 00,000  in  sixty  days.  Careful  estimates  give  $1,000,000  as 
the  yield  of  the  first  summer,  and  $4,000,000  as  the  production 
of  the  six  years  ending  with  December,  1865.  Subsequent  to 
that  date  the  producdon  was  light — $100,000  or  so  for  a  year 
or  two — dwindling  to  $60,000  in  1869,  and  to  $20,000  in  1876. 

Meantime  placer  and  lode  mines  had  been  developed  in  other 
parts  of  the  county,  and  some  gold  lodes  were  discovered  near 
Old  Oro.  At  Granite,  seventeen  miles  away,  and  now  the 
county-seat  of  Chaffee  county,  some  gold  was  discovered,  and  at 
Homestake,  thirty  miles  north,  on  the  Tennessee  fork  of  the 
Arkansas  river,  mines  were  opened,  which  were  at  first  rich  in 
lead  but  poor  in  silver.  In  all  up  to  1873  the  mines  and  placers 
of  Lake  county  had  yielded  about  $6,400,000,  almost  endrely 
gold.  After  that  time,  for  three  years  the  yield  was  light,  a  part 
of  it  silver,  and  up  to  the  close  of  1876  only  amounted  to 
$343,200. 

Some  time  in  1874  Messrs.  W.  H.  Stevens  and  A.  B.  Wood, 
practical  men  and  experienced  miners,  had  bought  up  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  California  Gulch  placer  claims,  which 
had  been  carelessly  and  imperfectly  worked,  and  commenced 
building  a  twelve-rtiile  ditch  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas, 
to  re-work  them  by  the  hydraulic  process.  This  required  con- 
siderable time,  and  the  ditches  and  hydraulic  apparatus  were 
not  ready  till  1878.  But  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Wood  were  too 
shrewd  to  let  any  chances  of  bettering  themselves  pass.  The 
placer  miners  had  from  the  beginning  complained  of  the  great 
weight  of  the  boulders  they  were  obliged  to  move  over  and 
over  in  the  creek,  but  it  had  never  occurred  to  them  that  these 
boulders  mi^ht  owe  their  weioht  to  their  metallic  constituents, 
Messrs.  Stevens  and  Wood  ascertained  that  these  boulders  con- 
tained a  large  amount  of  carbonate  of  lead  carrying  silver,  and 


THE  STORY  OF  LEADVILLE.  5^1 

very  quietly  secured  government  titles  to  nine  claims,  each  com- 
prising 1.500  feet  by  300,  or  in  all  about  100  acres, .crossing 
California  Gulch  and  extending  high  up  on  the  hills.  The  names 
of  the  principal  locations  made  by  them  Avere  the  Dome,  the 
Rock,  Stone,  Lime,  Bull's  Eye  and  Iron.  The  "Rock"  claim 
was  first  worked,  and  proved  to  be  rich  in  lead  but  poor  in  sil- 
ver. .  Soon  others  located  claims,  and  considerable  activity  in 
mining  began. 

As  yet,  however,  there  were  no  great  discoveries  of  silver 
to  attract  people  to  the  as  yet  unnamed  site  of  the  great  silver 
city.  The  agent  of  the  St.  Louis  Smelting  and  Refining  Com- 
pany in  April,  1S77,  commenced  the  establishment  of  sampling 
works  in  what  is  now  Leadville,  and  in  May  began  the  erection  of  a 
smelter,  and  by  October  had  a  blast  furnace  in  operation.  So 
doubtful  was  he  of  success,  that  he  made  a  contract  before 
the  smelter  was  completed  with  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Wood  for 
the  delivery  of  a  thousand  tons  of  their  lead  ore  from  the  Rock 
mine.  Before  this  was  entirely  delivered,  so  many  discoveries 
had  been  made,  and  such  development  of  mines  had  taken  place, 
that  the  only  difficulty  experienced  in  both  the  sampling  and 
smeltinof  works  was  that  of  handliuQ-  the  rich  ores  which  were 
forced  upon  them.  In  the  summer  of  1877,  the  now  growing 
villacre  received  its  name  of  Leadville  from  what  seemed  thus 
far  to  be  the  staple  ore  of  its  mines. 

It  was  during  this  summer  that  Mr.  A.  B.  Wood,  the  partner 
of  Mr.  Stevens,  despondent  perhaps  at  the  small  yield  of  silver 
in  his  nine  claims,  sold  his  half  interest  in  them  to  L.  Z.  Leiter,  of 
the  great  Chicago  firm  of  Field,  Leiter  &  Co.,  for  the  sum  of 
^40,000.  At  that  time  the  "  Iron"  mine,  one  of  the  best  in  Lead- 
ville, was  undeveloped,  and  Mr.  Leiter  was  thought  to  have  paid 
all  the  claims  were  worth.  A  year  later  he  refused  a  million 
dollars  for  his  property,  and  now  it  is  said  that  five  millions 
would  not  purchase  his  Leadville  interests,  which,  however, 
include  other  mines  as  well  as  these. 

Discovery  and  development  went  forward  with  a  constantly 
accelerating  force.  The  Iron  mine  yielded  its  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  of  silver,  and  scores  of  others  in  the  same 


6^2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

vicinity  were  equally  prolific.  The  town  had  grown  to  be  more 
than  a  mere  mining  camp  by  January,  1878,  and  its  production 
for  the  previous  year  was  $555,000.  In  April,  1878,  George  H. 
Fryer  began  to  sink  a  shaft  on  the  hill  east  of  Stray  Horse  Gulch, 
now  known  as  Fryer's  Hill.  His  shaft  struck  at  first  low  grade 
carbonates,  and  he  gave  his  mine  the  name  of  New  Discovery. 
A  month  later  August  Rische  and  George  T.  Hook,  two  pros- 
pectors without  money,  persuaded  Mr.  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  to  fur- 
nish them  what  are  called  in  Colorado  "  the  grub  stakes;  "  /.  c,  the 
necessary  money  outfit  on  the  chance  of  a  third  interest  in  whatever 
they  might  discover.  In  this  case  the  "grub  stakes"  amounted 
to  ;^I7.  They  struck  ore  very  near  the  surface,  sold  their  first 
wagon  load  for  between  $200  and  $300,  and  found  it  growing 
richer  as  they  went  down.  They  named  the  mine  the  Little 
Pittsburgh.  In  September  of  the  same  year.  Tabor  and  Rische 
bought  Oiit  Hook,  paying  him  $98,000  for  his  one-third  in- 
terest in  the  mine.  This  mine  was  now  consolidated  with  the 
New  Discovery,  the  WInnemucca  and  the  Dives,  and  Rische's  In- 
terest was  bought  about  the  first  of  November,  1878,  by  J,  B. 
Chaffee  and  Moffat  for  $262,500.  In  the  next  seven  and  a  half 
months  the  consolidated  mines  yielded  of  ores  actually  sold 
$2,184,586.  Other  mines  on  the  same  hill,  the  Little  Chief,  the 
Chrysolite,  Vulture,  Colorado  Chief,  Amie,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  proved 
nearly  as  rich.  The  production  of  the  Leadville  mines  In  1878 
was  $3,152,925. 

The  process  of  development  went  on  still  more  rapidly  In 
1879,  and  what  was  originally  a  mere  mining  camp  became  a 
city  of  no  mean  pretensions,  having  in  June,  1880,  a  population 
of  over  30,000  inhabitants.  Its  yield  of  silver  and  gold  for  1879 
exceeded  $12,000,000.  It  has  sixteen  smelting  establishments 
and  two  sampling  works,  which  together  in  1879  produced 
$10,500,000.  Besides  this  was  the  amount  sent  by  private  par- 
ties to  foreign  smelters,  and  the  large  yield  of  gold  from  places 
worked  by  hydraulic  mining — making  in  all  between  $12,000,000 
and  $13,000,000  for  Leadville  alone. 

As  we  have  said  elsewhere,  the  silver  at  Leadville  Is  a  car- 
bonate of  lead  and  silver,  and  does  not  occur  In  placers  nor  in 


CHAFFEE  AND   PARK  COUNTIES.  570 

fissure  veins,  but  In  broad  strata  of  ore  between  strata  of  rock, 
which  have  received  the  name  of  "contact  lodes." 

The  "Eagle  River  country"  and  the  "Ten  Mile  "District," 
north  and  northwest  of  Leadville  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
miles,  are  also  engaging  the  attention  of  miners  as  exceptionally 
rich  in  the  carbonates.  They  may  prove  formidable  rivals  to 
Leadville.  The  completion  of  railroad  communication  with 
Leadville  by  two  routes,  will  give  that  wonderful  city  a  still  more 
rapid  development. 

There  are,  of  course,  seasons  of  depression  in  all  these  mining 
interests.  The  Comstock  Lode  in  Nevada,  after  years  of  un- 
rivalled prosperity,  has  come  to  a  time  when  the  yield  of  its 
mines  does  not  pay  expenses,  and  the  Little  Pittsburgh  and 
Amie  have  had  a  somewhat  similar,  though  fortunately  a  less 
protracted,  experience  of  the  same  kind ;  but  the  prosperous 
days  will  return,  and  the  wealth,  hoarded  up  for  geologic  ages  in 
these  mountains,  will  be  put  at  the  service  of  man. 

Chaffee  county,  a  new  county  set  off  from  Lake,  and  includ- 
ing the  southern  part  of  that  county,  has  some  mining  impor- 
tance and  will  have  more.  Granite  is  its  county-seat.  The  Ar- 
kansas river  traverses  it  from  north  to  south.  The  Park  ranoe 
forms  its  eastern  wall,  and  the  Sawatch  or  Saguache  its  western 
boundary,  and  from  the  latter  the  bold  and  lofty  peaks.  La  Plata, 
Mount  Harvard,  Mount  Yale,  Mount  Princeton,  Mount  Antero, 
and  Mount  Shavano  stand  forth  as  sentinels  of  the  main  ranere. 
Both  ranges  are  silver-bearing,  and  the  county,  which  in  1879 
produced  $71,000  of  the  precious  metals,  may  be  relied,  upon  to 
do  much  better  in  1880. 

Pa7'k  county,  enclosing  as  it  does  the  great  South  Park,  with 
an  area  of  nearly  2,200  square  miles,  ranks  more  appropriately 
as  a  grazing  than  a  mining  county ;  but  a  county  which  in  twenty 
years  has  furnished  more  than  <^6, 500,000  of  gold  and  silver 
products  has  some  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  mining  region  also. 
The  South  Park  is  between  9,000  and  10,000/eet  above  the  sea; 
but  the  Mosquito  range,  which  connects  the  Colorado  Front 
range  with  the  Park  or  Main  range,  has  several  summits  In  its 
main  line  and  spurs  which  are   between  4,000  and   5,000  feet 

41 


5^4  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

hio-her.  Mount  Lincoln,  Mount  Evans,  and  Mount  Rosalie,  three 
of  these  peaks,  are  only  a  few  feet  lower  than  Blanca  Peak,  the 
kino-  of  the  Colorado  Mountains,  their  hicrhest  summits  measur- 
ing  14,297,  14,330,  and  14,340  feet  respectively;  while  at  the 
south  and  southwest  of  the  Park,  but  still  in  this  county,  the 
Buffalo  Peaks,  Thirty-nine  Mile  Mount,  and  Black  Mountain 
rear  their  lofty  heads.  The  climate  here  is  cool  but  pleasant  in 
summer,  while  the  winters  are  long  and  severe. 

The  whole  of  this  mountain  region  is  rich  in  crold  and  silver. 
The  mineral  belt  is  about  thirty-five  miles  long  and  fourteen 
•wide.  The  gold  mines  are  mostly  high  up  (above  the  timber 
line  on  Mount  Lincoln  and  Mount  Bross),  and  are  very  produc- 
tive. There  are  very  many  of  these  mines  near  the  summit  of 
Mount  Lincoln,  one  of  them  (the  Present  Help  mine)  being 
14,200  feet  above  the  sea,  and  said  to  be  the  highest  mine  in 
North  America.  The  Phillips  mine,  in  the  Buckskin  district,  is  the 
o-reat  eold  mine  of  this  section.  It  was  discovered  in  1862,  and  in 
four  or  five  years  yielded  over  ^300,000.  Then  the  ore  began  to 
be  largely  mixed  with  pyrites,  and  the  miners  not  understanding 
how  to  work  it  abandoned  it  for  a  time,  but  it  is  now  worked 
again  with  great  success.  There  are  some  placers  in  the  county 
which  have  yielded  largely,  and  are  again  doing  well  under  the 
hydraulic  process.  Nearly  all  the  silver  mines  and  some  of  the 
gold  mines  of  Park  county  are,  like  those  in  Leadville  and  its 
vicinity,  contact  lodes  or  level  deposits  and  not  fissure  veins. 
Since  1862  Park  county  has  yielded  $6,559,601  in  gold  and  sil- 
ver, about  equal  quantities  of  each.  There  are  more  than  fifty 
silver  mines  actively  employed  and  the  number  is  increasing. 
The  production  averages  about  $500,000  a  year.  With  the 
advent  of  the  railways  and  the  Leadville  branch  of  the  Denver 
and  Rio  Grande,  the  county  ig  well  supplied  with  railway  com- 
munication, and  its  mining  products  will  be  largely  increased. 
Fair  Play  and  Alma — the  latter  far  up  the  slope  of  Mount  Lin- 
coln— are  its  prineipal  towns. 

Fi^emont  county  is  a  region  containing  much  arable  land  and 
fine  orchards  of  fruit.  So  far  as  we  are  aware,  there  have  not 
yet  been  any  discoveries  of  gold  or  silver  within  its  boundaries; 


FRFMONT  AND    CUSTER   COUNTIES.  57 r 

but  it  is  rich  in  bituminous  coal  of  excellent  quality,  In  Iron, 
marble,  gypsum,  lime,  alum,  and  petroleum,  and  has  the  most 
remarkable  fossils  and  the  greatest  natural  wonders  in  the  whole 
western  country. 

Here  are  those  gigantic  skeletons  of  extinct  animals  dis- 
covered by  Professors  March  and  Cope  ;  in  this  county  also  are 
the  Grand  canon  of  the  Arkansas,  Temple  and  Grape  Creek 
canons.  Oil  Creek  canon,  and  the  Oil  Springs,  and  numerous 
mineral  and  medicinal  springs.  The  Atchison,  Topeka  and 
Santa  Fe  Railway  bisects  the  county.  Canon  City  is  its  prin- 
cipal town. 

Custer  county  has  for  Its  western  boundary  the  summits  of  the 
Sangre  de  Christo  Range,  which  is  in  this  part  of  Colorado  the 
main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  the  eastern  part  of  the 
county  is  the  Wet  Mountain  range,  running  parallel  to  the  Sangre 
de  Christo,  and  between  them  Is  the  Wet  Mountain  valley,  a 
beautiful  meadow-like  stretch,  surrounded  by  dome-like  hills  on 
one  side,  covered  with  verdure,  and  on  the  other  with  sombre  but 
graceful  pines.  The  county  has  much  arable  and  grazing  land, 
but  it  has  been  found  within  the  last  five  or  eight  years  that  it 
possessed  very  remarkable  and  varied  mineral  deposits. 

The  Senator  gold  lode  at  Rosita,  now  the  capital  of  the  county, 
was  discovered  In  1872  by  Messrs.  Irwin,  Robinson,  and  Pringle, 
but  was  not  much  w^orked  before  1874.  The  site  of  Rosita 
{Spanish,  "Little  Rose"),  in  the  Wet  Mountain  valley,  is  very 
beautiful,  and  its  mines  have  been  very  productive.  In  1874  the 
Pocahontas,  Humboldt,  and  other  lodes  began  to  produce  silver, 
and  have  since  yielded  some  ^750,000. 

In  1877  and  1878  came  new  developments.  Mr.  E.  C.  Bas- 
slck,  then  working  at  a  tunnel  at  Tyndall  Hill,  noticed  some 
blossom  rock  on  his  way  which  had  a  peculiar  appearance.  He 
had  it  assayed,  and  finally  took  some  of  the  material  to  the  re- 
duction works,  and  soon  found  that  he  had  a  mine  of  chlorodized 
gold  and  silver  of  great  value.  This  wr.s  new  In  Colorado, 
though  it  had  been  found  in  California,  and  was  subsequently 
discovered  in  Utah.  Within  twelve  mondis  after  the  first  ship- 
ment ^423,608  was  received  for  ore  shipped,  and  large  amounts 


5^6  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

remained  on  the  dump.  In  August,  1878,  another  discovery 
was  made  about  seven  miles  west  of  Rosita,  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  Wet  Mountain  valley,  at  Silver  Cliff:  a  long,  sloping  mountain 
rising  from  the  plain,  terminates  abruptly  at  its  farther  end, 
which  was  known  as  the  Cliff  A  miner,  named  Edwards,  broke 
off  a  piece  of  the  cliff  and  had  it  assayed.  It  yielded  $27  silver 
to  the  ton.  This  would  not  pay.  Some  four  months  later  he  re- 
turned thither  with  a  fellow-workman  and  broke  off  another 
piece  which  assayed  ^1,700  to  the  ton.  They  began  work  and 
found  it  profitable.  Soon  others  came  in  ;  it  was  discovered  that 
there  had  been  volcanic  action  there,  and  that  in  the  lava  there 
was  horn  silver  (chloride  of  silver),  assaying  from  $10,000  to 
$20,000  to  the  ton,  and  the  Racine  Boy,  Silver  Cliff,  Plata  Verde, 
and  Horn  silver  mines  were  started.  The  yield  was  enormous. 
The  ores  can  easily  be  reduced  by  the  wet  amalgamation  pro- 
cess, and  at  a  very  low  rate.  The  Bassick,  or  main  mine,  and 
the  Silver  Cliff  mines  have  now  passed  into  the  hands  of  capital- 
ists, the  first  on  a  basis  of  $1,500,000  and  the  others  at  equally 
liberal  terms, 

A  recent  visitor  to  these  mines,  Mr.  Zimri  L.  White,  the  ac- 
complished correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  has,  in 
some  letters  to  that  paper  in  July,  1880,  described  more  fully  the 
peculiar  character  of  these  mines,  which  are,  as  he  says,  the  most 
interesting  if  not  the  most  important  in  the  West.  We  subjoin 
some  paragraphs  of  this  description  which  are  very  clear  and 
satisfactory : 

"The  boundaries  of  the  rich  mineral  belt  are  very  sharply  de- 
fined, not  by  the  formation  of  the  rocks,  for,  as  I  shall  presently 
show,  that  is  not  uniform,  but  by  the  developments  and  explora- 
tions that  have  been  made  upon  it  in  mines  and  prospect  holes. 
The  Wet  Mountain  valley  at  this  point  extends  northwest  and 
southeast,  and  the  two  mining  camps  of  Silver  Cliff  and  Rosita, 
seven  miles  apart,  are  situated  about  equally  distant  from  Grape 
creek,  which  flows  through  it;  the  latter,  which  is  the  further 
south,  being  a  litde  further  up  upon  the  foot-hills  than  the 
former.  The  altitude  of  Silver  Cliff  is  7,900  feet,  and  that  of 
Rosita  8,736  feet  above  the  sea.     No  valuable  bodies  of  ore 


MINES  AT  KOSITA  AND   SILVER  CLIFF.  ^yy 

have  been  found  south  (that  is,  on  the  valley  side)  of  a  line  con- 
necting these  two  camps.  As  the  valley  is  approached,  what 
miners  call  '  the  wash,'  that  is,  the  deposit  of  sand,  gravel,  broken 
rock  and  soil  that  has  been  brought  down  from  the  neighboring 
hills,  becomes  deeper,  and  the  'bed  rock'  or  'rock  in  place,' 
which  lies  beneath,  is  more  difficult  to  reach.  The  southern  or 
southwestern  boundary  of  the  mineral  belt  may  be  said,  there- 
fore, to  lie  along  the  edge  of  the  foot-hills  and  about  two  miles 
above  the  creek.  The  northern  or  northwestern  boundary  is  a 
line  drawn  from  the  Bull-Domingo  to  the  Bassick  mine,  which 
are  respectively  two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Silver  Cliff  and 
Rosita.  A  rectangle,  therefore,  of  which  the  Bull-Domingo  and 
Bassick  mines,  Silver  Cliff  and  Rosita  form  the  four  corners,  ex- 
tendino-  in  its  lonorest  direction  northwest  and  southeast,  beine 
seven  miles  long  and  two  and  a  half  wide,  includes  within  its 
boundaries  all  the  best  mines  of  this  region. 

"The  geological  formation  of  this  rich  mineral  belt  Is  peculiar 
and  very  interesting.  Resting  upon  and  against  the  granite  of 
the  Wet  Mountain  Range  and  its  higher  foot-hills,  and  extending 
down  into  the  valley  beyond  the  southern  line  of  the  belt,  lies  an 
enormous  deposit  of  porphyry  or  trachyte,  a  volcanic  rock,  which, 
according  to  Professor  Newberry,  who  visited  the  district  last 
autumn,  was  poured  out  and  consolidated  during  the  tertiary 
period. 

"  How  great  the  extent  of  this  deposit  from  northwest  to  south- 
east is,  I  do  not  know,  but  its  width  is  at  least  five  miles  and  its 
length  is  probably  fifteen  or  twenty.  Extending  into  the  trachyte 
formation  from  the  southwest  and  following  its  general  direction 
is  a  tongue-shaped  mass  of  granite  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
wide  and  at  least  seven  or  eight  miles  long.  When  the  trachyte 
was  poured  out,  this  granite  apparently  formed  a  ridge  which  rose 
above  the  level  of  the  fluid  mass  of  the  surrounding  volcanic  rock, 
and  therefore  was  not  covered  by  it.  That  it  does  not  now  stand 
higher  than  the  surrounding  country  does  not  disprove  this  theory, 
because  there  are  everywhere  to  be  found  evidences  of  terrible 
convulsions  since  the  trachyte  was  deposited  which  have  com- 
pletely changed  the  face  of  this  entire  region.     The  mines  here 


5y8  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

are  found  both  in  the  granite,  and  also  in  the  trachyte.  Winding 
through  the  porphyry  in  a  serpentine  course,  there  is  also  a  stream 
of  obsidian,  as  it  is  called  here,  or  volcanic  glass,  mixed  with 
trachyte  and  quartz  boulders.  This  stream,  where  it  has  been 
examined,  varies  from  a  few  feet  to  many  rods  in  width,  and  in 
crevices  of  the  boulders  which  form  the  mass  of  it  were  found 
last  week,  on  the  Hecla  claim,  some  very  rich  specimens  of  horn 
silver. 

"The  natural  color  of  the  trachyte  is  a  yellowish-white.  When 
it  contains  silver  it  is  also  generally  stained  with  black  oxide  of 
manganese  and  red  oxide  of  iron.  This  rock  in  many  places 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  water  be- 
tween the  time  it  was  thrown  out  by  volcanic  action  and  the 
period  when  it  was  broken  up  and  impregnated  with  mineral 
solutions.  I  am  led  to  this  conclusion  by  the  fact  that  in  several 
mines  and  prospect  holes  which  I  have  visited,  I  have  found  por- 
tions of  the  rock  as  distinctly  stratified  as  any  clay  slate  I  ever 
saw.  The  layers  of  rock  came  apart  one  from  another,  in  the 
hand,  and  presented  smooth  faces  of  stratification.  I  have  never 
seen  this  fact  mentioned  in  any  report  I  have  read  about  the 
mines  of  this  region,  and  it  may  not  be  important,  though  it  cer- 
tainly is  interesting. 

"At  Silver  Cliff  and  north  of  here,  especially,  the  trachyte  rock 
has  been  shaken  up  and  fractured  in  all  directions,  and  in  many 
places  the  crevices  have  been  filled  with  iron  and  manganese, 
which  had  become  oxidized,  and  with  chloride  of  silver.  This  is 
the  free  milling  ore  which  is  found  in  the  Racine  Boy  and  Silver 
Cliff  mines,  owned  by  the  Silver  Cliff  Company,  in  the  Plata 
Verde,  and  in  all  the  mines  that  he  directly  north  of  this  town  and 
adjoining  it.  I  shall  write  detailed  descriptions  of  several  of  the 
more  important  of  them  in  letters  that  are  to  follow.  Generally 
the  chloride  of  silver  is  so  widely  distributed  through  the  rock 
and  is  so  small  in  quantity  that  it  cannot  be  seen  with  the  naked 
eye,  nor  even  with  a  powerful  magnifying  glass.  That  it  is  there, 
however,  is  conclusively  proved  by  assays.  Captain  Turner,  of 
Galveston,  Texas,  an  old  California  miner,  who  has  spent  several 
months  here  superintending  the  development  of  a  mine  for  a 


TRACHYTE    ORES   OF  CUSTER    COUNTY.  (,yg 

Galveston  company,  told  me  the  other  day  that  he  had  caused 
assays  to  be  made  of  at  least  one  hundred  samples  of  the  trachyte 
rock  found  \n  what  is  known  here  as  the  'chloride  belt,'  and 
never  failed  to  find  that  it  contained  some  silver.  He  selected 
some  of  the  most  barren-looking  pieces  of  rock  he  could  find, 
material  that  no  miner  would  think  of  saving-,  and  w^hich  showed 
no  metallic  stain  of  any  kind,  and  even  this  was  found  to  carry 
from  two  ounces  upward  of  silver,  to  a  ton. 

"  Where  the  rock  is  stained  with  oxide  of  iron  and  maneanese, 
it  is  invariably  rich  in  silver,  which  can  frequently  be  seen  upon 
the  surface  of  a  fracture  in  the  form  of  a  green  scale,  which  on 
beinof  rubbed  with  a  knife-blade  shows  a  metallic  lustre.  Occa- 
sionally  the  mass  of  chloride  of  silver  is  so  great  that  it  appears 
in  litde  Qrlobules  of  horn  silver,  and  I  found  in  the  workings  of 
the  Racine  Boy  mine  an  accretion  of  this  horn  silver,  in  a  cavity 
two  or  three  inches  long  and  half  an  inch  wide,  that,  if  collected 
together  in  one  mass,  would  be  as  large  as  a  lady's  thimble. 
This  mass,  if  broken  off  from  the  rock  to  which  it  is  attached  and 
assayed  by  itself,  would  '  run,'  as  the  miners  say,  more  than 
twenty  thousand  ounces  of  silver  to  a  ton,  and  a  ton  of  it  at  the 
current  rates  for  silver  bars  would  be  worth  about  ^^23,000.  Such 
specimens  are  very  frequently  found  in  the  Racine  Boy  and  other 
mines  on  the  chloride  belt.  While  the  rich  ore  is  discovered  in 
large  masses  surrounded  by  leaner  or  less  valuable  rock,  there  is 
nowhere  in  the  chloride  belt  anything  that  looks  like  a  vein. 
The  rock  just  covers  the  entire  face  of  the  country,  over  an  area 
two  miles  long  and  half  a  mile  wide,  and  the  whole  mass  of  it 
is  ore  ;  that  is,  all  of  it  contains  at  least  a  small  quantity  of  silver. 
The  ore  in  only  a  small  portion  of  it  has  yet  been  proved  to 
be  rich  enough  to  make  the  mining  and  reduction  of  it  profitable, 
but  this  portion  covers  a  great  many  mines  which  I  believe  will 
become  very  valuable  properties. 

"  The  theory  of  the  geologists,  and  the  one  generally  accepted 
by  the  miners  here,  is  that  the  trachyte,  after  it  became  solidified, 
was  shaken  and  broken  up  by  some  great  convulsion,  and  that 
simultaneously  or  afterward,  silver,  iron,  manganese  and  the  other 
metals  of  which  traces  are  found  in  the  rock  were  disseminated 


53o  OCR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

through  the  crevices  either  in  water  solutions  or  volatilized — in 
the  form  of  gases.  These  solutions  or  gases  are  supposed  to 
have  come  up  through  cracks  in  the  earth's  crust.  Such  a  de- 
posit is  called  in  the  old  world  '  stockwork,'  and  Professor  New- 
berry, in  writing  recently  of  '  The  Origin  and  Classification  of 
Ore  Deposits,'  mentions  this  as  one  of  the  two  most  important 
examples  of  this  kind  of  deposit  that  have  come  under  his  obser- 
vation. The  other  is  the  gold  deposit  in  Bingham  canon,  Utah. 
None  of  the  oldest  miners  ever  saw  before  any  ore  that  looked 
like  this  at  Silver  Cliff,  and  this  explains  their  failure  to  discover 
its  value  until  recendy.  The  same  is  true  of  the  quartzite  gold 
ore  in  Bingham  canon.  The  miners  worked  for  years  there  get- 
ting out  silver-lead  ores,  but  threw  aside  the  gold  ore  as  waste, 
not  dreaming  of  its  value. 

"  But  the  mineral  belt  which  I  have  described  and  bounded  in 
the  earlier  part  of  this  letter  contains  other  classes  of  mines.  At 
Rosita  (this  beautiful  name  means  '  Litde  Rose ')  in  the  Poca- 
hontas-Humboldt lode,  the  trachyte,  instead  of  being  shattered 
and  impregnated,  so  that  the  entire  mass  of  rock  may  be  mined 
out  and  reduced,  has  been  rent  asunder,  and  a  true  fissure 
formed  in  it  which  has  been  filled  with  gray  copper,  galena,  zinc 
blende,  iron  and  copper  pyrites  and  heavy  spar — all  carrying 
sulphide  of  silver.  These  form  a  narrow  pay  streak  from  one 
to  eighteen  inches  wide,  and  the  remainder  is  filled  with  a  gangue 
rock,  generally  of  a  trachydc  formation.  This  vein  is  a  re- 
markably persistent  one — that  is,  it  extends  for  a  long  distance 
through  the  hills  and  across  the  gulches,  and  is  inclosed  by  walls 
that  are  as  clearly  defined  as  those  of  a  room.  Other  smaller 
veins  of  the  same  character  have  been  found  in  the  country 
north  of  Rosita,  and  on  some  of  them  valuable  mines  have  been 
located  and  developed. 

"  Still  another  class  of  mines  in  the  same  mineral  belt  remains 
to  be  mentioned.  These  are  what  Professor  Newberry  has 
called  the  '  mechanically-filled '  veins,  and  they  include  the  Bas- 
sick  and  the  Bull-Domingo.  The  former  is  supposed  to  be  a 
true  fissure  vein  in  the  trachyte  rock,  the  cavity  of  which,  after  the 
rocks  were  rent  asunder,  was  filled  with  well-rounded  pebbles  and 


THE  HARDSCRABBLE  MINING  DISTRICT.  68 1 

boulders,  generally  similar  in  constitution  to  the  country  rock. 
The  interstices  in  this  mass  have  been  filled  with  tellurides  of 
gold  and  silver,  free  gold,  zinc  blende,  galena  and  the  pyrites  of 
iron  and  copper  carrying  silver.  These  materials  surround  the 
stones  in  thin  shells,  the  pebbles  and  boulders  forming  nuclei 
about  which  the  metallic  substances  crystalized.  In  the  Bull-Do- 
mingo, situated  in  the  granite  tongue  which  I  have  described, 
the  stones  are  generally  granite  or  sienite,  and  the  cementing 
substance  is  argentiferous  galena,  which  not  only  surrounds  the 
stones,  but  in  many  cases  entirely  fills  up  the  irregular  spaces 
between  them.  In  both  of  these  cases  it  is  supposed  that  the 
metallic  matter  came  up  from  below  in  the  form  of  a  hot 
solution. 

"  From  this  bird's-eye  view  of  the  Hardscrabble  mining  district, 
it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  interesting,  if  not  one 
of  the  most  important  regions  in  the  West.  We  have  here  three 
distinct  classes  of  mines,  two  of  which  are  almost  unique.  The 
ore  which  they  produce  is  in  some  respects  different  from  that 
found  elsewhere,  and  presents  questions  in  mining  and  reduction 
that  are  to  some  decree  new.  On  the  successful  solution  of 
these  questions,  as  well  as  on  the  opening  up  of  the  large  ore 
bodies  that  are  believed  to  exist,  but  which  have  not  yet  been 
uncovered,  depends  the  future  prosperity  of  these  camps  and 
of  the  companies  which  are  investing  their  capital  in  them." 

The  production  of  the  Custer  county  mines  from  1874  to  Janu- 
ary, 1880,  was  ^2,1 1  2,530,  of  which  ^^7 20,000  was  the  production  of 
1879.  There  are  extensive  iron  deposits  on  Grape  creek  near 
the  borders  of  Custer  and  Fremont  counties.  The  ores  are 
magnetic  and  contain  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  pure  iron  and  a  con- 
siderable percentage  of  platinum,  which  causes  difficulty  in  smelt- 
ing, but  renders  the  product  much  more  valuable. 

The  San  Juan  Country. — This  general  name  for  Southwestern 
Colorado  "includes,"  says  Mr.  Frank  T^ossett,'''  "the  moun- 
tainous counties  of  Hinsdale,  Rio  Grande,  San  Juan,  La  Plata, 
Conejos,  and  Ouray;  and  San  Luis  Park,  with  the  counties  of 
Saguache  and  Costilla,  are  often  classed  under  the  same  head. 

*  Colorado:  its  Gold  and  Silver  Mines,  etc.,  New  York,  1S79. 


582  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Here  Is  an  area  of  some  15,000  square  miles,  or  more  territory 
than  Ls  included  in  any  one  of  the  States  of  New  Jersey,  New 
Hampshire,  or  Vermont,  with  Delaware  thrown  in.  West  of 
San  Luis  Park  is  one  mass  of  mountains  thrown  together  in  the 
most  chaotic  confusion, 

"  These  mountains  contain  thousands  of  silver  veins,  many  of 
them  of  huee  size  and  some  of  orreat  richness.  There  are  also 
gold  lodes  and  placers.  The  Rocky  Mountain  range  extends  to 
the  westward  in  this  region.  The  silver  belt  is  from  twenty  to 
forty  miles  wide,  and  perhaps  eighty  miles  long  in  an  air-line. 
The  rugged  and  almost  impassable  character  of  the  mountains 
and  their  vast  extent,  and  the  heavy  snows  and  long  winters, 
have  acted  as  serious  drawbacks  to  growth  and  development. 
There  is  probably  more  country  standing  on  edge  in  this  section 
than  anywhere  else  beneath  the  sun.  Until  recently  no  work 
was  prosecuted  in  the  winter  seasons,  except  on  a  very  few 
mines  and  on  tunnels.  It  took  years  to  build  roads  to  the  most 
important  points — trails  or  foot-paths  being  the  only  thing  pre- 
viously afforded.  The  approach  of  the  railway  and  the  comple- 
tion of  many  smelting  works  are  bringing  the  San  Juan  country 
forward." 

A  Southern  adventurer  named  Baker  penetrated  Into  this 
region  In  1S58  prospecting  for  gold.  He  had  found  some  indi- 
cations of  it,  and  had  commenced  operations,  when,  in  i860,  he 
became  involved  in  difficulty  with  the  Navajo  Indians,  and  he 
had  some  bloody  conflicts  with  them.  Several  of  his  followers 
were  killed,  but  he  held  on  until  he  heard  of  the  civil  war  in  the 
spring  of  1861,  when  he  returned  East  and  joined  the  Confed- 
erate army.  A  bold  and  desperate  man,  he  took  part  in  several 
severe  battles,  but  at  length,  at  the  close  of  the  conflict,  with  two 
associates,  one  of  them  named  White,  he  returned  to  South- 
western Colorado,  and,  after  several  sharp  fights  with  his  old 
enemies,  the  Navajos,  persuaded  his  comrades  to  go  with  him 
on  a  perilous  and  foolhardy  expedition  to  descend  the  unknown 
Colorado  of  the  West.  Just  as  they  were  ready  to  launch  their 
boat  on  those  unknown  waters  Baker  was  shot  by  an  Indian  and 
died  soon  after,  but  enjoined  upon  his  comrades  the  prosecution 


THE  SAN  JUAN  COUNTRY.  683 

of  the  voyage.  They  set  out  and  their  journey  has  become  his- 
torical. The  partner  of  White  was  lost  in  running-  one  of  the 
cataracts,  and  White,  lashed  to  his  raft,  was  discovered  by  In- 
dians, unconscious  and  more  dead  than  alive,  a  short  distance 
above  Callville,  near  where  the  river  emerges  from  the  Grand 
canon.  After  his  escape  from  this  perilous  voyage  it  is  said  that 
he  returned  to  the  San  Juan  country,  and  was  living  there  in 
1878. 

After  this  disastrous  ending  of  the  first  attempts  to  penetrate 
this  region,  few  white  men  ventured  thither  for  several  years, 
Adnah  French,  or  J.  Gary  French,  and  two  others,  penetrated  up 
the  caiion  of  the  Las  Animas  river  and  located  the  Little  Giant 
gold  mine*  in  1870.  They  then  returned  to  Santa  Fe,  and,  in 
1 87 1,  came  back  to  the  San  Juan  country,  and,  while  French 
worked  his  mine,  the  others  went  on  to  what  is  now  Silverton. 
There  was  a  fair  production  from  the  Little  Giant  mine  for  sev- 
eral years,  but  others  have  since  overshadowed  it.  The  entire 
production  of  gold,  silver,  and  lead  in  the  San  Juan  country  up 
to  Januar}',  1880,  is  reported  as  ^1,838,061.  In  1880,  they 
are  likely  to  largely  exceed  this  amount,  as  they  have  stamp-, 
mills,  smelters,  and  reduction  works,  and  railways  penetrating 
far  into  the  region. 

Most  of  the  San  Juan  region  was  formerly  included  in  the 
county  of  Conejos.  After  several  mining  districts  had  been 
located  and  settled,  the  counties  of  La  Plata,  Rio  Grande,  and 
Hinsdale  were  created,  and  afterwards  those  of  San  Juan  and 
Ouray.     We  will  take  these  counties  in  their  o'rder. 

''La  Plata  county''  says  Mr.  Frank  Fossett,  "is  the  extreme 
southwestern  division  of  Colorado,  bordering  on  New  Mexico 
and  Utah,  and  touching  the  corner  of  Arizona.  This  section  is 
rich  in  coal,  possesses  silver  veins,  gold  placers,  and  many  fine 
fertile  valleys  ;  farming  and  stock-growing  are  especially  suc- 
cessful. The  county  is  settling  up  rapidly  ;  a  railway  is  expected 
from  the  East,  and  is  nearly  completed  to  Animas  City  on  the 
Animas  river,  about  west  longitude  107°  50',  in  which  case  La 
Plata  would  be  the  smelting  depot  of  San  Juan  county  mines. 

"  The  stock  and  agricultural  resources  and  advantages  of  La 


534  ^^^     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Plata  county  and  of  its  valleys  along  the  San  Juan  river  and 
tributaries  have  already  been  referred  to  in  part  first  of  this 
volume.  The  coal  measures  are  deserving  of  especial  mention, 
on  account  of  their  quality  and  enormous  size.  The  area  of  coal 
land  is  estimated  at  over  600  square  miles,  and  is  cut  or  inter- 
sected by  the  Pinos,  Plorida,  Animas,  La  Plata,  and  Mancos 
rivers,  which  flow  southward  into  the  San  Juan.  The  thickness 
of  the  vein  is  reported  at  from  ten  to  fifty  and  sixty  feet  between 
floor  and  roof  There  are  two  distinct  beds  of  coal,  separated 
only  by  four  feet  of  iron  shale.  In  some  places  the  two  beds  are 
said  to  aggregate  from  eighty-eight  to  ninety-eight  feet  in  thick- 
ness. Those  who  have  tested  this  coal,  pronounce  it  of  a  semi- 
bituminous  character,  and  of  a  better  coking  quality  than  any  in 
the  West  except  the  Trinidad  beds.  In  this  same  county  are 
lodes  carrying  gold,  silver,  lead,  copper,  zinc,  iron  pyrites,  tellu- 
rium, platina,  etc. 

''Rio  Grajide  county  is  composed  partly  of  plain  and  partly  of 
mountain.  Del  Norte,  the  main  town  and  county-seat,  is  located 
on  the  Rio  Grande  where  it  leaves  the  mountains  and  enters  the 
plains  of  San  Luis  Park.  There  are  several  mining  districts,  but 
the  only  one  that  has  produced  much  is  the  gold-bearing  portion 
of  the  Summit  Mountains,  which  has  yielded  over  ^400,000  to 
date. 

"  The  richest  gold  district  of  Southern  Colorado  is  that  of  South 
Mountain  in  the  Summit  Range,  twenty-six  miles  south  of  Del 
Norte  and  nearly  i  2,000  feet  above  sea-level.  The  great  draw- 
backs are  a  severe  climate,  heavy  snows,  and  the  altitude — a 
divide  of  13,000  feet  must  be  crossed  to  reach  Summit.  The 
summers  are  short  and  the  roads  are  almost  impassable  from 
snow  or  mud  during  most  of  the  year.  But  the  gold  is  there, 
and  that  has  built  a  town  and  attracted  miners,  capitalists,  and 
stamp  mills. 

"These  mines  are  true  fissure  veins  and  prove  to  be  very  rich. 
There  are  now  several  stamp  mills,  and  one  ot  the  mines,  the 
Little  Annie,  has  yielded  about  ^350,000  in  six  years. 

''Hinsdale  cotinty  is  the  most  easterly  of  the  important  silver 
districts  of  San  Juan.     Its  metropolis  is  Lake  City,  dating  from 


HINSDALE   COUNTY  SILVER    MINES.  53- 

1874-5,  located  at  the  junction  of  Hensen  creek  with  the  Lake 
Fork  of  the  Gunnison.  Here  are  two  smelting  works  in  opera- 
tion— Crooke  &  Co,  and  the  Ocean  Wave — the  Crooke  concen- 
trating works  and  a  chlorination  and  Hxiviation  mill — the  latter 
not  run  steadily.  The  location  of  the  town  is  grand  and  beau- 
tiful, and  resembles  that  of  Georgetown.  There  are  numberless 
silver  lodes  in  the  lofty  mountains  that  rise  almost  perpendicu- 
larly for  a  half  mile  or  a  mile  on  every  side — many  of  them 
worked  extensively. 

"  Promising  as  were  the  numerous  discoveries  of  the  San  Juan 
country  in  1873-4-5,  they  were  generally  of  no  immediate  bene- 
fit to  their  owners,  on  account  of  the  distance  from  an  ore  mar- 
ket, wagon  roads  and  railways.  The  region  labored  under  pe- 
culiar disadvantages.  It  was  made  up  of  almost  inaccessible 
mountain  ranges,  and  at  that  time  was  so  remote  from  railways 
that  capitalists  and  mill  men  were  not  inclined  to  investigate  its 
mineral  wealth.  The  pioneers  who  had  been  making  discoveries 
of  rich  veins  were  too  poor  to  build  works  for  the  extraction  of 
the  precious  metals,  and  it  cost  too  much  to  get  ore  to  market  to 
admit  of  attempting  it,  unless  it  was  wonderfully  rich  and  money 
was  at  hand  to  defray  shipping  expenses. 

"  This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  the  Crooke  Brothers,  the 
first  eastern  capitalists  that  showed  their  appreciation  of  the 
region  by  putting  their  money  into  it — began  to  buy  mines  and 
erect  mills.  They  were  conducting  a  smelting  business  Ln  New 
York  city,  and  inspection  and  contact  with  its  ores  begat  that 
confidence  in  its  worth  that  subsequent  experience  has  in  nowise 
abated.  The  results  of  their  investments  in  the  Little  Annie  and 
Golden  Oueen  mines  and  mills  in  the  Summit  Mountain  cfold 
district  induced  them  to  look  further. 

"An  investigation  of  the  Lake  City  silver  district  caused  them 
to  erect  a  concentrating  mill  there.  This  separated  the  silver- 
bearing  mineral  from  the  gangue,  or  waste  rock  of  the  ore.  The 
miner  then  had  his  value  in  one  ton  of  concentrates  instead  of 
having  it  distributed  among  five  or  ten  tons  as  before.  This  was 
an  important  item  where  it  cost  more  to  get  ore  to  a  market  than 
it  did  to  treat  it  after  it  reached  there. 


586  O^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

"The  Ute  and  Ule  mines  were  purchased  late  In  1876,  and  the 
new  owners  then  erected  quarters  for  workmen  and  shaft  and  ore 
houses  for  the  mine.  The  next  spring  contracts  were  let  for 
sinking  shafts  and  running  drifts,  and  for  the  construction  of 
works  for  the  treatment  of  the  ore.  The  stack  furnace  was  not 
completed  till  near  the  close  of  the  season,  but  2,000  tons  of  ore 
had  been  mined  and  concentrated,  and  the  dressed  ore  sent  to 
New  York.  It  yielded  a  net  profit  of  twelve  dollars  per  ton. 
The  smelting  works  were  completed  so  that  reduction,  parting 
and  refining  began  in  July,  1878.  Up  to  this  time  Crooke  &  Co. 
had  expended  over  ^400,000  on  their  mines,  works,  and  other 
property  of  this  locality. 

"The  Ute  mine  is  situated  well  up  on  a  mountain,  and  the  Ule 
is  located  at  the  foot  of  the  same.  The  patented  surface  ground 
of  each  is  1,500  feet  long  by  300  wide,  and  both  are  in  Galena 
mining  district  near  Lake  City.  There  are  now  several  smelting 
works  doing  a  large  business  there,  but  as  yet  no  railway  nearer 
than  Del  Norte.  From  present  appearances  their  first  railway 
communication  may  be  from  the  north  by  way  of  Gunnison, 
though  this  is  not  certain.  The  silver  production  of  Hinsdale 
county,  in  1S78,  was  ^156,000,  and  in  1879,  considerably  more. 

''San  yuan  county  is  the  point  where  several  massive  ranges 
of  mountains  unite  ;  among  them  the  San  Juan,  the  Uncompahgre, 
the  La  Plata  and  the  Las  Animas  mountains.  Isolated  summits, 
such  as  Sultan  Mountain,  Engineer's  Mountain,  Mount  Kendall, 
Pidgeon's  Peak,  Rio  Grande  Pyramid  and  Hendie's  Peak  are 
scattered  over  the  comparatively  small  territory  of  the  county. 
Silverton,  its  capital,  was  one  of  the  first  locations  where  mining 
was  attempted  in  1871  or  1872.  Its  production  is  almost  exclu- 
sively silver,  and  it  has  many  hundreds  of  valuable  and  well- 
developed  lodes,  and  is  destined  to  yield  immense  quantities  of 
silver  and  lead  when  it  becomes  more  accessible  by  railway,  and 
capital  is  led  to  invest  here.  It  has  several  reduction  and  two  or 
three  concentrating  works  at  Silverton.  Several  extensive  tun- 
nel enterprises  are  in  progress,  forcing  their  way  to  the  silver 
ores  through  the  hearts  of  the  lofty  mountains.  One  of  these — 
the  Roedel  Tunnel^  owned  by  the  Midland  Mining  Company — is 


SAN  yUAN  COUNTY  SILVER    VEINS.  687 

intended  to  intersect  six  or  eight  of  the  largest  lodes.  The  ores 
here  are  in  true  fissure  veins,  but  the  mountains  are  ribbed  with 
the  veins  of  silver  ore  and  adits ;  drifts,  tunnels  and  shafts  all 
penetrate  numerous  lodes  varying  in  width  from  three  inches  to 
forty  feet,  yielding  from  40  to  500  ounces  of  silver,  and  from  60 
to  62  per  cent,  of  lead.  There  is  also  considerable  free  gold  and 
chlorides.  The  formation  containing  the  lodes  is  chiefly  eruptive 
or  volcanic  porphyry,  with  granite  and  occasionally  trachyte  and 
sand-stone,  as  the  country  rock  and  vein  walls." 

The  most  remarkable  of  these  silver-ribbed  mountains  is 
Kine  Solomon  Mountain,  on  the  numerous  veins  of  which  are 
situated  the  North  Star  mines.  The  Graham  Silver  Mining 
Company's  (fifteen  mines),  the  Alaska,  Adelphi,  Acapulco,  Vic- 
tory, Red  River  and  Saxon  are  all  valuable  mines  on  or  near  the 
head-waters  of  the  Uncompahgre  river.  Poughkeepsie  Gulch 
in  this  region  has  250  well-defined  lodes,  all  of  which  are  or 
have  been  worked  successfully.  Hazelton  Mountain  has  many 
'  profitable  mines  just  coming  into  notice.  The  ore  and  bullion 
yield  of  1878  was  over  ^250,000,  and  that  of  1879  perhaps  more. 
The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway,  which  at  first  proposed  to 
extend  its  route  westward  from  Del  Norte  and  Wagon-Wheel 
Gap  to  Silverton,  has  since  changed  its  plans  and  goes  to  Ani- 
mas City,  seventy  or  eighty  miles  farther  south.  Both  Silverton 
and  Ouray  will,  however,  have  a  railway  connection  from  some 
quarter  before  long.  San  Juan  county  is  not  an  agricultural 
region,  and  most  of  its  vegetable  and  cereal  products  must  be 
brought  from  other  counties. 

Ouray  county  is  on  the  Pacific  slope  of  the  range,  and  com- 
prises the  northwestern  portion  of  the  San  Juan  region.  Like 
its  neighbors,  it  is  almost  entirely  composed  of  rugged  and 
almost  perpendicular  mountains  and  deeply  cut  ravines  and 
river  gorges,  among  w^hich  it  is  generally  an  impossibility  to 
build  roads.  The  inaccessibility  of  the  section  has  retarded 
rapid  growth,  but  reduction  works  having  at  last  been  estab- 
lished, future  advancement  will  be  much  more  rapid.  Two  rail- 
ways have  been  projected,  and  may  be  built  widiin  two  years, 
from  Leadville,  or  the  Arkansas  river  through  Marshall  Pass,  or 


5g3  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

possibly  by  way  of  Gunnison  and  Grand  river.  Heretofore  it  lias 
cost  ^25  a  ton  to  pack  the  ore  on  burros  from  the  mines  to  Sil- 
verton,  or  to  a  wagon  road,  and  as  much  more  to  get  it  to 
Denver  or  Pueblo.  The  unusual  value  of  the  mineral  is  all  that 
enabled  the  miners  to  dispose  of  their  products  under  such 
disadvantacjes. 

The  county  is  full  of  mineral  veins  of  gold,  and  mineral  chan- 
nels or  lodes  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  wide,  and  of  every  known  • 
and  unknown  combination  of  the  precious  metals,  with  other 
metals  and  elements,  abound  in  almost  every  part  of  the  county. 
The  San  Miguel  river  has  also  immense  placer  deposits,  which 
are  now  worked  by  hydraulic  mining  on  a  large  scale. 

As  a  mining  county,  only  the  eastern  portion  of  Ouray  has 
been  much  developed,  but  everywhere  the  prospector  has  been 
rewarded  for  his  toil.  The  whole  regions,  watered  by  the  sources 
of  the  Uncompahgre,  the  Upper  San  Miguel,  the  Rio  del  Codo, 
and  the  headwaters  of  the  Dolores,  is  full  of  lodes  of  great  rich- 
ness and  of  a  most  peculiar  character.  They  are  believed  to  be 
true  fissure  veins,  and  not  contact  lodes  like  those  of  Lake 
county  ;  but  many  of  the  lodes  are  very  wide,  from  three  to  forty 
feet,  and  contain  pay  streaks  running  side  by  side,  and  only  sep- 
arated by  clay  or  thin  slate  partitions,  in  which  gold  and  silver 
in  various  and  unusual  forms  are  found,  separate  yet  in  the 
same  lode.  Sometimes  several  of  these  wide  and  muldform 
lodes  run  side  by  side.  The  "  Begole  Mineral  Farm,"  now  owned 
by  the  Norfolk  and  Ouray  Reduction  Works,  is  one  of  these 
singular  mineral  veins,  but  they  are  abundant  in  all  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county.  Mr.  Frank  Fossett  thus  describes  the 
Bep-ole  Mineral  Farm : 

"  The  Begole  '  Mineral  Farm '  Is  one  of  the  wonders  of  this 
part  of  the  State.  It  is  near  the  town  of  Ouray,  and  at  about 
800  feet  greater  elevation.'^'  It  comprises  forty  acres  of  ground, 
being  four  claims  1,500  feet  long  by  300  wide,  and  was  at  first 
supposed  to  be  a  horizontal  deposit  of  silver-bearing  ore,  but 
subsequent  developments  prove  it  to  contain  four  mineral  chan- 
nels or  lodes,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  wide.     One  of  these  lodes 

*  Ouray  is  7,640  feet  above  the  sea. 


SAN  MIGUEL   DISTRICT.  589 

has  a  streak  of  bright,  fine  galena  with  heavy  spar — the  former 
carrying  over  loo  ounces  ot  silver,  and  forty  per  cent,  of  lead, 
and  another  streak  of  thirty-ounce  galena  with  much  antimony. 
Another  lode  has  a  very  rich  gray  copper  vein  in  a  gangue  of 
quartzite,  and  often  milling  from  $400  to  $700  a  ton.  A  third 
lode  carries  sulphurets,  and  in  places  chlorides.  This  property 
was  discovered  and  located  in  1875  by  Augustus  Begole,  an  old 
•  Arizona  miner,  and  John  Eckles,  They  had  worked  it  in  the 
summer  seasons  up  to  the  fall  of  1878,  when  they  sold  it  for 
^75,000  to  the  Norfolk  and  Ouray  Reduction  Company,  who 
had  built  works  at  Ouray." 

There  are  numerous  other  mines  of  perhaps  greater  promise 
than  this  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Ouray.  One  of  them — the 
Grand  V^iew  mine — yields  from  ;^ioo  to  $150  to  the  ton  in  gold, 
and  from  ^10  to  ^20  in  silver.  The  Mount  Sneffles  District, 
w^est  of  Ouray,  has  no  superior  among  the  silver  regions  of 
Southwestern  Colorado.  It  has  many  hundreds  of  lodes  now 
activ^ely  worked,  and  most  of  them  are  very  rich;  some — like  the 
Chief  Deposit,  the  Yankee  Boy,  etc. — producing  ore  that  mills 
from  300  to  500  ounces  of  silver,  and  one  or  two,  more  than  that 
to  the  ton.  Most  of  the  Mount  Sneffles  veins  carry  large 
amounts  of  gray  copper  as  well  as  galena,  while  ruby  silver  and 
silver  glance  often  occur.  Some  of  the  ores  of  this,  as  well  as 
the  San  Miguel  district,  have  heavy  galena  and  zinc  ores, 
which  carry  silver  to  the  extent  of  $300  to  the  ton. 

The  San  Miguel  district  is  developing  a  body  of  ores  even 
richer  and  more  promising  than  those  of  the  Mount  Sneffles  dis- 
trict. The  lodes  here  are  in  pay  streaks  of  alternate  gold  and 
silver,  or  sometimes  of  both  combined,  and  in  all  possible  forms. 

On  the  Upper  San  Miguel,  Turkey  Creek  and  Howard's  Fork, 
there  are  many  hundred  claims  already  recorded,  and  most  of 
them  are  worked  with  profit  despite  the  difficulties  and  enormous 
expense  of  transportation.  In  the  summer  of  1880  two  or  three 
smelters  and  concentration  works  were  set  up  in  this  region. 
"  Ingham  Basin,"  near  Columbia,  one  of  the  new  towns  of  the 
Upper  San  Miguel,  is  remarkable  alike  for  its  mineral  wealth 
and  its  natural  wonders.  The  placer  deposits  of  the  San  Miguel 
44 


5no  ^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

river  are  pronounced  by  California  experts  the  richest  that  have 
ever  been  found  on  this  continent,  and  they  are  now  preparing 
to  work  them  with  the  largest  and  best  hydraulic  appliances. 

An  eminent  P^rench  mining  engineer,  M.  Cuemeyngs,  after  a 
careful  examination  of  the  chief  mining  districts  of  Colorado,  has 
just  decided  to  purchase  for  his  principals,  a  Parisian  banking- 
house,  the  Pandora  mine,  near  San  Miguel  Park,  on  the  upper 
San  Miguel  river,  pronouncing  it  the  richest  and  most  favorably 
situated  mine  he  had  seen.  Another  mining  engineer,  Mr.  E. 
M.  Pearce,  says  of  the  San  Miguel  Park  region:  "This  is  the 
very  heart  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Rocky  Mountains." 

The  Dolores  country,  of  which  Rico,  the  chief  town,  is  not  yet 
a  year  old,  is  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  Ouray  county,  and 
is  sixty-five  miles  from  Animas  City,  the  latest  terminus  of  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway.  This  is  destined  to  be  the 
o-reat  attraction  of  Colorado  miners  for  1 880-1881,  rivallino-  in 
richness  Jiagle  river  or  the  Gunnison  country.  Rico  has  about 
1,500  inhabitants.  Senator  Jones,  of  Nevada,  and  his  associates, 
have  already  purchased  a  controlling  interest  in  some  of  its  rich 
mines. 

The  Dolores  Plateau  extends  over  most  of  Western  Ouray. 
Gold  and  silver  are  said  to  exist  there,  but  there  is  also  reason 
to  hope  that  with  irrigation  these  lands  may  prove  arable  and 
productive,  or  at  least  well  adapted  to  grazing.  The  ruins 
scattered  over  all  that  region  indicate  that  hundreds  of  years 
ago,  this  as  well  as  the  other  plateaux  of  Arizona,  Utah  and  New 
Mexico  were  densely  peopled  by  an  intelligent,  agricultural 
people. 

With  the  possible  exception  of  the  great  county  of  Gunnison, 
whose  mineral  wealth  is  as  yet  but  slightly  developed,  Ouray 
county  gives  the  promise  of  a  greater  out-put  of  the  precious 
metals  in  the  near  future  than  any  other  county  of  the  State; ; 
Lake  county  may  overshadow  it  tor  a  time  from  the  great  con- 
centration of  capital  in  and  around  Leadville,  but  when  the  con- 
tact lodes  of  Leadville  begin  to  diminish  their  yield,  the  Our.i\- 
mines,  true  fissure  veins,  will  be  at  their  best  and  with  a  certainty 
of  permanency  ;  while  the  rich  placer  deposits  will  yield  for  years 


GUNNISON  COUNTY.  ggj 

to  come  their  millions  of  free  gold.  With  railway  communica- 
tion, and  a  possibility  of  large  agricultural  production  and  pas- 
toral wealth  on  the  western  plateaux,  the  county  has  a  maf^nifi- 
cent  future  before  it. 

Gunnison  county  is  the  latest  of  the  mining  regions  of  the 
State  to  be  explored,  and  may  prove  to  be  the  wealthiest.  7^he 
county  is  very  large,  having  an  area  of  over  10,000  square  miles. 
Summit  county  forms  its  northern  boundary.  Lake,  Chaffee  and 
Saguache  bound  it  on  the  east,  Saguache,  Hinsdale  and  Ouray 
on  the  south,  and  Utah  on  the  west.  It  is  traversed  by  the 
Grand  river  and  its  numerous  affluents,  two  of  which,  the  Gunni- 
son and  the  Rio  Dolores,  are  themselves  large  and  important 
rivers.  The  Gunnison  has  more  than  a  hundred  tributaries, 
some  of  them  important  rivers,  and  the  Dolores  has  a  considera- 
ble number,  of  which  the  San  Miijuel  is  the  largest.  In  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  county,  the  Roaring  Fork  of  the  Grand 
river,  with  a  score  of  affluents  having  its  sources  in  the  Sawatch 
(Saguache)  Range,  winds  its  way  among  the  interminable  group 
of  peaks  which  go  to  make  up  the  mass  known  as  the  Elk  Moun- 
tains. Each  of  these  tributaries  of  the  Grand  river,  laree  and 
small,  has,  like  the  parent  stream,  its  caiion,  sometimes  very  dark 
and  deep,  through  which  it  finds  its  way  to  join  the  waters  of  the 
larger  river.  The  Grand  canon  of  the  Gunnison  rivals  some  of 
the  most  remarkable  canons  of  the  Rio  Colorado  of  the  West. 

The  first  discoveries  of  silver  were  made  in  this  county  in 
1872,  though  there  had  probably  been  surface-diggings  there  in 
i860  or  1861.  The  discoverers,  in  1872,  were  two  brothers, 
Georore  and  Lewis  Waite,  who  had  drifted  over  the  mountains 
from  Fair  Play  In  Park  county,  prospecting  for  minerals.  They 
wandered  into  the  Elk  Mountain  rcQlon,  and  there  found  a  vein 
of  silver  that  cropped  to  the  surface  above  the  bed  of  a  small 
creek.  They  carried  some  of  the  ore  to  Denver,  then  the  near- 
est point  where  a  satisfactory  assay  coultl  be  procured,  and  found 
that  it  contained  both  silver  and  gold  in  paying  quantities.  With 
very  little  means  they  set  about  constructing  a  tunnel  through 
Whopper  Mountain,  the  location  of  their  mine.  Two  or  three 
times  thev  were  obllo-ed  to  leave  their  mine  for  several   mondis, 


5q2  our  western  empire. 

and  go  to  Fairplay  and  work  as  miners  in  order  to  procure  the 
means  for  obtaining  supplies  for  the  cruelly  cold  winters  in  the 
mountains,  but  they  toiled  on  faithfully  for  seven  years,  when  the 
reward  came.  In  1878  and  1879  the  overflow  from  Leadville 
beean  to  come  into  the  Elk  Mountain  req;ion,  and  while  the 
brothers  had  secured  for  themselves  three  very  excellent  lodes, 
called  the  Whopper,  Index,  and  Teller,  very  many  new  claims 
were  entered  in  their  immediate  vicinity  on  the  affluents 
of  Roaring  Fork  ;  others  on  East  river,  a  branch  of  the  Gunni- 
son ;  Cooper  creek,  and  others  still  on  the  Crested  Buttes,  and 
on  Slate  creek.  It  was  computed  that  over  18,000  persons 
visited  these  mines  in  the  summer  of  1879,  and  50,000  or  more 
in  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1880.  To  reach  the  head- 
waters of  the  Gunnison  from  Leadville,  fifty  miles  away,  it  was 
necessary  to  cross  a  lofty  range  of  mountains  where  the  passes 
were  filled  with  gigantic  snow-banks.  In  one  place  an  immense 
deposit  of  snow  was  tunnelled  and  cut  through  in  order  to  reach 
the  land  of  promise  ahead  of  those  who  would  come  with  the 
summer.  More  than  two  thousand  claims  were  recorded  in 
1879.  The  mines  are  all  high  up  on  the  mountains,  and  the 
vv^inter  is  long  and  severe.  There  are  only  about  five  and  a  half 
months  in  which  work  can  be  done  in  the  open  air;  but  in  the 
tunnels  work  is  carried  on  through  the  winter.  The  ore  is 
mostly  silver,  with  a  moderate  amount  of  gold.  It  is  galena, 
ruby  silver,  horn  silver,  gray  copper  and  native  silver,  and 
ranges  from  100  to  500  or  even  1,000  ounces  of  silver,  and  from 
one  to  six  ounces  of  gold  to  the  ton.  There  are  now  several 
smelters  in  the  minino-  refjion,  where  numerous  mining  towns  have 
sprung  up  within  a  year.  Gothic  City  has  about  2,000  inliabi- 
tants ;  Gunnison,  the  county-seat,  perhaps  as  many,  while 
Crested  Buttes,  Irwin,  and  some  other  settlements  are  rapidly 
growing.  There  is  a  possibility  of  a  railway — an  extension  of 
the  Colorado  Central — to  Gunnison,  within  a  vear.  The  mines 
thus  far  located  are  about  six  miles  east  of  the  bounds  of  the 
Ute  Reservation.  If  that  reservation  reverts  to  the  United 
States  under  the  recent  treaty,  the  whole  course  of  the  Gunni- 
son river  will  be  prospected,  and  probably  valuable  mines  dis- 


SUMMIT  COUNTY. 


693 


covered.     Gunnison  county  produced  ^^300,000,  mostly  silver,  in 
1879,  the  first  year  of  Its  development. 

Summit  county  has  an  area  of  about  5,000  square  miles.  It 
extends  from  the  crest  of  the  Snowy  range  westward  to  Utah, 
and  lies  entirely  on  the  Pacific  slope  ot  the  mountains.  Clear 
Creek  and  Park  counties  bound  it  on  the  east.  Grand  and  Routt 
on  the  north,  and  Lake  and  Gunnison  on  the  .south.  It  embraces 
a  large  amount  of  country  adapted  to  farming  and  pastoral  pur- 
poses, and  is  rich  in  silver  lodes  and  gold  placers.  The  yield 
of  the  latter  has  been  very  great,  and  that  of  the  lode  veins  will 
evidently  be  immense  in  the  near  future.  In  the  western  por- 
tion are  coal  measures  of  excellent  quality. 

Its  scenery  is  grand  and  magnificent.  Mountain  ranges  bor- 
der and  intersect  it  in  almost  all  directions,  and  among  them  are 
noble  rivers,  and  hundreds  of  sparkling  streams  and  dashing 
waterfalls.  Vast  forests  of  pine  and  spruce  extend  up  the  moun- 
tain sides,  and  here  and  there  are  broad  valleys,  green  as  emerald 
and  watered  by  the  purest  streams. 

The  first  silver  lode  opened  in  Colorado  was  the  Coaley,  in 
Summit  county.  Its  discovery  came  about  in  this  way:  Some 
gulch  miners  from  the  Blue  river  or  Georgia  gulch  were  hunt- 
ing for  deer  in  1861,  and  getting  out  of  bullets  manufactured  a 
few  from  the  outcroppings  of  what  they  called  a  lead  vein.  A 
year  or  two  later  they  were  in  Nevada,  and  found  that  the  silver- 
bearing  galena  ores  of  that  section  very  much  resembled  the 
material  which  had  supplied  them  with  bullets  in  the  Colorado 
Mountains.  They  wrote  to  an  old  friend  in  Empire  and  advised 
him  to  go  over  and  locate  the  lode.  After  some  delay  he  did 
so,  but  never  made  a  fortune  from  it.  Yet  it  led  to  a  o-reat 
silver  excitement  and  to  the  development  of  the  Georgetown 
silver  district. 

That  great  natural  barrier,  the  Snowy  range,  has  acted  as  a 
serious  drawback  to  Summit  county's  progress  and  advance- 
ment. The  heavy  snows  blockaded  the  entire  region  from  the 
outside  world  in  the  winter  season,  and  the  difficulty  of  crossing 
mountains  from  12,000  to  13,000  feet  high  caused  freighting  and 
travelling  to  be  slow  and  very  expensive.     Matters  have  assumed 


6q4  our   western  empire. 

a  different  shape  during-  the  past  few  months.  New  wagon  roads 
have  been  built  at  much  lower  elevations  and  on  better  grades, 
furnishing  connection  with  Georsjetown  and  Leadville.  Rail- 
ways  are  also  projected  and  surveyed  to  both  of  these  points. 
An  extension  of  the  Colorado  Central  Railroad  is  to  be  com- 
pleted to  Breckenridge  and  Leadville  this  year.  The  leading 
towns  of  Summit  are  Kokomo,  Carbonateville,  and  Summit  City 
in  the  Ten  Mile  section — all  founded  within  eighteen  months — 
Montezuma  and  Saints  fohn  in  the  Snake  river  region,  and 
Breckenridge  in  the  Blue  river  placer  country. 

The  total  mineral  production  of  Summit  county  from  1861  to 
January,  1880,  was  $7,336,912,  of  which  $6,360,912  was  gold, 
$820,000  silver,  $130,000  lead.  In  the  early  years  of  Colorado 
mining,  the  tributaries  of  the  Blue  river  in  this  county  were 
among  the  most  productive  in  placer  gold  of  any  in  the  Terri- 
tory. The  Georgia,  French,  anci  Humbug  gulches,  the  Blue 
and  Gold  Run,  the  Illinois,  McNulty,  and  other  placers  yielded 
large  amounts  ;  for  several  successive  seasons  a  million  a  season 
was  taken  out.  The  yield  continued  to  be  large  for  several 
years,  and  has  been  continued  to  the  present  time;  and  the 
great  enterprises  in  hydraulic  mining,  inaugurated  in  1878  by 
the  Fuller  Placer  Company,  and  by  L.  S.  Ballou,  are  on  a  more 
gigantic  scale  than  any  others  east  of  California.  The  first 
named  company  have  constructed  a  flume  or  flumes  thirty  miles 
in  length,  bringing  the  water  from  a  lake  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  "Great  Continental  Divide,"  which  was  over  12,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  through  a  pass  in  the  divide  1 1,810  feet  above  the 
sea,  and,  after  using  it  in  their  hydraulic  mining,  suffering  its 
waters  to  fall  into  a  tributary  of  the  Grand  river  and  thus  find 
their  way  into  the  Pacific.  The  product  of  these  placers,  in  1879, 
was  over  $100,000,  and,  in  1880,  will  reach  at  least  $500,000.  It 
is  estimated  that  from  $8,000,000  to  $12,000,000  will  be  realized 
from  these  placers.  They  can  only  be  worked  for  five  and 
a-half  months  in  the  year  on  account  of  the  great  elevation. 

There  are  several  important  mining  districts,  old  and  new, 
on  the  eastern  border  of  Summit  county,  in  the  Blue  river  valley, 
that  are  attracting  much  attention.     Of  these  the  gold  placers 


SUMMIT  COUNTY.  gge 

of  alluvial  deposits  of  the  Blue  and  Swan  rivers  and  their  tribu- 
taries are  the  oldest.  Extendinor  north  from  these  anions-  the 
mountains  is  a  belt  of  veins  carrying-  silver  and  lead.  The  Snake 
river  region  contains  both  argentiferous  galena  and  sulphuret, 
and  copper-bearing  veins.  There  are  some  very  rich  veins  in 
the  vicinity  of  Montezuma,  Saints  John,  Peru,  Geneva,  and  Hall 
Valley — all  located  on  the  main  range  or  some  of  its  spurs. 
Near  the  headwaters  of  the  Blue,  carbonates  have  lately  been 
found. 

The  Snake  river  mining  region  comprises  Peru  and  Monte- 
zuma districts,  and  lies  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. Its  elevation  is  from  9,000  to  13,000  feet  above  sea-level, 
and  its  distance  from  Georgetown  and  Ten  Mile  is  from  twelve 
to  twenty  miles,  Gra.'s  Peak  and  other  mountains  of  ereat 
height  overlook  and  [;artl}"  enclose  it,  and  with  its  magnificent 
forests  and  grassy  vales  presents  a  landscape  grand  and  pictur- 
esque in  the  extreme.  Snake  river  enters  the  Blue  from  the 
east  at  nearly  the  same  point  where  Ten  Mile  comes  In  from  the 
south.  East  of  the  Montezuma  section  are  the  Geneva  district 
mines,  located  on  the  crest  of  the  Continental  Divide,  and  on  the 
line  of  Clear  Creek  and  Summit. 

The  great  excitement,  however,  at  the  present  time  is  over 
the  Ten  Mile  district.  This  locality  has  become  famous  during 
the  past  seventeen  or  eighteen  months.  Rich  galena  veins  have 
been  opened  in  the  mountains  west  of  Ten  Mile  river,  and  sev- 
eral thousand  men  have  assembled  there.  The  Indications  are 
good  for  one  of  the  leading-  silver  districts  of  the  State.  P'urther 
west  valuable  mineral  discoveries  are  reported  in  tlie  Eagle 
river  region,  but  these  were  made  this  season,  and  of  course 
sufficient  time  has  not  yet  elapsed  for  their  development.  The 
fame  of  Ten  Mile  has  brought  in  people  enough  to  prospect  the 
county  very  extensively,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  Its  min- 
eral wealth  Is  of  the  first  order. 

The  Ten  Mile  District  comprises  the  converging  slopes  of 
two  parallel  ranges  of  mountains  and  the  intervening  valley  of 
Ten  Mile  creek.  The  upper  and  settled  portion  of  this  valley 
is  a  mile  wide  and   11,000  feet  above  sea-level.     The  westerly 


6q5  our    western  empire. 

ranore,  containing  most  of  the  mines,  is  from  1,000  to  1,500  feet 
higher,  is  called  the  Gore  range,  and  further  north  is  divided 
by  the  Grand  river.  On  the  east  Ten  Mile  range  has  several 
peaks  from  13.500  to  14,200  feet  high.  The  creek  was  called 
Ten  Mile  because  it  was  supposed  to  be  ten  miles  long,  but  it  is 
in  reality  seventeen  miles  in  length.  The  two  ranges  bordering 
Ten  Mile  valley  extend  northward  from  the  main  divide  on 
eidier  side  of  a  depression  called  Arkansas  Pass.  This  is  four- 
teen miles  north  of  Leadville,  and  from  it,  waters  flow  towards 
either  ocean.  About  two  miles  further  west  the  Eajjle  river 
starts  from  Tennessee  Pass. 

McNulty  gulch  empties  into  Ten  Mile  creek  near  its  source 
and  the  site  of  the  new  town  of  Carbonateville.  It  gave  its  main 
gold  product  in  i860,  1861,  1862,  but  is  still  worked  by  Colonel 
James  McNassar,  and  turns  out  from  ^4,000  to  ^7,000  a  summer. 
Its  total  yield  from  i860  is  estimated  by  old  miners  at  nearly 
$360,000.  Further  down  Ten  Mile  are  the  Follett  placer  dig- 
gings. 

This  region  had  been  prospected  by  several  different  parties, 
but  no  high  grade  ore  was  found  in  quantity.  In  the  summer 
of  1878,  George  B.  Robinson,  a  leading  Leadville  merchant,  out- 
fitted an  old  prospector  named  Charles  Jones,  and  the  Seventy- 
eieht,  Smueeler,  and  other  mines  of  the  Robinson  e^oup  were 
found,  and  subsequently  the  Wheel  of  Fortune  and  Grand  Union. 
Then  people  began  to  move  over  that  way,  and  to  stake  off 
claims  sometimes  on  top  of  the  snow  in  mid-winter.  Leadville 
and  Ten  Mile  have  afforded  a  rich  harvest  for  surveyors. 

In  this  elevated  region  snow  falls  deep  and  often,  and  there  is 
usually  five  or  six  feet  of  it  on  the  ground  from  January  to  late 
in  April,  but  nothing  could  stop  the  fever-heat  of  excitement 
that  set  in  with  the  year  1879.  Men  kept  coming  in  over  routes 
that  were  terrible  to  think  of;  trees  were  felled,  cabins  builr^ 
tents  pitched  on  top  of  the  snow,  and  prospecting  carried  on, 
irrespective  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way.  The  lack  of  surface 
indications  were  made  up  for  by  a  superabundance  of  faith. 
The  miner  would  seek  for  unclaimed  ground,  clear  away  the 
snow  from   a   chosen   locality,  and    then    commence   to   sink   in 


TEN  MILE   AND   KOKOMO  MINES.  697 

search  of  deposit  or  vein.  This  hazardous  style  of  prospecting 
was  occasionally  successful,  and  a  few  good  strikes  were  re- 
ported on  Sheep,  Elk  and  Jack  Mountains,  all  of  which  gready 
advertised  the  fame  of  Ten  Mile.  Town  sites  were  staked  off 
for  a  distance  of  six  miles  down  the  valley,  and  the  dull  roar  of 
the  miner's  blast  or  the  echo  of  the  woodman's  axe  could  be 
heard  all  day  long  among  the  stately  forests  of  pine. 

The  embryo  cities  of  Kokomo,  Summit,  or  Ten  Mile,  and 
Carbonateville  presented  a  strange  medley  of  log  cabins,  tents, 
and  primitive  habitations,  and  the  prices  of  towm  lots  compared 
in  altitude  with  the  places  in  which  they  were  located.  There 
were  from  thirty  to  fifty  arrivals  daily  all  through  the  spring, 
when  the  melting  snows  made  the  imperfect  roads  almost  im- 
passable. With  the  opening  of  the  summer  of  1S79  Kokomo 
claimed  a  populadon  of  1,500,  and  had  an  organized  city  govern- 
rtient,  a  bank,  hotels,  stores,  saloons,  saw-mills,  and  the  tele- 
graph, where  there  was  not  a  single  settler  a  few  months  before. 
A  newspaper  and  several  smelters  have  been  sent  there,  and  are 
already  in  camp.  There  are  over  3,500  people  in  the  entire 
district.  Smelting  works  and  a  home  market  for  the  mining 
product  was  the  great  necessity,  and  this  has  now  been  supplied. 
The  Robinson  consolidated  mines,  which  embrace  twelve  or 
more  distinct  claims,  all  on  the  same  incline  vein,  are  the  great 
mines  of  this  section,  and  are  yielding  immense  quantities  of 
silver.  The  whole  mountain  side  seems  to  be  interlaced  with 
these  rich  veins.  The  formation  of  this  part  of  the  mountain  is 
an  indefinite  amount  of  red  sandstone,  about  four  feet  of  shale, 
thirty  feet  or  less  of  micaceous  sandstone,  lime,  mineral,  crystal 
lime,  and  sandstone  formation  of  unknown  thickness.  In  places 
where  this  structure  maintained  the  usual  depth,  the  ore  is  forty 
or  fifty  feet  below  the  surface. 

On  Sheep  Mountain,  overlooking  the  valleys  of  Ten  Mile 
creek  and  Eagle  river,  vast  deposits  of  silver  ore,  mostly  car- 
bonates, and  probably,  like  those  of  Lcadville,  "contact  lodes," 
have  been  discovered  and  worked.  Some  of  these  mines  yield 
200  ounces  of  silver  or  more  to  the  ton. 

The  Eagle  river  starts  from  the  vicinity  of  Tennessee  Fass, 


g    3  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

west  of  the  head  of  Ten  Mile,  and  flows  northwesterly  between 
the  Gore  and  a  more  westerly  range  of  mountains  into  the 
Grand.  It  is  the  newest  mining  district  of  the  almost  unexplored 
reo-ions  of  Western  Colorado.  The  mountains  that  enclose  it 
are  said  to  contain  many  silver  veins,  some  ol  them  assaying 
from  one  to  eleven  hundred  ounces.  Many  prospectors  went  in 
there,  in  the  summer  of  1S79,  and  in  a  beautiful  park  the  embryo 
metropolis.  Eagle  City,  was  located.  West  of  the  headwaters  of 
the  Eaele  is  the  Mountain  of  the  Holy  Cross,  whose  eastern  face 
always  shows  vast  beds  of  snow,  which  have  the  form  of  a  cross. 
This  snow  fills  two  mammoth  ravines.  The  height  of  the  cross 
is  about  1,500  feet  and  the  arms  are  each  about  700  feet  long. 
The  climate  of  the  Eagle  river  country,  and  of  that  beyond,  is 
fine.  The  river  valleys  form  excellent  grazing  lands,  and  lower 
portions  are  adapted  to  farming.  The  country  is  full  of  wild 
game,  and  the  streams  abound  in  fish. 

Swnniit  county,  west  of  the  107th  meridian,  is  now  included  in 
the  Ute  Reservation  ;  but  when,  as  is  now  confidently  expected, 
that  vast  tract  is  j-eleased  to  the  United  States  government,  a 
great  extent  of  arable  and  grazing  lands,  and  many  rich  deposits 
of  the  precious  metals  will  be  opened  to  the  setders  who  will 
soon  fill  the  region. 

Grand  connty  includes  the  Middle  and  North  Parks,  and  the 
slopes  of  bordering  mountains,  together  with  the  Rabbit  Ears 
rancre.  Some  silver  veins  have  been  discovered  in  the  latter, 
but  are  generally  of  low  grade.  It  is  claimed  that  carbonates 
have  been  discovered  in  both  parks,  but  this  does  not  seem  to 
be  authenticated.  Placer  mining  is  carried  on  at  Willow  Creek 
in  Middle  Park,  and  in  several  localises  in  North  Park,  and  good 
returns  are  reported. 

Routt  county  is  the  northwestern  division  of  the  State.  It  is 
composed  of  mountain  ranges  and  spurs,  divided  by  rivers,  and 
bordering  valleys  well  adapted  to  grazing,  and  sometimes  to 
farming.  There  are  extensive  placer  lands  on  the*  headwaters 
of  the  Snake  and  Elk  rivers,  which  are  operated  by  several  com- 
panies and  individuals.  The  principal  of  these  is  the  Interna- 
tional Company  of  Chicago,  near  Ilantz's  Peak,  which  has  been 


ROUTT  COUNTY.  (^ 

making  preparations  for  work  on  a  large  scale  for  several  sum- 
mers, and  is  now  in  shape  to  push  matters.  This  tract  of  land 
is  supplied  with  great  flumes  and  ditches,  miles  in  length,  and 
with  hydraulics,  which  command  an  immense  amount  of  paying 
gravel.  About  ^10,000  was  taken  out  in  a  few  weeks  in  the 
summer  of  1879.  The  Elk  river  ditch  and  flume  is  seventeen 
miles  lonor,  and  two  other  ditches  combined  are  six  and  a  half 
miles  long.  Three  giant  hydraulics  are  used,  one  with  1,300 
feet  of  iron  pipe,  and  another  with  500  feet.  A  bed-rock  flume 
has  been  run.  In  drifting  and  washing,  a  dike  of  porphyry  and 
I  70  feet  of  slate  have  been  passed  through. 

There  are  over  1,000  acres  ot  gravel  land  ;  and  from  forty  to 
sixty  men  were  employed,  and  over  ^60,000  of  gold  produced  in 
the  year  1879.  A  branch  of  the  Colorado  Central  has  been 
projected  to  enter  the  county  from  Middle  Park  and  extend 
through  Steamboat  Springs  and  Hayden  to  Windsor,  at  the 
junction  of  Fortification  creek  and  Yampah,  or  Bear  river,  the 
largest  tributary  of  Green  river.  Steamboat  Springs,  and,  in  the 
southwest  part  of  the  county,  that  extraordinary  instance  of 
nature's  architecture,  the  "  City  of  the  Gods,"  are  wonders  well 
worth  visitincj. 

Part  of  Routt  county  is  included  in  the  Ute  Reservation.  The 
Green  river,  one  of  the  constituents  of  the  Colorado  of  the  West, 
and  Its  two  great  tributaries,  the  Yampah,  or  Bear  river,  and 
the  Wlilte  river,  with  their  affluents,  drain  the  county,  and  ex- 
hibit canons  of  great  depth.  It  is  believed  that  the  coal  meas- 
ures so  largely  developed  in  Gunnison  and  Summit  counties  are 
found  in  Routt  county  also  ;  but  the  county  is  at  present  almost 
wholly  unexplored,  so  far  as  its  mineral  wealth  is  concerned. 

ycjfcrson,  Huerfano,  and  ArapaJioe  cotintics  have  considerable 
deposits  of  coal,  but  are  classed  among  the  farming  and  grazing 
counties. 

With  the  exception  of  Las  Animas  counly,  which  has  in  its 
western  section  laro^e  beds  of  excellent  cokinij  coal  in  the  vicin- 
ity  of  Trinidad,  none  of  the  other  counties  of  the  State,  beside 
those  named  above,  are  known  to  possess  important  mineral 
deposits.  The  remainder,  as  well  as  some  of  those  which  con- 
tain the  precious  metals,  are  either  farming  or  grazing  counties. 


700  ^^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  arable  lands  of  Colorado  comprise  at  least  15,000  square 
miles  of  its  territory,  while  the  grazing  lands  are  at  least  four, 
and  possibly  five  times  that  quantity.  All  or  nearly  all  the  ara- 
ble lands  require  irrigation,  but  when  irrigated  they  yield  enor- 
mous crops,  and  the  deposits  from  the  canals  maintain  and 
increase  the  fertility  of  the  lands,  while  the  water  dissolves  the 
alkaline  and  other  ingredients  of  the  soil,  and  insures  large  crops 
every  year.  The  first  cost  of  these  canals  and  ditches  from  the 
mountains  Is  considerable,  but  it  is  in  most  cases  borne  by  one 
or  more  communities  of  farmers,  and  the  expenditure  is  followed 
by  such  large  and  abundant  returns  that  it  is  not  seriously  felt. 
Of  late  incorporated  companies  have  been  constructing  these 
canals  and  renting  the  water,  and  in  some  cases  have  purchased 
large  tracts  of  land,  which  they  sell  in  farms  of  80  to  1 60  acres 
with  the  water-right  at  from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  per  acre. 
The  largest  of  these  companies  is  the  Weld  and  Larimer  Canal 
Company,  an  English  corporation.  It  has  a  canal,  as  we  have 
elsewhere  said,  fifty-four  miles  in  length  and  capable  of  irrigating 
40,000  to  50,000  acres.  The  Greeley  Canal  is  thirty-four  miles 
long,  and  waters  a  region  almost  as  large.  There  are  many  of 
these  canals  also  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 

"It  is,"  says  Mr.  Frank  Fossett,  "a  well-established  fact  that 
heavier  and  more  reliable  crops  can  be  obtained  by  the  aid  of 
artificial  irrigation,  taking  one  year  after  another,  than  where  the 
uncertain  natural  rainfall  is  depended  on.  .  .  .  The  prosperous, 
well-to-do  farmers  along  the  South  Platte,  the  Cache-la-Poudre, 
Saint  Vrain,  Boulder,  Ralston,  and  Clear  creeks,  the  Fountalne, 
Cucharas,  and  the  Arkansas  and  Las  Animas  or  Purgatoire 
rivers,  are  all  illustrative  of  the  truth  of  this  statement.  Rich 
waving  fields  of  grain  now  greet  the  eye  where  once  were  bar- 
ren, uninhabitable  wastes,  and  vegetables  of  such  prodigious  size, 
and  in  such  immense  quantities,  are  raised  as  would  astonish 
those  unaccustomed  to  the  crops  grown  on  Colorado  soil. 
Farming  has  often  been  enormously  remunerative,  and  few  that 
have  followed  it  steadily  have  failed  to  accumulate  money  or 
property.  Many  men  have  well-stocked  farms  of  great  extent 
and  value,  the  result  of  a  few  years'  industry  and  effort.     We 


THE  FARMING    COUNTIES.  ^qI 

can  hardly  distinguish  critically  between  the  farming  and  the 
grazing  counties,  since  many  of  the  latter,  under  the  influence 
of  irrigation,  are  largely  productive  of  grains  and  root  crops — 
but  in  general  it  may  be  said  that  Larimer,  Weld,  Arapahoe, 
Douglas,  Boulder,  Jefferson,  El  Paso,  Pueblo,  Las  Animas, 
Saguache  and  Costilla,  as  well  as  Conejos,  Rio  Grande  and  La 
Plata  have  large  quantities  of  arable  land,  and  some  of  the 
western  counties  are  probably  not  deficient  in  this  respect. 
Some  of  these  counties  have  also  a  reputation  as  grazing  or 
sheep-growing  counties — LI  Paso  and  Las  Animas  in  particular 
being  noted  for  their  sheep  farms  and  cattle  ranches,  and  Weld 
and  Arapahoe  having  some  reputation  in  the  same  line.  The 
grazing  and  sheep-raising  counties,  par  cxce/knce,  are  Bent, 
Weld,  Elbert,  Arapahoe,  El  Paso,  Las  Animas,  Pueblo,  Douglas, 
Huerfano,  and  Sairuache. 

"The  annual  farm  products  of  Colorado  are  steadily  increas- 
ing in  quantity  and  value.  Correct  data  of  a  detailed  character 
have  been  difficult  to  gain,  and  reports  from  various  sources  are 
often  conflicting.  The  farmers  are  not  always  willing  to  have 
the  full  extent  of  the  wheat  crop  known,  lest  prices  fall  to  a 
lower  figure  than  might  otherwise  be  obtained.  Consequently, 
it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  get  correct  estimates.  Millers  and 
speculators  always  figure  out  a  much  larger  crop  than  the 
farmers  are  willinsf  to  acknowledf^e.  The  former  are  the 
buyers,  and  work  for  low  prices,  while  the  latter  are  the  sellers, 
and,  of  course,  want  as  much  money  for  their  products  as  it  is 
possible  to  get. 

"The  farming  product  of  1877  was  far  ahead  of  tliat  of  any 
preceding  year.  The  season  was  a  remarkably  favorable  one, 
and  the  acreage  of  land  sown  or  planted  was  much  greater  than 
ever  before.  The  result  was  that  a  large  portion  of  the  farmers, 
who  had  previously  suffered  losses  from  grasshoppers  and  from 
other  causes,  came  out  with  a  handsome  cash  balance  in  their 
favor,  as  did  those  who  had  newly  embarked  in  the  business. 
The  good  fortune  attending  the  season  of  1877  caused  an 
increase  of  tilled  land  in  1878  of  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent. 
In  some  sections  the  acreaire  in  wheat  was  one-third  o-reater,  and 


702 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


in  Other  fifty  or  sixty  per  cent.  The  harvest  was  not  as  boun- 
tiful, however,  as  in  the  preceding  year.  While  the  aggregate 
may  have  been  somewhat  greater  for  the  entire  State,  the  return 
of  grain  and  some  other  crops  per  acre  was  considerably  less. 
In  the  northern  counties  this  was  partly  due  to  frequent  rains 
just  before  the  harvest  time,  causing  wheat  to  '  rust.'  In  South- 
ern Colorado  no  such  misfortune  was  reported. 

"The  total  agricultural  productions  of  Colorado,  for  1878,  ex- 
clusive of  stock,  may  be  summed  up,  as  follows : 


Wheat 1,310,000  bush. 


Corn 

Oats 

Barley 

Rye 

Potatoes 

Hay 

Garden  produce "... 

Butter,  cheese  and  eggs,  milk — dairy  product 


300,000 
250,000 
150,000 

50,000 
450,000 

50,000  tons. 


Total 


;^i,3io,ooo 
210,000 
125,000 
80,000 
30,000 
350,000 
800,000 
250,000 
350,000 

$3'5i5.ooo 


The  year  1879  was  one  of  larger  production  as  well  as  of 
much  more  extended  acreage.  In  every  agricultural  product 
named  above  there  was  a  marked  advance  ;  while  the  vast  influx 
of  setders,  capitalists,  speculators  and  tourists  furnished  a  ready 
market  for  all  that  the  farmers  of  the  State  could  produce,  and 
at  prices  which  were  satisfactory  to  the  producer.  While  the 
returns  of  the  census  which,  perhaps,  may  not  prove  very  accu- 
rate, are  not  yet  at  hand,  there  are  sufficient  data  to  make  it  cer- 
tain that  the  product  of  the  nine  items  named  above  exceeded  in 
1879  $6,500,000,  and  would  have  found  a  ready  market  had  they 
reached  three  times  that  sum. 

The  average  yield  of  wheat  has  been  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  bushels.  Possibly  twenty-two  bushels  come  nearer  the 
truth,  taking  one  year  with  another.  There  are  many  farms  and 
belts  of  land  that  yield  thirty,  forty,  and  occasionally  fifty  bushels 
to  the  acre.  This,  of  course,  is  far  above  average  returns  of  the 
State.     Colorado  flour  is  the  finest  in  the  world.     Quantities  of 


WHEAT,   ETC.,    BY  IRRIGATION:  703 

it  are  shipped  to  Illinois  and  other  States.  Oats,  rye,  barley  and 
other  cereals  do  as  well  proportionally  as  wheat.  Potatoes 
return  all  the  way  from  loo  to  500,  and,  rarely,  700  and  800 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  averas^e  runs  from  100  to  200.  Veo-e- 
tables  of  nearly  all  descriptions  grow  to  prodigious  size  both  on 
mountain  and  plain.  The  comparatively  inexpensive  system  of 
irrigation  constantly  replenishes  the  soil.  The  water  is  let  into 
the  ditches  and  on  to  the  land  in  June,  when  tlie  streams  are  full 
of  mineral  and  vegetable  matter  borne  down  from  the  mountains. 
The  water  eoes  down  into  the  fjround  and  leaves  the  mineral 
and  vegetable  substances  on  the  surface,  addincr  to  the  soil.  The 
ground  continues  productive  after  years  of  cultivation,  because 
the  irritration  brino^s  in  new  material.  Corn  does  not  thrive  as 
well  in  the  northern  counties  as  small  grains,  owing  to  the  chilly 
night  atmosphere,  yet  the  yield  is  considerable  and  steadily  get- 
ting larger.  South  of  the  "  Divide  "  it  does  much  better  and 
large  crops  are  raised — sometimes  seventy-five  or  eighty  bushels 
to  the  acre.  Large  quantities  of  hay  are  cut  and  cured  in  the 
parks  and  in  most  of  the  larger  plains  and  mountain  valleys. 
The  good  prices  prevailing  in  the  mining  camps  make  this  an 
important  article  to  the  farmer  and  stock-owner. 

For  a  long  time  fruit  culture  in  Colorado  was  deemed  imprac- 
ticable. The  experiments  and  experiences  of  the  past  few  years 
show  that  fruit  of  various  kinds  can  be  raised  successfully,  and 
in  some  of  the  southern  counties  profitably  and  extensively. 
There  are  thrifty  orchards  of  apple  and  peach  trees  at  and  near 
Canon  City,  North  of  the  "  Divide"  much  more  difficulty  has  been 
experienced  ;  but  apple  trees  are  made  to  grow  and  bear  fruit 
when  protected  from  the  winds  by  other  trees.  Several  very 
fair  crops  of  apples  have  been  obtained  in  Jefferson,  Boulder, 
Larimer  and  other  counties. 

The  dairy  has  become  an  interest  of  no  little  importance  within 
the  past  few  years.  Owing  to  the  nutritious  character  of  Colo- 
rado erasses,  the  milk,  butter  and  cheese  are  of  unrivaled  ex- 
cellence.  Large  quantities  of  these  articles  are  sold  in  the 
numerous  towns  and  camps.  Several  cheese  manufactories  have 
recendy  been  established  in  El  Paso,  Boulder  and  Larimer  coun- 


-^.  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE.  • 

704 

ties.  There,  and  in  Arapahoe  and  Jefferson,  more  dian  else- 
where, are  remarkably  large  numbers  of  superior  cattle,  many  of 
them  of  the  best  blooded  stock,  and  valued  at  very  high  figures. 
Some  of  the  finest  cows  and  bulls  of  eastern  localities  have  been 
purchased  and  imported  by  these  enterprising  farmers  of  the 
far-away  Colorado  border.  There  are  finely-stocked  dairy-farms 
in  other  sections  beside  the  counties  enumerated,  including 
Douglas,  Fremont,  Lake  and  Saguache,  but  those  named  first 
take  the  lead.  At  the  State  and  county  fairs  the  displays  of 
Durham,  Alderney,  Hereford,  Shorthorns,  Jersey  and  Swiss  cat- 
tle, and  of  stock  crossed  therewith,  are  very  fine. 

There  is  a  remarkably  large  amount  of  money  invested  in 
horse-flesh  in  Colorado,  and  the  average  quality  of  stock  is  very 
high  in  some  quarters.  The  liveries  and  private  stables  (espe- 
cially the  latter)  of  such  cities  as  Denver,  Leadville  and  Colorado 
Springs  are  of  a  very  high  order.  On  the  farms  are  large  num- 
bers of  horses,  some  of  them  splendid  draft,  work  or  saddle 
animals.  Good  blood  is  as  manifest  there  as  among  the  fast 
trotters  of  the  towns. 

Colorado  can  make  no  such  showing  in  amount  of  farming 
products  as  the  Mississippi  valley  States,  where  farming  is  the 
main  industry ;  but  in  the  yield  per  acre,  or  in  quality  of  w^heat 
and  beef  cattle,  and  extent  of  stock-farms,  she  far  surpasses  them. 
With  little  care  or  trouble  these  Colorado  uplands  and  river 
bottoms  turn  out  nearly  or  quite  double  what  an  equal  area  gives 
in  Illinois  or  Iowa,  and  far  more  than  is  known  in  Minnesota  or 
Kansas. 

Wages  of  farm  hands  usually  range  from  ^15  to  %20  per 
month,  with  board,  for  the  entire  year  or  season,  or  about  the 
same  as  female  domestic  servants  receive.  Laborers  hired 
especially  for  harvesting  receive  from  two  to  three  dollars  per 
day  and  board.  There  is  quite  a  difference  in  the  prices  received 
for  farming  products,  according  to  locality.  No  country  has  a 
better  market,  and  one  beauty  of  this  is,  that  it  is  right  at  h.ome. 
Hay  is  usually  from  1^20  to  $30  per  ton  in  the  mountain  mining 
camps,  and  about  half  that  sum  on  the  farms  of  the  plains  and 
parks.     By  the  cental,  or  hundred  pounds,  potatoes  ranged  dur- 


«  PROFITABLE    WHEAT    GROWING.  705 

Ing  the  past  year  or  two  from  ^1.50  to  ^1.75  ;  corn  from  $1.50 
to  $1.75;  wheat,  ^i  to  $1.70,  or  from  seventy  cents  to  ^i  per 
bushel;  flour,  ^2.20  to  $3  per  hundred;  oats,  $1.75  to  $2.50. 

Before  the  raihvays  reached  Colorado  there  were  occasional 
scarcities  of  articles  of  food.  A  single  potato  crop  of  a  moun- 
tain farm  near  Central  cleared  for  its  owner  ^17,000  one  year 
when  potatoes  did  not  do  well  on  the  plains.  Many  years  ago 
receipts  were  often  very  large,  from  the  sale  of  crops  on  such 
laro-e  ranches  or  estates  as  those  of  Colonel  Craisr  and  others. 
A  leading  farmer  near  Denver,  who,  from  his  penchant  for 
potato  culture,  has  been  called  the  Potato  King,  usually  raises 
from  40,000  to  60,000  bushels  annually  from  200  to  300  acres 
of  land,  and  has  received  for  his  crops  all  the  way  from  ^40,000 
to  ^70,000.  He  plants  those  varieties  that  are  found  to  do  best, 
and,  as  in  most  parts  of  the  State,  many  grow  to  prodigious  size. 
The  highest  reported  yields  of  any  extensive  potato  crops  run 
from  500  to  800  bushels  per  acre.  These  are  exceptional  cases; 
but  200  and  300  bushels  to  the  acre  are  common  returns. 

Magnificent  crops  of  the  finest  quality  of  wheat  ever  grown 
are  usually  harvested  in  the  fertile  and  beautiful  valleys  of  the 
Boulder  creek,  and  of  Ralston,  St.  Vrain,  Poudre,  Clear,  Bear, 
and  Saguache  creeks,  and  in  parts  of  the  Las  Animas,  and  Ar- 
kansas and  Platte  valleys.  The  profits  of  a  farm  in  those  locali- 
ties are  often  many  thousands  of  dollars  annually.  Some  far- 
mers have  hundreds  of  acres  in  wheat,  and  harvest  from  5,000 
to  15,000  bushels  per  annum.  From  three  to  six  times  as  much 
land  is  usually  sown  in  wheat  as  in  oats  or  corn.  The  most 
approved  sowing,  planting,  and  harvesting  machinery  are  used, 
and  steam  threshing-machines  are  moved  from  one  place  to 
another,  as  their  services  are  required.  These  machines  handle 
from  40,000  to  90,000  bushels  each  in  the  more  populous  dis- 
tricts. In  July,  1877,  over  ^75,000  worth  of  farming  machinery 
was  sold  in  Boulder  county  alone. 

Greeley  colony  has  over   35,000  acres  of  land   under  ditch, 

most  of  it  in* a  high  state  of  cultivation.     Some  fifty  or  sixty 

square  miles  of  territory  were  made  available  for  agriculture  by 

tlie  recent  completion  of  a  section  of  twenty  miles  of  the  Larimer 

45 


-06  ^^^    WESTERN    EMPIRE.  * 

and  Weld  Canal.  The  total  length  will  be  fifty-four  miles,  and 
a  tract  of  country  thirty-six  miles  lono-,  and  from  three  to  ten 
miles  wide,  will  be  irrigated.  The  canal  starts  from  the  Cache- 
la-Poudre  river,  at  the  Colorado  Central  Railway  crossing,  and 
continues  eastward  until  the  Denver  Pacific  is  crossed.  A  part 
of  this  land  was  pre-empted,  and  some  is  being  sold  at  from  |;3 
to  ^lo  per  acre. 

Western  Colorado  is  beginning  to  be  settled  up  h\'  miners 
and  farmers.  For  many  years  the  great  Sierra  Madre  acted  as 
a  barrier  to  immigration  and  advancement;  but  population  is 
movine  in  that  direction  at  last.  Beside  the  wonderful  mining 
tliscoveries  of  that  region,  the  farming  and  pastoral  resources 
are  considerable.  There  are  fine  parks  and  numberless  valleys 
enclosing  the  streams.  These  are  extremely  fertile,  and  will 
prove  very  serviceable  and  valuable  now  that  a  demand  has 
arisen  for  their  products.  The  Gunnison  river  alone  has  from 
50,000  to  100,000  acres  of  farming  land  available  for  irrigation 
that  is  lower  than  San  Luis  Park,  and  which  yielded  20,000  tons 
of  hay  last  season. 

We  have  devoted  considerable  space  in  Parts  I,  and  II.  to  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  stock-raising  and  sheep-farm- 
ing in  Colorado.  Both  pursuits  are  carried  on  with  greater  suc- 
cess and  in  a  more  thoroughly  satisfactory  way  in  that  State  than 
in  any  other.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  recapitulate  what  we 
have  said  there  ;  but  we  give  below  the  statements  of  a  thor- 
oughly intelligent  English  gentleman,  Hon.  J.  W,  Barclay,  M.  P., 
himself  interested  at  home  in  the  cattle  business,  and  who  has 
spent  many  months  in  the  last  four  years  in  Colorado,  returning 
thence  to  England  in  November,  1879.  Mr.  Barclay  has  no 
motive  for  over-colorine  his  account  of  stock-raisino-  in  the  State, 
and  his  views  will  be  interesting  to  our  readers  as  those  of  a 
competent  foreign  observer. 

Mr.  Barclay  says : 

"  But  although  a  great  future  undoubtedly  awaits  the  farming 
rnterest  in  Colorado,  the  present  profit  is  greatest"  for  the  stock- 
keepers.  There  is,  indeed,  probably  no  part  of  the  world  where 
a  young   man  with   a   few  thousands  can   employ  himself  more 


MR.  BARCLAY   ON  STOCK-RAISING.  707 

agreeably  or  profitably  than  in  rearing-  cattle  on  the  plains  of 
Colorado  or  Wyoming,  or  in  the  Parks  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
ranges.  A  couple  of  thousand  dollars,  expended  on  houses  and 
the  erection  of  corrals  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  permanent 
stream,  will  form  a  basis  of  operations,  and  he  can  graze  his 
flocks  of  sheep  or  herds  of  cattle  on  the  public  lands  arounci 
without  rent.  The  outlay  is  for  the  food  and  wages  of  his  'cow- 
boys ; '  and  after  providing  for  that  expense,  he  may  devote  the 
whole  remainder  of  his  capital  to  the  purchase  of  graded  heifers 
and  good  shorthorn  bulls.  Graded  heifers  may  be  got  across 
the  mountains  in  Montana,  California,  or  in  Oregon,  at  a  cost  of 
5^15  each.  Shorthorn  bulls,  fairly  bred,  and  suitable  for  the 
country,  can  be  purchased  at  from  ^^o  to  ^loo.  Sheep  of  satis- 
factory quality  are  driven,  or  rather  eat  their  way,  from  Califor- 
nia, and  can  occasionally  be  bought  in  Colorado  or  Wyoming  at 
^3.  When  crossed  with  a  better  class  of  sheep  they  soon  im- 
prove, and  yield  fleeces  of  five  to  six  pounds. 

"  If  the  stockman  has  the  faculty  to  select  good  men — and  such 
are  to  be  had  out  in  the  West — he  need  not  make  himself  a 
prisoner  in  his  ranch,  but  may  treat  himself  to  a  month's  hunting 
in  the  mountains,  or  even  to  a  trip  to  England,  without  imperil- 
ing his  interests.  How  long  the  present  system  will  last,  of  pas- 
turing on  the  public  lands,  is  uncertain.  Last  summer  a  Com- 
mission of  Congress  was  engaged  on  an  inquiry  into  the  best 
system  to  be  adopted  with  regard  to  the  [)ublic  lands,  and  an 
idea  is  entertained  that  the  government  will  sell  land  suitable  for 
grazing,  but  too  dry  for  cultivation,  in  lots  of  eight  square  miles, 
about  4,000  acres,  at  a  low  figure.  Should  this  policy  be  adopted, 
the  ranches  will  be  fenced  in,  and  a  much  higher  type  of  cattle 
can  then  be  advantageously  introduced  than  would  pay  when,  as 
at  present,  the  cattle  of  different  owners  roam  together  on  the 
plains.  The  profits  of  the  present  system  arc  enormous,  not- 
withstanding the  low  price  of  cattle.  A  three-year-old  steer, 
weighing  alive  about  1,200  pounds,  fetches  only  5^,20.  The  in- 
crease of  the  stock,  after  deducting  deaths,  is  about  eighty  per 
cent,  on  the  number  of  the  cows,  if  the  cattle  are  fairly  well 
attended  to.     The  attention   required  is  not  much.     To  cut  the 


^Qg  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

grass  with  a  mowing-machine  in  some  of  the  meadows,  and  to 
save  the  hay  for  the  emergency  of  a  snow-storm  severe  enough 
to  debar  the  catde  from  their  food,  is  all  that  is  necessary.  But 
even  that  slight  precaution  is,  I  fear,  rather  the  exception  than 
the  rule  in  the  Colorado  ranches. 

"The  ease  with  which  meat  may  be  grown  out  in  the  West 
was  forcibly  impressed  on  my  attention  by  an  incident  I  observed 
in  the  North  Park.  The  North  Park  is  a  great  undulating  plain 
within  the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  an  elevation  of  7,000  or  8,000 
feet.  The  drove  I  saw  consisted  of  3,000  cattle,  of  a  size  and 
quality  that  would  have  attracted  favorable  notice  in  any  of  our 
markets  at  home.  They  had  been  feeding  on  very  nutritious 
grass  in  the  Park  all  summer,  and  were  expected  to  weigh  1,400 
pounds.  They  were  born  on  the  Pacific  .slope,  and  were  feeding 
here,  as  a  resting-point  in  their  journey  from  California  east- 
wards. They  were  part  of  a  lot  sold  to  Chicago  dealers  at  $37.50 
a  head,  and  were  eoino-  to  Illinois  to  be  fattened  for  the  Entrlish 
market,  and  would  reach  Liverpool,  ready  for  the  butcher,  early 
in  1880.  Thus  cattle  that  first  see  the  light  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  are  driven  slowly,  at  the  rate  of  about  ten  miles  a  day,  as 
far  as  the  centre  of  America,  and  after  grazing  there  for  a  year, 
are  carried  by  railway  to  the  maize-growing  States,  whence,  after 
a  stay  of  a  few  months,  they  make  their  final  journey  to  Liver- 
pool. These  are  facts  that  lead  to  reflection.  Only  ten  years 
ao-o,  cattle  from  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  were  taken  west- 
ward  across  the  mountains  to  California,  but  the  tables  are  now 
turned.  Cattle-breeding  has  developed  so  rapidly  in  the  Pacific 
States,  as  not  merely  to  supply  the  demand  there,  but  to  pour 
its  surplus  of  the  improved  American  cattle  back  to  the  East,  and 
thus  to  supplant  the  inferior  Texas  breed,  which  in  a  few  years 
may  be  expected  to  disappear  altogether.  It  is  computed  that 
during  the  present  year  50,000  cattle  have  made  the  journey 
eastwards  across  the  plains. 

"  Looking  at  the  capacity  for  development  shown  by  facts  like 
these,  it  is  idle  to  imagine  that  the  supply  of  American  cattle  will 
become  exhausted  within  any  time  that  can  be  mentioned  in  the 
proximate  future.     These  plains,  covering  thousands  cf  square 


EXPORTATION   OF  STOCK- -CATTLE.  7O9 

miles,  are  specially  adapted  for  rearing  cattle.  But  there  is 
one  direction  in  which  a  government,  even  moderately  ac- 
quainted with  the  interests  of  beef-producers,  might  confer  a 
benefit  upon  the  farming  interest.  We  cannot  compete  with  the 
American  stock-keeper  in  the  earlier  stages  of  meat  production, 
but  in  the  last  stage  of  all — the  fattening  for  the  market,  which 
is  at  present  done  in  Illinois  and  other  maize-growing  States 
— the  farmer  in  this  country  has  facilities  which  would  enable 
him  to  distance  his  American  competitor.  The  cattle  I  saw  were 
to  be  transported  by  rail  to  Illinois  at  a  cost  of'*j;6.25  or  $7.50 
per  head  ;  for  other  $25  a  head  those  cattle  could  be  landed 
at  Liverpool.  The  store  cattle  sold  in  Colorado  for  $37.50. 
These  would  be  sold  at  a  profit  to  all  concerned  in  Liverpool  at 
$75  a  head,  and  when  fattened,  could  be  sold  readily,  even  in 
these  bad  times,  for  $100  a  head.  But  this  profit  of  $25  a 
head  is  forced  into  the  pockets  of  Illinois  farmers  by  the  wisdom 
of  our  government,  which  prohibits  the  importation  of  store 
cattle  for  the  farmer,  and  admits  only  fat  cattle  for  the  butcher. 
Such  conduct  from  the  'farmers'  friends'  is  not  kindly.* 

"Those  who  say  that  there  is  disease  among  American  cattle, 
and  that  what  the  farmer  wants  above  all  things  is  protection 
from  disease,  betray  a  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  facts  of  the 
case.  The  real  opposition  comes  from  a  few  breeders  of  cattle 
who  have  the  ear  of  the  government,  and  who  object  to  any  store 


*  Mr.  Barcl.ny's  nrgument  that  the  Crilish  graziers  should  import  American  "store  cattle," 
instead  of  aiUnving  the  butchers  to  import  American  fat  cattle,  is  admirable  from  his  stand-point. 
It  is,  indeed,  their  only  hope  of  making  any  profit  from  their  agricultural  products  while  they 
remain  there;  but  we  draw  from  it  two  very  different  lessons,  viz.;  1st.  That  the  British  grazier 
will  do  very  much  better  to  sell  his  lands  or  his  lease,  and  come  over  here,  and  raise  cattle,  where 
he  can  do  it  at  an  undoubted  profit,  and  become  the  proprietor  of  broad  lands  which  would  form 
a  ducal  estate  at  home ;  and  second,  that  our  stock-raisers  in  Colorado  and  other  .Stales  and 
Territories  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  may  just  as  well  fatten  their  own  cattle  and  sheep,  v\hich 
they  can  do  at  small  cost,  and  thus  command  from  $v)0  to  $\oo  for  them  in  the  Liverpool 
market  as  to  sell  them  to  Illinois  speculators  at  537-50  per  head,  and  let  them  make  all  the 
profit.  Corn,  barley,  rye,  millet,  Egyptian  rice  corn,  sorghum  seed,  and  the  fattening  root  crops 
can  he  raised  in  Colorado,  Kansas,  Wyoming,  Montana  or  Dakota  at  half  the  cost  of  iheir 
production  in  Illinois,  and  containing  a  larger  measure  of  carbonized  or  fattening  food  to  ihe 
bushel ;  and  with  the  present  facilities  for  shipment,  they  will  be  able  to  ]ilace  their  finest  beeves 
(and  there  are  no  belter  anywhere)  in  Liverpool,  at  a  net  cost  to  them  of  not  over  S40  or  S45  a 
head,  while  they  will  command  on  landing  from  $90  to  Si  10  per  head.  The  Montana  caille, 
it  is  said,  fallen  almost  too  well  on  the  nutritious  bunch  grass  alone. 


-,Q  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

cattle  being  imported,  whether  in  health  or  disease  ;  but  the  great 
bodv  of  farmers  want  cheap  store  cattle,  and  they  can  have  them 
both  cheap  and  healthy  from  the  natural  breeding  grounds  of  the 
West,  if  only  the  government  would  put  itself  to  a  little  trouble 
and  exercise  a  little  care  and  common   sense.     There  never  has 
been  any  disease  in  the  Western  States,  or  in  Illinois,  Iowa,  or 
Michigan.     The  direct  route  for  catde  is  through  those  States 
on   the    main    lines   of    railway,  and,   crossing   into    Canada    at 
Detroit  or  Port  Huron,  they  could  be  shipped  from  Canadian 
ports.     Cattle  could  thus  be  carried  to  England  without  ever  ap- 
proaching at  any  point  within   hundreds  of  miles  of  any  place 
where  disease  has  existed.     Those  acquainted  with  the  system 
of  transport  know  that  simple  and  effective  arrangements  could 
be   made    insuring   that    only   western    cattle   should   pass    into 
Canada,  and  the  only  hope  I  see  for  the  British  grazier  is  in  get- 
ting these  cattle.     The  attention  of  the  department  was  called  to 
this  suggestion  by  a  question  put  in  the  1  louse  of  Commons  last 
session,  but  the  mouthpiece  of  the  government  would  not  conde- 
scend so  far  as  even  to  promise  an   inquiry.     Such  neglect  we 
are  unfortunately  but  too  familiar  with,  and  there  seems  little 
hope  of  a  change,  until  farmers  or  mercantile  men  insist  on  having 
some  men  in  the  government  of  this  commercial  and  agricultural 
country,  who  know^  practically  something  of  the  country's  interests. 
I  cannot  but  think  that  we  should  be  better  off  if  we  interfered 
less  in  our  neighbors'  affairs,  and  paid  some  attention  to  our  own." 
Dairy- Farming. — Though  so    new   a  <:ountry,    Colorado    has 
many    remarkable    advantages    for    dairy-farming.       The    small 
parks  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  divide,  where  the  valleys  of  the 
streams  are  not  ravines  or  canons — parks  which  contain   from 
loo  to  i,ooo  acres  each — form  the  best  pasture  grounds  for  a 
dairy-farm  to  be   found   anywhere;    the  grass  is  rich  and  nutri- 
tious; the  water  is  abundant,  cold,  and   pure;  and  the  soil  is  so 
fertile  that  it   yields  in   profusion,  the  roots,  grains,  and   forage 
plants   necessary  to  produce  the  greatest  quantity  of  rich  milk. 
Good  cows  of  the  Alderney,  Jersey,  and   I  lolstein  breeds  are  to 
be  had  at  reasonabhi   prices  in  the  State,  and  the  dairy-farmer, 
selecting  cows  which  will  yield  at  least  fourteen  pounds  of  butter 


DAIRY-FARMING  IN  COLORADO.  ^U 

a  week  during  the  season,  and  selling  or  rearing  his  calves,  can 
make  a  very  handsome  profit  on  a  moderate  investment.  Good 
butter  always  commands  a  good  price  in  Colorado — from  twenty- 
five  to  forty-five  cents  a  pound,  and  the  supply  is  never  equal  to 
the  demand. 

Mr.  H.  Stratten,  the  leading  dairy-farmer  of  the  Cache  la 
Poudre  valley,  Larimer  county,  makes  the  following  statement  of 
the  profits  of  dairy- farming,  as  the  result  of  his  own  observation  : 

"We  will  suppose  eighty  acres  to  have  been  tilled  as  a  grain 
farm  ;  the  dairyman  will  put  in  forty  acres  to  a  mixed  crop  of 
corn,  potatoes,  oats,  and  barley  for  general  crop,  and  seed  down 
the  remaining  forty  to  Alfalfa.  This  will  take  800  lbs.  of  seed, 
which,  at  14  cents  per  lb.,  will  cost  ^i  12.  As  the  first  blossoms 
appear  on  the  Alfalfa,  the  crop  must  be  cut,  which  ordinarily  will 
just  about  pay  for  cutting;  tlic  second  cutting,  quite  late  in  the 
fall,  will,  under  favorable  circumstances,  cut  one  ton  per  acre. 
This  forty  tons  of  Alfalfa,  with  the  straw  and  fodder  raised  on  the 
forty  acres  set  apart  for  the  general  crop,  with  the  addition  of 
such  grain  feed  as  the  cows  require,  will  be  sufficient  to  keep  a 
twenty-cow  dairy  in  full  feed  until  the  first  cutting  of  the  Alfalfa 
the  second  year.  We  will  suppose  the  farmer  has  made  his  se- 
lection of  twenty  good  butter  cows,  about  the  first  of  October, 
and  made  the  necessary  preparations  to  keep  them  in  comforta- 
ble quarters,  putting  the  cows  at  once  on  full  feed  ;  we  will  figure 
what  the  result  will  be.  Twenty  cows  fed  as  above  will  produce 
two  hundred  pounds  each  of  gilt-edge  butter,  which  properly 
marketed  in  Denver  and  the  mining  camps,  will  net  35  cents  per 
pound;  and  4,000  lbs.  of  butter  at  35  cents  equals  ^1,400. 
Twenty  calves  properly  raised  and  fed,  will,  at  one  year  old, 
bring  $250;  chickens  raised  on  the  surplus  milk  and  refuse 
grain  will  net  ^200  more,  which  makes  a  total  of  ^1,850,  or  an 
average  of  ^^92.50  per  cow.  The  first  cost  of  cows  will  be  about 
^35  each.  By  making  a  good  selection  of  native  cows,  then 
grading  up  with  some  good  butter-making  breed,  the  farmer  will 
in  a  few  years  have  a  fine  herd  of  dairy  cows,  worth  at  the  lowest 
figure  ^50  per  head." 

We  have  devoted  considerable  space  already  in  Parts  I.  and 


yi2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

II.  to  shcep-fai'ming  in  Colorado,  in  connection  with  other  States  ; 
it  only  remains  to  speak  of  the  extent  and  success  of  the  sheep- 
farming-  interest  in  the  State.  In  1870,  Colorado  had  not  more 
than  20,000  sheep.  In  1880,  she  has  not  far  from  2,500,000. 
The  increase  in  the  number  of  flocks  of  sheep  is  without  any 
precedent  in  the  history  of  the  rapidly  growing  States  of  the 
West.  The  counties  which  are  most  largely  engaged  in  sheep- 
farming  are  El  Paso,  Las  Animas,  Huerfano,  Conejos,  Pueblo, 
Elbert,  Bent,  Arapahoe,  Larimer,  and  Weld.  The  sheep  in  the 
so-called  Mexican  counties,  Conejos,  Las  Animas,  and  Huerlano, 
are  mostly  Mexican  sheep,  though  a  few  of  them  have  been  im- 
proved by  crossing  with  a  superior  breed  ;  but  in  the  other  coun- 
ties they  are  almost  entirely  of  improved  breeds.  The  Mexican 
sheep  yields  but  three  or  four  pounds  of  wool,  while  it  costs  as 
much  to  keep  and  care  for  it  as  th^  improved  Merino  or  Cots- 
wold  grade,  which  yields  from  six  to  twelve  pounds.  As  good 
Merino  wool  is  worth  on  an  average  twenty-five  cents  per  pound 
or  more,  this  difference  in  yield  makes  a  great  difference  in  the 
value  of  the  sheep. 

In  1879,  Colorado  is  said  to  have  marketed  7,000,000  pounds 
of  wool,  worth  ^1,400,000;  reared  over  1,000,000  lambs,  worth 
at  the  lowest  estimate  $1.50  each,  or  ^1,500,000,  and  sent  to 
market  or  consumed  at  home  200,000  sheep  worth  $2.50  each, 
or  ^500,000  more.  In  1880,  she  will  sell  10,000,000  pounds  of 
wool,  worth  ^2,500,000 ;  rear  2,000,000  lambs,  worth  ^3,000,000 ; 
and  sell  or  consume  300,000  sheep,  for  which  she  will  receive 
$900,000,  an  aggregate  of  $6,400,000. 

"Thus  far,"  says  Mr.  Frank  P'ossett,  "the  business  of  sheep- 
raising  in  Colorado  has  been  very  profitable.  A  fi^ck  of  1,800 
ewes,  costing  $4,500,  were  placed  on  a  ranche  in  Southern  Col- 
orado. In  eight  years,  1,600  sheep  were  killed  for  mutton  and 
consumed  on  the  ranche,  and  7,740  were  sold  for  $29,680. 
There  arc  14,800  head  on  hand,  worth  $3  per  head,  $44,400. 
The  clips  of  wool  paid  for  the  shepherds'  hire  and  all  current 
expenses.  The  result  shows  a  net  profit  over  the  original  in- 
vestment of  $69,520,  equal  to  193  per  cent,  per  annum  for  eight 
years  In  succession.     Per  contra,  out  of  a  flock  of  1,200  very  fine 


SHEEP-FARMING   JN  COLORADO.  j^rt 

selected  ewes,  worth  ^4  per  head,  800  died  during  a  storm  of 
two  days  in  March,  1878.  The  400  that  survived  raised  in  the 
summer  of  that  year  more  than  that  number  of  lambs. 

"  Many  of  the  sheep  men  have  two  ranges  for  their  herds — one 
for  summer  and  the  other  for  winter.  The  herder  usually  col- 
lects the  sheep  at  night  on  a  side  hill,  and  sleeps  by  them.  They 
lie  quietly  unless  disturbed  by  wolves,  who  are  the  most  trouble- 
some in  stormy  weather.  Shepherd  dogs  are  very  useful  in  the 
protection  and  herding  of  sheep,  and  are  born  and  raised,  and 
die  with  them.  Lambs  are  weaned  about  the  first  of  October. 
Sheep  will  travel  about  three  miles  out  on  to  the  range  and  back 
to  water  or  the  herding  grounds  each  day.  Those  coming  to 
Colorado  to  engage  in  the  sheep  business  should  engage  on  a 
sheep  ranche,  and  stay  there  long  enough  to  understand  all 
about  the  methods  of  conducting  the  business.  In  selecting  or 
taking  up  land  for  sheep-growing,  plenty  of  range  or  room,  with 
hay  land  and  a  water  supply,  are  requisites  for  successful  opera- 
tions. Good  sheep  should  be  purchased  to  begin  with,  as  they 
are  the  cheapest  in  the  long  run,  and  close  attention  must  be 
given  to  the  business  in  order  to  make  money  and  build  up  a 
fortune. 

"  While  large  numbers  of  the  sheep  of  Colorado  are  of  American 
breeds,  hosts  of  them  are  native  Mexican  sheep.  Still  laro-er 
numbers  are  of  mixed  blood,  obtained  by  crossino-  the  lono-- 
legged,  gaunt,  coarse,  light-wool  Mexicans  with  Merino  rams. 
The  Cotswold  has  not  been  crossed  so  successfully  with  the  full- 
blood  Mexican,  but  makes  fine  stock  when  crossed  with  the 
three-quarter  Merino.  This  brings  size  to  the  sheep,  weight  to 
the  fleece,  and  length  of  staple.  Since  Colorado  has  been  found 
to  be  the  sheep-growing  State  of  the  West,  large  herds  have 
been  driven  into  her  borders  from  other  sections.  California 
has  been  a  heavy  contributor,  on  account  of  the  small  expenses 
and  large  profits  attending  sheep-raising  here  as  compared  with 
the  Pacific  slope.  Thirty  thousand  sheep  were  driven  in  from 
that  State  in  the  spring  of  1879." 

The  number  of  horses,  asses  and  mules  in   the  State  is  large 
in  proportion  to  the  population,  and  is  rapidly  increasing  in  two 


21^  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

directions:  the;  number  of  wealthy  minc-ow'ncrs  has  greatly 
multiplied  within  two  or  three  years,  and  these  men  all  crave  the 
best  horses  to  be  procured  for  money,  and  have  already  brought 
into  the  State  very  many  choice  animals  ;  the  mines  and  the  rail- 
roads, as  well  as  the  immense  freighting  business,  require  a  large 
.  and  constantly  increasing  supply  of  horses  and  mules  larger  and 
heavier  than  either  the  broncho  or  mustanof.  To  meet  this  latter 
demand,  and  to  some  extent  the  former  also,  such  great  corpora- 
tions as  the  Colorado  Cattle  Company,  of  the  Hermosillo  Estate, 
have  undertaken  the  rearing  of  many  thousands  oi  horses  and 
mules,  and  find  the  enterprise  largely  profitable,  even  more  so 
than  catde-breedincr. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  with  any  very  close  approximation 
to  accuracy,  the  present  value  of  the  live-stock  interest  of  Colo- 
rado. So  rapid  is  its  growth  ;  so  sudden  the  transition  from  a 
"  waste,  howling  wilderness  "  to  a  compact  and  populous  State ; 
from  the  sage  brush,  the  alkaline  plains,  and  the  frightful  preci- 
pices and  canons,  to  the  fields  green  with  future  harvests  and 
dotted  all  over  with  thousands  of  cattle,  sheep,  horses  and  mules, 
that  figures  which  frighten  us  by  their  enormous  amount  prove 
strangely  and  ridiculously  inadequate  to  express  the  enormous 
strides  which  every  material  interest  is  making  In  this  land  of 
wonders. 

It  is  known  that  the  increased  valuation  of  the  live-stock 
interest  in  1878  (not  the  total  value,  that  was  many  times  more) 
over  the  previous  year  was  ^6,200,000.  It  is  knowm  also  that  the 
increase  of  the  same  interest  in  1879  more  than  doubled  these 
figures.  In  1880,  from  the  various  causes  we  have  specified, 
they  iiiust  have  doubled  again,  and,  possibly,  much  more  than 
doubled.  When  we  add  to  this  the  receipts,  gains  and  profits 
of  the  farming  industry  for  the  same  three  years,  which  mounted 
in  that  time  from  ^4,000,000  to  more  than  ^13,000,000,  we  have 
an  aggregate  which  for  so  young  a  State  is  astounding. 

Railroads. — No  State  west  of  the  Missouri  river  is  so  thor- 
oughly interlaced  with  railways  now^  completed,  or  soon  to  be 
completed,  as  Colorado. 

At  the  northeast  the  Union  Pacific  enters  the  corner  of  the 


THE   RAILWAYS   OF  COLORADO.  715 

State  at  Julesburg,  on  the  North  Platte,  but  soon  passes  north 
into  Wyoming  ;  at  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  it  controls  the  Colorado 
Central,  which  extends  from  Cheyenne  through  Larimer,  Boulder, 
and  Jefferson  counties  to  Golden,  and  thence  over  another  line  to 
Denver ;  this  road  has  also  its  extensions  in  progress  through 
W^estern  Boulder,  Grand  (traversing  the  Middle  Park)  and  Routt 
counties,  to  Steamboat  Springs,  and  Hayden  to  Windsor,  on 
Fortification  creek,  as  well  as  through  Gilpin  county  to  Black 
Hawk,  and  through  Clear  Creek  county  to  Georgetown,  and 
is  now  building  a  further  extension  through  Summit  county 
to  Leadville,  The  Union  Pacific  also  controls  the  Denver 
Pacific,  which  extends  through  Weld  and  Arapahoe  counties  to 
Denver. 

Under  the  same  general  control  is  the  Kansas  Pacific,  and 
the  newly  reorganized  Missouri  Pacific,  which,  starting  from 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  crosses  Kansas  from  east  to  west,  and 
passes  through  Bent,  Elbert  and  Arapahoe  counties  to  Denver, 

The  Denver,  South  Park  and  Pacific,  which,  starting  from- 
Denver,  had  its  western  terminus  in  1878  at  Webster,  in  Hall's 
Valley,  pushed  on,  in  1879,  to  Breckenridge  and  Leadville, 
reaching  the  latter  city  early  in  iSSo,  and  following  the  west  side 
of  the  Arkansas  river  valley,  crossed  the  main  divide  (the 
Saguache  range)  at  Cottonwood  Pass,  reached  Gunnison  in 
August,  and  is  now  pushing  on  for  Lake  City  (Hinsdale  county), 
125  miles  distant,  which  it  will  probably  enter  by  January,  1881. 
From  Buena  Vista,  in  Chaffee  county,  to  Leadville,  its  trains  and 
those  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway  run  over  the  same 
track. 

From  Denver,  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  goes  southward 
to  El  Moro,  extending  a  branch  alono-  the  Arkansas  river  to  its 
source,  reaching  Leadville;  also  westward  from  Cuchuras.  in 
Huerfano  county,  as  hereafter  described,  across  Costilla  to  Ala- 
mosa, whence  one  branch  goes  to  Del  Norte  in  Rio  Grande, 
and  another  through  Conejos  to  Anemas  City,  in  Plata  county. 

But  the  o-reat  railroad  of  Kansas,  Colorado  and  New  Mexico 
is  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway.  This  railway, 
starting  from   Kansas  City  and  Atchison,  crosses  the  State  oi 


-l5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Kansas  on  the  line  of  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  river,  which  it 
follows  in  Colorado,  through  Bent  and  Pueblo,  where  it  connects 
with  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  en  ro2itc  for  Leadville,  and  at 
La  Junta,  in  Ucnt  county,  sending  an  arm  southwestward  and 
southward  through  Las  Animas  county,  past  the  great  coal  fields 
and  mines  of  Trinidad,  reached  Las  Vegas,  and  crossing  the 
main  chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  paused  for  a  litde  at  Santa 
Fe,  and  is  continuing  its  southern  route  down  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  Grande  to  Mesilla,  New  Mexico,  and  El  Paso,  Texas,  and 
stretchine  thence  across  Chihuahua  and  Sonora — Mexican 
States — will  make  its  southern  terminus  at  Guaymas,  on  the 
Californian  Gulf.  By  its  connecdon  with  the  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco  Railway,  and  the  Adantic  and  Pacific,  to  all  whose 
privileges  it  has  fallen  heir,  it  proposes  also  to  strike  westward 
from  Santa  P^e  along  the  route  of  the  Flax  river,  one  of  the 
affluents  of  the  Rio  Colorado  of  the  West,  cross  Arizona,  bridge 
the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  with  a  single  span  of  400  feet, 
1,600  feet  above  the  water,  and  make  a  western  terminus  at  San 
Diego  or  Los  Angeles. 

Neither  the  Union  Pacific,  the  Northern,  the  Southern  or  the 
Texas  Pacific  has  conceived  a  grander  scheme  for  crossing  the 
continent,  or  prosecuted  it  with  such  unfaltering  energy  and  such 
audacity  of  enterprise  and  engineering  skill.  Its  crossing  of  the 
Raton  Mountains  in  Southern  Colorado ;  its  passage  carved 
along  the  perpendicular  precipices  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the 
Arkansas,  and  its  other  engineering  feats,  have  excited  the  ad- 
miration of  the  oreatest  enoineers  in  the  world.  In  Colorado 
it  has  made  a  close  alliance  with  its  former  rival,  the  Denver  and 
Rio  Grande,  and  the  two  having  divided  Southern  Colorado  and 
New  Mexico  between  them,  the  latter  has  extended  a  line  through 
Huerfano,  crossing  the  Sangre  de  Christo  range  at  Veta  Pass,  at 
the  height  of  9,339  feet,  through  Costilla  county  and  the  San 
Luis  Park,  to  Alamosa,  whence  one  branch  traverses  Conejos  and 
La  Plata  counties,  and  is  now  completed  to  the  Las  Animas 
river,  with  an  eventual  terminus,  perhaps,  on  the  San  Juan 
river;  the  other  branch  follows  the  Rio  Grande  on  the-line  be- 
tween Rio  Grande  and  Saofuache  counties,  to  the  famous  mineral 


EDUCATION  IN  COLORADO.  yiy 

springs  of  Wagon-Wheel  Gap,  and  then  turns  westward  through 
Hinsdale  and  San  Juan  counties  to  Silverton,  where  it  is  to  meet 
an  extension  of  the  Las  Animas  branch  to  and  through  Ouray,  and 
up  the  valleys  of  the  Uncompahgre  and  Gunnison  rivers  to  the 
Grand  river,  and  thence  into  Utah,  Another  important  branch 
of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  east  of  the  Great  Divide 
is  now  in  process  of  construction  from  Canon  City  into  Custer 
county  to  Rosita  and  Silver  Cliff,  the  region  of  the  new  chloride 
mines.  Within  three  years,  and  possibly  less,  there  will  be  no 
county  in  the  State  untraversed  by  some  of  the  lines  of  the  Colo- 
rado Central,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  the  Denver 
and  Rio  Grande,  or  some  of  the  roads  with  which  these  are 
affiliated,  and  the  State  will  have  more  than  2,000  miles  of 
railway.  In  January,  1880,  there  were  1,326  miles  in  operation. 
There  are  now  more  than  1,450  miles. 

The  wagon  roads,  sometimes  built  at  great  expense,  are  for 
the  most  part,  excellent  and  safe.  The  ascents  and  descents  are 
sometimes  frightful,  but  the  drivers  are  cool,  courageous,  and 
thoroughly  skillful  men,  and  accidents  are  very  rare. 

These  remarkable  facilities  for  travel  and  transportation,  so 
speedily  created,  have  aided  greatly  in  the  development  of  the 
State,  and  have  helped  to  place  it  at  once  on  an  equality  with 
much  older  States  in  commerce  and  in  all  the  appliances  of  the 
highest  civilization.  California,  at  the  end  of  twenty  years  after 
her  admission  into  the  Union,  even  with  her  wonderful  growth, 
had  not  the  facilities  already  possessed  by  Colorado  in  the  fourth 
year  since  her  reception  by  Congress. 

Ediicatioji. — Colorado  has  an  excellent  public  school  system, 
modeled  after  the  best  systems  of  the  Western  States,  and  its 
public  school  law  of  1876,  amended  slighdy  by  later  legislatures, 
is  enforced  with  an  enterprise  and  ability  characteristic  of  every- 
thing undertaken  by  the  State.  It  is  fast  accumulating  a  mag- 
nificent school  fund,  and  its  citizens  pay  no  taxes  so  willingly  as 
those  for  educational  purposes.  Its  scattered  population,  espe- 
cially in  tlie  grazing  districts,  has  rendered  the  maintenance  of 
public  schools  difficult  in  some  of  the  counties;  but  wherever 
towns,  villages,  farming  and   mining  districts  and   camps   have 


7i8  O^^^     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

been  established,  there  are  g;ood  scliools  org-anlzed  without 
delay.  Denver  is  noted  for  its  public  schools,  which  are  of 
the  highest  character.  Leadville,  the  same  month  (July, 
1877)  that  it  assumed  its  corporate  character,  though  then  a 
small  mining  camp,  established  a  public  school,  and  has  since 
multiplied  its  schools  as  rapidly  as  they  were  needed.  Greeley, 
Evans,  Longmont,  Colorado  Springs,  Pueblo,  Canon  City,  Rosita, 
Silver  Cliff,  and  all  the  rest,  have  made  haste  to  establish  schools. 

There  is  a  State  University  at  Boulder  endowed  with  lands  by 
the  government  and  supported  by  the  vState.  It  has  a  prepara- 
tory and  a  normal  school  department,  and  is  about  organizing 
its  full  course  of  university  study.  There  is  a  college  at  Col- 
orado Springs  which  has  four  courses  of  instruction — prepara- 
tory, normal,  collegiate,  and  mining  and  metallurgy.  The  terms 
for  tuition  are  only  ^25  a  year,  so  that  it  is  practically  free.  At 
Colorado  Springs  there  is  also  a  State  Deaf  Mute  Institution, 
not  yet,  we  believe,  fully  organized.  There  is  a  State  Agricul- 
tural College  at  Fort  Collins  in  active  operation,  and  Farmers' 
Institutes  are  held  in  connection  with  it  every  winter. 

Aside  from  these  there  are  several  private  or  denominational 
institutions  of  collegiate  character  already  founded,  and  others 
in  prospect.  The  education  of  the  young  in  Colorado  will  be 
amply  provided  for. 

Ckurches  and  Reiin'oiis  Denoininatmts. — When  we  consider 
that  Colorado  is  but  four  years  old  as  a  State,  and  that  many  of 
its  lareer  towns  and  cities  have  not  been  in  existence  more  than 
three  or  four  years,  we  shall  find  that  the  religious  progress  of 
the  State  has  been  very  commendable.  The  Roman  Catholics 
have  a  large  diocese,  a  considerable  number  of  their  adherents 
being  Mexicans,  of  whom  there  are  many  in  the  southern  coun- 
ties, and  many  also  of  other  nationalities  in  the  central  and 
northern  counties.  There  is  also  a  Protestant  Episcopal  diocese 
with  a  smaller  number  of  adherents,  but  very  active  and  efficient. 
The  Methodists,  Congregatiohalists,  Baptists,  Presbyterians, 
Lutherans,  German  Reformed,  and  many  of  the  minor  sects  are 
also  represented  in  the  State  bv  numerous  conofreeations. 

Population. — In    1870   Colorado  had    but  39,864   inhabitants, 


POPULATION,    COUNTIES   AND    CITIES    OF  COLORADO. 


719 


about  what  Denver  and  Leadville  each  have  to-day.  When" 
admitted  to  the  Union,  in  1876,  it  was  considered  doubtful 
whether  she  had  more  than  75,000.  To-day  she  has,  including 
tribal  Indians  (2,530).  197,179. 

Counties. — The  State  has  thirty-one  counties,  viz. : 


County. 


Arapahoe    ... 

B-nt 

Boulder 

Chaffee 

Cl-ar  Cr^ek. . . 

Conejos 

Costilla 

Custer 

Diu^las 

Elbert 

El   Paso 

Fremont 

Gilp  n 

Grand 

Gunnison 

Hinsdale 

H  uerfr  no 

JtifTerson  .... 

Lake   

La  Plata 

Larimer 

Las  Animas  . . , 

Ouray 

Park    

Pueblo   

Rio  Grande. .  . 

Routt 

Saguache , 

San  Juan    .... 

Summit 

Weld 


Coimty-Seat. 


Denver 

Las  Animas 

Boulder 

Granite 

Georgetown 

Conejos 

San  Luis 

Rosita . 

Castle  Rock 

Kiowa 

Colorado  Springs  . 

Canon 

Central 

Hot  Sulphur  Springs 

Gunnison 

Lake  City 

Walsenburg 

Golden 

Leadville 

Parrott  City 

Fort  Collins 

Trinidad . 

Ouray 

F'airplay 

Pueblo 

Del  Norte 

Hayden   

Saguache 

Silverton 

Breckenridge 

Greeloy    

Total 


Valuation,    1878. 


Estimated 

valuation, 

July,  1880. 


^11,076,761  00 
2,279,376  00 
3,097,320  00 

1.932,99'  31 

244,346  00 

.      319. ■^71   90 

500,654  CD 

951,713  00 

1,202,052  52 

3,076,395  00 

946,363  00 

1,827  997  00 

63,866  75 

62,014  00 

564,396  50 

796,038  38 

1,988,51-9  00 

603,858  92 

=54,447  00 
1,502,330  OT 

',455,230  00 

220,622  95 

796,239  00 

3,069,639  00 

501,874  00 

74,661  00 

637,607  00 

255,3';8  00 

169,360  00 

2,583,827  00 


1543.055>4I9  22 


$31,000,000 
5,000,000 
7,000,000 

4,000,000 

750,000 

1 ,000,000 

2,000,000 

1,400,000 

1,300, coo 

5,610,000 

z,5co,ooo 

2,800,000 

100,000 

200,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

2,600,000 

30,000,000 

6  0,000 

3,000,000 

2,'XX>,000 

750,000 
1,500,000 
7,000,000 
1,000,000 

100,000 
1,000,000 

850,000 
1,400,000 
7,000,000 

$126,450,000 


.^rea. 
Square  miles 


4,800 

9,126 

792 

1,240 

437 

2,5=8 
1,685 
1,100 

833 
6,030 
2,628 
1,268 

1-^8 

4,278 

11,060 

1,528 

1,584 
792 
400 

4,095 
1,825 
9,072 

2,333 
2,222 
2,412 

1,332 
5,000 
3.3^2 
726 
8,289 
io,494 


Population, 

1879. 

31,000 

3,000 

12,000 

500 

3,000 

6,000 

4,000 

5,000 

3,000 

2,500 

9, 000 

4,500 

7,500 

500 

i,  =  oo 

4,000 

5,000 

7,500 

15,000 

I, SCO 

5,000 

12,000 

3,000 

3,000 

9,000 

3,500 

300 

3,000 

3,000 

6,000 

7,500 

190,300 

Population. 
June,  1880. 


58,645 
1,654 
9  746 
6.510 

7,^46 
5,605 

2,879 
8,082 
2,4^6 

1,7  9 
7,952 
4,755 
6,4^9 
417 
8,237 

1,499 
4.124 
6,810 
23,824 
1,1 10 

4.t'92 

8,904 
2,670 
3, '■■7''-' 
7,f-i5 
1 ,944 
i.;o 

1,973 
i,cS7 

5,459 
5,646 

194,649 


Cities  and  Tozuns. — The  following  are  the  principal  cities  and 
towns  of  Colorado  with  their  population,  so  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, in  1870,  1875,  1879,  and  iS8o: 


Cities  and  Towns. 


Denver 

Leadville*.  . 

Central. 

Black  Hawk 

Ncvadavillc. 

Pueblo  &  South  Pueblo, 

Colorado  Springs 

Georcctown 

Boulder    

Trinidad 

Golden 

GreeliV.    

I^ke  City 


Population, 

1S73. 

1875. 

1S79. 

18S0. 

4,759 

17,000 

28.000 

35,630 

none 

none 

12,000 

14,820 

4,401 

5,000 

6,500 

7,200 

666 

5,000 

6,000 

6,500 

none 

2,500 

5,000 

6,ox> 

802 

4,000 

5,000 

5,400 

343 

2, 800 

3,200 

4,000 

562 

2,000 

3,000 

3,200 

587 

2,000 

2,500 

3,200 

480 

2,000 

2,500 

2,800 

none 

400 

1,200 

1,800 

Cities  and  Towns 


Canon  City 

Del  Norte 

Rosita 

Silver  Cliff..... 

Kokomp 

Silverton 

Ouray 

Ten  Mile  City.  . 
Brownsville  &  I 
Silver  Plume,  j 
Buena  Vista  . . . 
Carbonateville.  . 
Alamosa 


Population, 
1870. 

1875. 

1S79. 

229 

800 

1,200 

none 

1,200 

1,500 

none 

1,000 

2,000 

none 

none 

1,200 

none 

none 

1,500 

none 

500 

1,000 

none 

none 

1,000 

none 

none 

Soo 

150 

700 

900 

none 

none 

500 

none 

none 

150 

none 

none 

800 

1880. 


1,500 

I, Soo 

4,o<x> 

5,000 

S.oo" 

i,5CKj 

1,200 

i>500 
1,200 

1,000 

1,500 
1,000 


*Tliis  is  within   the  city  limits   alone.      Its   siilmrlis,  which  belong  in  the  miner's  phrase,  to 
the  same  mining  camp,  contain  17,000  or  18,000  more. 


^•20  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Of  course,  in  such  a  heterogeneous  assemblage  of  all  creeds 
and  nationalities,  there  are  many  who  never  attend  public  wor- 
ship, and  who  are  perhaps  open  scoffers  at  all  religion — skeptics 
and  infidels,  either  of  the  more  intellectual  and  prolessedly  scien- 
tific sort,  or  of  the  coarse  brutal  class,  the  American  representa- 
tives of  the  Communists,  Nihilists  and  Socialists  of  continental 
Europe.  The  Mormons,  too,  have  been  planting  their  missions 
in  Southwest  and  Southern  Colorado,  in  the  hope  of  at  least 
winning  a  sufficient  number  of  adherents  to  secure  the  vote  of 
the  representatives  of  Colorado  in  Congress  in  favor  of  the 
admission  of  Utah,  as  a  IMormon  State,  into  the  Union. 

But  it  is  a  very  gratifying  fact  that  none  of  our  newer  States 
have  come  into  the  Union  with  a  better  or  more  deserved  repu- 
tation for  good  order,  safety  of  person  and  property,  and  morality 
in  its  highest  and  best  sense. 

From  its  central  position,  its  rapid  yet  healthy  development, 
its  extensive  and  constantly  increasing  facilities  of  railway  com- 
munication, its  immense  and  as  yet  only  partially  developed 
mineral  wealth,  its  productive  farming  and  grazing  lands,  and  its 
intense  enterprise,  we  may  safely  predict  that  Colorado  is  des- 
tined to  be  the  leading  State  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  and 
not  improbably  the  leader  in  wealth  and  power  of  the  new 
"  Western  Empire."  Two  decades  of  such  growth  and  progress 
as  that  of  the  last  four  years  will  place  it  among  the  grandest  of 
American  States  ;  the  peer  of  New  York  in  population  and  in 
wealth,  and  .exertinfr  an  influence  over  all  the  sisterhood  of 
States  west  of  the  Mississippi  which  will  justify  its  claim  to  be 
the  Empire  State  of  the  West. 


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BOUNDARIES   OF  DAKOTA. 


721 


CHAPTER  V. 

DAKOTA. 

Boundaries,  Area  and  Topography  of  Dakota — First  Settlements — Or- 
ganization—  Rivers — Lakes — Dakota  Divided  into  Four  Sections; 
Northern,  Central,  Southeastern  and  Black  Hills — Characteristics 
of  each — The  Bad  Lands — Fossils  there — Governor  Howard's  De- 
scription OF  these  sections — Governor  Howard's  Address — His  Report 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior — Biographical  Notice  of  Governor 
HowARD-r— The  Surveyor-Gen*:ral's  Report — Northern  Dakota — The 
Description  of  it  by  Hon.  James  B.  Power — Charles  Carleton  Coffin's 
Description  in  the  Chicago  Tribune — The  Correspondent  of  the  Chicago 
Journal — Other  Testimony — Bishop  Peck,  Messrs.  Reed  and  Pell — Cen- 
tral Dakota — The  Account  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway 
Commission — Southeastern  Dakota — Rev.  Edward  Ellis's  Letter — Hon. 
W.  H.  H.  Beadle's  Description — His  Competency  as  a  Witness — Meteor- 
ology OF  Southeastern  Dakota — The  Black  Hills — Mr.  Zimri  L.  White's 
Description  of  this  Region — Climate  and  Meteorology  of  the  Black, 
Hills — Gold-mining  there — Four  Classes  of  Mines — Cheapness  of 
Mining  and  Milling — Altitudes  in  the  Black  Hills — Population  op 
Towns — Farming,  Grazing  and  Market-gardening  in  the  Black  Hills 
— Social  Life  and  Morals  there — Railroads  in  Dakota — Population 
OF  THE  Territory  and  its  Character — The  Future  of  Dakota. 

Dakota  Territory  as  now  constituted  lies  between  the  parallels 
of  42°  30'  and  49°  north  latitude,  and  between  the  meridians,  of 
96°  20'  and  104  west  longitude  from  Greenwich.  There  is  also 
a  small  tract  of  about  2,000  square  miles,  lying  between  Montana, 
Idaho  and  Wyoming,  of  an  irregular  and  partially  triangular  form, 
which  was  overlooked  when  Wyoming  was  organized,  which  be- 
longs to  Dakota,  though  no  jurisdiction  is  exercised  over  it  by 
the  Territory,  and  it  is  at  least  450  miles  from  its  nearest  bound- 
ary. This  litde  tract  is  traversed  by  the  Utah  and  Northern 
Railway,  and  inchides  a  small  slice  of  the  Yellowstone  Park. 
Dakota  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Northwest  British  Terri- 
tory and  Manitoba,  east  by  Minnesota  and  Iowa,  south  by 
Nebraska  and  die  Missouri  river,  and  west  by  Wyoming  and 
Montana.  Its  area  is  150,932  square  miles,  or  96,596,4.80  acres. 
46 


722  ^^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE: 

It  is  about  450  miles   in  length  from   north   to   south,  and  350 
miles  from  east  to  west. 

The  first  settlements  in  the  Territory  were  made  in  the  south- 
east in  1859  in  Yankton  and  vicinity,  but  were  very  few  and 
scattering.  It  was  first  organized  as  a  Territory  in  1861,  con- 
taining then  a  vast  territory,  which  has  since  been  reduced  by 
the  organization  of  other  Territories  till,  in  1868,  it  was  reduced  to 
its  present  area.  The  Missouri  river  traverses  the  Territory 
from  Fort  Buford  in  the  northwest  to  Sioux  City  in  the  south- 
east, and  is  navigable  for  the  whole  distance.  Its  largest  afflu- 
ent, the  Yellowstone,  enters  it  opposite  Fort  Buford,Just  as  it 
enters  the  Territory.  The  Missouri  receives  eleven  or  twelve 
larere  tributaries  on  the  south  side,  and  about  the  same  num- 
ber  on  the  north  side,  within  the  limits  of  the  Territory.  The 
Red  river  of  the  North  rises  in  Lake  Traverse  (latitude  46°),  and 
flowing  due  north  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Territory 
for  more  than  200  miles  to  the  boundaries  of  Manitoba,  and 
enters  Lake  Winnipeg  in  the  northern  part  of  that  province. 
The  Red  river  has  two  large  affluents,  the  Pembina  and  the 
Sheyenne,  and  several  smaller  ones.  The  Souris  or  Mouse 
river,  a  tributary  of  the  Assiniboine,  one  of  the  Canadian  rivers, 
drains  the  northwestern  part  of  the  Territory.  The  Minnesota 
river,  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi,  has  its  source  in  Big  Stone 
lake,  and  several  of  its  affluents  rise  in  Southeastern  Dakota. 

Of  the  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  in  Dakota,  the  principal  on 
the  north  side  are  the  Big  Sioux,  and  the  Dakota  or  James.  The 
latter  is  nearly  400  miles  in  length,  a  river  of  considerable  vol- 
ume, but  is  not  navigable  in  any  part  of  its  course.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  Missouri,  the  principal  affluents  are:  the  Niobrara, 
which  forms  the  boundary  between  Nebraska  and  Dakota  for  a 
considerable  distance,  and  its  tributary,  the  Keyapaha;  the  White 
river,  the  Big  Cheyenne,  with  its  north  and  south  forks  (the  for- 
mer bearing  also  the  name  of  La  Belle  Fourcfie),  the  Owl  river, 
the  Grand  river,  and  the  north  and  south  forks  of  the  Cannonball 
river,  the  Heart  river,  the  Big  Knife  river  and  the  Little  Missouri. 
The  whole  Territory  is  well  watered. 

Dakota  has  very  many  lakes,  some  of  them,  like  Lakes  Minne- 


GOVERNOR   HOWARD'S  REPORT  OF  1878.  723 

Waukan,  Traverse.  Big  Stone,  James,  Kampeska,  etc.,  of  large 
size,  and  all  of  remarkable  beauty. 

Dakota  was  formerly  divided  into  two  or  three  distinct  sec- 
tions, and  since  the  cession  of  the  reservations  of  the  Sioux 
and  other  Indian  tribes  a  fourth  has  been  added.  Northeastern, 
or  perhaps  more  properly  Northern  Dakota,  extends  across  the 
State  fifty  miles  or  more  on  either  side  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railway,  from  the  Red  River  valley  to  the  bounds  of  Montana. 
It  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  very  fine  wheat  region.  The  soil  is 
rich,  deep  and  easily  tilled,  and  yields  large  crops  of  the  cereals, 
and  of  potatoes  and  other  root  crops.  Central  Dakota,  the  new 
division,  includes  much  of  the  former  Sioux  reservation.  This 
is  also  good  land  for  the  cereals,  for  Indian  corn,  the  root  crops, 
and  some  portions  of  it  for  grazing.  The  third  section,  South- 
east Dakota,  is  almost  wholly  farming  land,  and  along  the  river 
valleys  and  the  plains,  which  extend  back  from  them,  there  is  no 
better  land  anywhere  on  the  continent.  The  so-called  Bad  Lands 
{mmcvaises  terres)  of  Southern  Dakota  are  of  much  less  extent 
than  has  generally  been  supposed.  They  are  entirely  in  this 
section,  and  there  are  but  75,000  acres  (about  three  townships 
in  all)  of  them.  There  is  said  to  be  another  small  tract  in  the 
northwest,  but  not  much  is  known  of  them.  The  adjacent  lands, 
though  not  so  good  for  farming,  are  yet  superior  for  grazing ; 
and  the  Bad  Lands  themselves  yield  at  least  an  ample  crop  of 
fossils.* 

The  late  Hon.  William  A.  Howard,  Governor  of  Dakota  and 
previously  Governor  of  Michigan,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  under  date  of  December  i6th,  1878,  thus  de- 
scribed three  of  these  sections : 

"The  Territory  of  Dakota  is  very  large,  being  nearly  400 
miles  square,  or  more  than  four  times  as  large  as  the  State  of 
Ohio.  The  settlements  are  principally  confined  to  three  distinct 
localities  as  remote  from  each  other  as  possible,  and  of  very 
difficult  and  expensive  communication  with  each  other. 

*In  these  Bad  Lands  have  been  discovered  some  of  the  most  remarkable  fossils  yet  found  in 
America.  The  whole  region  is  the  cemetery  of  the  extinct  monsters  of  the  cretaceous  and 
earlier  geologic  ages. 


724  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"The  settlements  of  Southeastern  Dakota,  in  which  is  located 
the  present  capital,  extend  from  Northeastern  Nebraska  mainly 
in  a  northern  direction  up  the  Big  Sioux,  the  Vermilion,  and 
the  James  rivers.  These  settlements  are  extending  north  along 
the  border  of  Northwestern  Iowa  and  Southwestern  Minnesota 
as  far  as  Lake  Kampeska,  and  as  far  west  as  the  James  river. 
Although  the  population  is  sparse  at  present  it  is  rapidly  filling 
up.  Southeastern  Dakota  has  a  population  at  the  present  time 
of  not  less  than  50,000,  and  probably  60,000. 

*'  Northern  Dakota  is  settled,  or  rather  setding,  along  the 
west  bank  of  the  Red  river  of  the  North,  from  Richland  county, 
opposite  Breckinridge,  clown  to  Pembina,  on  the  line  of  the 
British  possessions,  crossing  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  at 
Farofo,  and  extendino-  west  alonof  the  line  of  that  road  to  Bis- 
marck.     Population,  perhaps  40,000. 

"The  other  settlement  is  in  the  Black  Hills,  occupied  mainly 
by  a  mining  population,  and  containing  a  population  at  the 
present  time  of  10,000  at  least,  and  probably  12,000. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  about  350  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  Yank- 
ton to  Deadwood.  But  the  only  feasible  way  of  getting  there 
involves  travel  of  at  least  900  miles,  and  an  expense  greater 
than  the  journey  from  Yankton  to  Washington,  and  requiring 
more  time  to  perform  it.  The  distance  from  Yankton  to  Pem- 
bina as  the  'crow  flies'  is  at  least  400  miles,  and  requires  more 
time  and  expense  than  a  visit  to  the  capital  of  the  nation. 

"  The  three  sections  are  not  only  reniote  from  each  other  and 
of  difficult  access,  but  their  interests  are  separate  and  not 
identical. 

"In  a  commercial  point  of  view.  Saint  Paul  and  Duluth  are 
the  objective  points  of  Northern  Dakota,  while  Chicago  and 
Milwaukee  will  naturally  drain  Southeastern  Dakota.  Mean- 
while the  vast  wealth  of  the  Black  Mills  will  swing  to  the  right 
or  left  as  it  may  best  force  itself  out,  or  as  railroad  enterprise 
shall  open  a  more  direct  way  over  which  it  may  move.  The 
orreat  Indian  reservation  west  of  the  Missouri  river  contains 
56,000  square  miles,  about  the  size  of  all  Michigan,  including 
both  peninsulas.      Of  course  this  will  prevent  settlement,  and 


GENERAL  PROGRESS   OF  DAKOTA.  ^2$ 

tend  to  turn  the  business  of  the  Black  Hills  to  the  south  or 
north  of  itself." 

At  this  time  the  treaty  with  the  Sioux,  which  resulted  in  their 
relinquishing'  the  greater  part  of  their  reservation  in  Central 
Dakota,  had  not  been  consummated,  and  that  reservation  was 
necessarily  a  barrier  to  any  ready  or  easy  communication  with 
the  Black  Hills  throucrh  Dakota. 

Governor  Howard  added : 

"The  resources  of  this  Territory  are  both  agricultural  and 
mineral,  and  of  vast  extent,  only  partially  developed  as  yet ;  but 
enough  has  been  done  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  Dakota,  con- 
sidering her  vast  extent  of  territory,  has  agricultural  resources 
scarcely  second  to  those  of  any  State  in  the  Union.  Dakota  has 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Missouri  river  at  least  60,000  square 
miles  of  land  fit  for  the  plow.  It  is  believed  that  at  least  1 5,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat  will  be  produced  next  year."* 

*  In  an  address  delivered  by  Governor  Howard  at  Yankton,  before  the  Congregational  Asso- 
ciation, November  1st,  1879,  he  said,  among  other  things: 

"  In  1858,  when  it  was  proposed  to  admit  Minnesota  to  the  Union  as  a  State,  it  was  strongly 
opposed  on  the  ground  that  such  a  region  could  never  sustain  the  permanent  population  of  a 
State.  It  was  said  that  when  the  fur  trade  was  exhausted  and  some  pine  lumber  cut,  in  a  few 
years,  the  region  would  be  abandoned  as  it  could  not  sustain  animal  life,  especially  that  of  man- 
kind. But  look  now,  after  only  twenty  years,  at  the  great  State  of  Minnesota  with  its  thirty  or 
forty  millions  of  bushels  of  wheat,  and  filling  up  to  its  utmost  borders  with  a  thrifty  population. 
Here  now  is  Dakota  Territory,  nearly  400  miles  square,  and  it  has  more  acres  of  arable  land 
than  any  State  in  the  Union  except  possibly  Texas.  It  is  more  than  three  times  as  large  as  New 
York  and  about  four  times  the  area  of  Ohio.  It  has  met  the  same  objections  as  Minnesota,  and 
is  now  overcoming  them  in  the  same  way.  Lines  of  railroad  are  rapidly  building  across  our 
rich  plains,  and  new  communities  are  forming  on  every  hand.  I  was  told  that  on  that  part  of 
our  eastern  border  between  Eden  and  Big  Stone  lake  there  was  for  some  time  last  summer  an 
average  of  300  teams  and  wagons  per  day  entering  Dakota.  The  same  is  true  of  Northern 
Dakota,  where  the  marvellous  growth  of  country  and  towns  is  a  constant  surprise.  The  Gover- 
nor alluded  to  Fargo  and  its  growth  and  to  that  of  Grand  Forks  as  about  equal  to  it.  He  then 
touclicd  upon  the  population,  wealth  and  development  of  the  Black  Hills.  He  was  there  just 
after  the  fire  at  Deadwood,  and  spoke  with  eloquence  and  high  respect  for  the  sterling  manhood 
and  self-reliance  of  the  people  under  that  misfortune.  He  noted  special  instances  of  manly 
traits  shown,  of  the  fair  play  exhibited  in  respect  to  disputed  titles  where  so  much  depended  on 
possession.  He  described  the  great  mines  and  the  new  discoveries  and  developments  steadily 
progressing.  His  general  summary  of  the  advantages  and  resources  of  all  Dakota  was  masterly 
and  strong.  He  declared  that  we  now  had  at  least  150,000  population  and  many  thought  more. 
Of  these  one-third  had  come  in  the  last  eight  months  and  one-luilf  in  eighteen  months.  The 
railroads  are  going  forward,  more  people  are  coming,  new  centres  of  population  arc  forming 
and  the  future  is  assured.  The  Governor  then  declared  that  if  every  church  would  quadruple 
its  eflbrls  in  Dakota,  it  would  only  fairly  fill  the  present  needs  of  new  forming  communities.  He 


^26  0^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Hon.  Henry  Espersen,  United  States  Surveyor-General  of 
Dakota,  in  his  report  to  the  United  States  Land  Office,  in  No- 
vember, 1879,  thus  states  the  conditions  of  soil,  climate,  agricul- 
ture and  minerals  of  the  Territory: 

"The  soil  of  that  portion  of  Dakota  lying  east  of  the  Missouri 
river  is  generally  a  rich  clay  or  sandy  loam,  very  little  rating 
below  second-class.  In  the  valleys  of  the  Missouri,  Big  Sioux, 
Dakota,  Vermilion,  Cheyenne,  Red  river,  and  other  streams,  the 
soil  is  exceptionally  rich,  producing  large  crops  of  grain  and 
erass.  In  this  resfion  there  are  no  extensive  areas  of  marsh  or 
sand.  The  country  is  fairly  watered  by  the  streams  named  and 
their  tributaries,  and  by  numerous  lakes  in  the  northern  and 
eastern  portions.  I  have  yet  to  hear  of  the  point  in  the  Terri- 
tory where  water  cannot  be  had  at  a  reasonable  depth  by  dig- 
crine.  West  of  the  Missouri  river  the  character  of  the  soil  is  not 
so  fully  determined,  most  of  that  section  having  been  included  in 
Indian  reservations,  but  as  far  as  known  it  is  generally  good. 
The  district  west  of  the  Missouri  river,  prominently  shown  upon 
early  maps  as  the  '  bad  lands,'  might  be  compressed  into  a  few 
townships.  It  may  be  said,  in  fact,  that  the  proportion  of  waste 
land  in  the  Territory,  owing  to  the  absence  of  swamps,  mountain 
ranges,  overflowed  and  sandy  tracts,  is  less  than  in  any  other 
State  or  Territory  in  the  Union.  In  the  valleys  and  foot-hills  of 
the  Black  Hills  the  soil  is  rich  and  productive,  and  the  rainfall 
abundant  the  past  season.  It  is  expected  that,  in  an  agricultural 
way,  that  region  will  be  self-sustaining  without  irrigation. 

"Owing  to  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere  and  general  even- 
ness of  temperature,  the  climate  of  Dakota  is  very  salubrious, 
and  well  adapted  to  agricultural  pursuits.  The  average  tem- 
perature of  Southern  Dakota  may  be  compared  to  that  of  South- 
ern Illinois,  Northern  Indiana,  and  Ohio.  In  the  northern  por- 
tions the  winters  are  somewhat  more  severe.     In  the  southern 

hoped  they  would  do  so.  Not  only  this  church  but  all  evangelic.il  churches.  He  spoke  of  the 
importance  of  occupying  strategic  points,  of  doing  this  early  and  keeping  up  the  communica- 
tions like  an  army  in  its  campaign.  He  alluded  alsQ  to  education  and  the  munificent  provisiorj 
made  by  the  United  States  for  our  future  schools,  declaring  that  if  properly  handled  it  would 
ultimately  produce  $25,000,000.  He  called  for  such  a  public  senlimeut  as  would  paralyze  any 
sacrilegious  hand  that  should  wrongly  touch  that  fund." 


THE   SURVEYOR-GENERAU S  ACCOUNT.  727 

part  early  frosts  are  very  rare  and  the  weather  very  fine  down  to 
the  first  of  November.  Little  snow  falls  in  the  winter,  and 
sleighs  are  almost  unknown. 

"  The  agricultural  products  of  the  Territory  include  the  whole 
ranq;e  of  those  common  to  the  Northern  States.  Small  grains 
and  vegetables  grow  in  the  greatest  perfection.  Northern  Da- 
kota, particularly  the  Red  river  valley,  is  destined  to  become  one 
of  the  greatest  wheat-producing  regions  in  the  country.  No  sys- 
tematic effort  has  yet  been  made  in  pomology,  but,  from  what 
has  been  done,  there  is  no  doubt  that  when  the  varieties  best 
suited  to  the  soil  and  climate  are  settled  upon,  fruit-growinc^  will 
become  a  profitable  occupation.  At  present,  next  to  grain, 
stock-raising  is  the  most  growing  industry.  The  excellent 
grasses  and  mild  climate  have  given  this  occupation  a  great 
impetus,  and  within  the  past  two  years  large  sums  have  been 
invested  in  young  stock. 

"  Deputy  surveyors  employed  this  season,  west  of  Bismarck 
and  near  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  report  coal 
croppings  at  various  points  near  the  Sweet  Brier  river,  and 
between  that  and  the  Big  Heart  river.  One  vein  in  that  vicinity 
is  being  worked  to  a  limited  extent,  but  the  coal  taken  out  so  far, 
from  near  the  surface,  is  of  a  somewhat  inferior  quality.  Bitu- 
minous coal  has  also  been  found  in  the  Black  Hills,  but  the  vein 
has  not  been  sufficiently  developed  to  determine  its  economic 
value. 

"  No  metals  have  been  found  in  any  quantity  outside  of  the 
Black  Hills.  In  that  district  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  mica  have 
been  found  in  quantities  of  commercial  value.  A  fine  bed  of 
the  latter  is  now  being  worked. 

"Of  the  gold  and  silver  product,  it  can  only  be  said  in  the 
limits  of  this  report  that  it  is  steadily  increasing.  Daily  more 
capital  and  refined  methods  are  employed  in  the  various  mines 
now  open,  and  new  discoveries  are  constantly  being  made.  The 
ease  with  which  the  auriferous  ores  are  worked  makes  profitable 
the  mining  of  very  low-grade  ores.  There  is  said,  by  persons 
competent  to  judge,  to  be  enough  gold  and  silver  ore  'in  sight' 
in  the  Black  Hills  to  employ  the  present  mining  facilities  for  the 
next  ten  years." 


^2$  0^'R     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

In  his  annual  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  bearing 
date  September  13,  1879,  Governor  Howard  used  the  following 
language : 

"The  mineral  product  of  the  Black  ?iills  must  be  at  least 
three  millions  of  dollars  for  the  year,  and  is  rapidly  increasing. 
A  large  number  of  stamps,  for  crushing  the  ore,  and  machinery 
of  every  kind,  have  been  added,  and  it  is  believed  the  product 
of  gold  will  be  more  than  doubled  the  coming  year.  The  mines 
are  proving  rich,  and  the  systematic  working  of  them  is  proving 
remunerative.  The  rapid  development  of  the  agricultural  re- 
sources of  the  Black  Hills  and  the  large  immigration  going  in 
and  producing  food  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mines,  must  lessen  the 
cost  of  living  and  stimulate  production  and  insure  the  reward  of 
all  classes  of  labor. 

"  Immigration  this  year  has  been  large,  far  greater  than  in  any 
former  year,  and  this  large  increase  extends  to  all  parts  of  the 
settled  portion  of  the  Territory — perhaps  about  the  same  per- 
centao-e  of  increase  in  each  of  the  three  divisions.  Southeastern 
Dakota  has  had  a  very  large  increase  of  population.  I  am  told 
by  persons  in  whom  I  have  confidence  that  as  many  as  three 
hundred  teams,  immigrant  wagons,  have  passed  into  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  Territory  daily  through  the  summer.  Quite 
as  large  a  percentage  has  come  into  Northern  Dakota.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  increase  in  the  Black  Hills,  In  the  ab- 
sence of  census  returns  it  is  impossible  to  state  with  accuracy 
our  present  population.  The  swelling  tide  of  immigration  spread 
over  so  vast  a  territory,  much  of  it  in  unorganized  counties, 
makes  satisfactory  estimates  difficult  if  not  impossible.  Well- 
informed  persons  have  estimated  our  population  at  160,000, 
others  at  170,000,  and  some  as  high  as  180,000.  At  the  present 
time  I  think  it  is  at  least  1 50,000,  probably  more  than  that.  The 
immigration  to  the  Black  Hills  has  been  large  and  of  a  very 
satisfactory  character.  They  claim  to  have,  and  I  think  with 
good  reason,  from  25,000  to  30,000  inhabitants. 

"  Railroad  facilities  are  being  largely  increased  in  Dakota. 
We  have  of  completed  railroad  in  the  Territory  about  400 
miles ;  this  will  be  increased  before  January  next  to  over  500 


EDUCATION  IN  DAKOTA.  -^n 

miles.  Several  strong-  corporations  are  pushing-  their  trunk 
lines  into  this  Territory  at  various  places,  as  well  to  carry  the 
products  of  our  rich  soil  as  ultimately  to  reach  the  Black  Hills. 

"It  is  but  a  short  time  since  vast  herds  of  buffalo  roamed  un- 
disturbed over  these  prairies  ;  now  farms  stocked  with  cattle  and 
sheep  everywhere  abound.  It  is  not  long  since  we  were  taught 
in  our  Eastern  homes,  and  in  our  schools,  and  learned  from  our 
geographies  the  story  of  the  Bad  Lands,  the  'Great  American 
Desert,'  and  were  left  to  believe  that  Dakota  for  barrenness  was 
only  equalled  by  the  Desert  of  Sahara,  and  whose  chilling  blasts 
were  equal  to  the  cold  of  Greenland ;  but  since  it  has  been 
demonstrated  that  Dakota  has  a  soil  exceedingly  rich,  has  more 
arable  and  less  waste  land  in  proportion  to  its  size  than  any 
State  or  Territory  in  the  whole  Union,  and  since  millions  of 
bushels  of  grain  are  already  waiting  transportation  to  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world,  capital,  proverbially  timid,  is  stretching  out  its 
arms  and  with  hooks  of  steel  is  drawing  to  itself  the  carrying 
trade  of  an  empire. 

"The  interest  our  people  take  in  education  and  the  moral  im- 
provements is  steadily  increasing.  Schools  are  increased  in 
number  and  improved  in  character;  churches  are  multiplied; 
greater  respect  for  law  than  formerly  is  apparent.  If  we  con- 
sider the  richness  and  extent  of  our  school  lands,  it  will  be  found 
that  Congress  has  provided  for  us  a  school  fund  that,  when  de- 
veloped, will  be  equal  to  that  of  any  State  in  the  Union.  If  no 
sacrilegious  hand  shall  be  permitted  to  squander  any  portion  of 
this  rich  inheritance,  Dakota  will  have  a  population  second  to  no 
State  for  intelligence  and  virtue."* 

It  is  due  to  this  growing  and  enterprising  young  Territory,  so 
soon  to  become  a  State,  and  possibly  to  be  carved  into  two  or 
more,  that  we  should  go  somewhat  more  into  detail  in  regard  to 
the  topography,  soil  and  productions  of  these  different  sections 
of  Dakota,  and  throuQfh  the  kindness  of  the  late  Governor  How- 
ard  and  the  officers  of  the  Territory,  as  well  as  personal  friends 

*It  was  a  great  misfortune  to  D.akota  Territory,  that  in  the  time  of  her  most  rapid  growth 
and  develoimiont,  she  should  have  lost  by  death  tlie  firm  guiding  hand  of  her  wise,  thoughtful, 
generous  and  eloquent  Governor. 


-730  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

whom  he  interested  In  the  matter,  we  are  enabled  to  lay  before 
our  readers  a  much  more  complete  description  of  each  section 
than  has  ever  been  published.  We  begin  with  Northern  Dakota, 
and  give  a  carefully  written  paper,  prepared  for  the  writer  by 
Hon.  James  B.  Power,  ot  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  now  the  accom-. 
plished  and  thoroughly  informed  Land  Commissioner  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway.  Mr.  Power's  opportunities  of  being 
fully  informed  in  regard  to  Northern  Dakota  have  been  excep- 
tional, and  he  has  given  our  readers  the  full  benefit  of  his  re- 
searches. 


"NORTHERN     DAKOTA. 


"The  development  of  Northern  Dakota  in  the  past  few  years 
has  been  perfectly  marvellous,  and  the  vast  plains  which  were 
once  considered  sterile  and  worthless  have  become  populated 
with  thousands  of  successful  husbandmen  whose  labors  on  the 
soil,  which  is  discovered  to  be  as  fertile  as  any  in  the  world,  add 
millions  of  dollars  to  the  common  wealth  of  the  nation. 

"  The  building  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  is,  without 
doubt,  the  greatest  project  of  the  character  ever  undertaken, 
and  it  is,  as  a  well-known  writer  recently  said,  '  of  all  the  pro- 
jected railroads  to  the  western  ocean,  the  one  which  must  be  of 
the  greatest  value  and  importance  to  the  American  people.  It 
is  the  one  which  will  open  to  settlement  by  far  the  most  exten- 
sive, most  fertile  and  in  every  way  most  desirable  regions,' 

"  The  practical  history  of  Northern  Dakota  dates  by  the  logic 
of  events,  from  the  advent  of  the  railroad  within  its  boundaries, 
as  before  that  time  the  great  plains  had  been  almost  unknown 
to  man.  Single  trails  extended  in  direct  lines  to  the  immense 
northern  regions  from  whose  forests  came  vast  stores  of  valuable 
skins,  and  occasionally  trappers  and  hunters  made  expeditions 
along  the  wooded  streams  which,  with  difficulty,  find  courses 
through  the  level  land. 

"  Thousands  of  b'lffalo  roamed  at  will,  findinof  rich  nourishment 
in  the  succulent  grasses,  and  deer,  elk  and  wolves  aided  in 
swelling  the  wild  population  of  the  region,  and  furnished  game 
for  the  tribes  of  Indians  who  made  frequent  hunting  sallies  from 
the   north  and   south.      Explorers    returned  with  discouraging 


MR.    y.    B.    POWER   IN  NORTHERN  DAKOTA.  y->i 

Stories  of  the  utter  uselessness  of  the  soil  and  the  unfitness  of 
the  region  for  human  habitation,  so  that  it  was  looked  upon  as  a 
great  barren  desert. 

"  The  building  of  a  railroad  through  such  a  waste  was  p-ro- 
nounced  absurd,  and  the  project  of  spending  millions  of  dollars 
in  laying  a  track  through  so  extended  an  unproductive  region, 
although  a  rich  country  might  be  reached  fn.dier  west,  was 
scoffed  at,  as  the  wildest  extra vi^^ance. 

"  It  was  known  that  the  immediate  valley  of  the  Red  river  was 
fertile,  for,  fully  twenty-five  years  befoic,  fine  crops  had  been 
raised  at  a  trading-post  of  tlie  Hudson  Bay  Company,  located 
twenty  miles  north,  or  down  river,  from  the  point  at  which  the 
railroad  now  crosses. 

"Several  land  companies  had  been  formed  about  1856,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  lands  of  the  valley  into  market,  but  the 
panic  of  1857  demoralized  them.  Of  course  but  {q\y  of  the 
original  settlers  remain  on  the  land  about  the  old  trading-post, 
but  one,  who  is  now  postmaster  at  Georgetown,  twenty  miles 
north  of  Fargo,  has,  for  twenty-two  years,  cropped  land  plowed 
by  the  company,  and  he  avers  that  it  is  still  too  rich. 

"The  railroad  had  done  a  great  work  in  developing  Northern 
Minnesota,  but,  when  the  operation  of  building  was  commenced 
in  Dakota,  much  hesitation  was  displayed  about  undertaking  the 
cultivation  of  the  prairies  beyond  the  Red  River  valley.  Some 
far-seeing  men,  however,  were  satisfied  that  the  soil  was  admir- 
ably adapted  for  wheat-raising,  and,  in  1875,  the  first  experiment 
of  importance  was  commenced.  George  W.  Cass,  Esq.,  of 
Boston,  and  B.  P.  Cheney,  Esq.,  of  Pittsburgh,  both  directors  in  the 
railroad  company  and  heavy  capitalists,  decided,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  road  and  themselves,  to  test  the  capacity  of  the  land,  and, 
with  that  end  in  view,  bought  7,680  acres  of  railroad  lands  and 
2,560  acres  of  government  lands,  and  caused  two  sections  or 
1,280  acres  to  be  broken  and  prepared  for  wheat.  They  selected 
land  about  twenty  miles  west  of  P'argo,  near  the  present  station 
of  Casselton.  Their  experiment  was  thoroughly  successful,  their 
first  harvest  yielding  an  average  of  twenty-eight  bushels  of  the 
finest  wheat  per  acre.     The   intrinsic  value  of  the   soil   having 


«22  <^^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

been  thus  proved,  the  future  of  Northern  Dakota  was  assured, 
•and,  as  the  brilliant  result  of  the  trial  became  known,  immigra- 
tiv^n  to  the  golden  wheat  gardens  commenced  in  earnest.  These 
cren-tlemen  have  continued  and  extended  their  operations  since, 
and  this  year  from  8,458  acres  they  have  harvested  140,352 
bushels  of  Wheat,  15,867  bushels  of  oats,  and  6,649  bushels  of 
barley. 

"These  fertile  lands  extend'^^^^^thward  to  the  boundary  line 
and  southward  beyond^Iche  line  o^  the  land  grant  to  the  railroad, 
which  reaches,  with  its  indemnity  limit,  fifty  miles.  The  soil  is  in 
many  respects  peculiar.  First  is  a  rich,  black,  clayey  loam,  vary- 
ing from  fifteen  to  thirty-six  inches  in  depth,  possessing  sub- 
stance and  compactness,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  degree  of  mel- 
lowness. Beneath  are  several  strata  of  clay  of  different  varieties, 
some  containing  an  impregnation  of  lime,  which  neutralizes  the 
acids  and  gives  vitality  to  the  land.  The  clay  sub-soil  serves  to 
retain  the  moisture,  hence  crops  would  suffer  little  from  drought. 
Seedinor  is  commenced  in  March  as  soon  as  the  frost  is  out  of 
the  ground  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  inches,  when  the  earth 
becomes  dry.  The  gradual  evaporation  of  the  frost,  which  ex- 
tends to  the  depth  of  from  two  to  three  feet,  keeps  the  soil  in  a 
good,  moist  condition,  forcing  the  crops  rapidly.  This  is  the 
character  of  the  land  from  the  Red  River  valley  to  the  bottom 
lands  of  the  Missouri  river,  with  the  exception  of  a  narrow  strip 
running  from  north  to  south  on  the  divide  between  the  James 
and  Missouri  rivers,  where  a  convulsion  of  nature  has  thrown 
gravel  and  rocks  to  the  surface ;  but  the  land,  even  in  that  sec- 
tion, is,  with  little  exception,  good  for  cultivation  and  excellent 
for  grazing. 

"  Wheat — the  most  profitable  crop  on  account  of  its  being  a 
cash  article,  and  the  proximity  of  a  great  shipping  point,  Duluth, 
but  250  miles  from  Fargo — is  the  staple  of  the  country;  although 
corn,  oats,  barley,  flax,  and  all  root  crops  reach  a  remarkable 
degree  of  perfection.  The  average  yield  of  wheat  is  twenty-two 
bushels  to  the  acre,  but  in  many  cases  thirty  bushels  are  raised, 
and  instances  are  not  rare  where  forty  bushels  and  over  have 
been  produced.     Corn  yields  from  seventy-five  bushels  upward, 


THE    CROPS   OF    NORTHERN  DAKOTA.  733 

and  oats  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  bushels  to  the  acre.  For 
both  of  these  grains  there  is  always  a  sure  market.  From  300 
to  600  bushels  of  potatoes  to  an  acre  reward  the  farmer,  and 
other  root  crops  grow  equally  well,  while  all  are  of  delicious 
flavor  and  of  enormous  size. 

"  In  speaking  of  the  values  of  crops,  the  prices  given  here  are 
those  paid  immediately  after  harvest,  and  of  course  they  advance 
with  the  season. 

''Wheat  this  year  (1879)  has  varied  in  price  from  eighty-five 
to  ninety-five  cents  per  bushel,  and,  of  the  entire  crop  harvested 
in  Northern  Dakota,  but  little  has  graded  No.  2,  while  No.  3, 
No.  4,  and  Rejected  are  unknown  grades.  The  working  of  a 
merciful  decree  of  Providence  appears  in  the  development  of 
these  great  wheat  gardens  at  a  time  when  disaster  and  distress 
has  overtaken  Enofland  and  other  nations  of  the  old  world 
through  the  failure  of  successive  crops. 

"  Corn  brings  from  fifty  to  sixty  cents,  oats  from  thirty-five  to 
fifty  cents,  and  potatoes  from  thirty-five  to  forty-five  cents  per 
bushel. 

"  Experiments  extending  over  five  years  have  demonstrated 
the  fact  that  hardy  apples  of  northern  varieties  can  be  grown  in 
perfection,  while  native  plums,  berries,  and  grapes  thrive  remark- 
ably well  under  cultivation. 

"As  was  before  intimated,  little  or  no  ground  was  broken  in 
Dakota  on  the  Northern  Pacific  line  prior  to  the  year  1875.  In 
1878,  we  find  244,240  acres  under  cultivation,  and,  in  1S79, 
375,972  acres.  This  year  266,618  acres  were  devoted  to  wheat, 
giving  a  )ield  of  5,332,360  bushels,  calculating  only  twenty 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  new  breaking  this  year  (1879)  amounts 
to  173,000  acres,  giving  us  548,972  acres  which  will  be  cultivated 
in  18S0.  It  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  wheat  crop  on  the  line  of 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  next  year  (1880)  will  be  at  least 
8,500,000  bushels.  Two-thirds  of  the  area  of  which  we  have 
written  is  capable  of  yielding  256,000,000  bushels.  Some  timid 
people  aver  that  the  business  of  wheat-raising  is  being  overdone, 
a  groundless  supposition  when  the  entire  wheat  crop  of  the 
world  in  1879  does  not  exceed  1,540,000,000  bushels,  or  only 
about  one  bushel  to  every  human  being  existing. 


734 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


"In  1870  the  portion  of  Dakota  of  which  we  write  could  not 
boast  of  a  single  permanent  resident.  In  1877  the  population 
was  8,700,  with  a  cultivated  area  of  67,900  acres.  In  1878,  popu- 
lation 14,560;  cultivated  area  90,950  acres,  71,740  acres  in  wheat 
and  80,340  acres  of  new  breaking.  In  1879  we  find  a  population 
of  31,500;  179,020  acres  under  cultivation,  142,500  acres  in 
wheat,  and  1 14,000  acres  of  new  breaking. 

"  The  following  are  the  most  important  statistics  of  the  counties 
tributary  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad : 


Counties. 

Population, 
1870. 

Population, 
1879. 

Acres  culti- 
vated. 

Acres  in 
wheat. 

Acres  newly 
broken. 

Cass,      D.  T. 
Traill,        " 
Richland," 
Barnes,      " 
Stutsman, " 
Kidder,     " 
Burleigh,  " 

None. 

n 

(I 
(< 
It 

12,000 
6,000 
3-300 
3,000 
600 
100 
6,500 

31.500 

102,000 
22,950 
31.500 
13,000 

3.770 
1,500 

4.300 
179,020. 

90,000 

18,000 

25.500 

7.500 

1,500 

50,000 
15,000 
18,000 
14,000 
10,000 
2,500 
4,500 

142,500 

I  14,000 

"  The  raising  of  wheat  has  not  yet  been  commenced  in  Kidder 
and  Burleigh  counties,  as  the  demand  for  oats  northwest  of  Bis- 
marck has  been  very  great,  and  they  have  been  grown  at  a  fine 
profit.  Next  year,  however,  a  large  area  will  be  devoted  to 
Avheat,  as  an  extensive  flou ring-mill,  which  has  just  been  co.m- 
pleted  at  Bismarck,  will  consume  upwards  of  300,000  bushels. 

"  The  important  towns  at  present  on  the  line  of  the  railroad  are 
Fargo,  at  the  railroad  crossing  on  the  Red  river,  and  Bismarck, 
at  the  Missouri  river.  Both  are  organized  cities,  and  are  quite 
metropolitan  in  character. 

"  Fargo  contains  a  population  of  3,500,  has  excellent  church  and 
school  buildings,  county  buildings,  and  many  fine  brick  and 
wooden  business  blocks,  and  handsome  residences.  Excellent 
brick  are  manufactured  within  the  city  limits. 

"  Bismarck  has  a  population  of  at  least  2,500,  and  is  almost 
equally  favored  with  Fargo  in  the  number  and  substantial  ex- 
cellence of  its  buildings. 

"  Many  other  places  are  rapidly  developing,  among  them  being 


MR.  y.   B.  POWER'S    TESTIMONY,  y^c 

Casselton,  twenty- two  miles  west  of  Fargo.  From  here  a  branch 
of  the  railroad  is  being  extended  northward.  This  town  has 
already  500  inhabitants,  and  over  ^20,000  has  been  expended 
this  fall  (1879)  in  buildings. 

"Valley  City,  the  county-seat  of  Barnes  county,  on  the  Shey- 
enne  river,  has  a  population  of  600  and  is  growing  rapidly. 
Next  spring  (18S0)  at  least  $75,000  will  be  expended  there  in 
the  erection  of  county  buildings,  brick  blocks  for  bank  and 
stores,  a  hotel,  and  other  edifices. 

"Jamestown,  county-seat  of  Stutsman  county,  on  the  James 
river,  gives  promise  of  a  most  vigorous  advance  in  1880.  It  has 
now  about  400  inhabitants,  a  good  county-house,  a  school-house 
and  a  fine  hotel.  Among  the  contemplated  improvements  are 
a  bank  and  store  bulldincrs,  a  flourincr-mill  and  a  laree  elevator. 
The  James,  or  Dakota  river,  is  a  very  long  stream,  and  it  is 
claimed  to  be  navigable,  commencing  at  a  point  some  miles 
below  the  town.'=' 

"  Besides  the  Red  and  Missouri  rivers,  the  James  and  Sheyenne 
How  through  Northern  Dakota,  and  with  their  numberless  ford- 
ing creeks  supply  the  best  possible  drainage  to  the  vast  arable 
territory.  These  streams  are  well  wooded  in  many  places,  the 
principal  growth  being  oak,  elm,  ash,  soft  maple,  box-elder  and 
Cottonwood.  Their  waters  are  pure  and  palatable,  and,  on  the 
prairies,  excellent  water  is  found  by  digging  from  twelve  to 
twenty-five  feet. 

"  It  has  been  urged  that  these  great  northwestern  prairies  were 
uninhabitable,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  fuel.  A  wise  Provi- 
dence has  provided  for  this  want,  however,  as  from  the  bound- 
less forests  of  Northern  Minnesota  wood  can  be  obtained  in  any 
quantity  at  a  low  price,  while  the  inexhaustible  coal  mines  now 
being  opened  just  beyond  the  Missouri  river,  will  afford  a  limit- 
less supply  of  excellent  soft  coal.  Near  the  river  the  coal  is  a 
soft  and  inferior  lignite,  but  it  hardens  and  improves  further 
west,  there  being,  undoubtedly,  in  the  Yellowstone  valley,  some 
of  the  finest  bituminous  coal  ever  discovered, 

*Ils  navigableness  is  very  doubtful,  and  at  most  only  for  a  very  short  time. 


-^5  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"  The  Red  river,  at  Fargo,  is  Zo']  feet  above  the  sea-level ; 
Valley  City,  1,218;  Jamestown,  1,405;  Missouri  river,  1,609  feet. 

"  It  has  been  alleged  that  no  rain  ever  fell  upon  these  plains — 
whatever  may  have  been  the  case  before  civilization  gained  a 
foothold  in  the  Territory,  it  is  sure  that  the  fact  no  longer  exists, 
for  the  rainfall  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  for  this  year,  to  the 
middle  of  October,  averaged  21.07  inches.  The  largest  amount 
of  precipitation  was  in  the  growing  months  of  May,  June,  July 
and  early  August,  when  over  15  inches  of  rain  fell,  while  during 
the  harvest  month,  September,  but  .o']  inch  fell.  From  the  state- 
ment of  the  Signal  Service  officer,  at  Fort  Buford,  in  the  extreme 
northwesterly  part  of  the  Territory,  it  is  found  that  the  precipita- 
tion was  4  inches  less  in  the  same  time,  the  greatest  fall  being  in 
the  months  of  April,  May,  June  and  July,  and  the  smallest  in 
August  and  September.  It  will  be  seen,  by  the  appended  table, 
that  the  rigor  of  the  low  temperature  in  winter  is  offset  by  the 
small  amount  of  precipitation  and  the  rarity  of  disagreeable 
winter  thaws. 


1879. 


January. . 
February . 
March.  .  , 
April.  .  .  . 
May.  .  . . 
June  . . . . 


August 1 92 

Septeml)er. . 
October.. . . 


Tempekature. 

Humidity, 

Rainf.\i.l. 

St.  Paul, 

Breckenr'ge 

Bismarck, 

Fort  Buford 

>> 

1> 

^ 

•2. 

Minn. 

Minn. 

D.  T. 

D.  T. 

c 

u 

3 

c 

t 

3 

Lat.  44°54' 

Lat.  46^20' 

Lat.  45^50' 

Lat.  48° 

0 

e 

■r. 

(J5 

u 

g 

3 

0 

Max. 

Min. 

Max. 

Min. 

Max 

Min. 

Max. 

Min. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

pr.  ct 

pr.  Ct 

in. 

in. 

in. 

in. 

49 

-26 

38 

-21 

4b 

-29 

45 

-17 

84.7 

77-4 

.11 

•05 

•15 

.02 

SS 

-22 

.S2 

_2 

44 

-26 

44 

-35 

85-5 

81.6 

1. 12 

.40 

.82 

•59 

6S 

0 

61 

19 

68 

-21 

70 

-22 

76-3 

70.6 

•97 

•25 

•58 

•03 

Si 

1.3 

74 

25 

7.S 

II 

81 

24 

71.0 

61.8 

•45 

1.04 

2.60 

2-75 

86 

.IS 

78 

29 

76 

30 

85 

30 

65.2 

58.8 

7.18 

5-42 

3-^^7 

5^56 

915 

44 

89 

42 

91 

36 

89 

38 

75-2 

64.4 

1.76 

2.68 

4-97 

92 

.S4 

90 

44 

9.S 

48 

94 

44 

71. 1 

63.6 

9^32 

3.78 

4.27 

3-63 

92 

48 

90 

41 

90 

41 

98 

41 

71.2 

54-4 

2.78 

2.04 

2.69 

.18 

78 

.36 

92 

34 

81 

25 

95 

20 

69.9 

47.1 

2.26 

2.36 

.07 

.00 

87 

17 

70 

16 

88 

10 

95 

II 

72.8 

64.4 

2.56 

•79 

1.27 

1-55 

"  We  add,  so  far  as  St.  Paul  and  Bismarck  are  concerned,  the 
following  comparison  of  rainfall  in  the  two  places  for  1875,  1876 
and  1877.  We  have  not  the  particulars  of  days  for  1878,  but 
the  results  are  about  the  same. 

"The  follow^ing  table,  for  the  years  1875,  1S76  and  1877,  shows 
the  number  of  days  in  each  month  through  the  growling  season 
in  which  there  was  rain,  and  the  amount  of  rainfall  in  each  month, 


RAINFALL   AT  BISMARCK  AND   ST.    PAUL. 


717 


at  Bismarck  and  St.  Paul.  The  data,  having  been  compiled  from 
the  records  of  the  United  States  Signal  Service  Office,  can  be 
relied  upon  as  correct  in  every  particular : 


i«75- 


Bismarck. 

St. 

Paul. 

Month. 

No.  of  days  in 

which  there 

was  rain. 

Depth  of  rainfall 

in  inches  and 

looths. 

No.  of  days  in 

which  there 

was  rain. 

Depth  of  rainfall 

in  inches  and 

looths. 

March 
April   . 
May     . 
June    . 

July     . 
August 
Seplembei 

■         •         •          • 

12 

9 
l6 

14 
8 

lO 

7 

2.06 
4.22 
3-40 

5.02 

1-53 
2.89 

1.8s 

13 
13 
13 
17 

6 

17 

16 

2.19 

2.27 
3.01 

4-33 
.82 

8.74 
2.16 

T 

otals . 

76 

20.97 

95 

23-57 

1876. 


March       .... 

14 

3-3° 

14 

1-43 

April 

8 

2.77 

14 

2.23 

May 

9 

5-74 

12 

3-15 

June 

3 

1.24 

14 

2.02 

July 

10 

1.48 

II 

2-73         1 

August      .... 

16 

6-55 

14 

5-28 

September      .     .     . 
Totals  .     . 

10 

5-61 

14 

2.99 

70 

26.09 

93 

19-83 

1877. 


March       .... 

20 

0.77 

^5 

I-S7: 

April 

13 

1.32 

10 

1.92? 

May 

27 

4-15 

12 

5-43' 

June 

20 

7.60 

13 

7-13 

July 

10 

2.52 

10 

0.52 

August      .... 

19 

0-35 

1 1 

2.83 

September     .     .     . 
Totals  .     . 

6 

0.1 1 

1 1 

2.56 

"5 

16.82 

82 

21.96 

St.  Paul,  Minn.,  | 
Oct.  3d,  1877.     j 


J.  O.  BARNES, 
Sergt.  Signal  Service,  U.  S.  A. 


"The  climate  is  similar  to  that  of  the  New  England  States, 
except  that  the  atmosphere  is  always  clear  and  dry,  having  none 
47 


--g  CUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

of  that  penetrating-  saline  moisture  so  deleterious  to  health. 
The  average  annual  temperature  may  be  placed  at  about  42°, 
and  the  statistics  of  several  years  place  the  maximum  mean  at 
68°  5'.  and  the  minimum  mean  at  4°  3'.  The  table  given  will 
afford  opportunity  for  comparison.  The  snowfall  is  less  than 
in  the  eastern  and  northern  portions  of  the  Middle  States,  and 
the  thermometer  rarely  falls  to  zero. 

"  The  Red  river  is  navigable  from  Fargo  to  Winnipeg,  even 
at  low  water,  the  government  having  during  the  past  season 
caused  all  of  the  shallow  portions  to  be  dredged.  The  opera- 
tions are  to  be  continued  next  year,  and  the  river  will  be  greatly 
improved  for  navigation.  During  this  winter  (1879-80),  when 
the  ice  is  strong  enough,  the  overhanging  trees  will  be  removed 
from  the  upper  portion  of  the  river,  and  the  stream  rendered 
navieable  for  flat  boats  from  or  near  Breckenrido-e.  As  there  is 
a  larcje  amount  of  wheat  which  seeks  an  outlet  at  Farq-o,  this  im- 
provement  will  prove  of  great  benefit.  It  can  be  safely  estimated 
that  not  less  than  one  and  one-half  million  bushels  of  wheat  will 
be  moved  on  the  river  next  year. 

"A  large  amount  of  goods  is  transported  by  steamers  from 
F'argo  to  Winnipeg. 

"  The  Missouri  river  is  a  very  important  factor  in  the  transpor- 
tation business  of  this  country,  and  navigation  by  it  and  its  tribu- 
taries extends  over  1,500  miles  into  the  northwestern  regions. 
Bv  this  river  immense  freicrhts  are  carried  to  Bismarck,  and  it  is 
not  unusual  to  find  from  fifteen  to  twenty  staunch  steamers  at  the 
levee  there.  The  principal  articles  of  merchandise  brought  down 
are  wool,  skins,  ores  and  cattle,  while  immense  quantities  of 
provisions  and  goods  of  all  descriptions  find  their  way  to  the 
many  military  posts  and  settlements  in  the  still  undeveloped 
res^ions. 

"The  country  thus  far  spoken  of  in  this  article  has  been  only 
that  on  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  within  the 
limit  of  its  land  grant.  Down  the  Red  river,  between  Fargo  and 
Winnipeg,  in  the  rich  valley,  the  country  is  filled  w^th  settlers, 
and  two  important  towns,  Grand  T'orks  and  Pembina,  in  counties 
bearing  the  same  names,  are  thriving  river  settlements,  with  a 


NORTHERN  PACIFIC  R.  R.    WEST  OF    THE    MISSOURI  730 

large  trade  from  the  surrounding-  country.     There  is  undoubtedly 
a  population  of  10,000  in  Grand  Forks  and  Pembina  counties. 

"BEYOND    THE    MISSOURI    RIVER. 

"  Great  interest  is  being  displayed  in  regard  to  the  character 
of  the  country  which  the  railroad  is  now  penetrating,  and  hence 
a  little  space  will  be  devoted  to  it — as  far  as  the  Yellowstone 
river,  to  which  point  the  road  will  probably  be  completed  in  the 
autumn  of  1880. 

"For  138  miles  the  road  runs  through  the  valleys  of  the 
Heart,  Sweet  Brier,  Beaver,  Foot,  Curlew  and  Upper  Heart 
rivers,  all  small  streams  and  somewhat  wooded.  The  valley  of 
the  Curlew  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
world.  All  of  the  lands  in  the  river  bottoms  are  exceedingly 
rich.  Back  from  the  valleys,  both  north  and  south,  rich,  rolling 
prairies  stretch  away,  a  lofty  butte  occasionally  rising  from  the 
plain.  There  is  clear  water  in  every  direction,  running  streams 
and  pure  flowing  springs. 

"Coal  in  paying  veins  is  found  within  forty  miles  of  the  river, 
and  extends  westward  as  far  as  surveys  have  been  perfected.  A 
valuable  quality  of  stone  for  building  purposes  is  found  in  the 
bluffs  and  buttes. 

"The  next  thirteen  miles  of  road  passes  through  bad  lands,  or 
'  Pyramid  Park,'  a  most  wonderful  formation.  The  pyramids  are 
in  every  conceivable  form  and  are  composed  of  different  varie- 
ties of  clay,  argillaceous  limestones,  friable  sandstones  and  lignite, 
lying  in  successive  strata.  The  Little  Missouri  river  flows  through 
Pyramid  Park  at  about  the  centre,  and  in  high  water  is  over  150 
yards  wide.  The  water  is  excellent.  Considerable  timber  is 
found  on  its  banks,  and  the  government  has  just  built  a  canton- 
ment in  a  fine  ash  grove,  near  where  the  railroad  crosses  the 
river. 

"For  forty-five  miles  west  of  the  Little  Missouri,  the  railroad 
traverses  a  beautiful  prairie  plateau — the  soil  and  general  char- 
acter of  which  resembles  the  Red  River  valley  district.  Many 
small  running  streams  flow  through  this  fertile  region. 

"After  passing  through  six  miles  of  broken  country,  being  the 


y.Q  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

divide  between  the  Little  Missouri  and  Yellowstone  rivers,  the 
road  descends  the  lovely  valley  of  Glendive  creek  for  eleven 
miles,  thus  reaching  the  Yellowstone  river  at  a  point  not  yet  de- 
cided upon.  The  country  about  here  is  beautiful  in  the  extreme, 
and  its  fertility  has  been  amply  tested  by  settlers,  who  for  a 
number  of  years  have  raised  fine  crops,  producing  wheat,  oats, 
corn,  melons,  tomatoes,  beets,  cabbage,  turnips,  lettuce,  peas,  and 
particularly  fine  potatoes  and  onions, 

"  For  stock-raising,  no  country  in  the  world  excels  this,  the 
grasses  and  the  climate  being  particularly  adapted  to  such 
business." 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  foregoing  statements  in  regard  to 
Northern  Dakota  are  from  the  pen  of  a  Railroad  Land  Commis- 
sioner, and  so  are  liable  to  be  somewhat  highly  colored.  Mr. 
Power  is  not  liable  to  this  charge,  for  his  tendency  is  rather  to 
understate  than  overstate  the  wonderful  grrowth  of  the  reofion 
he  represents,  but,  to  avoid  even  the  suspicion  of  exaggeration, 
we  append  in  notes  the  testimony  of  competent  observers  who 
have  no  possible  interest  to  misstate  the  facts.* 

*  The  first  witness  we  call  is  Charles  Carleton  Coffin,  Esq.,  better  known  by  his  pen-name  of 
"  Carleton,"  an  eminent  autlior  and  observer,  the  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Tribune.  In 
August,  1879,  he  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Chicago  Tribune : 

"  Red  River  Valley,  August  4. — In  Dakota,  700  miles  northwest  of  Chicago,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Red  river  of  the  North,  during  the  present  week  there  is  a  harvest  scene,  the  counterpart 
of  which  cannot  be  found  on  the  face  of  tlie  earth.  It  is  a  scene  where  science,  invention, 
capital,  and  system  have  reduced  the  cost  of  wheat-culture  to  its  minimum.  Nor  is  there  seem- 
ingly any  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth  where  it  can  be  duplicated:  for  there  is  no  other  loca- 
tion where  the  soil,  climate,  location,  with  other  conditions,  combine  as  in  that  region. 

"  Having  been  one  of  a  ]iarty  of  journalists  to  visit  that  section  during  the  past  week,  I  shall 
speak  of  what  we  have  seen. 

"  There  are  larger  fields  of  wheat  in  California  than  in  Dakota,  but  California  sows  its  viheat 
in  the  fall,  while  the  cereals  of  Dakota  are  all  sown  in  the  spring.  California  has  no  rainfall  in 
summer,  but  is  dependent  wholly  upon  the  rainy  season  in  winter.  In  Dakota  the  summer  rain- 
fall is  sufficient  for  the  production  of  crops  in  perfection.     But  of  this  more  by-and-by. 

"A  few  wordi  of  history  arc  needed  at  the  outset.  In  1S70  and  1871,  at  the  time  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was  begun,  the  newspapers  contained  descriptions  of  the 
country  along  its  line,  which  were  generally  discredited  and  ridiculed.  The  country  was  sar- 
castically called  'Jay  Cooke's  Paradise.'  The  map  issued  by  him  represented  the  isothermal  of 
Chicago  as  bending  northward  to  the  British  boundary,  and  that  of  St.  Paul  as  reaching  far 
away  to  the  Upper  Saskatchewan.  The  country  was  declared  to  be  the  future  wheat-field  of  the 
continent.  Proctor  Knott  ridiculed  the  idea  in  Congress.  After  Mr.  Cooke's  failure,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1873,  and  the  collapse  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  those  who  had  given  such  glowing 
descriptions  of  the  country  were  held  up  to  scorn  and  ridicule, — the  writer  of  this  article  being 


"CARLETON'S'     TESTIMONY.  y^^ 

Of  Central  Dakota,  which  Hes  between  the  parallels  of  43° 
50'   and  46°,  and  extends   from   the  eastern    boundary   of   the 

one  of  the  number.  The  January  numl)er  of  the  North  American  Review  for  January  contains 
a  crushino-  article  by  General  William  B.  Hazen,  who  had  been  stationed  at  Fori  Buford,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Missouri,  and  who,  of  course,  knew  all  about  the  country;  and, 
beinCT  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  his  testimony  could  not  be  gainsaid.  lie  admitted  that  the  Red 
River  valley  was  fertile,  but  beyond  that  the  country  was  in  the  main  worthless.     I  quote : 

"  '  Goiu'T  west  from  the  Red  river  to  the  James  there  is  some  fair  land,  but  much  that  is 
worthless;  and  thence  to  the  Missouri,  little  or  no  available  land,  except  narrow  valleys  of  the 
small  streams.     (Page  1 1.) 

'"Beyond  the  Red  river  the  country  is  not  susceptible  of  cultivation.     (Page  25.) 

"  '  The  country,  with  the  exception  hitherto  mentioned,  is  practically  worthless.'  " 

"  This  was  a  crushing  statement.  The  men  and  women  who  had  invested  in  the  bonds  of 
the  Northern  Pacific  were  informed  that  not  only  the  bonds  were  worthless,  but  the  lands  also. 
General  Hazen  fortified  his  statements  by  copious  citations  from  the  reports  of  other  army  offi- 
cers, graduates  of  West  Point,  and  the  accumulated  evidence  sent  the  bonds  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  down  to  $\0. 

"  But,  while  General  Hazen  was  writing  that  crushing  article,  Mr.  J.  B.  Power,  Land  Com- 
missioner of  the  company,  was  turning  the  sods  on  a  quarter-section  about  ten  miles  west  of  the 
r«.ed  river — the  company  being  determined  to  let  the  world  know  that  the  Red  River  valley,  at 
least,  was  not  a  worthless  region.  That  breaking  was  done  in  June,  1874,  and  sown  to  wheat 
in  1875,  producing  a  good  crop. 

"Oliver  Dalrymple,  of  Cottage  Grove,  near  St.  Paul,  had  made  a  fortune  in  raising  wheat; 
but,  through  unfortunate  investments,  had  seen  it  slip  away.  In  March,  1S75,  he  prospected  the 
country  west  of  the  Red  river,  and  made  up  his  mind  that  Nature  had  given  to  that  locality — 
the  statements  of  army  officers  to  the  contrary  notw'ithstanding — superior  conditions  for  the  pro- 
duction of  all  small  grains. 

"  Meanwhile,  two  Directors  of  the  Northern  Pacific — the  Hon.  G.  W.  Cass,  of  Pittsburgh, 
and  B.  P.  Cheney,  of  Boston — believing  that  the  lands  were  valuable,  had  changed  their  bonds 
into  lands,  and  had  purchased  the  intervening  government  sections  with  Indian  scrip — thus 
giving  them  compact  farms  of  large  area.  Mr.  Dalrymple,  having  made  an  arrangement  with 
them,  turned  his  first  furrow  in  June,  1875,  plowing  1,280  acres,  harvesting  his  first  crop  in  1876. 
Next  year  he  increased  the  acreage,  and  has  gone  on  till  he  has  this  year  20,000  acres  in  crops, 
iS,ooo  being  wheat,  and  the  remainder  oats  and  barley,  used  on  the  farm.  He  has  broken 
5,000  acres  additional  for  next  year. 

"  This  does  not  all  lie  in  one  body;  but  a  portion — the  Grandin  farm,  owned  by  the  Grandiii 
brothers,  of  Tidioute,  Pa. — lies  in  Trail  county,  thirty  miles  north.  The  territory  contained  in  the 
Cass,  Cheney,  and  Grandin  tracts  is  75,000  acres,  of  which  Mr.  Dalrymple,  by  the  fulfilment 
of  his  part  of  the  contract,  will  own  one-half,  or  37,500  acres,  all  earned  since  June,  1874. 

"  I  do  not  propose  to  give  the  statistics  of  Mr.  Dalrymple's  system  of  farming ;  for  your  read- 
ers doubtless  are  familiar  with  them.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  his  wheat  crop  this  year  will  aggre- 
gate between  400,000  and  500,000  bushels ;  that  the  cost  of  production  is  about  thirty-five  cents 
per  bushel;  and  that  the  net  profit  will  be  from  forty  to  forty-five  cents  per  bushel.  He  esti- 
mates the  average  yield  at  from  twenty-three  to  twenty-five  bushels  per  acre.  The  net  profits  on 
the  crop  this  year  will  not  be  less  than  $iSo,ooo!  Talk  about  Leadville!  Here  is  a  bonanza 
which  will  be  profitable  next  year,  and  the  next,  and  the  next. 

"  Here  let  me  say  that  Mr.  Dalrymple  is  too  good  a  farmer  to  exhaust  his  lands.  He  does 
not  burn  the  manure  of  his  stalls,  but  piles  it  in  the  field,  and,  when  it  is  well  rotted,  will  return 
it  to  the  soil;  and  proposes  to  keep  his  land  in  heart  by  plowing  in  clover  and  letting  it  lie 
fallow. 


J. 2  ^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Territory  to  the  Missouri  river,  there  is  not  so  much  to  be 
said,  simply  because  it  is  not  as  yet  much  developed,  most  of  it 

«*  Behold  the  scene  !     Just  think  of  a  sea  of  wheat  containing  twenty  square  miles — 13,000 

acres rich,  ripe,  golden — the  winds  rippling   over  it.     As  f.ir  as  ihe  eye  can  see  there  is  the 

same  golden  russet  hue.  Far  away  on  the  horizon  you  behold  an  army  sweeping  along  in  grand 
procession.  Riding  on  to  meet  it,  you  see  a  major-general  on  horseback — the  superintendent, 
two  brigadiers  on  horseback — repairers.  No  swords  flash  in  the  sunlight,  but  their  weapons  are 
monkey-wrenches  and  hammers.  No  brass  band,  no  drumbeat  or  shrill  note  of  the  fife;  but  the 
army  moves  on — a  solid  phalanx  of  twenty-four  self-binding  reapers — to  the  music  of  its  own 
machinery.  At  one  sweep,  in  a  twinkling,  a  swath  of  192  feel  has  been  cut  and  bound — the 
reapers  tossing  the  bundles  almost  disdainfully  into  the  air — each  binder  doing  the  work  of  six 
men.  In  all  there  are  115  self-binding  reapers  at  work.  During  the  harvest  about  400  men  are 
employed,  and  during  threshing  600 — their  wages  being  $2  a  day  with  board. 

"  It  is  estimated  that  this  combination  of  capital,  with  a  rigid  system,  adds  about  $\  per  acre 
to  Mr.  Dahymple's  profit  over  those  who  farm  in  a  small  way. 

"  In  the  month  of  March,  1875,  when  the  article  of  General  Ilazen  was  having  its  full  force, 
Mr.  Dalrymple  was  walking  over  these  lands,  and  saying  to  himself,  as  he  beheld  the  cjuality  of 
the  soil,  'Intrinsically,  these  lands  are  worth  $25  per  acre.'  He  believed  it,  and  has  demon- 
strated that  they  are  worth  far  more  than  that;  that,  at  that  figure,  they  will  pay  for  themselves 
in  three  years. 

"The  acres  owned  by  Mr.  Dalrymple  are  not  one  whit  better  than  the  average  through  the 
entire  length  and  breadth  of  this  valley,  which  is  400  miles  long  and  70  wide,  and  which  is  fast 
filling  with  hardy  settlers.  Not  only  the  lands  of  the  valley,  but  the  entire  section  between  the 
Red  river  and  the  Missouri — a  territory  containing  80,000  square  miles,  in  Northern  Dakota 
alone,  saying  nothing  of  Montana  and  Manitoba — is  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  oats 
and  barley,  as  will  be  shown  in  another  letter. 

"  The  reason  why  wheat  can  be  produced  more  cheaply  and  to  greater  profit  here  than  any- 
where else,  is  due  to  several  causes: 

"  I.   The  soil  is  admirably  adapted  to  its  production. 

"  2.  The  climatic  conditions.  General  Hazen  showed  that  the  rainfall  over  all  this  section 
for  the  year  was  very  much  less  than  on  the  Atlantic  coast;  but  he  did  not  inform  the  public 
that  nearly  all  the  rainfall  is  in  the  months  of  May,  June  and  July — ^just  when  it  is  needed;  that 
there  is  very  little  in  August ;  that  the  days  are  hot  and  the  nights  cool ;  that,  consequently,  rust, 
blight,  mildew,  sprouting  of  grain  in  the  shock,  are  almost  unknown. 

•'  3.  The  nearness  of  this  section  to  the  markets  of  the  world.  It  is  250  miles  from  the  Red 
river  to  Lake  Superior.  The  tariff  adopted  by  the  Northern  Pacific  is  fifteen  cents  per  bushel 
from  any  point  east  of  the  Missouri  river.  It  costs  from  twenty  to  thirty  cents  to  transport  a 
bushel  from  Bismarck  to  New  York.  This  low  tariff,  and  the  cheapness  of  water-carriage,  give 
the  farmer  at  present  prices  about  ninety  cents  per  bushel,  leaving  him  a  clear  profit  of  about 
forty  cents. 

"  Is  it  a  wonder  that  a  great  tide  of  immigration  is  setting  in  this  direction ;  that  the  railroad 
trains  are  crowded  with  new-comers;  that  hotels  are  running  over;  that  the  Land  Office  at 
Fargo  is  crowded  with  applicants  for  pre-emption  and  homestead  claims?  There  are  millions 
of  acres,  just  as  fertile  as  those  under  cultivation,  awaiting  the  ever-increasing  multitude." 

"Carleton." 

The  correspondent  of  the  C/iicagoyoiirnal,  who  has  a  high  reputation  for  fairness  and  judicial 
accuracy  in  his  statements,  writing  at  about  the  same  time  from  Bismarck,  thus  describes  North- 
ern Dakota : 

"  77ie  Hill  country.     The  wheat-growing  region  is  not,  however,  limited  to  the  Red  River 


THE    CHICAGO    JOURNAL'S   CORRESPONDENT.  y^^ 

having  been  until  January,  1880,  covered  by  Indian  reservations, 
the   title    to  which   was   not  fully   cleared.     It   is   now  open    to 

vnlley,  though  in  these  rich  bottom-lands  it  reaches  perhaps  its  greatest  development,  and  wheat- 
growing  has  thus  far  been  more  extensively  and  successfully  carried  on  there  than  elsewhere. 
Passing  beyond  this  valley  in  Dakota  Territory,  we  reach  a  high,  rolling  country,  which  fur- 
nishes a  striking  contrast  to  the  level  region  we  have  left.  This  roiling  country  extends  from 
the  Red  River  valley  proper  to  the  Missouri  river,  a  distance  of  more  than  150  miles;  and  yet 
so  diversified  is  it  by  a  constantly  changing  formation  and  an  infinite  variety  of  landscape  that 
the  viewer  is  in  a  constant  state  of  surprise  and  delight.  Many  pretty  lakes  nestle  among  the 
hills,  and  there  are  numerous  little  fertile  valleys  through  which  wind  small  streams,  everywhere 
fringed  willi  timber.  It  is  not  easy  to  describe  the  formation  of  this  country,  whose  high,  rolling 
character  is  something  peculiar  to  itself.  It  is  not  like  the  rolling  prairies  of  loua  or  Illinois, 
whose  gentle  undulations  are  here  multiplied  a  thousand  times.  It  is  like,  and  yet  not  like, 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  whose  swells  are  here  reproduced  on  a  far  grander  scale,  but  without  any 
of  the  sameness  which  characterizes  the  rolling  prairies  of  those  States.  It  suggests,  and  some- 
times almost  resembles,  the  sloping  hill-sides  along  the  valleys  of  the  Mohawk  and  Connecticut; 
only  there  is  here  a  vastness,  an  expanse,  a  sense  of  almost  infinite  distance  and  variety,  which 
makes  those  regions,  lovely  as  they  are,  tame  and  narrow  in  comparison.  Looking  from  {he 
car  window  across  some  pretty  valley  or  swelling  prairie,  the  traveller  sees,  a  dozen  miles  or 
more  away,  a  line  of  dark  green  hills,  sometimes  continuous  and  sometimes  broken  into  peaks 
and  knolls,  witli  here  and  there  an  intersecting  valley  and  slender  fringe  of  timber;  and  when 
these  hills  are  reached  he  finds  beyond  them  still  other  ranges,  broken  like  the  first,  and  reach- 
ing on  and  on  in  endless  succession,  until  their  outlines  are  lost  in  the  distance  and  blend  wiih 
the  blue  of  the  horizon. 

"  There  have  Ijeen  many  disputes  regarding  the  productiveness  of  this  region  of  country,  many 
of  the  statements  of  its  earlier  explorers  having  been  looked  upon  as  too  extravagant  or  inten- 
tionally deceptive.  But  whatever  may  be  the  speculations  as  to  the  climatology  of  this  region — 
a  topic  which  has  probably  not  yet  been  quite  mastered  by  any  of  those  who  have  attempted  to 
discuss  it — the  practical  fact  has  been  established  that  the  region  along  the  line  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  road  will  not  only  produce  good  grain,  hut  that  it  is  exceptionally  well  adapted  for  that 
purpose.  Good  crops  of  wheat  and  oats  have  been  produced  all  along  the  line  from  the  Red 
River  valley  to  the  Missouri ;  and  in  the  yield  per  acre,  as  well  as  in  quality  of  grain,  the  results 
have  been  all  that  could  be  desired.  This  year  will  probably  be  the  most  successful  one  in  the 
history  of  the  region,  and  the  result,  so  far  .as  it  can  be  determined,  will  powerfully  reinforce  the 
experience  of  other  years.  In  the  vicinity  of  Bismarck  oats  are  apparently  the  favorite  crop,  on 
account  of  the  fine  local  market  for  government  purposes  and  for  the  subsistence  of  teams  used 
for  the  2,000  freight  w.igons  employed  in  the  carrying-trade  between  Bismarck  and  the  Black 
Hills  and  other  points.  A  good  local  market  is  thus  furnished,  and  oats  here  are  worth  from  fifty 
to  sixty  cents  per  bushel.  On  the  Stark  farm,  a  few  miles  from  this  place — the  scene  of  a  famous 
Indian  battle,  in  1S62,  between  General  Sibley  and  the  Inilians  who  perpetrated  the  Indian 
massacres  in  Minnesota  that  year — your  correspondent  saw  a  magnificent  field  of  oats,  500  acres 
in  extent,  of  which  the  yield  is  estimated  at  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre.  There  is  another  smaller 
field  near  by,  the  yieUl  of  which,  it  is  thought,  will  reach  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre.  On  the 
.Steele  farm  of  over  6,ooo  acres,  forty  miles  east  of  Bismarck,  we  saw  a  still  finer  500-acre  oat- 
field,  the  yield  of  which  is  expected  to  reach  seventy  bushels  per  acre — worth  on  the  track  forty- 
five  cents  per  bushel.  Fifteen  thousand  dollars  is  not  a  bad  result  from  a  single  grain-patch  I 
Potatoes  are  also  largely  raised  here  for  the  frontier  market,  and  pay  a  fine  profit.  The 
completion  of  a  flouring-mill  at  this  place,  now  nearly  ready  for  the  machinery,  will  furnish  a 
home  market  for  wheat,  and  will  doubtless  lead  to  the  cultivati(jn  of  this  crop  after  this  year. 

"Farther  east,  away  from  the  immediate  market  at  Bismarck,  wheat  is  the  principal  crop.   The 


-^  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

settlement,  and  its  30,000,000  acres  of  arable  lands  are  not 
encumbered  by  land  grants  to  railroads  or  wagon  roads.     The 

averace  yield  this  year  is  placed  by  the  most  careful  estimates  at  from  twenty  to  twenty-seveh 
hushels  per  acre.  The  first  wheat  crop  raised  was  in  1874,  when  the  entire  product  for  the 
whole  length  of  the  line  was  but  250,000  bushels.  This  year  a  single  county  (Cass  county,  Da- 
kota) is  expected  to  produce  1,640,000  bushels,  estimating  but  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre.  The 
wheat  will  l)e  worth  about  ninety  cents  per  bushel  at  any  point  upon  the  railroad,  as  the  rate  of 
transportation  is  uniform  along  the  whole  line.  Much  of  the  wheat  goes  to  Duluth,  where  it  is 
worth  .about  the  same  as  at  Chicago;  the  wheat  from  this  section  being  especially  in  demand,  on 
account  of  its  fine  quality,  for  grading  up  No.  2  wheat.  A  good  deal  of  the  wheat  goes  to  St. 
Paul  and  Minneapolis  for  manufacture  into  flour.  With  the  completion  of  the  large  mills  being 
erected  in  Minneapolis  this  year,  that  city  alone  will  manufacture  10,000  barrels  of  flour  per 
day,  or  3,000,000  barrels  per  year.  Such  is  the  surprising  development  of  this  new  and  as  yet 
almost  unknown  wheat  country,  and  such  are  the  facilities  for  disposing  of  its  products.  The 
immense  mills  at  Minneapolis  are  the  corollary  of  the  vast  wheat-fields  of  the  new  Northwest, 
and  the  two  agencies  supplement  and  reinforce  each  other. 

"A  peculiarity  of  wheat-growing  in  this  region  is  the  large  scale  upon  which  it  is  frequently 
conducted.  Capitalists  h.ave  gone  into  it. as  systematically  as  into  manufacturing;  and  farming 
operations  here  assume  proportions  almost  incredible  to  those  familiar  only  with  the  methods  of 
the  older  and  more  settled  States.  On  the  farm  of  Mr.  Dalrymple — who  is  well  called  the  '  boss 
granger '  of  the  region — near  Fargo,  in  the  Red  River  valley,  is  a  wheat-field  of  20,000  acres, 
the  yield  of  which  this  year  is  expected  to  be  something  like  500,000  bushels.  On  this  gigantic 
farm,  which  is  mannged  as  systematically  as  a  railroad,  400  men  are  employed  in  harvesting,  and 
500  to  600  in  threshing.  They  use  250  pairs  of  horses  and  mules,  200  gang  plows,  115  self- 
binding  reapers,  and  20  steam-threshers.  The  men,  animals  and  machinery  are  organized  into 
separate  divisions,  with  a  superintendent  for  each.  Nothing  could  be  grander  than  a  sight  of 
these  immense  wheat-fields,  stretching  away  farther  than  the  eye  can  reach,  in  one  unbroken 
golden  sea,  while  a  long  procession  of  reaping  machines,  in  echelon,  like  a  battery  of  artillery, 
moves  steadily  against  the  thick-set  ranks  of  grain.  Each  machine  is  drawn  by  three  mules  or 
horses,  and  besides  the  drivers  a  superintendent  of  each  gang  rides  along  on  horseback,  like  the 
captain  of  a  battery.  There  are  also  machinists,  mounted,  and  carrying  with  them  tools  for  re- 
pairing any  break  or  disarrangement  of  the  machinery.  When  a  machine  fails  to  work,  one  of 
these  repairers  is  beside  it  instantly,  dismounting  and  examining  the  machinery,  and  unless  the 
break  is  serious,  having  it  in  running  order  again  before  an  unfamiliar  observer  could  realize 
what  had  taken  place.  Thus  everything  goes  on  orderly  and  effectively.  Travelling  together, 
these  115  machines  would  cut  a  swath  one-fifth  of  a  mile  in  width;  and  they  would  lay  low 
twenty  miles  of  this  mighty  swath  in  a  single  day. 

"The  profits  of  farming  on  this  extensive  scale  can  be  very  closely  estimated.  Mr.  Dalrym- 
ple finds  that,  for  the  first  crop,  the  cost  of  preparing  the  ground,  seed-sowing  and  harvesting, 
wear  and  tear  of  machinery,  and  interest  on  machinery  and  land,  amounts  to  $11  per  acre;  and 
for  subsequent  crops,  $8  per  acre.  A  crop  yields,  in  wheat  or  oats,  from  |iiS  to  ;$2o  i)er  acre, 
which  gives  a  very  handsome  profit.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  first  crop  to  pay  all  expenses  and 
leave  enough  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  land.  While  wheat-growing  can  be  thus  advantageously 
carried  on  upon  a  large  scale,  it  can  doubtless  be  followed  successfully  and  profitaljly  in  a  more 
moderate  way;  but  a  small  amount  of  capital  is  absolutely  essential.  Besides  the  purchase  of 
the  land,  the  settler  must  lie  able  to  put  up  buildings,  buy  the  necessary  machinery,  seed,  etc., 
and  also  must  have  the  means  of  living  for  a  year  or  more,  until  his  first  crop  is  harvested.  For 
those  who  can  do  this,  the  low  price  at  which  lands  can  be  obtained  offers  a  desirable  opportu- 
nity for  investment  to  the  capitalist  or  to  thos':  who  seek  new  homes  in  this  growing  and  fertile 


/ 


LIBERAL    LAND- LAWS.  74 j 

quality  of  these  lands  is  said  to  be  generally  not  inferior  to  those 
of  the  Red  River  valley.  They  yield  immense  crops  of  wheat, 
oats,  barley,  corn  and  potatoes.  The  land  is  mosdy  prairie, 
though  the  borders  of  the  streams  are  heavily  wooded.  There 
Is  coal  near  the  Missouri  and  of  very  fair  quality.  The  region 
is  well  w^atered.  The  lands  are  mostly  as  yet  unsurveyed,  but 
can  be  procured  under  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Homestead  Law  by 
soldiers  or  their  families,  under  the  General  Homestead  Act,  the 
Timber-Culture  Act  or  by  pre-emption. 

The  very  liberal  timber-culture  law  of  the  government,  pro- 
tecting forest  tree  culture  on  the  western  prairies,  is  supplemented 
by  a  law  of  Dakota,  which  provides  that  for  every  five  acres 
of  timber  in  cultivation,  forty  acres,  with  all  the  improvements 
thereon,  not  exceeding  ^i,ooo  in  value,  shall  be  exempt  from 
taxation  for  a  period  of  ten  years  from  the  time  of  planting. 
Another  law  of  the  Territory  provides  that  no  land  shall  be 
deemed  increased  in  value  for  assessment  purposes  by  reason  of 
such  timber  culture,  no  matter  how  much  its  real  value  may  be 
enhanced  thereby ;  so  that  any  industrious  man,  no  m.atter  how 
poor,  can  come  here,  and  in  eight  years  be  the  owner  of  240  or 
320  acres  of  land,  with  an  abundant  supply  of  timber  just  where 
he  wants  it,  and  be  entirely  exempt  from  taxation  the  entire  time, 
unless  he  should  put  more  than  $4,000  w^orth  of  improvements 
upon  his  land  during  that  time. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  which  is  building 
railways  in  Central  Dakota,  though  it  has  no  land  grants  there, 

We  might  add  almost  indefinitely  to  this  testimony,  from  unprejudiced  observers.  Rt.  Rev. 
G.  W.  Peck,  one  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  writing  in  October,  1S79, 
of  this  region,  says  : 

"Imagine  a  vast  plain,  somewhat  undulating,  and  yourself  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  splendid 
farms  and  immensely  larger  unbroken  farming  lands  extending  to  the  horizon  in  all  directions ; 
and  then  think  two  thousand  miles  on  beyond — nearly  every  acre  sandy  loam,  vegetable  mould  or 
alluvial  deposits  from  two  to  six  feet  deep  [deeper  than  that,  Bishop,]  the  greater  proportion  of 
the  whole  richer  and  finer  than  the  gardens  of  the  East — and  you  will  begin  to  have  some  idea 
of  this  northern  Northwest." 

Rev.  11.  J.  Van  Dyke,  Jr.,  Newport,  R.  I.,  contributed  to  Harper  s  Magazine  for  January, 
1880,  an  account  of  his  visit  there  in  September,  1879,  and  confirms  the  testimony  of  the  others 
in  the  fullest  degree.  Messrs.  Reed  and  Pell,  members  of  Parliament,  sent  as  commissioners  10 
ascertain  the  causes  of  England's  agricultural  depression,  and  the  advantages  offered  to  agricul- 
tural emigrants  from  Great  Britain  by  Manitoba  and  British  America,  returned  home  with  a  high 
estimate  of  the  superiority  of  Dakota  lands  and  farming,  to  that  of  Manitoba. 


-j.^  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

has  issued  a  pamphlet  encouraging  immigration  to  tliat  region 
for  the  sake  of  bringing  business  to  its  hues,  which  it  proposes 
to  extend  to  the  Black  Hills.  Some  of  its  statements  are 
interesting,  and,  on  the  best  of  testimony,  truthful.     They  say: 

"  It  should  be  understood,  by  the  prospective  settler,  that  the 
lands  of  this  central  belt  consist  almost  exclusively  of  prairie, 
there  beine  no  timber,  save  fringes  alon"-  the  water-courses. 
The  Western  farmer  does  not  need  to  be  told  of  the  ease  with 
which  a  prairie  farm  can  be  brought  under  cultivation  ;  but  the 
farmer  from  the  more  Eastern  States  may  be  informed,  that  all 
that  it  is  necessary  to  do  to  bring  the  prairie  under  cultivation,  is 
to  plow  under  the  prairie  grasses  in  the  same  way  as  he  plows 
the  meadow  at  home  ;  and  at  once  he  has  a  field  that  is  fit  for 
the  reception  of  any  kind  of  seed,  thus  getting  the  land  into  as 
good  shape  for  farming  purposes  as  he  could  do  if  it  had  been 
covered  with  timber  (as  all  of  the  Eastern  States  have  been), 
after  he  had  expended  twenty  to  forty  years'  labor  in  getting  rid 
of  the  timber  and  the  always-following  stumps. 

"  To  ofive  the  Eastern  farmer  some  idea  of  the  cost  of  makinsf 
a  productive  farni  in  Central  Dakota,  we  quote  from  a  very 
readable  article,  recently  published  in  the  Atlantic  AlontJily,  from 
the  pen  of  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  in  the  *  New  Northwest.' 
'  The  Territory  appeals  more  directly  to  the  man  who  desires  a 
farm  of  i6o  or  320  acres,  than  to  him  who  aims  to  emulate  the 
Grandins,  Dalrymples  and  Casses  of  the  more  northern  part  of 
the  Territory,  who  have  their  ten,  twenty,  or  even  forty  thousand 
acres  in  a  farm.'  As  our  estimate  gives  the  cost  of  producing 
one  acre  of  wheat,  with  hired  labor,  we  will  first  say,  that  good 
men  are  plenty  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  at  the  following  wages: 
from  November  ist  to  April  ist,  ^15  per  month;  from  April  ist 
to  May  1st,  $18  ;  from  May  ist  to  August  ist,  ^16  ;  from  August 
1st  to  August  15th,  ^2  per  day;  from  August  15th  to  September 
15th,  $1.50  per  day;  from  September  15th  to  November  ist, 
^18  per  month. 

"  The  following  is  a  careful  estimate  of  the  cost  of  raising 
wheat,  furnishing  everything : 


COST  OF  RAISING    WHEAT. 


1A7 


Plowing  2y^  acres  per  day,  ;^2o  per  month  wages,  77  cents  per  day.  %  cts.  m. 

Per  acre 31 

Interest  on  team  $375,  harness  $25,  plow  $50 — $450.     Per  acre    .     .  02   2 

Wear  and  tear,  25  per  cent,  on  outfit.     Per  acre 112 

Board  man  per  day,  20  cents  ;  team  45  cents.      Per  acre 26 

Stable  men's  labor  and  board.     Per  acre 20 

(Stable  men,  wear  and  tear  and  interest  on  team  and  harness  for  one  ^ 

jj'd'tfr  included.) 
Sowing  35   acres  per  day,  wages  $20  per  month,  77  cents   per  day. 

Per  acre 02   2 

Board,  man  20  cents,  team  45  cents  per  day.     Per  acre 019 

Wear  and  tear  on  seeder,  $55,  25  per  cent.     Per  acre      .....  03  9 

Interest  at  10  per  cent.     Per  acre 02 

Harvesting  (^wire  or  cord  binder)  for  wire  or  cord.     Per  acre    ...  50 

15  acres  per  day,  wages  ^20  per  month,  77  cents  per  day.     Per  acre  .  05    i 

Board  of  man  25  cents,  team  50  cents  per  day.     Per  acre     .....  05 
Interest  on  reaper,  $250,  at  10  per  cent.,  150  acres  per  machine.     Per 

acre ;  16 

Wear  and  tear  on  reaper,  $250,  at  25  per  cent.,  $62.50,  150  acres  per 

machine.     Per  acre 41   6 

Shocking  man,  77  cents  per  day,  10  acres  per  day,  and  board  at  25 

cents.     Per  acre 102 

Threshing,  25  men  at  §2  per  day,  40  acres.      Per  acre      .....  i    25 

Board,  25  men  at  25  cents  per  day,  40  acres.     Per  acre 156 

Interest  and  wear  and  tear  on  thresher  and  engine.     Per  acre    ...  10 
Marketing  man,  77  cents;  board  20  cents;  board  of  team,  45  cents; 

4  acres.     Per  acre 325 

Freight,  13  cents  per  bushel.     Per  20  bushels 2  60 

Incidentals,  including  interest  and  wear  and  tear  on  permanent  in- 
vestment.    Per  acre 2  00 

Total  cost  per  acre $8  69  6 

"This  estimate  makes  the  cost  of  an  acre  of  wheat,  yielding 
twenty  bushels,  placed  in  Chicago,  with  an  allowance  of  ten  per 
cent,  interest  on  the  whole  investment  for  land,  improvements, 
machinery,  tools,  and  stock,  and  also  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  for 
wear  and  tear  of  tools,  machinery,  and  stock,  to  be  $8.70,  not 
including  seed.  Allowing  ^i  for  the  seed  will  make  the  cost  of 
one  acre  of  wheat,  yielding  twenty  bushels,  laid  down  in  Chicago, 
and  paying  an  ordinary  interest,  or  profit,  of  ten  per  cent,  on 
the  entire  investment,  $9.70,  or  forty-eight  cents  a  bushel.  With 
wheat  at  eighty-five  cents  a  bushel  in  Chicago,  this  would  give 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


748 

an  additional  profit  of  thirty-seven  cents  a  bushel,  or  $740  per 


acre. 


"  From  this  calculation,  the  profit  of  a  greater  or  less  yield  can 
readily  be  computed,  the  cost  of  raising  remaining  the  same." 

In  regard  to  climate  they  give  the  following  table,  the  result 
of  the  observations,  we  believe,  of  United  States  officers  at  Fort 
Sully  :=== 


Rain  and  Snow. 

Temperature. 

inches. 

Wet 

Prevailing 

Months. 

days. 

winds. 

Maximum. 

Minimum. 

Rain. 

Snow. 

January    . 

53° 

—  16° 

^V^ 

7^ 

3 

N.  W. 

February . 

55° 

— 20>4° 

^ 

5^ 

2/^ 

N.  W. 

March      .     . 

69° 

-4° 

5^ 

aVa 

7 

W.  N.  W 

April  . 

77° 

8° 

I'A 

0 

8^4 

S.  E. 

May    .      .      . 

89° 

39° 

4K 

0 

A'A 

S. 

June   . 

97° 

69° 

aYx 

0 

6 

s.  s.  w. 

July    .     .     . 

los^r 

72° 

1% 

0 

8 

s.  w. 

August     . 

102.7^'' 

68° 

eji 

0 

7 

s. 

September    . 

93° 

41° 

zH 

0 

?>% 

s. 

October  .     , 

84° 

19° 

aVs 

}i 

11)4 

N.  W. 

November     . 

67° 

29° 

H 

^8 

-> 
0 

N.  W. 

December     . 
Total     . 

49° 

— iS° 

5>< 

5 

N.  W. 

47-75 

24 

69-5 

T->                             .  1     •           " 

•11    1 

.  1 

.1        1- 

t 

.  1 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  climate  is  less  severe  than 
it  is  in  Illinois,  Northern  Indiana,  Ohio,  New  York,  or  any  part 
of  New  England. 

The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  has  two  lines  pene- 
trating Central  Dakota — one  from  Tracy,  Minnesota,  northwest 
to  Watertown,  and  to  be  extended  westward  to  the  James  or 
Dakota  river ;  the  other  from  Tracy  westward  to  Huron,  and  to 
be  extended  to  the  Missouri  river  the  present  season,  and 
eventually  to  the  Black  Hills ;  it  is  hardly  probable  that  any  other 
railway  (except  possibly  a  branch  of  the  Northern  Pacific  to  the 
Black  Hills)  will  for  some  years  to  come  traverse  this  part  of 
the  Territory,  and  their  rates  for  freight  and  transportation  of 
emigrant  movables  and   crops  are  therefore  of  interest.      We 


*  It  is  not  staterl  wliether  this  table  was  for  a  single   year  or  an    average   of  several   years. 
It  was  probably  the  former,  as  the  rainfall  is  exceptionally  large  for  the  latitude. 


COST  OF  EMIGRANT  FREIGHT.  yjg 

therefore  give  them  the  benefit  of  the  following  declaration  of 
their  terms  and  reasons  for  them : 

FREIGHT    RATES. 

Emigrant  Movables, 
per  car.         loo  lbs. 

Chicago  to  Volga,  Dak., $45 -oo     51-25 

"         "  Tracy,  Minn., 45- 00       i.io 

"         "  Marshall,  "         45 -oo       i.io 

"  These  special  rates  are  open  to  all,  whether  settlers  on  com- 
pany's land  or  not. 

"  Tlie  term  emigrant  movables  applies  to  all  household  goods, 
farm  machinery,  wagons,  live-stock,  trees  and  shrubbery,  prop- 
erly included  In  the  outfit  of  Intending  settlers,  but  does  not 
Include  general  merchandise,  lumber,  provisions,  or  grain  (unless 
intended  for  seed,  or  for  feeding  animals  In  transit).  When  a 
car  contains  live-stock  (whether  horses,  mules,  or  cattle),  07ie  vian 
will  be  passed  free  to  take  care  of  It.  Those  who  live  along  the 
lines  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  and  desire  to 
reach  the  Free  Land  District  of  Central  Dakota,  should  apply  to 
the  nearest  agent  of  the  Northwestern  Railway,  who,  If  he  Is  not 
already  supplied  with  rates  to  Tracy,  Marshall,  and  Volga,  will, 
on  application,  be  furnished  them,  as  it  Is  the  Intention  of  this 
company  to  do  all  that  It  possibly  can,  by  the  most  favorable 
rates,  to  have  this  fertile  belt  made  as  accessible  to  Its  patrons 
as  are  any  other  lands  In  the  West.  As  these  lands  are  owned 
entirely  by  the  United  States,  and  are  not,  In  any  manner  or 
form,  controlled  by  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  or 
by  any  other  railway  or  corporation,  no  person  or  corporation, 
except  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  will  be  In  any 
way  Interested  In  their  settlement ;  and  the  only  interest  that  the 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  has,  or  will  have  in  the  set- 
tlement of  these  lands,  Is  merely  that  accruing  out  of  the  fact 
that  after  they  are  settled,  It  will  reap  some  benefit  from  the 
shipments  of  the  products  of  the  farms  along  the  line  to  Chicago 
or  Milwaukee,  which,  as  will  be  seen,  lie  almost  at  their  doors. 
It  may  not  be  necessary  to  suggest  to  the  prospective  setder  of 
these  lands,  that  the  earlier  settlers  in  this  tract  will  have  a  great 
advantage  over  those  who  come  later,  as  the  first  will,  for  many 


ycQ  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

years,  have  to  provide  for  the  recent  comer,  who  thus  will  fur- 
nish a  home  market  for  many  of  the  products  that  will  be  grown 
in  the  next  five  years.  Besides,  as  will  be  noticed  by  our  map, 
these  lands  lie  directly  in  the  course  of  the  traveller  to  the  min- 
ino-  camps  of  the  Black  HilJs,  w^iich,  being,  in  no  sense  of  the 
word,  an  agricultural  district,  will  always  have  to  be  provided  by 
the  nearest  farming-  lands,  not  only  with  provisions,  but  also  w^ith 
horses,  mules,  live-stock  of  all  sorts,  and  forage  for  them,  thus 
offerino-  another  and  verv  valuable  market  for  those  who  occupy 
this  Free  Land  district.  A  third  market  for  the  products  of 
these  lands  will,  for  many  years  to  come,  be  found  along  the 
Missouri  river;  and  as  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway 
will  very  certainly  reach  the  Missouri  river  during  the  year  1880, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  steamboat  lines  will  be  established  from 
the  point  where  the  road  reaches  the  river  to  all  points  on  the 
upper  Missouri,  Yellowstone,  Big  Horn,  and  other  navigable 
streams  in  the  far  Northwest. 

"  The  passenger  rates  announced  are :  from  Chicago  to  Mar- 
shall, Minn.,  round  trip,  $21.85,  single  trip,  $13.65  ;  from  Chicago 
to  \'olga.  Dak.,  round  trip,  $24,  single  trip,  $15.  At  Marshall, 
round  trip  tickets  can  be  purchased  for  any  points  on  either 
of  the  company's  roads  in  Central  Dakota  at  two  cents  a  mile 
each  way." 

We  come  next  to  Sozttheasterri  Dakota,  the  section  w^hich 
has  been  longfest  settled,  or  rather  the  lono-est  known  to  the 
public,  for,  with  the  exception  of  Yankton,  Sioux  City,  and  Sioux 
Falls,  there  are  very  few  towns  in  this  section  that  have  been 
settled  more  than  half  a  dozen  years.  The  region  is  well  watered 
and  the  soil  is  of  the  very  best.  The  railways  now  built  or  build- 
ing in  this  section  make  it  very  accessible,  and  the  Missouri,  Big 
Sioux,  and  White  rivers  add  to  the  means  of  traversing  it.  The 
railways  are  from  Sioux  City  to  Yankton,  Sioux  City  to  Sioux 
Falls,  and  from  the  latter  town  to  Fire-Steel  on  the  James  river, 
already  completed,  and  soon  to  be  finished  to  Brule  City,  on  the 
Missouri.  The  Rev.  Edward  Ellis,  who  has  explored  all  parts 
of  Dakota  within  the  last  two  years,  writing  to  New  York,  in 
May,  1880,  says: 


SOUTHEASTERN  DAKOTA.  yr^ 

"The  most  desirable  part  of  the  Territory  for  a  permanent 
home  is  the  southeastern — first  of  all,  because  of  its  climate.  It 
is  milder  and  more  seasonable,  better  adapted  for  fruit  and  all 
kinds  of  garden  sauce.  The  water  supply  is  also  more  abundant. 
Nearly  all  the  rivers  of  Dakota  converge  in  the  southeast  cor- 
ner. The  geographical  position  of  Southeastern  Dakota  will 
always  maintain  a  decided  advantage  over  the  more  northern 
positions.  There  is  any  amount  of  government  land  that  can 
be  secured  now,  near  the  lines  of  these  new  railroads  which  are 
opening  up  this  section.  Counties  where  desirable  land  can  be 
found  are  Kingsbury,  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Thompson  ;  Miner, 
Bramble,  and  Davidson,  in  the  valleys  of  the  Vermilion  and  the 
James ;  also  McCook,  Turner,  and  Lake,  but  these  last-named 
counties  are  more  thoroughly  settled.  Brule  county,  on  the 
Missouri,  is  reported  to  be  one  of  the  finest  counties  in  the  Ter- 
ritory, and  the  railroad  running  through  the  centre  of  it  makes 
it  a  desirable  point  for  location." 

The  following  communication,  prepared  for  the  writer  by  Hon. 
W.  H.  H.  Beadle,  for  several  years  United  States  Surveyor- 
General  of  Dakota  Territory,  and  now  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  for  the  Territory,  and  Private  Secretary  (until  his 
death)  for  the  late  Governor  Howard,  gives  much  information 
not  easily  attainable  concerning  the  whole  Territory,  but  is 
specially  full  in  regard  to  the  southeastern  portion.  Mr.  Beadle 
is  probably  more  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  whole  Territory 
than  any  other  man  living,  and  is  not,  and  has  not  been,  con- 
nected with  any  railroad  company  or  colonization  scheme  which 
might  warp  his  judgment. 

"  Dakota  Territory  contains  150,000  square  miles  or  96,000,000 
acres,  which  is  nearly  all  prairie.  Southern  Dakota  will  contain 
78,000  square  miles. '='  There  arc  erroneous  impressions  con- 
cernincr  it  which  are  sometimes  favorable,  <j-enerallv  unfavorable. 
To  understand  it  properly,  its  general  physical   features  are   of 

*It  was  a  favorite  idea  of  Governor  Howard,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  that  the  Territory 
should  be  divided  into  Northern  and  Southern  Dakota  ;  the  two  divisions,  or  future  :  tates,  having 
a  nearly  equal  area.  The  southern  half  would  include  the  Black  Hills,  which  would  soon  be 
readied  by  railroad  lines  from  the  East. 


752  <^^-^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  first  importance.  In  the  first  place  but  a  very  small  part  of 
it  is  mountainous,  and  this  part  is  the  Black  Hills,  which  are  hills, 
rather  than  mountains.  Dakota  does  not  lie  among  or  upon  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  If  one  will  begin  in  New  Mexico  and  follow 
along  the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  will  be  found  that  they  run  nearly 
due  north,  through  New  Mexico,  Colorado  and  into  Wyoming, 
where  they  turn  decidedly  westward  and  then  northwestward, 
leaving  outlying  lower  ranges,  spurs  and  hills  to  the  north  arid 
northeast  as  far  as  the  Black  Hills.  The  traveler  upon  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  observes  this.  He  ascends  alone  the 
Platte  and  the  Lodge  Pole  to  or  a  litde  beyond  Cheyenne,  and 
finds  himself  upon  the  elevated  mountain  plateaux ;  and  thence 
westward  he  follows  a  mountain  divide,  from  which  the  country 
is  generally  lower  toward  the  Yellowstone  and  Missouri,  and 
also  southward  toward  the  Bear,  Grand  and  Green  rivers,  of  the 
Colorado.  He  commences  to  descend  into  the  Utah  basin,  and 
the  mountain  rano-e  oroes  north-northwest  throuijh  Idaho  and 
Montana  (including  part  of  Western  Wyoming). 

"Ascending  the  Missouri  river  from  Omaha,  the  course  is 
nearly  north,  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Dakota,  where  it  bends 
decidedly  west  for  over  loo  miles,  and  then  north  and  northwest 
for  300  miles,  where  it  turns  westward  and  heads  far  toward  the 
Pacific  ocean,  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Yellowstone  coming- 
in  from  the  west-southwest. 

"These  features,  in  physical  geography,  materially  affect  the 
character  of  the  surface,  soil,  climate  and  agricultural  products 
of  Dakota.  For  instance,  one  would  naturally  expect  that  the 
heavy  bend  toward  the  west  of  the  Missouri  river  would  bear 
with  it  westward,  the  extent  of  fertile  lands,  etc.,  which  are  found 
in  Eastern  Nebraska.  Then,  too,  the  elevation  above  the  sea  at 
Yankton  is  only  about  1,100  feet,  but  from  this  on  the  ascent 
is  more  and  more  rapid. 

"  The  general  elevation  of  the  plains  about  the  foot-hills  around 
the  Black  Hills  is  from  2,500  to  3,000  feet,  and  this  is  the  highest 
part  of  the  Territory. 

"No  mountains  lie  to  the  north  or  northwest. 

"  The  Continental  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  (and  Missouri)  pass 


MR.   BEADLE    ON  SOUTHEAST  DAKOTA.  -r^^ 

on  to  those  of  the  Red  river  of  the  North,  the  Saskatchewan  and 
the  McKenzie — to  the  Arctic  ocean.  These  streams,  or  their 
tributaries,  interlock  in  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  and  froni  St. 
Paul  to  the  Missouri  river  westward  or  a  Httle  north  of  that, 
is  the  Hne  of  ereatest  elevation  east  of  the  Missouri  river  in 
Dakota,  being  1,500  feet  at  highest  points.  It  is  a  general 
plain  or  prairie,  with  few  hills  even,  except  the  so-called  '  co- 
teaus,'  which  are  nine-tenths  rich  agricultural  or  grazing  lands, 
and  are  not  mountains  at  all ;  merely  regions  of  land  more  ele- 
vated than  the  intervening  great  valleys. 

•'  Most  people  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  '  Great  Plains ' 
of  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Colorado,  etc.  They  lie  in  an  almost  per- 
fect inclined  plain  from  the  foot  of  the  mountains  eastward  to  the 
Missouri  river,  and,  down  this  incline,  the  rivers  are  cut  like 
grooves.  The  general  surface  is  quite  uniform.  Take  this  ex- 
ample to  understand  Southern  Dakota.  It  is  composed  of  two 
such  inclined  plains  upon  a  smaller  plan.  All  that  east  of  the 
Missouri  river  and  up  to  about  the  forty-sixth  parallel  is  a  general 
inclined  plane,  sloping  to  the  south,  down  and  across  which  flow 
the  Big  Sioux,  the  Vermilion  and  the  Dakota  (or  James)  rivers, 
and  the  Missouri  itself.  The  northern  border  is  about  400  feet 
higher  than  the  southern.  That  part  of  the  south  half  of  Dakota 
lying  west  of  the  Missouri  is  another //^/z,?  inclined  to  the  east — 
properly  a  part  of  the  'Great  Plains'  of  the  west  extended  up 
there.  Its  highest  part  is  about  4,000  feet  (mountains)  and 
average  lower  part  about  1,400  feet.  Down  across  it  flow  the 
Keya  Paha  and  Niobrara  (near  it  in  Nebraska),  the  White,  Chey- 
enne, Moreau,  Grand  and  Cannon  Ball  rivers.  This  region  in- 
clines more  sharply,  the  streams  are  more  swift,  and  the  country 
is  a  litde  more  roueh  than  further  south.  The  so-called  Bad 
Lands  occupy  a  small  part  only — not  over  75,000  acres — which  is 
not  good  grazing  lands.  We  will  now  briefly  refer  again  to 
each  one  of  these  reofions. 

"  The  western  part  has,  especially  in  its  southeastern  quarter. 

and  along  the  Missouri  river,  a  fine  body  of  agricultural  lands, 

suited  to  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats  and  corn.     As  one  passes  west 

it  becomes  more  suited  to  grazing,  and  is  covered  with  a  rich 

48 


754  O^'^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

growth  of  the  best  grasses — especially  those  which,  curing  upon 
the  ground,  afford  winter  grazing.     This  has  been  amply  tried 
for    many   years    by   the   herds   kept   by,   and   for   feeding,   the 
Indians.     When    we-  reach    the   valleys   of  the   Cheyenne    and 
Belle   Fourche,    the   agricultural   character  again  decidedly  im- 
proves, and  the   plains   between    these  streams  and  the  Black 
Hills  are  being  rapidly  occupied  as  farms,  stock-ranches,  vegeta- 
ble gardens,  dairy  farms,  etc.,  as  seems  most  profitable,  to  supply 
the  people   in   the   Hills  with    food.     The   valley   of  the   Belle 
Fourche  and  its  larger  tributaries,  is  very  delightful  and  fertile, 
one  of  the  loveliest  summer  views  in  the  West,  wide,  smooth 
and  beautiful.     The  French  called  it  'La   Belle  Fourche' — the 
beautiful  branch — i.  c,  of  the  Cheyenne.     The  Hills  themselves 
are  a   real   wonder-land.     I   have   travelled  throuo^h   them  and 
been    in    the   principal    mines.     The   examination   changed    my 
opinion.     I  look  upon  them  as  surpassingly  rich  in  gold.     They 
are  peculiar — different  from  other  gold  regions.     The  same  rule 
of  expectation  does  not  apply.     They  disappoint  every  one — but 
favorably.     They  are  in  ^vld  somewhat  as  Leadville,  Colorado, 
is  in  silver.     Within  five  years  everybody  will  recognize  this,  and 
within  ten  years  that  region  will  be  a  constant  wonder  in  its  gold 
product.     I  do  not  own  a  cent  of  interest  there,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly.    Railroads  will  be  there   in   two  years  or  less,  and  then 
machinery,  supplies  and  all  conveniences  will  be  cheaper,  so  that 
the  mines  can  be  opened  and  worked  extensively,  and  it  will  be- 
come more  than  ever  a  wonder-land,  because  it  is  known,  and  not 
because  it  is  not  known. 

"Southeastern  Dakota  has  an  area  of  3 5,000  square  miles, nearly 
every  square  foot  of  which  is  rich.  It  is  generally  well  watered, 
has  a  deep  dark  prairie  loam  soil,  mixed  in  places  with  a  very 
small  per  cent,  of  sandy  loam.  It  nearly  all  slopes  slightly  to  the 
south  and  receives  the  spring  rains  and  sunshine,  making  its 
seasons  early  and  its  soil  warm  to  germinate  the  spring  seed. 
Its  great  crops  are  wheat  and  corn,  men  being  divided  as  to 
which  is  the  more  profitable  of  the  two.  Its  third  great  interest 
is  cattle-raising.  These  three  represent  about  equally  the  re- 
sources of  the  farmers.     As  we  go  farther  north,  wheat  domi- 


SOUTHEASTERN  DAKOTA.  ^ec 

nates,  as  the  country  is  newer,  and  this  crop  can  be  more  quickly 
turned.  Farther  south,  corn  equals  wheat  In  Importance,  and  in 
some  counties  stock-raising^  Is  chief.  Take  Yankton,  Clay  and 
Union  counties,  and  during  the  last  year  they  have  sold  about 
2,000  head  of  cattle  each,  mainly  ready  for  beef  or  to  be  fed  tem- 
porarily in  Iowa.  They  have  sold  about  3,000  head  of  hogs  each, 
and  about  one  and  a-half  million  bushels  of  wheat.  These  are 
the  three  oldest  counties. 

"Southeastern  Dakota  has  twenty-three  organized  counties,  a 
population  of  90,000  people,  with  430  miles  of  railroad  in  opera- 
tion— perhaps  460  nearly  so.  It  will  have  700  miles  by  Novem- 
ber I,  1880.  It  has  an  excellent  advance  in  schools,  churches 
and  all  social  organizations.  Its  population  is  consolidated  and 
continuous,  and  it  is  law-abiding  and  enterprising.  Its  villages 
and  towns  are  marked  by  newspapers,  church  edifices  and 
school-houses. 

"The  climate  is  w^armer  than  would  be  expected.  Its  summer 
is  long,  and  corn  matures  and  fully  ripens  every  year.  In  win- 
ter there  are  occasional  stormy  days,  which  are  sometimes 
severe;  but  usually  the  winters  are  fair,  sunny  and  dry.  The 
United  States  Signal  Service  reports  will  show  temperature  for 
a  series  of  years  at  Yankton  and  Fort  Sully — fair  tests,  except 
that  Sully  is  on  the  west  edge  of  the  best  agricultural  lands. 

"  Did  you  ever  observe  the  disappointments  that  meet  people 
•who  go  by  rail  to  California,  Nevada  and  Utah  in  the  hope  of  a 
cure  for  lung  and  other  diseases?  I  have  seen  them  come  back 
suffering  greatly.  The  trouble  is,  the  too  great  and  too  sudden 
change  from  the  more  damp  sea-coast  and  lake  climates,  to  that 
very  dry  air.  But  the  men  of  '49,  the  early  overland  Immigrants 
and  travellers  to  California,  were  celebrated  for  robust  health. 
Their  journey  improved  and  cured  weak  lungs,  bronchial, 
catarrhal,  and  like  diseases.  Why?  They  went  slowly  from  one 
to  the  other.  They  travelled  by  horses  or  with  oxen  across 
Iowa,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Wyoming,  etc.  They  took  a  long 
period  of  out-door  summer  life  in  this  intermediate  region.  The 
same  treatment  will  produce  the  same  results  now.  The  region 
of  the  Missouri  valley  in  Dakota  is  the  best  In  the  world  for  such 


756  ^-^-^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

summer  travel  and  sojourn,  and  should  be  taken  before  the 
transfer  even  to  Colorado,  though  that  is  better  than  California 
at  first.  I  do  not  extend  this  idea.  Its  statement  will  be  under- 
stood, as  the  history  of  the  early  days  gave  the  best  proof  of  its 
value." 

We  add,  on  the  opposite  page,  the  meteorology  of  the  two  sta- 
tions of  the  Signal  Service  Bureau  in  Southeastern  Dakota,  and  as 
Fort  Sully  station  was  changed  to  Dead  wood  in  December,  1877, 
we  have  completed  the  year  from  the  Deadwood  report,  the  lati- 
tude being  nearly  the  same,  though  the  aldtude  of  Deadwood  is 
considerably  higher.  We  give  a  later  meteorological  report 
from  Deadwood  and  Lead  City  farther  on. 

We  come  next  to  the  smallest,  but,  in  some  respects,  the  most 
important  section  of  Dakota,  the  mineral  region  known  as  "  The 
Black  Hills."  Let  Mr.  Zimri  L.  White,  the  accomplished  and 
judicious  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  who  visited 
and  explored  the  Hills  in  the  summer  of  1879,  describe  for  us 
the  topography  and  history  of  the  region.  We  may  say  in  pass- 
ing, that  the  Black  Hills  extend  westward  into  Wyoming  Terri- 
tory, and  are  between  the  43d  and  45th  parallels  of  latitude  and 
the  103d  and  105th  meridians  of  longitude. 

"The  Black  Hills,  or  Cheyenne  Mountains,  are  a  detached 
spur  of  the  Rockies  lying  between  the  two  forks  of  the  Cheyenne 
river  (one  of  the  largest  tributaries  of  the  Missouri),  whose  con- 
fluence is  near  their  eastern  boundary.  The  North  Cheyenne, 
or  Belle  Fourche,  flowing  from  a  point  In  Wyoming  Territory 
west  of  and  nearly  opposite  the  centre  of  the  Hills,  bears  off  to 
the  northeast  and  then  to  the  southeast,  forming  a  sort  of  an  ox- 
bow, while  the  South  Cheyenne  separates  the  Hills  from  the 
Southern  plains.  The  area  thus  embraced  is  about  5,000  square 
miles,  and  may  be  divided  into  three  parts — rugged  mountains 
containing  mineral  veins  and  deposits,  grass-covered  foot-hills 
and  prairies,  capable  of  supporting  enormous  herds  of  cattle,  and 
fertile  valleys  which,  with  or  without  irrigation,  wall  produce  all 
the  grain,  hay,  potatoes  and  other  vegetables  that  the  future 
population  of  the  Black  Hills  can  consume. 

"The  mountains  proper,  as  distinguished  from  the  foot-hills, 


METECROLOGY. 


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758  (>^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

cover  about  two-thirds  of  the  area  to  which  the  name  Black  Hills 
applies.  These  are  generally  steep,  covered  with  pine  forests 
or  the  bare  trunks  of  trees  that  have  been  killed  by  fires,  and 
separated  from  each  other  by  gulches  and  canons  through  which 
small  streams  flow.  These  mountains  are  remarkably  rich  in 
minerals,  although  they  have  not  been  sufficiently  explored  to 
make  it  possible  to  estimate  the  value  of  their  deposits.  The 
gold  mines  are  most  developed,  but  there  are  silver  mines  rich 
enough,  in  promise,  at  least,  to  induce  men  who  have  capital  and 
experience  to  purchase  them  and  to  invest  their  money  in  ex- 
pensive mills  for  reducing  the  ores.  Specimens  of  very  rich  cop- 
per ore  have  also  been  found,  but  I  have  heard  of  no  mines  being 
worked.  Salt  deposits  have  been  uncovered,  and  machinery  is 
now  on  the  way  to  the  Hills  to  enable  the  owner  of  one  mine  to 
try  the  experiment  of  manufacturing  salt  from  the  rock.  Petro- 
leum of  excellent  quality  and  in  inexhaustible  quantities  has  also 
been  discovered,  and  many  wells  are  already  worked.  Coal  has 
been  found  in  considerable  quantities,  and  is  now  being  tested  in 
the  irold  mills  near  Deadwood.  The  eold  mines  exceed  all  others 
in  value,  and  will  probably  continue  to  do  so  as  long  as  there  is 
mining  in  the  Black  Hills,  but  some  of  the  other  mineral  deposits 
are  of  such  character  and  promise  as  to  invite  capital  and  enter- 
prise in  their  development. 

"  The  foot-hills  are  covered  with  the  richest  and  most  nutri- 
tious grasses.  Unlike  the  plains,  where  the  grass-roots  stand 
apart,  leaving  small  spots  of  bare  ground  between  them,  the 
carpet  is  close  and  thick  at  the  bottom,  like  the  tame  grass  of  a 
meadow  in  the  East,  and  when  cut  shows  a  heavy  swath,  and 
cures  either  standing  or  as  hay,  retaining  its  bright,  green  color 
and  its  rich  juices.  These  foot-hills,  where  the  land  is  too  dry 
for  cultivation,  and  water  for  irrigation  is  not  available,  are  ex- 
cellently adapted  for  grazing.  The  grass  furnishes  good  feed 
all  winter,  and  the  winds  blow  the  snow  off  from  the  hills  while  it 
lies  in  the  valleys,  and  the  numerous  canons  and  bluffs  afford 
shellcr  for  the  cattle  durino-  storms.  No  one  now  feeds  or 
shelters  his  cattle  in  the  winter;  the  value  of  individual  animals 
that  may  die  from  exposure  not  being  great  enough  to  warrant 


S/OUX  CLAIMS   TO    BLACK  HILLS.  nrg 

the  extra  expense  of  such  care.  At  the  same  time  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  in  the  end  a  httle  feeding  and  sheUer  would  pay  in 
the  better  condition  the  cattle  would  be  in  in  the  spring  and  the 
better  prices  that  would  be  realized.  It  is  estimated  that  there 
are  now  100,000  head  of  cattle  in  the  hills,  but  the  grass  seems 
hardly  to  have  been  touched.  Stock-raising  will  eventually 
become  one  of  the  most  important  industries  in  the  region. 

"  The  arable  lands  of  the  Black  Hills  are  from  500  to  600 
square  miles  in  extent,  and  consist  of  bottom  lands  along  the 
streams  and  prairies  and  lower  slopes  of  the  foot-hills  between 
the  water-courses.  The  former  generally  need  no  artificial  irri- 
gation, but  the  latter  require  more  water  than  the  rains  furnish 
and  that  is  available  in  sufficient  quandty  in  the  brooks  and 
creeks.     The  ao^ricultural  lands  are  of  marvellous  richness. 

"The  Black  Hills  were  in  the  heart  of  the  Sioux  country  until 
February,  1877,  and  were  so  jealously  guarded  by  the  Indians 
that  white  people  who  visited  them  did  so  at  the  peril  of  their 
lives.  The  Indians  did  not  live  in  the  Hills.  They  had  a  super- 
stition that  the  Great  Spirit  never  intended  these  mountains  for 
the  habitation  of  man.  The  terrific  thunder  storms  which  are 
frequent  here,  perhaps  had  something  to  do  with  this  belief. 
They  said  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  covered  the  Hills  with  trees 
to  furnish  the  Indians  with  tepee  poles,  and  filled  the  foot-hills 
with  antelope  and  deer  to  supply  him  with  food  when  the  buffalo 
were  scarce ;  and  they  frequently  made  excursions  here,  but 
never  remained  long.  From  one  end  of  the  Hills  to  the  other,  I 
am  told,  there  are  nowhere  to  be  found  the  evidences  of  a  lontr 
encampment  of  Indians.  The  Sioux  have  known  of  the  existence 
of  gold  in  the  Black  Hills  for  many  years.  A  third  of  a  century 
ago,  it  Is  said,  they  showed  to  Father  De  Smet,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic missionary,  who  spent  his  life  amongst  them,  and  in  whom 
they  had  the  most  implicit  confidence,  large  nuggets  which  they 
had  picked  up  in  the  gulches.  He  warned  them  not  to  show 
these  nuggets  to  white  men,  as  it  would  arouse  their  cupidity 
and  cause  the  Indians  to  be  driven  out  of  the  country.  Never- 
theless, rumors  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Hills  did  eet  abroad. 
and  evidences  have  been  found  that  a  few  adventurers  came  here 


y5o  ^^^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

in  search  of  gold  many  years  ago,  and  actually  began  to  work 
the  placers.     They  were  probably  all  massacred  by  the  Indians.* 

"Several  government  expeditions  were  made  into  the  Black 
Hills  before  that  of  General  Custer,  in  the  summer  of  1874,  and 
the  report  of  each  showed  the  presence  of  gold  and  other  min- 
erals. The  first  of  these  was  that  of  Captain  Bonneville,  in  1834. 
General  Harney  came  in  here  in  1855,  and  the  highest  peak  in 
the  Hills  w^as  named  in  his  honor.  Other  expeditions  led  by 
Warren  visited  the  Hills  in  1856-57,  by  Dr.  Hayden  in  1858-59, 
and  by  General  Sully  in  1864.  The  dates  of  these  visits  I  give 
on  the  authority  of  a  resident  of  this  city,  as  I  have  access  to  no 
records  by  which  I  can  verify  them.  I  have  said  that  the  explor- 
ations of  each  of  these  parties  proved  the  presence  of  gold  in 
these  mountains;  but  no  excitement  was  caused  by  their  reports, 
because  no  one  supposed  that  the  precious  metal  existed  here 
in  sufficient  quantities  for  profitable  working.  General  Custer's 
expedition  in  1874  is  still  remembered  by  most  newspaper 
readers.  The  practical  miners  who  accompanied  him  reported 
excellent  'prospects,'  that  is,  that  in  washing  out  the  gravel  of 
the  streams  in  pans  they  obtained  gold  in  sufficient  quantities 
to  make  it  pay  for  working.  The  reports  of  these  miners  were 
received  with  incredulity  in  the  East;  and,  during  the  winter  of 
igy^—'^c;,  the  question  was  widely  discussed  whether  there  was 
<jold  in  the  Black  Hills  or  not. 

"  So  great  was  the  public  interest  in  the  discoveries  reported 
by  those  who  accompanied  General  Custer  that,  in  the  summer 
of  1875,  the  Interior  Department  sent  out  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion in  charge  of  Professor  Jenney,  a  young  geologist.  He  came 
into  the  Hills  with  a  train  and  escort,  went  pretty  well  over 
them,  and  made  a  map  of  the  country.  He  discovered  gold  in 
many  places,  and  more  than  confirmed  Custer's  reports  of  the 
previous  year.  Professor  Jenney  did  not  visit  Deachvood  and 
Whitewood  gulches,  the  timber  being  so  thick  that  he  could  not 
get  to  them  with  his  train.  But  the  adventurous  placer-miners 
of  the  West  did  not  wait  for  a  scientific  report  upon  the  country, 

*  Mr.  Robert  E.  Strahorn,  in  his  "  New  West  Illustrated,"  has  traced  tlie  history  of  some  of  these 
parties  who  fell  victims  to  their  adventurous  spirit.  Some  of  llicm  commenced  operations  ift 
placer-mining  as  early  as  1852. 


PROFESSOR    JENNEY'S  EXPLORATION:  76 1 

but  braving  the  hostility  of  the  Indians  and  other  dangers,  they 
began  to  settle  along  the  streams  in  the  Hills  in  the  summer  of 
1875,  and  to  wash  out  the  gold  dust.  The  government  forbade 
all  persons  to  enter  this  country,  and  the  President,  I  believe, 
issued  a  proclamation  warning  people  against  invading  the  ter- 
ritory that  had  been  set  apart  .for  the  Indians.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible to  keep  an  old  placer-miner  out  of  gulches  where  there  are 
'  pay  streaks ; '  he  will  go  through  fire  and  water  to  reach  new 
diggings.  Hundreds  of  men  came  in  here  in  spite  of  the  proc- 
lamation and  in  spite  of  the  orders  to  military  commanders  to 
arrest  people  found  on  the  road  or  in  the  Hills.  The  soldiers 
even  came  to  the  Black  Hills,  and  going  up  and  down  the 
gulches,  gathered  up  the  miners,  confiscated  their  provisions, 
and  took  them  to  Fort  Laramie  or  to  the  military  posts  on  the 
Upper  Missouri.  But  the  adventurers  came  in  here  faster  than 
the  soldiers  could  take  them  out,  and  most  of  those  arrested, 
even,  as  soon  as  they  were  released,  as  they  all  were  when  a 
military  station  was  reached,  came  directly  back  if  they  had 
money  enough  to  procure  provisions.  The  government,  having 
told  the  people  through  its  exploring  expeditions  that  there  was 
gold  in  the  Black  Hills,  could  not  keep  them  out  without  send- 
ing its  whole  army  to  guard  the  avenues  of  approach,  and  the 
policy  of  forcible  removal  was  abandoned  about  the  middle  of 
November. 

"The  men  who  came  to  the  Hills  in  1875  and  the  following 
winter  settled  principally  in  the  southern  part,  on  Spring  and 
French  creeks.  Custer  City  was  the  most  important  town,  and 
Rockerville  also  became  the  centre  of  rich  placer  diggings.  The 
mines  in  that  region  were  all  in  the  gulches,  and  during  the  first 
year  considerable  quantities  of  gold  dust  were  taken  out.  I 
have  not  visited  that  region,  but  1  have  been  told  by  a  gentleman 
whose  experience  and  scientific  attainments  cause  one  to  have 
great  confidence  in  him,  that  there  are  on  Spring  and  French 
creeks  the  largest  placer  deposits  in  the  world.  He  saw  a  man 
dig  up  a  wagon-load  of  the  gravel  and  haul  it  to  a  small  creek 
where  he  washed  out  ^46  worth  of  gold  from  it.  This  deposit, 
this  gentleman   says,  he  has  examined   for  a  distance  of  fifteen 


'j(i2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

miles  in  lenf^th  and  twelve  miles  in  width.  It  is  not  all  as  rich, 
by  any  means,  as  the  wagon-load  of  which  he  spoke.  Gold 
always  runs  in  streaks,  but  the  extent  of  it  is  very  great.  It  is 
not  now  available  for  the  want  of  water, 

"When  the  discoveries  of  gold  in  Deadwood  and  Whitewood 
gulches,  on  the  site  of  this  city,  .and  above  and  below  it,  were 
made,  the  first  workings  were  very  rich,  and  the  fame  of  them 
soon  attracted  the  people  here  from  all  parts  of  the  Hills.  Cus- 
ter City  was  almost  deserted,  and  for  a  year  or  so  Deadwood 
was  one  of  the  liveliest  mining  camps  in  the  country.  But, 
although  the  placer-mines  in  these  two  gulches  and  their  tribu- 
taries paid  well  for  a  time,  the  prosperity  they  brought  was  only 
temporary,  and,  if  cjuartz  mines  had  not  been  discovered  and 
opened,  Deadwood  would  now  be  a  deserted  village.  Out  of 
fifty  placer  claims,  a  dozen  or  so  are  now  being  worked,  chiefly 
by  Chinamen  who  pay  to  the  owners  fifty  cents  a  day  royalty 
for  each  man  who  works.  By  carefully  washing  over  the  tail- 
ino^s  and  the  orravel  which  was  left  because  it  was  'lean,'  these 
Chinamen  are  able  to  earn  from  ^i  to  $1.50  a  day,  and  with  that 
they  are  contented. 

"The  existence  of  veins  of  quartz  in  the  hills  above  Dead- 
wood  was  known  to  the  early  miners  here,  but  none  of  them 
seem  to  have  appreciated  their  value.  When  they  '  prospected  ' 
them  they  showed  only  from  ^2  to  ^15  worth  of  gold  to  a  ton 
of  ore,  and  nobody  seemed  to  think  that  ore  of  that  grade  would 
pay  for  mining  and  milling.  And  the  first  attempts  to  reduce 
the  quartz  here  were  failures  pecuniarily,  and  none  of  them  can 
be  said  to  have  been  really  profitable  until  the  California  capi- 
talists came  here,  developed  the  mines,  and  began  to  take  out 
and  reduce  the  ore  on  a  large  scale. 

"  Very  few  valuable  quartz  gold  mines,  or  mines  which  by 
sufficient  development  have  been  proved  to  be  valuable,  have 
yet  been  discovered  outside  of  the  great  belt  above  this  town. 
One  or  two  mines  which  promise  well  are  said  to  have  been 
opened  in  the  Rockford  District,  about  twenty-five  miles  south 
of  here.  I  shall  visit  that  region  and  probably  write  a  letter 
from  there.     A  new  mine  has  also  been  discovered  near  Custer 


CLIMATE    OF   THE   BLACK  HILLS.  75, 

City,  from  wliich  some  astonishinorly  rich  ore  has  been  taken. 
The  reduction  of  about  800  pounds  of  that  ore,  and  the  obtain- 
ing- from  it  of  gold  at  the  rate  of  $147  a  ton,  has  caused  con- 
siderable excitement  in  Deadvvood. 

*' In  closing-  this  general  description  of  the  Black  Hills,  I  may 
say  that  the  country  looks  as  though  it  had  been  settled  ten  years 
instead  of  three.  In  the  mines  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  pos- 
sibility of  accomplishing  as  much  as  has  been  done  in  two 
years.  The  farms  that  are  cultivated  have  already  lost  their 
appearance  of  newness,  if  they  ever  had  it.  Good  roads  have 
been  built  in  every  direction  over  and  around  the  Hills,  and 
travel  is  as  safe  upon  them  as  upon  a  New  England  or  New 
York  turnpike.  Two  years  ago  (in  1877)  camping  equipage  was 
a  necessity  for  the  traveller,  now  there  are  comfortable  wayside 
inns  every  twenty-five  miles,  and  frequently  at  shorter  intervals. 
The  game  that  abounded  in  the  hills  has  disappeared,  and  civiliza- 
tion has  already  gained  the  mastery. 

"  The  climate  of  the  Black  Hills  is,  on  the  whole,  delightful. 
The  elevation  is  sufficient  (from  4,000  to  6,000  feet)  to  make  the 
air  pleasant  without  being  too  much  rarefied  for  health  or  com- 
fort. The  midday  sun  is  somedmes  hot,  but  on  no  one  of  the 
past  ten  days  (in  the  middle  of  July)  has  the  heat  been  oppres- 
sive, and  the  nights  are  delightfully  cool.  I  have  slept  under 
blankets  every  night  since  I  came  to  Deadwood,  and  one  or  two 
evenings  I  found  a  light  overcoat  comfortable  when  going  out 
upon  the  street.  The  winters  here  are  rather  long,  the  latitude 
being  about  that  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota;  but  the  towns  are  all 
situated  in  the  canons  and  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  which 
shield  them  from  the  cold  winds  and  temper  the  rigor  of  the 
climate.  During  the  last  three  years  the  summers  have  been 
long  enough  to  ripen  all  kinds  of  grain  and  vegetables.  During 
the  first  year  after  the  settlement  of  Deadwood  there  was  con- 
siderable sickness  here,  the  prevailing  disease  being  mountain 
fever.  This  was  probably  caused  by  digging  up  the  gulches,  the 
banks  of  which  in  many  places  were  covered  with  a  rank  growth 
of  vegetation.  There  is  now  probably  no  more  healthful  place 
in  the  United  States  than  this  city,  and  I  know  of  few  more  com- 
fortable ones  in  summer,  if  the  climate  alone  is  considered." 


764 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Sergeant  J.  O'Dowd.  of  the  United  States  Signal  Service  at 
Deadwood,  furnislies  the  following  summary  of  the  meteorology 
of  that  city  for  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1879.  The  observations 
from  July  ist  to  December,  1878,  were  taken  at  Lead  City,  two 
miles  from  Deadwood,  and  at  several  hundred  feet  higher  altitude- 


1878. 

4> 

>> 

si 

a 

H 

92 
85 

86 
72 

Lowest 
Temperature. 

bo 
c    . 

Total  rainf.ill, 
inches. 

c    . 

.r   0 
•TO   C 

C    ^ 

July 

August 

September    .... 
October 

67.14 
65-85 
49-15 
39-58 

63-25 
62.80 

63.16 

60.50 

41 
46 
27 

6 

s. 
s. 
s. 

N.  W. 

5-77 
2.61 

2.06 

I. Si 

16 

9 
8 

13 

November     .... 
December     .... 

1S7Q 

36.72 
18.26 

63.67 

72.47 

66 

54 

3 
—25 

S. 

N. 

0-75 

3 
II 

January    

February 

March 

21.76 

24-45 
34.80 

65-85 
68.80 

62.00 

56 

53 
71 

—24 
— 12 

5 

S.W. 

s.  w. 

s.  w. 

0.58 
0.72 

0-51 

3 
5 
9 

April 

May 

45-50 
53-80 

53-00 
63.20 

71 
81 

20 
29 

N.E. 
N.  E. 

7-69 
5-03 

8 
13 

June 

Totals  for  year   .     . 

61.30 
43-19 

57-40 
63.01 

92 
92 

37 

25 

S. 

4.67 

18 

35-83 

116 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  heaviest  rainfall,  23.16  inches  of 
the  35.83,  of  the  year  was  in  the  months  of  April,  May,  June  and 
July — the  months  in  which  the  crops  would  be  most  benefited. 

The  mines  of  the  Black  Hills  yield  both  gold  and  silver,  though 
the  silver  deposits  were  not  discovered  till  some  time  after  active 
mining  for  gold  had  made  the  region  widely  known.  The  gold 
mines  may  be  included  in  four  classes:  i.  Placers.  2.  Quartz 
veins  between  slate  walls.  3.  Quartz  veins  between  porphyry 
•walls.     4.  Cement  deposits. 

The  placers  in  the  Black  Hills  are  of  great  extent,  and  some 
of  th<.'m  have  yielded  very  large  sums.  Elsewhere  in  this  work 
we  have  described  the  methods  of  placer  mining,  the  use  of  the 
pan,  the  rocker,  the  Tom,  the  sluice  and  the  hydraulic  pipe, 
flume  and  sluice,  and,  as  placer  mining  is  much  the  same  in  the 
Black  Hills  as  elsewhere,  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  repeat 
what  we  have  said  of  these  processes.     Two  points,  however, 


DRY  GULCHES  IN   THE   BLACK  HILLS.  ^gq 

may  be  noticed:  ist.  That  dry  placers  or  gulches — that  is,  beds 
of  clay  or  gravel  containing  a  considerable  amount  of  free  gold, 
but  at  such  a  distance  from  water  having  sufficient  head  to  wash 
the  gold,  and  consequently  requiring  that  the  dirt  should  be 
brought  to  the  water,  or  the  water  to  the  placer  at  considerable 
cost — are  not  usually  considered  very  profitable  to  work  unless 
the  amount  of  gold  is  large.  In  the  Black  Hills  these  dry  placers 
or  gulches  have  proved  so  rich  that  the  dirt  has  been  brought 
from  some  of  them  by  wagon  loads  to  the  water,  and  where  they 
were  more  extensive,  it  has  been  found  profitable  to  construct 
ditches  or  flumes  of  several  miles'  length,  to  bring  a  mountain 
stream  to  supply  the  pipes  for  hydraulic  mining.  These  placers 
seem  to  be  distributed  all  over  the  hills.  The  first  were  discov- 
ered near  the  southern  border,  on  Spring  and  French  creeks, 
near  the  present  sites  of  Custer  City  and  Rockerville.  Others  still 
more  profitable  have  been  discovered  near  Deadwood ;  and 
nearly  all  the  gulches  between  the  two  points,  a  distance  of  fifty 
or  sixty  miles,  yield  rich  pay-dirt,  and  most  of  them  are  profit- 
ably worked.  These  placers  are  so  rich,  and  there  are  so  many 
of  them  yet  undeveloped,  that  placer  mining  will  probably  be 
conducted  with  profit  here  for  many  years  to  come.  But  second, 
it  is  the  natural  law  of  placers,  that  after  a  period  of  time, 
which  may  be  longer  or  shorter  according  to  their  extent  and 
depth,  and  the  thoroughness  with  which  they  are  explored,  they 
are  worked  out  and  become  worthless.  To  the  penniless  miner 
they  offer  the  chance  of  acquiring  a  fortune;  but  no  man  should 
buy  into  a  placer  mine,  with  the  impression  that  he  has  a  per- 
manent property.  It  is  good  so  long  as  it  lasts,  and  how  long 
that  may  be  it  is  hard  to  say.  A  placer  claim  in  the  Black  Hills 
extends  300  feet  along  the  gulch,  and  from  rim  to  rim. 

"The  second  class  of  o-old  mines  found  in  the  Black  Hills — 
quartz  in  slate,  or  between  slate  walls — is  represented  by  the 
great  'belt'  above  Deadwood,  on  which  the  mammoth  mines  of 
the  Hills  are  situated.  The  country  rock,  that  is  the  rock  of 
which  the  mountains  are  formed,  is  micaceous  slate  which  has 
been  thrown  up  at  an  angle  of  about  50°.  Between  the  walls 
of  this  slate  is  a  vein  of  brown  quartz  containing  free  gold  in 


»r66  <^^^-^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

small  quantities,  and  separated  from  the  country  rock  on  each 
side  by  a  layer  of  chloritic  slate  often  containing  more  gold  than 
the  quartz  itself.  The  vein  is  of  enormous  width — from  40  to 
150  feet — but  is  frequently  divided  by  'horses'  of  slate,  or  large 
bodies  of  that  substance  extending  into  or  across  the  vein.  The 
rock  in  these  '  horses '  is  sometimes  rich  enough  to  work,  but 
generally  is  quite  barren, 

"  There  are  two  theories  of  the  formation  of  these  veins ;  and 
while  there  seems  to  be  sufficient  ore  in  all  the  large  mines  for 
present  purposes,  the  future  of  these  properties  may  depend  in 
great  degree  upon  which  of  these  theories  proves  to  be  the  cor- 
rect one.  The  first  is  that  advanced  by  Professor  Jenney,  the 
young  geologist  who  was  sent  to  explore  the  Black  Hills  in  1875 
for  the  Interior  Department,  and  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Dead- 
wood.  He  holds  that  these  ledges  of  gold-bearing  rock  are  true 
fissure  veins — *  interlaminated  fissures,'  he  calls  them,  that  is, 
fissures  opened  between  the  layers  of  the  slate  rock,  and  not 
across  the  line  of  stratification.  The  auriferous  quartz,  he  says, 
has  been  formed  by  the  water  solutions  w^hich  have  come  up 
from  below.  He  accounts  for  the  '  horses  '  of  slate  in  the  vein 
by  likening  the  cleaving  of  the  rock  to  the  splitting  of  a  piece 
of  oak  wood.  When  a  wedge  is  driven  into  it,  particles  of  the 
wood  cling  from  side  to  side  across  the  opening  made  by  the 
wedge.  So,  he  thinks,  when  the  rock  was  opened,  bodies  of 
slate  extended  across  from  one  wall  to  the  other,  and  remained 
in  that  position  when  the  aqueous  solution  from  below  came  up, 
surrounded  them,  and  deposited  the  gold-bearing  quartz.  He 
explains  the  fact  that  the  slate  walls  and  horses  contain  gold  by 
saying  that  the  slate,  which  had  minute  spaces  between  its  layers, 
soaked  up  the  mineral-bearing  fluid,  which  in  some  cases  re- 
placed the  particles  of  slate.  As  a  rule,  the  impregnation  of  the 
slate  becomes  less  as  the  distance  from  the  wall  of  the  vein 
increases.  Believing  the  veins  to  be  true  fissures.  Professor 
Jenney  supposes  that  they  extend  into  the  earth  for  an  indefinite 
distance,  and  probably  grow  richer  in  their  lower  portions.  Pro- 
fessor Jenney  believes  that  after  these  veins  were  formed  the 
ocean   covered  what  are   now  the   Black    Hills,  and   that  by  its 


DIVERSE    THEORIES  AffOUT  THE  LODES.  y^-j 

action  it  tore  down  the  surface,  scatterinfj  fragments  of  the  vein 
all  over  the  country.  Evidences  of  marine  action  are  easily  to 
be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mines. 

"The  other  theory  held  by  several  geologists  of  much  learn- 
ing and  experience  is  that  the  vein  matter  was  precipitated  from 
an  aqueous  solution  that  covered  it.  Their  explanation  and 
argument  is  this :  The  foot-wall  of  these  veins  is  slate,  a  forma- 
tion  which  everybody  knows  is  of  aqueous  origin.  The  vein  of 
quartz  is  deposited  on  this  slate  parallel  with  its  line  of  stratifica- 
tion, just  as  one  layer  of  rock  is  deposited  on  another.  Above 
the  vein  we  also  find  slate,  and  above  that,  where  it  has  not  been 
carried  away  by  the  action  of  the  elements,  a  cement  formation 
also  of  aqueous  origin.  These  facts  point  conclusively  to  a  hori- 
zontal deposit  of  the  vein  matter  on  a  slate  bed.  The  precipi- 
tant was  probably  oxide  of  iron,  and  it  is  therefore  very  natural 
that  those  ores  containing  the  largest  proportion  of  oxide  of  iron 
should  be  the  richest  in  gold,  as  they  are.  After  all  these  de- 
posits had  been  made,  the  hills  were  gradually  thrown  up  in 
their  present  forms  under  water. 

"  If  the  true  fissure  vein  theory  is  correct  (and  it  is  the  one 
most  generally  accepted  by  the  most  experienced  miners),  then 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  ore  extends  far  into  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  And  even  if  the  theory  of  an  aqueous 
deposit  or  precipitation  is  accepted,  the  fields  over  which  these 
deposits  took  place  may  have  been  so  great  that  when  turned 
up  upon  their  edges  they  may  be  practically  inexhaustible. 
These  quartz  veins  bejiween  slate  strata  seem  to  be,  in  many 
respects,  the  analogues  of  the  '  contact  lodes '  of  silver  in  Col- 
orado, and  may  have  had  a  similar  origin. 

"  The  quartz  veins  between  porphyry  walls  have  not  been 
sufficiently  developed  to  make  it  safe  to  give  an  opinion  in 
regard  to  them.  Some  of  the  best  mines  of  this  class  are  situ- 
ated in  Strawberry  gulch,  about  seven  miles  east  of  Deadwood. 
and  in  some  of  them  considerable  bodies  of  ore  have  been  found. 
In  another  year,  when  a  few  mills  shall  have  been  erected  near 
them  for  the  purpose  of  working  their  ores,  and  development 
has  been  pushed  further,  more  will  be  known  of  their  value.     It 


^68  ^^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

is  an  interesting-  fact  that  they  have  already  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  rich  Cahfornia  miners  and  capitahsts  who  have  de- 
veloped the  great  *  belt '  above  Deadwood,  and  that  it  is  possible 
that  they  may  purchase  one  of  the  most  promising  of  them  and 
see  what  it  contains. 

"  In  many  of  the  placer  mines,  a  little  below  the  bed  of  the 
stream  but  considerably  above  bed  rock,  a  layer  of  hard  cement, 
consisting  of  sand,  gravel,  and  boulders,  and  carrying  free  gold 
held  together  in  one  hard,  conglomerate  mass  by  oxide  of  iron, 
has  been  found.  This  substance  has  been  a  crreat  obstacle  to 
gulch  miners  on  some  claims.  They  had  no  means  of  crushing 
it  to  free  the  gold,  and  to  remove  it  in  order  to  get  at  the  aurif- 
erous gravel  beneath  was  very  expensive.  On  the  hill-tops, 
which  have  withstood  best  the  action  of  the  elements,  similar 
cement  deposits  have  also  been  found,  varying  from  one  and 
a-half  to  twelve  and  eiohteen  feet  in  thickness.  Some  of  these 
are  very  rich  in  gold  and  others  very  lean.  A  number  of  mines 
have  been  opened  on  the  cement  beds  and  are  now  working 
successfully,  while  others  have  already  worked  out  their  pay  ore. 
The  rock  is  reduced  in  the  same  manner  as  quartz,  by  stamping 
and  amalgamating.  A  cement  deposit  may  be  very  valuable  as 
long  as  it  lasts,  and  may  bring  to  its  owners  large  profits,  but  its 
value  depends  entirely  upon  its  extent  and  character.  Like  a 
placer  (and  it  is,  in  fact,  nothing  but  a  solidified  placer),  it  will 
some  day  be  worked  out  and  become  worthless.  Attempts  have 
been  made  to  sell  these  cement  beds  and  the  mines  opened  on 
them  as  true  fissure  veins,  which  they  gre  not.  Very  possibly 
the  ore  '  prospects  '  and  '  mills '  as  high  as  it  is  represented ; 
but  the  wrong  done  to  the  proposed  purchaser  consists  in  giving 
the  impression  that  it  is  a  true  fissure  vein,  when  it  is  in  reality 
only  a  solidified  placer  and  may  and  probably  will  soon  become 
exhausted." 

The  gold  mines,  aside  from  the  placers  and  cement  deposits, 
in  the  Black  Hills,  have  been  again  classified  by  the  mining  men 
as  those  on  the  Bonanza  Belt  in  the  neighborhood  of  Deadwood, 
and  those  not  on  the  belt.  The  mines  on  the  belt  which  have 
attained  the  greatest  reputation  are   the  Father  De   Smet,  the 


LOW  GRADE  GOLD   ORES  PROFLTABLE  HERE.  y^Q 

Deadvvood,  the  Golden  Terra,  the  Highland,  the  Homestake,  the 
Grant  and  the  Old  Abe  mines.  The  Roderick  Dhu  and  the 
Pierce  are  also  believed  to  be  on  continuations  of  this  belt. 
The  belt  is  about  two  miles  in  length  and  from  looto  200  feet 
in  width. 

The  mines  not  on  the  belt,  in  the  vicinity  of  Deadwood,  are 
the  Caledonia,  which  comprises  four  claims,  and  covers  in  all 
territory  1.500  feetlongand  1,100  in  width,  though  in  two  parcels. 
Several  deposit  mines  are  also  included  in  this  class,  and  a  num- 
ber of  smaller  mines.  There  are  also  new  mines  of  great  promise 
at  Rockford,  about  twenty-five  miles  east  of  Deadwood,  and  at 
Custer  City  and  Rockerville,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Black 
Hills. 

The  silver  mining  thus  far  has  been  mostly  at  Galena,  on  Bear 
Butte  creek,  about  twelve  miles  east  of  Deadwood.  There  are 
other  silver  deposits,  but  these  are  the  most  promising.  The 
ores  are  chiefly  sulphurets  and  chlorides,  mixed  with  quartz, 
oxide  of  iron  and  manganese,  antimony  and  arsenic.  There  are 
some  rich  carbonates,  but  they  do  not  appear  in  very  large  quan- 
tities ;  there. are  also  some  specimens  of  horn  silver  and  a  litde 
free  silver.  The  ores  average  from  30  to  150  ounces  of  silver  to 
a  ton,  the  low-grade  ores  being  most  abundant.  The  immense 
cost  of  transportation  ($40  a  ton)  has  prevented  the  mining  of 
low  grade  ores,  and  a  small  smelter,  working  imperfectly,  has 
charged  $75  per  ton  for  reduction.  These  difficulties  will  soon 
cease,  as  railroads,  and  larger  and  better  smelters  come  in. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  gold  veins  produce  an  ore  which 
elsewhere  would  be  regarded  as  of  low  grade ;  many  of  them 
running  at  from  ^9  or  ^10  to  $13  or  $15  per  ton.  But  they  are 
so  favorably  situated,  that  they  can  be  run  by  chutes  directly 
into  the  mill,  without  beinor  handled  at  all.  The  laree  mills  of 
120  stamps  or  more  are  also  run  at  much  less  proportional  ex- 
pense than  the  smaller  ones,  while  they  do  ten  times  as  much 
work.  Gold  can  be  mined  and  milled  at  these  mines  and  mills 
at  from  $2  to  ^^^5  per  ton,  and  the  mines  are  so  situated  that  the 
expense  is  not  likely  to  increase  for  a  long  time  to  come.  While 
the  grade  of  the  ores  is  low,  the  quantity  seems  to  be  inexhausti- 
49 


770 


067?     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


ble,  and  the  quality  improves  slightly  as  the  depth  increases. 
Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  ores  yielding  from  ^9  to  ^15  per  ton 
pay  a  better  profit,  as  well  as  a  steadier  one,  than  ores  of  much 
richer  g-rade,  which  are  more  difficult  to  mine,  less  easily  milled 
and  which  must  be  carried  to  greater  distances  to  be  markete'd 
successfully.  Mr.  White  states  the  yield  of  the  Black  Hills  mines 
in  1878  as  $3,500,000;  in  1879  as  about  $4,500,000,  and  in  1880 
as  probably  $6,000,000. 

The  Black  Hills  form  the  most  elevated  portion  of  Dakota, 
indeed  the  only  portion  which  rises  above  2,000  feet,  or  generally 
above  1,500  to  1,800  feet. 

The  following  table  gives  the  altitude  of  the  principal  summits 
and  towns  of  this  region,  though  some  of  the  points  named  are 
in  the  Wyoming  portion  of  the  Hills: 


Inj'an  Kara  Peak 6,500 

Bare  Butte 4,800 

Floral  Valley 6,196 


Harney's  Peak 7,44o 

Belle  Fourche 3-734 

Castle  Creek  Valley  .     .     .     .     6,136 


Crook's  Monument   ....      7,600    Dodge's  Peak 7,300 

Terry's  Peak 7,200    Warren's  Peak 6,900 


Custer's  Peak 6.750 

Devil's  Tower 5.100 

Rapid  City 3>i75 

Crook  City 3,725 

Rochford  (estimated)     .      .     .  4,500 


Crow  Peaks 6,200 

Deadwood  .......  4,425 

Rockerville 4,125 

Pactola  (estimated)    •     .     .     .  4,000 

Custer  City     " 4,200 


The  present  population  of  the  cities  and  settlements  of  the 
Black  Hills  is  hardly  less  than  30,000,  and  may  exceed  that.  A 
year  and  a  half  since  (in  January  or  February,  1879),  it  was  esti- 
mated at  18,000,  and  was  probably  divided  very  much  as  follows  '• 


Deadwood  . 
•Golden  Gate 
T^ead  City  . 
Rockerville 
Rochford     . 
Sturgis  City 
Sheridan 
Tigerville    . 
Central  City 
sGayville 


6,000  j  Rapid  City 

700  ;  Crook  City 
2,500  j  Custer  City 

600  1  Spearfish  City 

600 

300 

200 

200 
2,000 

800 


500 
500 
400 
250 
200 
250 


Hill  City 

Galena 

Pactola,  Hayward  and  other 

settlements 2,500 


Total 18,000 


BLACK  HILLS  BOTH  AGRICULTURAL    AND  MINING.  yyi 

The  Black  Hills  region  is  primarily,  then,  a  mining  region  ; 
one  which  has  been  very  largely  taken  possession  of  by  capital- 
ists, and  its  mining  operations  conducted  on  a  scale  which  has 
been  hardly  equalled  elsewhere  in  the  West ;  its  stamp-mills 
Aggregating  more  than  1,500  stamps,  and  these  generally  of  the 
largest  and  most  powerful  character,  and  its  gold  production 
larger  than  in  the  same  number  of  mines  elsewhere.  This  char- 
acter  of  the  region  will  be  likely  to  continue  and  increase,  for 
years  to  come.  But  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose,  as 
some  have  supposed,  that  the  Black  Hills  must  be  dependent 
wholly -or  mainly  upon  other  regions  for  its  supplies  of  food, 
clothing  or  manufactures.  The  valleys  and  foot-hills,  as  well  as 
much  of  the  hill  country  itself,  are  covered  to  a  great  depth  with 
an  exceedingly  rich  soil,  and  its  production  of  grains,  root  crops 
and  market  garden  vegetables  and  fruits  will  be  ample  ere  long 
for  the  supply  of  the  50,000  or  75,000  people  who  will  gather 
there.  Those  portions  of  the  Hills  and  adjacent  country  which 
are  not  suited  to  mining  or  farming  are  admirably  adapted  to 
grazing,  and  even  portions  of  the  much  berated  "Bad  Lands" 
are  covered  with  rich  and  nutritious  grasses.  It  is  just  the 
region  for  dairy-farming,  and  the  mining  towns  will  furnish  a 
ready  and  profitable  market  for  the  milk,  butter  and  cheese 
which  can  be  produced.  Sheep-farming  will  also  prove  profit- 
able here,  though  perhaps  the  Cotswolds,  Leicesters,  Southdowns 
and  Lincolns  would  pay  better  than  the  smaller  wool  sheep  ;  for 
the  market  for  mutton  will  be  close  at  hand,  and  the  combing 
wools  will  bring  as  good  prices  as  the  felting  wools,  though  for 
other  purposes.  We  see  no  reason  why  this  may  not  become 
the  region  for  the  production  of  the  best  quality  of  mutton. 

The  fine  water-powers  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  coal  mines  which 
are  readily  accessible,  as  well  as  the  large  deposits  of  copper, 
lead  and  iron  which  are  awaiting  development,  must  ere  long 
make  it  an  important  manufacturing  region,  and  in  a  few  years 
we  may  expect  to  see  the  immense  quantities  of  mining  and 
agricultural  machinery  which  are  needed,  as  well  as  all  the  mani- 
fold manufactures  of  wool  and  iron  which  are  needed  there,  pro- 
duced on   the  spot  instead  of  being,  as  now,  brought  from  Chi- 


--2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

cago,  the  capital  of  a  treeless  region,  across  800  or  1,000  miles 
of  prairie,  to  a  region  of  forest  growths. 

For  so  new  a  country,  the  educational  and  religious  institutions 
of  this  as  of  other  sections  of  Dakota  are  of  a  high  order.  Not 
Deadwood  alone,  but  all  the  new  towns  of  the  Black  Hills  havG 
excellent  schools  and  good  churches.  For  these  the  whole  Ter- 
ritory is  largely  indebted  to  the  active  exertions  and  excellent  in- 
fluence of  the  late  Governor  Moward  and  his  efficient  coadjutors. 
The  social  condition  of  all  parts  of  the  Territory  is  gready  higher 
than  that  of  most  new  settlements.  Mr.  White  writes  of  the 
towns  of  the  Black  Hills:  "Deadwood  is  a  remarkably  quiet, 
orderly,  law-abiding  town.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  when 
it  is  remembered  that  at  the  time  it  was  first  setded  this  was  an 
Indian  reservation,  over  which  the  Territorial  authorities  had  no 
jurisdiction. 

"The  people  who  came  here  organized  a  temporary  govern- 
ment of  their  own,  the  only  sanction  of  which  was  common  con- 
sent, but  its  laws  were  recognized  and  obeyed  for  about  a  year 
and  a  half.  When  the  treaty  with  the  Sioux  was  completed  in 
February,  1877,  opening  the  hills  to  settlement,  the  government 
that  had  been  improvised  was  dissolved,  but  the  Territorial 
officers  did  not  arrive  here  until  forty  days  later,  and  in  the 
meantime  there  was  not  even  the  semblance  of  a  government, 
and  yet  order  was  preserved. 

"There  are  public  gambling-houses  in  Deadwood,  but  they 
are  not  numerous,  nor  do  they  thrust  themselves  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  stranger  by  open  doors  or  bands  of  music.  The 
gambling  is  almost  without  exception  conducted  in  back  and 
second-story  rooms,  and  the  proprietors  of  the  houses  are  not 
apparendy  having  a  prosperous  time  of  it.  There  is  one  variety 
theatre  here,  and  although  1  have  not  attended  one  of  its  per- 
formances, its  programme  contains  nothing  that  seems  to  be 
objectionable  as  variety  shows  go.  Its  performances  close  at  a 
seasonable  hour.  There  is  also  one  dance-house  on  Main  street. 
Of  drinking-saloons  there  are  of  course  an  abundance. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  Deadwood  is  a  city  of  homes.    Small  but 
tastefully  built  cottages  are  springing  up  by  scores  on  all  the 


RAILROADS  IN  DAKOTA,  773 

residence  streets,  and  people  who  are  in  business  here  have 
brought  their  famihes.  Any  newcomer  will  find  intelligent, 
refined,  cultivated  society  here  for  himself  and  family.  Religious 
organizations  have  been  established,  schools  founded ;  and 
remote  as  the  Black  Hills  are,  and  difficult  of  access,  no  one 
need  hesitate  to  make  his  home  here  through  fear  that  he  will 
not  find  good  society.  Even  the  people  who  are  seeking  their 
fortunes  in  the  remote  gulches  are  by  no  means  barbarians. 
Many  of  them  are  well  educated,  and  are  respected  in  the  dis- 
tant homes  they  have  left,  although  they  may  now  have  to  rough 
it  and  put  up  with  many  privations.  Straws  show  which  way  the 
wind  blows,  and  here  is  one :  I  dined  the  other  day  with  a  miner 
who  thinks  he  has  made  a  '  great  strike.'  He  lives  in  a  log-house, 
miles  out  of  town,  but  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  which  serves 
as  parlor  and  dining-room,  stood  a  piano  on  which  was  a  large 
pile  of  popular  music,  and  I  saw  on  the  table  the  latest  numbers 
of  some  of  the  popular  magazines  and  illustrated  journals," 

We  have  spoken  of  the  means  of  railroad  communication  in 
different  sections  of  the  Territory.  These  are  constantly  increas- 
ing in  numbers  and  mileage  till  the  Territory  promises  soon  to  be 
traversed  by  them  in  nearly  all  directions.  The  following  list, 
prepared  by  Hon.  Henry  Espersen,  United  States  Surveyor- 
General  for  Dakota,  gives  their  condition  in  November,  1879, 
and  we  have  added  the  facts  so  far  as  they  can  be  ascertained 
of  their  present  condition: 

There  is  a  very  complete  system  of  railways,  built  or  building, 
into  or  through  the  Territory. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  extending-  from  Farfro,  on  the 
eastern  boundary,  to  the  Little  Missouri,  351  miles,  and  to  be 
extended  to  the  Yellowstone  by  January  i,  1881. 

The  Winona  and  Saint  Peter's  Railroad  (Chicago  and  North- 
western), now  running  to  Watertown,  near  Lake  Kampeska,  and 
located  west  to  Dakota  river. 

The  Dakota  Southern  Railroad,  from  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  to 
Yankton,  and  projected  northward  up  the  valley  of  the  Dakota 
river,  completed  to  Brule,  on  the  James. 

The  Milwaukee  and  Saint  Paul  Railroad,  with  some  eighty  miles 


y^A  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

built  of  a  line  from  Canton  to  the  Missouri  river;  completed  in 
1880  to  the  Missouri. 

Also  a  line  upon  which  work  is  now  in  progress  from  Eden  to 
Yankton. 

The  Sioux  Falls  and  Pembina  Railroad,  up  the  Big  Sioux 
River  valley,  of  which  some  seventy  miles  are  in  operation. 

The  Dakota  Central  Railroad,  located  from  Carey  to  the 
Dakota  river,  upon  which  work  is  now  progressing ;  completed 
to  Huron,  on  Dakota  river. 

The  Worthington  and  Sioux  Falls  Railroad  (Saint  Paul  and 
Sioux  City),  of  which  about  forty  miles  are  built,  having  Yank- 
ton for  its  objective  point ;  and 

The  Southern  Minnesota  Railroad,  building  from  Flandreau 
to  Sioux  Falls. 

The  total  length  of  road  now  in  operation  in  the  Territory  is 
almost  1,200  miles. 

Indian  Tribes  and  Reservations. — The  Indian  reservations  in 
Dakota,  in  January,  1880,  still  comprised  about  42,000,000  acres, 
about  seven-sixteenths  of  the  entire  area  of  the  Territory. 
This  vast  area  is  cut  up  into  several  reservations  in  different 
parts  of  the  Territory.  As  it  is  largely  in  excess  of  the  needs 
of  the  Indians,  arrangements  are  making  by  the  government  to 
purchase  considerable  portions  of  it,  and  to  distribute  the 
remainder  in  severalty  to  the  Indians,  giving  them  also  the 
interest  of  the  purchase-money  of  the  lands  which  the  govern- 
ment buys  from  them,  as  annuities.  There  were  on  these 
reservations  in  January,  1880,  26,530  Indians  of  all  ages.  Of 
these  25,237  were  Sioux  or  Dakotas,  of  twenty-one  different 
bands  or  sub-tribes;  1,393  (the  Indians  at  the  Fort  Berthold 
Agency)  were  the  remnant  of  other  tribes  formerly  hostile  to 
the  Sioux,  and  were  divided  as  follows:  Arickarees,  720;  Gros 
Ventres,  448  ;  Mandans.  225.  Since  the  severe  punishment  of 
Sitting  Bull  and  his  band  for  their  massacre  of  General  Custer 
and  his  troops,  and  their  escape  into  British  America,  the 
.remaining  bands  of  Sioux  have  been  peaceful  and  friendly  to  the 
whites.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  making  decided  progress 
in   civilization.     With  the   almost  complete   destruction   of  the 


POPULATION   OF  DAKOTA.  jjc 

buffalo,  they  have  very  generally  abandoned  the  chase,  except  a 
moderate  amount  of  hunting-  and  trapping  of  the  fur-bearing 
animals,  and  with  each  year  an  increasing  number  of  them  are 
turning  their  attention  to  the  raising  of  catde  and  horses,  to 
drawing  freight,  and  to  the  simpler  forms  of  agriculture.  Very 
many  of  them  have  built  for  themselves  comfortable  log-cabins 
in  the  place  of  the  tepees  or  lodges  of  skins  in  which  the}'  for- 
merly dwelt.  Of  the  Sioux  10,162,  or  more  than  two-fifths, 
have  assumed  and  constantly  wear  citizens'  dress.  Of  the  Fort 
Berthold  Indians,  only  one-twentieth  have  done  this,  but  the  num- 
ber is  increasing  every  year.  Religious  instruction  as  well  as 
secular  education  is  imparted  to  the  Indians  at  each  of  the  ten 
agencies,  and  the  more  promising  Indian  children  are  now  in  con- 
siderable numbers  sent  East  to  receive  higher  instruction,  and 
on  their  return  become  not  only  teachers  but  leaders  of  their 
people  in  their  progress  toward  civilization. 

The  present  population  of  the  Territory,  including  26,148  tribal 
Indians,  is  162,328;  of  which  Northern  Dakota  has  about  36,000, 
Central  Dakota  10,000,  Southeastern  Dakota  74,000,  Black 
Hills  16,000.  The  inhabitants  of  Northern  Dakota  are  very 
largely  of  European  birth,  though  there  is  a  sufficient  American 
element,  mainly  from  New  England,  New  Yorji,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Ohio,  to  maintain  American  institutions.  The  Mennonites, 
Russians  who  have  been  associated  with  them  in  Russia,  and 
who  have  come  here  for  the  religious  and  civil  liberty  they  can- 
not enjoy  there,  Norwegians  and  Swedes,  and  some  Germans ; 
the  Catholic  colonies  from  Belgium,  France,  and  Ireland,  which 
have  come  over  under  the  direction  of  the  Catholic  Emigration 
Societies — these  make  up  the  bulk  of  the  settlers  of  the  northern 
section.  Considerable  numbers  have  come  from  Manitoba,  dis- 
satisfied with  the  homestead  laws  there  and  with  the  lack  of 
enterprise  and  push  in  that  colony.  The  inhabitants  of  this 
section  are  not,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  poorer  class  of  emi- 
grants. One  company  of  Russians  recendy  brought  with  them 
^490,000;  and  the  JNIennonites  are  usually  men  of  property.  In 
several  cases  they  have  bought  large  blocks  of  land,  sometimes 
100,000  to  200,000  acres,  and  settle  on  them  so  as  to  have  entire 
communities  of  their  own  faith. 


pr^e  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

In  Central  Dakota  the  emigration  is  largely  luiropean,  Nor- 
wegian, Swedish,  and  German, 'with  a  considerable  admixture  of 
American  families.  In  Southeastern  Dakota  the  American  fami- 
lies predominate,  though  there  are  here  also  Mennonite,  Bel- 
gian, German,  and  Irish  colonies.  The  farming  lands  of  this 
region  arc  more  generally  in  small  holdings,  and  the  class  of 
immigrants  who  are  occupying  them  are  of  a  character  superior 
to  those  who  are  settling  in  many  other  regions.  It  is  a  very 
desirable  recrion  for  the  best  class  of  farming  immiorants. 

The  character  of  the  population  of  the  Black  Hills  has  been 
already  described.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  superior  to  most  mining 
populations.  When  the  division  of  this  Territory  is  accom- 
plished, as  it  will  be  when  railroad  communication  is  established 
from  the  East  with  the  Black  Hills,  the  southern  part  will  prob- 
ably have  for  its  northern  boundary  the  forty-fifth  parallel  as  a 
continuation  of  the  line  of  Wyoming,  and  the  new  State  may 
also  have  that  portion  of  W'yoming  which  contains  the  western 
half  of  the  Black  Hills,  as  it  will  be  desirable  to  have  that  region 
under  one  government.  This  region  will  have  a  sufficient  popu- 
lation for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State  by  that  time.  The 
northern  part  of  the  Territory,  while  the  largest,  will  probably 
have  no  mineral  products  except  coal,  and  possibly  lead  ;  but  it 
will  be  a  rich  farming  and  grazing  country,  and  accessible  both 
by  its  rivers  and  railways  to  the  best  markets. 
K  CImr dies  and  Religions  TeacJiings. — The  population  of  Dakota, 
though  drawn  from  such  diverse  sources,  has  more  of  the 
religious  element  in  it  than  is  found  in  most  of  the  States  or 
Territories  of  the  West.  Several  of  the  colonies,  of  which  there 
are  a  considerable  number  in  the  Territory,  are  founded  in  part 
on  religious  principles.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  the 
Mennonite  settlements,  in  which  there  are  from  10,000  to  20,000 
people,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  colonies,  which  are  rapidly 
increasing  in  numbers  and  already  give  full  employment  to  an 
active  and  energetic  bishop.  The  Scandinavian  immigrants  are 
mostly  Lutherans,  and  they  bring  their  clergymen  with  them,  and 
establish  churches  at  once.  The  Germans,  when  not  CathoHcs, 
are  mostly  rationalists,  and  not  favorably  disposed  toward  religion, 


PROSPECTS    OF   DAKOTA. 


777 


though  some  of  them  are  very  earnest  in  their  Christian  zeal. 
But  the  lanre  numbers  of  immiorrants  from  the  Eastern  States 
were  mostly  from  Christian  homes,  and  they  manifest  their 
remembrance  of  their  early  associations  by  rearing  schools  and 
churches  at  once  in  these  new  villages,  even  while  they  them- 
selves may  be  living  in  a  dug-out  or  a  sod-house.  All  of  the 
Protestant  denominations  seem  to  be  very  fairly  represented,  and 
all  manifest  much  zeal  in  ortranizinor  churches  and  o^atherinor 
conirreeations.  The  irrelio-ious  element  is  stronorer  in  the  Dlack 
Hills  than  elsewhere  in  the  Territory,  but  from  Mr.  White's 
testimony  already  quoted,  it  seems  that  there  is  less  Sabbath- 
breaking  and  open,  unblushing  vice  there,  than  in  most  mining 
districts. 

Taking  it  all  in  all,  there  is  not  at  the  present  time  a  better 
reofion  for  the  farmer  or  stock-raiser  than  Dakota,  and  those 
who  prefer  a  mining  region  can  be  as  well  accommodated  in  the 
Black  Hills  as  in  any  part  of  the  West,  especially  if  they  do  not 
propose  to  engage  personally  in  mining. 

Other  States  and  Territories  may  boast  of  greater  natural 
wonders  and  more  grand  and  delightful  scenery,  though,  in  both 
these  particulars,  Dakota  has  much  to  produce  emotions  of  sur- 
prise, awe,  and  delight ;  but  what  gives  this  Territory  its  peculiar 
charm  is  its  thorough  adaptation  for  quiet  and  beautiful  homes. 
The  sun  shines  on  no  fairer  land,  and  on  none  where  so  many 
circumstances  combine  to  make  a  residence  so  home-like  and 
deliorhtful. 


TJ^ 


OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IDAHO  TERRITORY. 

'roronRAPHY — Boundaries — Length  and  Breadth — Area — Latitude  and 
Longitude — Distribution  ok  Area — Arable  Lands— ^Grazing  Lands — 
Timber  Lands — Mining  Lands — Desert  Lands — Mountains — Lakes — 
Rivers — Climate — Meteorology  op  Boise  City — Geology  and  Miner- 
alogy— The  Precious  Metals — Other  Metals  and  Minerals — Mineral 
Springs — Natural  Wonders — Sulphur  Lake  and  Deposits — Salt  Springs 
— Soil  and  Vegetable  Productions — Forest  Trees — Zoology — Mines 
and  Mining — Production  of  Gold  and  Silver  since  1S62 — Present 
Falling  off — Great  Mineral  Wealth — Stock-Raising — Sheep-Farming 
— The  Culture  of  Arable  Lands — Obstacles  to  the  Progress  of  Growth 
of  Idaho — The  Lack  of  Railroads  and  of  Wagon-roads— The  Lack  of 
Capital — Mormon  Influence  the  Greatest  Obstacle  of  all. 

Idaho  Territory  is  one  of  the  central  or  Interior  Territories 
of  the  northern  tier,  in  form  mucli  Hke  a  hug-e  chair.  Its  northern 
anci  very  narrow  boundary  (at  the  top  of  the  cliair)  is  British 
America,  while  the  seat  of  tlie  chair  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Montana.  The  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  one  of  the  principal 
ranges  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  form  the  eastern  boundary 
between  Idaho  and  Montana,  and  between  It  and  Wyoming  the 
boundary  follows  the  iiith  meridian  west  from  Greenwich.  On 
the  south,  following  the  42d  parallel,  It  is  bounded  by  Utah  and 
Nevada;  on  the  west  it  is  bounded  by  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territory,  the  line  being  the  i  17th  meridian  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Boise  river,  thence  along  the  Snake  river  for  350  miles  to  Lewis- 
ton,  and  thence  northward  along  the  117th  meridian  to  British 
America.  The  southwest  corner  of  Yellowstone  Park  is  within 
the  bounds  of  Idaho.  The  Territory  lies  between  the  42d  and 
49th  parallels  of  north  latitude,  and  between  the  1 1  ith  and  1 1  7th 
meridians  of  longitude  west  from  Greenwich,  It  Is  about  410 
miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and  a  little  less  than  300  miles 
wide  at  Its  widest  portion.  Its  area  as  stated  at  the  Land  Office 
is  86,294  square  miles,  or  55,228,160  acres.  There  are  very 
diverse  estimates  of  the  proportions  of  this  area  In  arable,  graz- 


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ARABLE    LANDS    IN   IDAHO.  779 

ing,  timber  and  mining  lands,  and  desert  or  worthless  lands. 
Governor  Brayman,  with  a  somewhat  imperfect  acquaintance 
with  the  Territory,  of  which  only  one-eighth  has  yet  been  sur- 
veyed, makes  the  following  estimate  which  those  more  familiar 
with  the  Territory  regard  as  absurd:  "An  approximate  estimate 
of  the  quality  of  these  lands  will  afford,  suitable  for  cultivation 
in  their  natural  state,  15,000,000  acres;  capable  of  reclamation 
by  irrigation,  12,000,000  acres;  grazing  lands,  5,000,000  acres; 
timber  lands,  10,000,000  acres;  mining  tracts,  8,000,000  acres; 
the  4,228,160  acres  of  desert  are  destitute  of  timber  and  min- 
erals, and  beyond  the  reach  of  irrigation.  Large  portions  of  the 
mininof  tracts  bear  timber  also." 

The  Surveyor-General,  Hon.  W.  P.  Chandler,  with  a  some- 
what wider  knowledge,  writes  at  about  the  same  time  to  the 
Land  Office:  "Any  estimate  of  the  number  of  acres  of  the  vari- 
ous classes  of  land  in  this  Territory,  so  broken  in  its  surface  and 
varied  in  its  climate  and  altitude,  can  be  only  approximate.  Of 
its  total  area  of  55,228,160  acres,  I  believe  i  2,000,000  acres  to  be 
agricultural,  either  in  its  natural  state  or  as  it  may  be  reclaimed 
by  irrigation  with  the  available  water  now  Ho  wing  in  the  streams; 
25,000,000  acres  pasture  lands;  10,000,000  acres  timber  lands; 
and  the  remainder,  8,228,160  acres,  may  be  considered  worthless, 
consistine  of  inaccessible  mountain  peaks  and  lava  beds." 

The  surveyor-general  would  probably  include  the  supposed 
8,000,000  acres,  or  thereabout,  of  mining-lands  in  the  25,000,000 
erazincr  and  the  10,000,000  acres  of  timber  lands.  This  last 
estimate  is  undoubtedly  nearer  the  truth  than  the  governor's, 
but  in  die  amount  of  orazincr  lands  which  require  always  some 
water,  it  would  seem  to  be  somewhat  excessive.  A  Territory 
whose  averaoe  rainfall  does  not  exceed  twelve  inches,  and  more 
than  three-fourths  of  that  in  the  winter  and  spring,  leaving  the 
entire  summer  and  autumn  parched  and  rainless,  cannot  well 
have  more  than  one-fourth  of  its  area  arable  land  widiout  irriga- 
tion. There  are  undoubtedly  fertile  valleys  in  Idaho,  where  with, 
and  in  some  years,  without  irrigation,  large  crops  can  be  raised, 
but  these  are  the  exception,  not  the  rule.  The  Territory  might 
become  a   moderately  good  grazing   country,  if  its   neighbors, 


7  So  ^^^    WESTERN   E  Mr  IRE. 

Montana,  Wyoming,  Oregon  and  Washington,  were  not  so  much 
better  adapted  to  grazing. 

It  is  primarily  a  mining  country,  and  when  the  railroads  now 
projected  or  in  progress  have  given  it  access  to  a  market  at 
reasonable  rates  it  may,  if  the  Mormons  and  Indians  will  refrain 
from  killing  the  immigrants,  yield  a  large  amount  of  the  precious 
metals,  and  raise  enough  grain  and  root  crops,  beef  and  mutton 
to  supply  its  own  inhabitants,  but  there  will  be  little  of  either  to 
export,  at  least  for  some  years  to  come. 

Topography,  JMoiintains,  Lakes,  Rivers,  etc. — Idaho  is  a  moun- 
tainous Territory,  more  so,  perhaps,  than  any  other  of  the  States 
or  Territories  of  "  Our  Western  Empire,"  although  there  are  no 
summits  as  lofty  as  those  in  Colorado,  California,  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington or  Arizona.  The  altitudes  range  from  2,000  feet  above 
the  sea  in  the  Snake  River  valley  to  nearly  10,000  feet  at  the 
summit  of  some  of  its  loftiest  peaks.  Its  general  average  of 
elevation  is  above  4,000  feet.  On  its  northeast  border  from 
Lake  Pend  d'Oreille  and  Clark's  fork  of  the  Columbia  river 
down  to  the  Lewis  or  Snake  river  at  the  Wyoming  boundary, 
the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  one  of  the  main  rano-es,  thouoh  not 
the  highest  range,  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  separate  it  from 
Montana  ;  almost  parallel  widi  these  is  an  irregular  range  trend- 
ing in  general  from  northwest  to  southeast,  known  as  the  Salmon 
River  Mountains,  one  of  the  outlying  ranges  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, These  traverse  the  central  portion  of  the  State.  On  the 
west,  near  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Snake  river,  from  the  Weiser 
to  the  Salmon  river,  is  a  range  of  hills  5,000  or  6,000  feet  in 
height.  The  southern  part  of  the  Territory,  south  of  the  Snake 
river,  is  an  elevated  plateau,  and  in  the  southwest  an  alkaline 
desert. 

There  are  many  valleys  between  these  ranges  of  mountains 
and  these  elevated  plateaux,  some  of  them  of  considerable  breadth 
and  fertility ;  others  broad  but  barren  ;  others  still  narrow  and 
fertile,  and  others  yet  mere  rocky  defiles  and  canons.  There 
are  about  twenty  lakes  of  considerable  size,  and  a  great  number 
of  small  lakes  or  ponds  in  the  Territory.  The  largest  are  Lakes 
Pend  d'Oreille,  Co^ur  d'Alene  and  Kaniksu  in  the  north,  the  Pay- 


THE   SNAKE   RIVER   AND   ITS    TRIBUTARIES.  ygj 

ette  and  Weiser  lakes  in  the  centre,  Rocky,  Bar,  Market,  De  Lacy 
and  Jackson's  lakes  in  the  east,  and  Bear  lake  in  the  southeast. 

The  whole  of  Idaho,  except  a  very  small  tract  in  the  southeast, 
belongs  to  the  river  system  of  the  Columbia  river  and  drains  into 
the  Pacific  ocean.  The  exception  is  Bear  river  and  lake  in  the 
southeast,  the  waters  of  which  are  discharged  into  the  Great 
Salt  lake.  There  is  also  a  bare  possibility  that  some  one  of  the 
sources  of  the  Green  river,  one  of  the  constituents  of  the  Colorado 
of  the  West,  may  rise  in  the  mountains  of  the  southeast,  interlac- 
ing there  with  the  sources  of  the  Snake  river  or  Lewis'  fork. 
But  more  than  80,000  of  the  86,000  square  miles  of  the  Terri- 
tory are  drained  by  the  great  tributaries  of  the  Columbia  and 
their  aftluents,  and  five-sixths  of  the  80,000  miles  by  the  Lewis' 
fork  or  Snake  river  and  its  branches.  The  northeast  corner  is 
drained  by  the  Kootenai,  an  affluent  of  the  Columbia,  which 
joins  it  In  British  Columbia,  and  the  Pend  d'Oreille  or  Clark's 
fork  crosses  the  Territory  a  little  above  the  forty-eighth  parallel. 
The  Spokane  river,  another  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Columbia, 
which  flows  through  Lake  Coeur  d'Alene,  drains  a  plateau  thirty 
or  forty  miles  in  width,  and  below  this  the  Snake  river,  the  largest 
constituent  of  the  Columbia,  occupies  the  whole  Territory.  The 
Palouse,  one  of  its  principal  affluents,  In  Washington  Territory, 
drains  a  plateau  south  of  the  Spokane,  and  the  Snake  river  itself, 
rising  by  several  sources  in  Wyoming  Territory,  flows  northwest, 
then  southwest,  west,  northwest  and  north,  having  a  course  of 
about  1,100  miles  in  this  Territory,  receiving  during  its  course 
between  thirty  and  forty  tributaries,  some  of  them,  like  the 
Salmon,  Boise,  Owyhee,  Bruneau,  W'ood  and  Weiser,  being 
themselves  large  rivers.  The  Salmon  river  drains  the  central 
part  of  tlie  Territory.  The  Snake  river,  owing  to  its  numerous 
falls  and  rapids,  is  not  navigable  in  Idaho,  but  becomes  navigable 
at  Lcwiston,  the  point  where  it  leaves  the  Territory,  At  Its 
headwaters,  and  for  a  considerable  distance  below,  there  are 
rich  bottom  lands,  which,  though  5,000  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  will,  it  is  thought,  prove  pro<luctIve.  For  150  miles 
below  these,  It  flows  through  a  broad  valley  of  moderately  rich 
and  fertile  land.     At  or  near  the   mouth   of  Bannack   river  it 


782 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


enters  a  deep,  rocky  canon,  through  which  it  passes  for  seventy- 
five  miles.  In  this  canon  are  several  very  large  falls,  one  of 
them  the  celebrated  Shoshone  falls,  exceeding-  Niafjara  in  height 
(being  200  feet),  and  rivalling  it  in  the  volume  of  water  and  the 
grandeur  of  its  surroundings. 

Climate. — The  meteorology  of  Idaho  is  somewhat  meagre.  The 
Signal  Service  Department  has  but  one  station  in  the  Territory, 
that  at  Boise  City,  and  their  deficiency  has  not  been,  so  far  as  we 
are  aware,  made  up  by  private  observations.  Boise  City  is  cen- 
trally situated,  but  its  elevation  is  only  2,877  ^^^t,  and  it  gives  but 
an  indefinite  idea  of  the  temperature,  rainfall,  etc.,  of  the  more 
elevated  tracts  where  nearly  all  the  mines  and  many  of  the  agri- 
cultural districts  are  situated.  The  following  table  and  the 
appended  note  give  all  the  particulars  furnished  by  the  Signal 
Service  office : 


METEOROLOGY  OF  BOISE  CITY,  IDAHO  TERRITORY. 

Latitude  43°  40'.     Longitude  116°  6\     Elevation  above  sea-level  2,877  ^^^t- 


1877-1S78. 
Months. 


1877. 


July 
Aiii^ust . . .  . 
Seiiteniljcr . 
October  .  .  . 
November . 
December  . 

1 878. 
Jnnuary  .  .  . 
Feliruary  .  . 
March  .  . .  . 

April 

May 

June 


_: 

<D 

0 

U 

V 

•o.i^ 

•a  = 

6  !: 
E  2 

II 

3 

«2 

0 

n 

P^5 

si 

11 

lonlhly  an 
nnual  Mea 
Pressure. 

H 

h 

H 

H 

< 

'^< 

per 

0 

cent 

in. 

in 

106 

44 

749 

62 

36.8 

035 

29.500 

98 

43 

73-9 

55 

n-3 

0.09 

29.572 

91 

32 

61.0 

59 

48.0 

0.27 

29^53 

74 

21 

49.0 

53 

57-1 

0.85 

29.792 

63 

18 

41. 1 

45 

69.6 

2.05 

29934 

54 

8 

30-9 

46 

67.9 

O.OI 

30-074 

55 

7 

34-3 

48 

66.2 

1-73 

30.0SI 

57 

28 

39-7 

29 

675 

2.18 

29.931 

75 

26 

48.0 

49 

62.0 

1.63 

29.997 

77 

23 

Si-2 

54 

5'7 

0-37 

29.914 

86 

29 

58.8 

57 

49.9 

1. 18 

29.961 

96 

43 

72.3 

53 

3^-9 

o.8f. 

29-975 

106 

7 

52-9 

99 

54- 1 

11-57 

29.866 

Direction  of  Winds 

in  the 
order  of  frequency. 


N.  E.,  N.,  s.  w^ 
N.  E.,  S.,  N.,  N.  W. 
,  Calm,  N.  W.,  N.,  N.  E. 

S.,  Calm,  W.,  N. 

S.,  Calm,  N.  E.,  N. 

Calm,  W.,  N.,  S.  W. 


S.,  Calm,  W.,  N. 

N.  E.,  E.,  S.,  W.,  Calm. 

S.,  Calm,  W.,  N.  E.,  E. 
W.,  Calm,  N.  W.,  N.,  S.  W.,  S. 
N.  W.,  N.,  N.  E.,  W.,  S.  E.,  E. 

N.  W..  N.  E.,  S..  N.  E. 
S.,  Calm,  N.,  N.  E.,  W.,  N.  W. 


The  Signal  Service  Report  for  1878-9  varies  but  very  little  from  the  above.  The  maximum 
temperature  of  the  year  was  103°,  and  the  minimum  5°,  the  range,  98°,  varying  only  one  degree 
fniin  the  previous  year,  while  the  mean  was  52.7°.  The  rainfall  was  for  the  autumn  of  1878 
1. 10  inches;  for  the  winter  of  1878-9,  5.37  inches;  for  the  spring  of  1879,4.38  inches,  and  for 
the  summer  of  1S79,  1.46  inches,  making  12.31  inches  in  all,  or  .74  of  an  inch  more  than  the 
previous  year.  It  is  noticeable  that  9.75  inches  of  this,  or  nearly  four-fifths,  fell  in  the  winter 
and  spring,  and  the  proportion  was  about  the  same  as  the  year  before. 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERALOGY.  ^^83 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  geolog^y  of  the  Territory  has 
been  only  partially  investigated.  The  mountains,  like  the  Rocky 
Mountains  generally,  are  at  their  summits  and  on  their  western 
slopes,  granitic  or  feldspathic,  with,  perhaps,  some  metamorphic 
rocks  on  their  sides.  The  valleys  are  on  their  surface  alluvial 
or  diluvial — the  result  of  the  constant  wear  and  erosion  of  the 
steep  mountain  slopes.  Oftener  perhaps  than  in  other  States  and 
Territories,  this  debris  from  the  mountains  is  a  very  fine  dust — 
especially  in  the  valleys  of  the  Salmon  and  Snake  rivers.  The 
Cfold  washed  out  of  the  veins  or  lodes  in  the  mountains  has  been 
ground  by  attrition  to  the  finest  flour,  so  fine  that  although  all 
the  sand  and  the  soil  along  those  river  valleys  for  many  miles 
contain  large  quantities  of  it,  it  could  not  be  separated  by 
washing,  and  was  only  to  be  secured  by  running  it  very  slowly 
over  electro-plated  silver  plates,  covered  with  mercury. 

In  the  centre  of  the  southern  half  of  the  Territory  there  is  an 
extensive  volcanic  plateau,  inaccessible  and  unexplored,  destitute 
of  soil  or  veo-etation.  The  Bear  river  reoion,  in  Southeastern 
Idaho,  as  well  as  that  bordering  on  the  Yellowstone  Park,  is  vol- 
canic in  its  character.  Among  its  minerals  gold  has  been  found 
in  the  fine  impalpable  powder  already  mentioned,  in  large  grains 
and  nuggets,  and  in  gold  veins  and  lodes  along  nearly  the  whole 
course  of  the  Snake  and  Salmon  rivers,  in  the  Sawtooth  or  Sal- 
mon river  range  of  mountains  at  almost  all  points,  and  at  many 
points  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Bitter  Root  mountains.  On 
the  east  fork  of  Salmon  river  and  about  the  sources,  and  indeed 
in  nearly  the  whole  length  of  Wood  river  and  at  the  southern 
termination  of  the  Sawtooth  range,  silver  is  very  plentiful,  and 
silver  minino^  would  be  conducted  with  c^reat  success  were  the 
facilities  of  transportation  of  the  rich  ores  less  difficult.'^'  Copper 
is  found  in  very  rich  ores — sixty-five  to  seventy  percent.,  and  also 
native  copper  of  great  purity  in   Bear  Lake  county,  and   in  the 

*  This  Wood  river  region,  a  district  about  eighty  miles  long  and  forty  miles  wide,  is  just 
now  the  scene  of  great  excitement  from  the  discovery  of  a  number  of  rich  silver  lodes  on  both 
sides  of  Wood  river.  It  is  declared  by  some  to  be  a  second  Lcadville,  and  hundreds  and  per- 
haps thousands  are  flocking  thither  from  Utah,  Nevada,  California  and  some  from  Northern 
Colorado.     Whether  ihey  will  come  to  stay  remains  to  be  seen. 


784  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Snake  river  copper  mining  district.  It  is  also  combined  with  sil- 
ver in  the  Sawtooth  ranofe  and  the  Wood  river  district. 

Lead  in  the  form  of  galena  or  sulphuret  and  carbonate  of  lead 
is  found  in  all  the  silver  mines,  and  an  ore  yielding  about  seventy- 
eight  per  cent,  of  pure  lead  is  found  in  the  Bear  river.  Iron  is 
abundant  and  in  all  forms.  Coal  i.^  found  in  great  quantities 
and  of  excellent  quality  for  coking  and  furnace  purposes  along 
Bear  lake,  and  is  also  mined  at  Smith's  fork  and  on  Irvin 
creek.  The  Mammoth  mine  here  shows  a  vein  seventy  feet 
thick  of  clear  coal,  and  with  adjacent  veins,  separated  by  thin  veins 
of  clay,  will  aggregate  200  feet  in  thickness.  The  Utah  and 
Northern  Railroad,  which  passes  near,  will  soon  open  this  great 
mine  to  a  market.  There  Is  also  a  large  bed  of  very  good  coal 
in  Northern  Idaho  near  Lewiston,  and  another  in  Boise  county, 
about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Boise  City.  Antimony,  arsenic 
and  surphur  are  found  in  considerable  quantities,  the  latter 
especially  in  the  volcanic  districts.  In  Bear  Lake  county,  near 
the  Bear  river,  there  is  a  sulphur  lake  very  heavily  encrusted  with 
sulphur,  and  a  mountain  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  which  Is  pure 
sulphur.  The  "Soda  Springs,"  now  becoming  a  popular  resort 
from  Salt  Lake  City,  are  in  the  same  vicinity,  near  the  Bear 
river  and  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad. 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Strahorn,  who  has  recently  explored  this  won- 
derful region  which  gives  so  many  evidences  of  volcanic  action, 
past  and  present,  thus  writes  of  it  in  the  New  West  Ilhistratcd 
of  December,  1879: 

"  Soda  Springs,  a  hamlet  of  probably  one  hundred  souls,  Is 
located  within  a  stone's  throw  of  Bear  river,  near  the  latter's  '  big 
bend  '  In  Southeastern  Idaho,  and  thirty-five  miles  east  of  Oneida 
Station,  Utah  and"  Northern  Railway.  It  takes  Its  name  from  a 
group  of  noteworthy  springs  In  the  vicinity,  and  thrives  mainly 
upon  the  latter's  fast-increasing  popularity. 

"One  spring  Is  graced  with  a  lively  steam  vent  which  finds 
its  way  upward  through  a  massive  boulder.  Fremont  named  it 
*  Steamboat  Spring,'  on  account  of  its  measured  puff  which  resem- 
bles that  of  an  engine.  The  waters  of  this  spring  are  utilized  In 
a  comfortable  bath-house  near  by.    A  group  of  four  of  the  other 


THE   SODA   AND    OTHER   SPRINGS.  ^gt 

springs  have  attracted  particular  attention  on  account  of  the 
curative  properties  of  the  waters.  The  strongly  mineralized  fluid 
is  also  ever  bubbling  up  from  the  depths  of  pretty  basins  in  Bear 
river,  in  Soda  creek,  along  the  streets  of  the  village — in  fact, 
everywhere  in  the  vicinity — and  is  as  pleasant  as  a  beverage,  as 
it  has  been  found  exhilarating  and  strengthening  as  a  tonic. 
Invalids  with  some  of  the  most  deep-set  and  loathsome  blood 
diseases  claim  to  have  found  a  perfect  cure  in  these  fountains. 
A  mile  distant  are  other  and  not  less  interesting  springs,  the 
waters  of  which  are  so  thoroughly  charged  with  calcareous 
matter  as  to  quickly  form  a  coating  of  limestone  upon  any  object 
immersed  in  them. 

'"V.  de  V.'  thus  humorously  writes  of  the  great  Hooper 
Spring:  '  Hooper  Spring,  one  mile  from  the  main  town,  is  not 
surpassed  in  the  world.  Eight  or  ten  springs  all  bubble  up 
within  a  radius  of  ten  or  twelve  feet,  and  all  unite  in  one  and 
flow  off  into  Soda  creek,  in  a  stream  six  feet  wide  and  four  feet; 
deep.  This  is  the  most  powerful  spring  in  the  world.  Its  water 
is  very  highly  charged.  It  is  surprising  how  much  people  drink. 
Five  pints  is  the  usual  draught ;  ten  will  blow  a  man  up  ;  and 
then,  if  you  can  find  his  mouth,  twenty  more  will  reunite  the 
fragments,  free  him  from  disease  and  set  him  on  his  feet,  regen- 
erated and  born  again.  The  water  from  this  spring  is  bottled 
and  sold.  It  will  when  known  become  famous  the  world  over. 
No  mineral  water  I  ever  drank  has  such  a  delicious  ta&te  ;  none 
causes  such  an  appetite.  The  men  that  drink  it  can't  do  with- 
out it;  children  cry  for  it;  old  people  renew  their  youth  at. this 
fountain.' 

"The  Octagon  Spring  has  received  some  attention  from  Gap- 
tain  Hooper,  who  has  a  handsome  summer  villa  near  by,  and  in 
summer  we  find  scores  of  visitors  seated  under  the  rustic  shade 
drinking  the  life-saving  fluid  from  early  morn  until  late  at  night. 
We  meet  here  the  lame,  the  halt,  and  even  some  that  are  nearly 
blind,  all  testifying  to  the  wonderful  benefits  they  derive  from 
these  waters.  The  mineral  constituents  of  these  springs  render 
them  the  best  of  alteratives,  and  very  efficacious  in  scrofulous 
and  glandular  difficulties,  and  for  all  diseases  of  the  skin.  They 
50  . 


-:86  <^^^     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

are  also  an  excellent  diuretic,  and  contain  enough  iron  to  make 
th^m  of  value  as  a  tonic.  One  quart  of  the  water  from  the 
'  Octagon  Spring  '  contains  : 

Grains. 

Sulphate  of  magnesia 12.10 

Sulphate  of  lime 2.12 

Carbonate  of  lime 3.86 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 3.22 

Chloride  of  calcium 1.33 

Chloride  of  magnesium 1.12 

Chloride  of  sodium 2.24 

Vegetable  matter 85 

"There  is  sufficient  carbonic  acid  jjas  to  ofive  the  whole  a 
power  over  disease.  As  a  beverage  these  waters  resemble  in 
taste  the  famed  Saratoga.  A  few  minutes'  walk  away  is  a  beau- 
tiful spring  called  the  Ninety  Per  Cent.  It  is  all  soda  save  ten 
per  cent.     The  water  is  delicious.     It  contains  no  iron. 

"Four  miles  southeast  of  Soda  Springs  is  Swan  lake,  one  oi 
the  loveliest  natural  eenis  in  the  Wasatch  chain.  It  reclines  in  an 
oval  basin,  whose  rim  is  ten  feet  above  the  surrounding  country. 
The  shores  are  densely  covered  with  trees,  shrubs,  and  the  luxu- 
riant undergrowth  native  to  that  country.  The  outlet  is  a  series 
of  small  moss-covered  basins,  symmetrically  arranged,  the  clear 
water  overflowinor  the  banks,  tricklinof  into  the  nearest  emerald 
tub,  then  successively  into  others,  until  it  forms  a  sparkling 
stream  and  dances  away  to  a  confluence  with  the  Bear  river  in 
the  valley  below. 

"  The  rim  is  apparently  formed  by  petrifaction,  and  extends 
down  as  far  as  the  eye  can  penetrate  the  clear  crystal  water. 
Timber  and  bodies  of  trees  coated  with  a  calcareous  substance 
Qan  be  seen  in  the  depths,  but  no  bottom  has  yet  been  reached 
in  the  centre,  and  it  is  supposed  that  it  is  fed  by  subterranean 
springs  from  the  base  of  the  mountain. 

"Adjacent  to  this  fit  abode  for  water  nymphs  is  the  singular 
sulpliur  lake,  out  of  whose  centre  liquid  sulphur  incessantly  boils 
and  coats  the  shores  with  thick  deposits,  looking  as  though  it 
might  be  a  direct  out-cropping  of  Plutonian   regions.     Near  by 


THE    ICE    CAVES   OF  IDAHO.  y^j 

Is  a  mountain,  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  which  is  pure   sulphur. 
Mr.  Williams  is  now  hauling  several  tons  of  it  to  Oneida  Statfon 
for  shipment  to  Mr.  G.  Y.  Wallace,  of  Salt  Lake,  who  will  experi- 
ment with  it  to  ascertain  whether  it  will  pay  to  make  it  an  article 
of  commerce.     The  great  sulphur  deposit  extends  from  the  base 
of  the  mountain  to  an  unknown  depth,  width  and  breadth.     Re- 
move the  top  crust  anywhere  near  where  it  crops  out  and  you 
find  almost  pure  sulphur.     The  bed  must  be  of  immense  area. 
You  can  load  a  wagon  with  your  hands  without  pick  or  shovel 
as  quickly  as  you  could  fill  it  with  corn.      You  can  take  up  a  rock 
and  touch  a  match  to  it  and  it  will  burn  up,  leaving  a  black  sub- 
stance which  probably  represents   the   impurity.     A  piece  that 
weighs  a  pound  will  leave  a  lump  of  this  about  as  large  as  a  pea. 
"  Four  miles  from  the  village  is  the  great  ice  cave,  which  a 
recent  visitor  describes  as  follows :   *  This  cave  is  situated  very 
close  to  the  roadside,  on  a  level  stretch  of  prairie  about  midway 
between  the  two  crossincrs  of  the  Bear  river.     We  commenced 
the  descent  just  as  the  heavens  were  reverberating  with  deep- 
rolling  thunder  and  the  rain  pouring  down  in  a  perfecdy  reckless 
manner,  thereby  making  us  feel  that  it  was  an  opportune  time 
to  shelter  ourselves  beneath  the  arching  rocky  cavern.     Follow- 
ing our  guide,  we  descended  a  rocky  stairway  some  twenty  feet 
to  a  level  grassy  rotunda  some  hundreds  of  feet  in  circumference, 
walled  in  by  solid  lava  rocks.     From  this  we  descended  still  fur- 
ther over  a  rugged,  rocky  pathway,  about  twenty  feet,  when  we 
found  ourselves  on  the  conorealed  tioor  of  the  immense  ice  cave, 
where  ice  can  be  found  all  the  year  round.     While  our  guide 
was  lighting  our  tallow  dips,  we  surveyed  the  rocky  walls  which 
surrounded  us.     The  roof,  some  ten  feet  above  our  heads,  was 
filled  with  little  niches  or  pockets,  which  had  been  utilized   by 
cave  swallows,  while  the  side  walls  were  as  perpendicular  and 
solid  as  though  hewn  by  the   hand  of  man  out  of  solid  rock. 
Coursing  our  way  over  the  ice,  which  was  apparently  firni  and 
solid  for  a  distance  of  about  lOO  yards,  we  came  to  a  huge  pile 
of  lava  rock  which  had  rolled  from  the  roof  and  almost  choked 
up  the  passage-way.     Our  guide   bade  us  follow  him,  and  we 
soon  found  ourselves  once  again  in  a  clear  open  way,  wide  and 


«88  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

hiijh  enough  to  drive  a  six-horse  stage-coach  comfortably.  This 
smooth  tunnel  we  follow  for  probably  loo  yards,  when  we  again 
descend  a  rocky  stairway,  some  ten  feet  or  more,  and  stand  upon 
what  apparently  was  once  the  bed  of  a  large  river,  with  a  per- 
fectly solid  sandy  Boor.  The  roof  and  side  walls  are  here  found 
to  be  covered  with  minute  stalactites  which,  reflectinof  the  liijht 
of  our  candles,  lend  a  weird  aspect  to  the  surroundings.  We 
now  proceed  onward  several  hundred  feet  through  this  perfectly 
symmetrical  tunnel  to  the  end,  or  what  appears  to  be  the  end.' 

"About  two  miles  to  the  northwest  of  the  ice  cave  is  a  slum- 
bering volcano,  out  of  which  came  part  of  the  immense  bodies 
of  lava  that  cover  this  plain  for  miles  around.  The  rim  of  the 
crater  is  almost  circular,  and  stands  up  about  200  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  plateau  below.  In  the  cooling  process,  the  heart  of 
the  crater  settled  down  about  100  feet  below  the  rim,  leaving  a 
perfect  representation  to  the  student  of  nature  of  an  immense 
extinct  volcano.  We  have  been  able,  during  our  short  sojourn 
in  this  wonderland,  to  clearly  trace  nearly  fifty  immense  extinct 
volcanoes,  which  appear,  from  the  apparent  age  of  the  lava  beds, 
to  have  been  flowinor  about  the  same  time. 

"All  kinds  of  oame  common  to  the  western  mountains  can  be 
found  in  the  region  surrounding  Soda  Springs.  Bear,  deer,  elk, 
mountain  lions,  mountain  sheep,  sage  hens,  and  ducks  are  espe- 
cially plentiful.  Trout  fishing  in  Soda  creek,  Eight  Mile  creek. 
Bear  river,  and  Blackfoot  river,  is  of  that  character  which  can  be 
appreciated  even  by  the  novice.  Cast  your  hook  in  almost  any 
of  these  waters,  and  prepare  for  a  two  or  three  pound  trout  as 
an  almost  instant  result. 

"The  altitude  of  Soda  Springs  is  5,738  feet.  The  warmth  of 
summer  is  tempered  by  the  coolness  of  the  nights.  Blankets  are 
not  uncomfortable  even  in  the  warmest  niohts  of  Auoust.  The 
atmosphere  is  dry,  like  all  mountainous  regions,  and  is  therefore 
very  favorable  to  consumptives  or  those  afflicted  with  pulmonary 
diseases.  This  was  once  the  favorite  resort  of  Brigham  Young, 
and  is  still  the  regular  summering  place  of  numerous  Salt  Lake 
City  merchants,  who  have  built  appropriate  residences. 

"  Salt  is  also  one  of  the  Idaho  minerals.     The  Salt  S23rings 


THE    ONEIDA   SALT  PRODUCTION.  jrgg 

which  have  been  utilized  since  1866,  are  in  Oneida  county,  near 
the  Wyoming  border,  about  fifty  miles  northeast  of  the  Soda 
Springs,  on  the  Old  Lander  emigrant  road  leading  from  South 
Pass  to  Oregon.  The  road  passes  directly  along  the  flat  below 
the  spring,  where,  before  being  concentrated  in  pipes,  the  water 
had  spread  out  and,  evaporating  in  the  sun,  formed  large  masses 
of  salt  crystals  which  attracted  the  attention  of  passers-by  and 
led  to  the  discovery  of  the  spring  flowing  from  the  hillside  above. 
It  is  clear  and  sparkling  as  the  purest  spring  water,  and  never 
would  be  suspected  of  containing  mineral.  The  valley  in  which 
it  is  situated  is  known  now  as  Salt  Spring  valley,  and  is  about  ten 
miles  long  by  an  average  of  one  mile  wide  ;  through  it  flows  a 
rapid  stream  well  filled  with  mountain  trout. 

"  The  Salt  Springs  were  first  taken  up  by  B.  F.  White,  Esq.  (the 
present  owner),  and  partner,  in  June,  1866,  and  works  have  since 
been  in  constant  operation,  every  year  witnessing  an  increase  in 
the  demand,  until  almost  the  entire  stream  flowing  from  the 
spring  has  been  utilized.  The  salt  is  made  by  boiling  the  water 
in  large  galvanized  iron  pans,  into  which  it  is  led  by  wooden 
pipes  leading  direct  from  the  spring,  thus  insuring  perfect  clean- 
liness, and  a  uniformly  white,  clean  and  beautiful  product.  The 
water  is  kept  constantly  running  into  the  boilers,  and  is  kept  at 
a  boiling  heat  all  the  time.  The  salt  is  shoveled  out  once  in 
every  thirty  minutes,  and  after  draining  twenty-five  hours  is 
thence  thrown  into  the  drying-house,  there  to  remain  until 
sacked  and  prepared  for  shipping.  The  most  scrupulous  clean- 
liness is  observed  in  every  operation,  and  when  the  immense 
banks  of  salt  lie  piled  up  in  the  drying-house,  they  resemble  huge 
snow-banks  more  than  anything  one  could  imagine.  It  takes 
from  two  to  four  months  for  salt  made  in  this  manner  to  dry  and 
ripen,  and  for  this  reason  it  becomes  necessary  to  keep  on  hand 
a  large  supply,  so  that  at  any  time  a  thousand  tons  of  the  purest 
and  whitest  salt  in  the  world  may  be  seen  here  in  these  far  west 
*  Oneida  salt  works.' 

"  Following  is  an  analysis  of  the  Oneida  salt,  made  by  Dr. 
Piggot,  the  well-known  analytical  chemist,  of  Baltimore.  It  shows 
a  higher  perce'ntage  of  pure  salt  than  the  celebrated  Onondaga 


-QQ  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

brand,  manufactured  at  Syracuse,  while  neither  'Liverpool,' 
'Turk's  Island '  or  'Sapinaw'  salt  approach  it  in  purity,  or  are  as 
white,  clear  or  soluble  in  liquids : 

Chloride  of  sodium  (pure  salt) 97-79 

Sulph.  soda 1.54 

Chloride  of  calcium .67 

Sulph.  magnesia Trace 

Total 100.00 

"In  1866  only  15,000  pounds  of  salt  were  here  manufactured; 
but  the  demand  in  Idaho,  Utah  and  Montana  has  so  steadily  in- 
creased that  the  product  has  averaged  about  600,000  pounds  per 
annum  up  to  1877.  In  1878  it  ran  up  to  1,500,000  pounds, and 
in  1879  to  nearly  2,000,000  pounds,  much  of  the  production  of 
the  last  two  years  having  been  consumed  in  Montana  smelting 
works.  It  is  sacked  in  5,  10,  25,  50  and  100  pound  bags,  and  is 
laid  down  at  points  200  miles  distant  by  wagon  transportation  at 
from  three  to  four  cents  per  pound." 

Soil  and  Vc Q-e table  Proditctions. — We  have  already  stated  our 
conviction  that  the  amount  of  arable  land  in  Idaho  did  not  gready 
exceed  one-fifth  of  its  surface,  even  including  those  lands  ca- 
pable of  successful  irrigation.  Of  course  in  a  Territory  of  which 
not  one-seventh,  including  mining  lands,  has  been  surveyed, 
such  a  conviction  must  rest  partly  on  general  principles.  Our 
reasons  are  these :  The  Rocky  Mountains,  which  form  the  east- 
ern boundary  of  the  Territory,  present  only  their  western  face  to 
it;  and  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  other 
hich  mountain  ransfes  on  this  continent  havino-  a  o;eneral  di- 
rection  from  north  to  south,  the  western  face  or  slope  is  precip- 
itous, and  has  very  little  arable  land,  though  portions  of  the 
mountain  below  the  snow-line  may  be  covered  with  timber.  But 
it  is  precisely  these  precipitous  mountain  sides  which  are  oftenest 
the  places  of  deposit  of  the  precious  metals.  In  Idaho  we  have  not 
only  the  western  face  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  the  long  and 
bold  spur  of  that  range  known  as  the  Salmon  River  and  Sawtooth 
Mountains,  the  latter  name  being  given  as  characteristic  of  their 
precipitous  faces.    There  is  also  a  rocky  wall  overlooking  the  val- 


THE  BARREN    LANDS    OF  IDAHO.  7gi 

ley  of  the  Snake  river  for  a  long  stretch  of  its  course,  and  the  deep, 
dark  canon  through  which  it  flows  for  seventy-five  miles  in  the  lava 
lands.  There  are  furthermore  the  alkaline  lands,  a  desert  and 
dreary  waste,  the  lofty  mesas  and  plains,  not  irrigable,  and  unfit 
even  for  grazing  without  it,  and  the  hillsides  and  foothills  facing 
the  east,  which,  though  affording  good  pasture  grounds  in  many 
instances  for  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep,  are  not  adapted 
to  cultivation.  In  short,  it  is  only  the  river  valley  and  bottom 
land,  and  not  all  of  these,  which  can  properly  be  called  arable 
lands,  and  with  an  average  rainfall  of  only  twelve  inches,  more 
than  three-fourths  of  it  between  November  and  April,  even  these 
must  often,  perhaps  not  always,  be  irrigated. 

The  soil,  when  irrigated,  is  generally  fertile ;  perhaps  not  so 
rich  as  that  of  Montana,  or  California,  or  the  Willamette  valley, 
but  it  yields  for  a  first  crop  from  twenty-five  to  forty  bushels  of 
wheat,  fifty  bushels  or  thereabouts  of  barley,  and  fifty-five  of  oats. 
Corn  does  not  do  well,  except  in  the  river  bottoms,  the  season 
being  too  short  for  it.  Fruits  are  said  to  be  raised  with  great 
success,  especially  in  Northern  Idaho. 

The  forest  trees  of  Idaho  are  mainly  those  of  the  Pacific  slope, 
but  rather  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  than  of  California.  The 
various  species  of  pine,  including  the  pinon  or  nut  pine,  the  P. 
poiiderosa  or  yellow  pine,  and  several  other  species  of  fir,  spruce, 
tamarack  and  cypress,  the  red  cedar,  though  not  the  "Redwood," 
the  white  cedar,  the  juniper,  and  some  of  the  hardwood  trees,  as 
the  oak  of  three  or  four  species,  chinquapin,  hickory,  etc.,  etc., 
are  the  principal  trees  of  its  forests.  At  full  age,  the  pines,  firs 
and  cedars  attain  a  height  of  about  150  feet.  Like  the  Pacific 
States  generally,  it  has  very  little  sod,  though  the  bunch  grass  is 
found  on  most  of  the  grazing  lands,  and  is  so  nutritious  that  cat- 
tle fatten  upon  it  very  readily.  Wild  flowers  abound  in  the 
valleys,  and  many  of  them  are  of  remarkable  beauty.  Lands 
upon  which  are  found  in  luxuriant  growth  the  bunch  grass, 
larkspur  and  the  wild  sunflower  of  the  Pacific  coast,  are  well 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  cereals,  and  these  are  the  most  com- 
mon products  of  the  plateaux  of  Northern  Idaho,  Wild  fruits 
abound    in    Northern    and   Central   Idaho,   especially   the    wild 


,^  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


JCj2 

berries  and  wild  cherries,  though  the  wild  cherry  of  the  Pacific 
coast  is  a  shrub,  and  not  a  tree.  Its  fruit  is,  however,  more 
edible  and  pleasant  than  that  of  the  East. 

Zoology. — The  wild  animals  of  the  Territory  are,  in  general, 
those  of  Oregon  and  California.  The  grizzly  bear  is  seldom 
seen,  but  has  been  found  in  the  Territory.  The  black  and  cin- 
namon bear  are  common  ;  the  puma,  cougar,  panther  or  moun- 
tain lion  (the  beast  is  known  by  all  four  names)  is  troublesome, 
especially  in  the  grazing  lands  ;  the  gray  wolf  and  the  western 
coyote,  all  the  fur-bearing  animals,  the  martin,  fisher,  lynx,  pos- 
sibly the  ocelot,  the  otter,  mink,  muskrat  and  beaver,  as  well  as 
the  smaller  rodents  ;  the  marmot  or  gopher,  sewellel  and  other 
species  of  mole  are  abundant.  Moose  {Alces  Americanus)  are 
found  occasionally  in  Northern  Idaho.  Naturalists  insist  that 
the  moose  and  true  elk  are  identical ;  but  the  animal  generally 
known  as  the  elk  or  Wapiti  {Ccrvns  Canadensis)  differs  materially 
from  the  moose,  and  is  the  largest  of  the  deer  family  in  America  ; 
it  roams  over  the  whole  Territory  ;  two  other  species  of  deer  are 
distinguished  by  the  hunters  ;  the  bighorn  or  Rocky  Mountain 
sheep  is  found  in  considerable  numbers  on  the  mountains  and  in 
the  lofty  valleys,  and  occasionally  the  Rocky  Mountain  goat  or 
goat  antelope  is  seen.  The  antelope  of  the  plains  is  rare,  if  seen 
at  all,  west  of  the  mountains,  and  the  buffalo  is  not  now,  we  believe, 
seen  in  this  Territory,  though  said  formerly  to  have  been  found 
here  in  vast  herds.  Of  birds,  there  are  considerable  numbers, 
the  raptorcs  or  birds  of  prey  predominating,  though  the  grouse, 
pheasant  and  ptarmigan  families  are  abundant.  Song-birds  are 
not  as  abundant  as  in  more  southern  climes.  There  are  a  few 
reptiles  and  serpents.  The  rivers  and  lakes  abound  with  fish. 
Salmon  trout,  brook  and  lake  trout  and  many  other  species  of 
edible  fish,  among  which  the  Red  fish,  found  only  in  four  lakes  in 
the  world,  of  which  two  are  in  Idaho,  is  the  special  boast  of  llu- 
people  of  the  Territory,  are  abundant  in  the  lakes  and  streams  of 
the  Territory. 

Mines  and  Mining-. — The  product  of  the  mines  of  Idaho  from 
the  first  attempt  at  niining  there  to  the  present  time,  a  period  of 
about  twenty  years,  is  somewhat  more  than  $70,000,000.     IMorc 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  MINING   IN  IDAHO.  ng^ 

than  three-fourths  of  this  has  been  from  placer  mining,  and  has 
been,  of  course,  gold.  The  placers  yielded,  from  1866  to  1870 
or  1872,  from  ^7,000,000  to  ^10,000,000  per  annum.  In  1868 
and  1869  there  had  been  signs  of  the  exhaustion  or  unprofitable 
working  of  the  placers,  and  attention  began  to  be  turned  to 
quartz  and  lode  mining.  It  should  be  said  that  the  success  of 
tile  placer  mining  on  the  Snake  river  was  grcady  impeded  by 
the  fineness  of  the  (jold  dust;  it  was,  in  the  miner's  lancruao-e, 
flour  gold,  and  pan,  rocker  and  "Tom"  could  not  separate  it 
from  the  finely  powdered  clay  in  which  it  was  found.  A  hundred 
pounds  of  pay  dirt  might  contain,  and  often  did,  two  or  three 
pounds  of  gold  or  even  more  ;  but  the  old  process  of  washin<>- 
would  hardly  gain  a  quarter  of  an  ounce.  Of  late  new  and 
better  processes  have  enabled  the  miners  at  some  points  to 
secure  the  greater  part  of  this  gold  previously  wasted. 

The  gradual  failure  of  the  placers  stimulated  the  prospecting 
(or  lodes  of  gold  and  silver,  and  from  1867  to  the  present  time 
the  discoveries  of  valuable  mines  have  been  very  frequent,  and 
some  of  them  of  veins  which  yielded  remarkable  quantities  of 
gold  and  silver,  Owyhee  county,  which  had,  in  1869,  ten  mines 
actively  at  work,  and  thirty  or  forty  mining  claims,  and  which 
was  producing  from  ^1,000,000  to  ^1,400,000  per  annum,  is  now 
apparently  almost  deserted,  very  little  having  been  done  there 
since  1876,  in  consequence  of  the  bad  management  and  frauds 
of  the  officers  of  the  largest  mines  and  the  failure  of  the  Bank  of 
California;  while  the  o-reater  attractions  of  the  Salmon  river  cfold 
fields,  the  Snake  river  gold  fields,  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of 
the  Sawtooth  range  and  the  Wood  river  district,  the  Yellow 
Jacket  district,  Yankee  Fork,  East  Fork,  Bay  Horse,  Custer 
City,  Challis,  Silver  Star  and  other  districts  and  mines  have  com- 
pletely overshadowed  them,  A  few  mines  are  still  worked  in  a 
small  way  in  Owyhee  county  ;  a  larger  number  in  Alturas  count)-, 
though  not  very  profitably  ;  most  of  these  are  silver  and  will  be 
more  profitable  when  transportation  is  cheaper.  Boise  county 
has  many  mines,  both  of  gold  and  silver,  in  course  of  dcxelop- 
ment,  the  mines  of  the  south  part  of  the  county  being  gold,  while 
those  of  the  northern  part  are  both  gold  and  silver.     The  Snake 


yg.  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

river  gold  fields  belong  to  placer  mining.  Lemhi  county,  in 
which  is  the  Yankee  Fork  mining  district,  and  the  remarkable 
Charles  Dickens,  Challis  and  Custer  Mountain  lodes,  gives  prom-: 
ise  of  great  productiveness  for  the  next  few  years.  In  Idaho 
county.  Northern  Idaho,  there  are  a  large  number  of  gold  and 
silver-bearing  veins,  but  no  roads  to  bring  in  the  machinery,  no 
mills  to  work  the  ore,  and  nothing  but  pack-mules  to  carry  the 
ore  some  hundreds  of  miles  to  points  where  it  can  be  reduced. 
It  requires  ore  of  very  high  grade  to  pay  such  heavy  expenses. 
Ada  county,  in  which  the  capital,  Boise  City,  is  situated,  has 
many  excellent  silver  lodes,  but  very  poor  facilities  for  reducing 
them  cheaply.  The  production  of  gold  and  silver  in  1878  was 
estimated  at  ^1,878,000,  and  for  1879  at  over  ^1,000,000. 

There  would  be,  if  there  were  good  roads  to  drive  cattle  to 
market,  excellent  opportunities  to  extend  the  grazing  interest 
greatly  in  this  Territory,  for  some  of  its  grazing-lands  are  equal 
to  those  to  be  found  anywhere,  and  a  market  could  be  found  for 
them  from  Northern  Idaho  by  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  from 
Central  and  Southern  Idaho  by  the  Utah  and  Northern  and 
Union  Pacific  Railroads.  There  are  perhaps  20,000  cattle  sent 
out  of  the  Territory  yearly,  but  the  business  is  not  prosecuted 
with  any  energy,  and  amounts  at  the  utmost  to  not  more  than 
^400,000  per  annum.  The  wild  animals  are  too  numerous  and 
fierce  to  make  sheep-farming  profitable  at  present. 

The  farming  crops  are  limited  by  want  of  a  farming  population, 
good  roads  and  good  and  easily  accessible  markets,  and  small  as 
is  the  population  of  consumers,  the  production  of  grains  and  root 
crops  does  not  more  than  consume  it. 

Indians. — There  were  formerly  a  considerable  number  of 
hostile  and  warlike  Indians  in  this  Territory,  but  by  wars  and 
outbreaks  they  have  been  reduced  until  there  were  in  1880  only 
4,020  Indians  in  all  in  the  Territory,  viz.:  460  Bannocks,  1,040 
Shoshones,  1,208  Nez  Perces,  712  mixed  Shoshone  Bannock  and 
Sheep-eater,  600  Pend  d'Oreille  and  Kootenai.  Their  reserva- 
tions amount  to  2,748,981  acres,  or  more  than  a  square  mile  to 
an  Indian.  About  one-fifth  of  them'have  adopted  citizen's  dress 
and  are  partially  civilized. 


HINDRANCES   TO   IDAHO'S  PROSPERITY.  yge 

Surrounded  on  all  sides  by  Territories  in  which  the  most  in- 
tense activity  and  energy  prevails,  Idaho  may  be  compared  to  a 
Sea  of  Sargasso,  whose  tranquil  surface  is  ruffled  by  no  wind,  and 
over  which  are  gathered  vast  masses  of  sea-weed  and  drift-wood, 
the  home  of  foul  birds  of  prey. 

There  is  undoubtedly  great  mineral  wealth  in  Idaho  Territory, 
but  with  the  exceedingly  imperfect  facilities  now  existincr  or 
likely  to  exist  for  some  time  to  come,  for  reducing  the  ores,  or 
sending  the  bullion  to  market,  there  can  be  very  little  induce- 
ment for  capitalists  to  engage  in  mining  operations.  There  is 
hardly  a  good  wagon  road  in  the  Territory ;  most  of  the  trans- 
portation of  ores,  machinery,  farming  implements,  furniture,  etc., 
is  on  the  backs  of  pack-mules.  The  two  railroads — the  Utah  and 
Northern,  which  passes  near  the  eastern  boundary  into  Montana, 
and  the  Northern  Pacific,  now  being  constructed  across  the  ex- 
treme northern  portion  of  the  Territory — the  Pend  d'Oreille 
country — however  much  they  may  benefit  other  interests,  are  not 
so  situated  as  to  render  any  material  aid  to  the  mining  interests 
of  the  Territory,  or  to  diminish,  except  very  slightly,  the  cost  of 
transportation  to  reduction  works  and  markets.  If  the  projected 
Oregon  division  of  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad,  extending 
from  Portneuf  to  Boise  City,  and  thence  west  into  Oregon,  were 
likely  to  be  built,  it  would  afford  prospective  relief;  but  it  was 
projected  to  prevent  the  progress  and  completion  of  the  North- 
ern Pacific,  and  having  failed  in  that,  it  will  prove  too  unprofita- 
ble and  too  costly  an  experiment  to  be  undertaken  by  so  con- 
servative an  institution  as  the  Union  Pacific  Railway. 

There  are,  indeed,  two  projected  branches  of  the  proposed 
road  of  the  Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation  Company  from 
Wallula,  on  the  Columbia,  northeastward,  to  reach  eventually 
Moscow,  in  Northwestern  Idaho,  near  Lake  Coeur  d'Alene,  and 
southeastward  to  Baker  City  in  Oregon,  a  continuation  of  which 
might  strike  the  mouth  of  Weiser  river ;  but  these  will  not  be 
built  for  some  years,  if  ever,  and  without  connections  in  the  Ter- 
ritory, would  be  of  little  or  no  value. 

Meanwhile,  all  the  interests  of  the  Territory  are  suffering  and 
are  likely  to  suffer.     She  has  not  only  the  products  of  her  mines. 


-g5  ^^^^     IVESTEJiN   EMPIRE. 

but  might  have  also  considerable  amounts  of  grain  to  sell  to  her 
own  people,  if  it  could  be  transported,  and  if  there  were  induce- 
ments in  the  market,  which  would  be  afforded  by  a  rapidly  in- 
creasing population,  the  amount  might  be  greatly  increased. 
She  might  engage  largely  in  stock-raising  and  dairy-farming, 
but  she  has  no  roads  over  which  her  agricultural  and  pastoral 
products  could  be  sent  to  markets  either  within  her  own  bounds 
or  without  them.  It  may  be  asked  why  does  she  not  build  wagon 
roads,  which  would  at  least  facilitate  inter-communication,  and 
would  in  time  lead  to  railroads  ?  There  are  several  reasons. 
The  construction  of  wao-on  roads  over  so  rouMi  a  countrv,  if  not 
impracticable,  is  very  difficult  and  expensive.  If  application  had 
been  made  in  season  probably  the  general  government  would 
have  made  some  grants  of  lands  for  their  construction,  though 
that  would  not  perhaps  have  effected  its  object;  but  the  policy  of 
the  government  has  been  for  several  years  past  decidedly 
opposed  to  land  grants  for  either  railroads  or  wagon  roads. 
Private  or  corporate  capital  might  do  this,  as  it  has  in  other 
States,  but  the  obstacles  are  many,  and  capital  is  timid.  The  In- 
dian tribes  have  been,  until  recently,  more  or  less  hostile.  But 
perhaps  a  still  stronger  objection  to  the  free  immigration  which 
would  have  forced  the  construction  of  these  roads,  has  been  the 
fact  that  for  the  last  ten  years  it  has  been  the  settled  purpose  of 
the  Mormon  leaders  in  Utah  to  take  possession  of  Idaho  and  of 
other  adjacent  Territories  also,  if  possible.  They  have  planted 
their  colonies  in  every  eligible  position  in  Southern  and  Central 
Idaho,  and  have  driven  away,  as  far  as  possible,  other  immigrants, 
unless  they  would  submit  to  their  authority  and  dictation. 

The  result  has  been  disastrous.  The  Mormon  authority  is  an 
autocracy  or  an  oligarchy ;  and  free  and  independent  men  could 
not  and  would  not  submit  to  it.  The  Territory  was  settled  much 
earlier  than  Montana  or'  Dakota,  but  whereas  it  had  in  1870  a 
population  of  1 5,000,  exclusive  of  Indians,  it  has  now  only 
32,611,  and  this  increase  is  very  largely  of  Mormon  colonists 
sent  by  the  central  authority  at  Salt  Lake  City  to  establish  them- 
selves there.  There  is  no  enterprise,  no  progress,  and  the  Ter- 
ritory, with  its  great  mineral  wealth  and  its  favorable  position,  is 


■  THE   INDIAN  TERRITORY.  y^y 


likely  to  remain  undeveloped  and  largely  unpeopled  as  a  conse- 
quence of  Mormon  greed  and  evil  influence.  In  such  a  Terri- 
tory we  cannot  invite  immigrants  to  settle. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  INDIAN  TERRITORY. 


Minute  Details  concerning  the  Indian  Territory  not  necessary  at  the 

PRESENT  time  IN  THIS  WORK WhY  ? A    FEW    GENERAL    PoiNTS    IN    VIEW  OF 

the  ultimate  possibility  of  a  change,  which  may  permit  immigration 

Topography — Length  and  Breadth — Latitude  and  Longitude — Area — 
Boundaries — Division  into  Indian  Reservations  or  Nations — Areas  of 
MOST  of  these — Tracts  not  yet  allotted,  and  Indian  Bai:ds  not  perma- 
nently LOCATED — Number  of  Indians  in  the  Territory  in  1S7S — Present 
number — The  five  leading  Tribes,  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  Choctaws, 
Creeks  and  Seminoles — Their  Progress  in  Civilization — The  Capitals 
OF  their  Respective  Nations — Their  Farm  Products  in  1879 — Their 
Live-Stock — Valuation  of  Real  and  Personal  Estate  —  Schools, 
Churches,  Benevolent  Institutions — Newspapers — Post-Offices — The 
Smaller  Tribes  and  Bands  less  Civilized — Surface  of  the  Country — 
Mountains,  Rivers,  Lakes — Climate — Meteorology  of  Forts  Gibson 
AND  Sill — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Soil  and  Vegetation — Forests — 
Railroads — The  Character  of  the  Population — Rev.  Timothy  Hill's 
Account  of  the  Territory — The  Indian  Title  to  the  Territory — His- 
tory OF  THE  Removal  of  the  Five  Tribes  and  other  Indians — Re-pur- 
chase OF  some  OF  their  Lands  by  the  Government — Efforts  to  drive 
them  from  this  Territory — The  Outlook  for  the  Future — Possession 
OF  their  Lands  in  severalty  their  only  hope — Indian  Annuity  Funds. 

Though  comprised  within  the  limits  of  "  Our  Western  Em- 
pire," and  probably  destined  eventually  to  form  one  of  its  States, 
when  the  Indians  shall  have  become  citizens,  and  the  aereressive 
spirit  of  the  Western  settlers  shall  have  ceased  to  covet  their 
lands,  or  to  propound  the  atrocious  sentiment  "that  the  only 
good  Indian  is  a  dead  one" — yet,  in  the  present  condition  of 
affairs,  we  should  not  be  justified  in  going  into  minute  details 
respecting  the  Indian  Territory,  inasmuch  as  it  is  by  solemn 
treaties  the  exclusive  home  of  the  red  man,  and  all  explorations 


Hg3  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

or  descriptions  of  it,  having  in  view  the  promotion  of  white  emi- 
gration thither,  are  strictly  forbidden.  We  shall  therefore  only 
describe  it;  briefly  give  an  account  of  its  Indian  inhabitants, 
their  locations,  condition,  property  and  productions,  and  their 
probable /uture,  and  pass  on  to  other  States  and  Territories  to 
which  the  immigrant  may  have  free  access. 

The  Indian  Territory  is  situated  between  the  parallels  of  ■x,^)'^ 
35'  and  i']°  north  latitude,  and  between  the  meridians  of  94°  20' 
and  103°  west  longitude  from  Greenwich.  The  greater  part  of 
the  Territory  is  between  94°  20'  and  100°  west;  but  a  narrow 
strip  thirty-five  miles  in  width,  and  extending  from  the  looth  to 
the  103d  degree  of  longitude,  separates  Northwestern  Texas 
from  Kansas  and  Colorado,  and  that  strip  watered  by  the 
Cimarron  and  Canadian  rivers,  forms  a  part  of  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory. Its  length  from  east  to  west  along  the  northern  border  is 
470  miles,  and  south  of  latitude  36°  30',  310  miles.  Its  breadth 
east  of  the  looth  meridian  averao-es  about  210  miles.  Its  area 
is  now  stated  as  69,304  square  miles,  or  44,154,240  acres.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Kansas  and  Colorado ;  on  the  east  by 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  ;  on  the  south  by  Texas,  from  which  it  is 
separated  as  far  west  as  the  lOoth  meridian  by  the  Red  river; 
west  of  that  meridian  by  the  parallel  of  36°  30'.  Its  western 
boundaries  are  Texas  and  New  Mexico.  Not  quite  one-thir- 
teenth of  its  surface  is  in  forests ;  the  remainder  is  prairie,  deep 
ravines,  or  wider  valleys,  and  pleasant  mountain  slopes. 

Besides  a  considerable  portion  still  unassigned,  the  Territory 
contains  eighteen  or  twenty  Indian  reservations.  The  Chero- 
kees  have  two  tracts :  one  of  5,960  square  miles  in  the  north- 
east, east  of  the  96th  meridian,  and  bordering  on  Kansas  and  Ar- 
kansas. They  also  own  a  strip  containing  about  8,500  square 
miles,  about  fifty  miles  wide  along  the  Kansas  border  from  the 
Arkansas  river,  west  to  the  lOOth  meridian.  The  Choctaw  res- 
ervation, 10,450  square  miles,  is  in  the  southeast,  bordering  on 
Arkansas  and  Texas.  The  Chickasaw  reservation,  6,840  square 
miles,  joins  this  on  the  west,  and  is  separated  from  Texas  by 
the  Red  river.  The  Creek  reservation,  5,024  square  miles,  is 
in  the  eastern  central  part  of  the  territory,  between  the  Chero- 


ALLOTMENTS   OF   TERRITORY   TO    DIFFERENT  TRIBES. 


799 


kees  and  Choctaws.  The  Seminole  reservation,  312.5  square 
miles,  lies  southwest  of  the  Creeks,  and  north  of  this  that  of  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes,  756  square  miles.  A  tract  of  900  square  miles, 
lying  west  of  the  Seminole  reservation,  is  set  apart  for  the 
citizen  Pottawatomies  and  the  Absentee  Shawnees.  West  of  the 
Cherokees'  second  reservation,  and  bounded  north  by  Kansas, 
and  southwest  by  the  Arkansas  river,  is  the  Osage  reservation 
of  2,345  square  miles  ;  and  northwest  of  this  is  the  little  reserva- 
tion of  the  Kaws,  156  square  miles  in  extent.  These  are  late 
comers,  though  not  the  latest,  having  been  removed  from 
Kansas  in  1873.  The  Kiowas,  Comanches  and  Apaches  occupy 
a  tract  of  5,546  square  miles  in  the  southwest,  bounded  on  the 
east  by  the  Chickasaw  reservation.  North  of  these  the  Arapahoes 
and  Cheyennes  have  a  tract  of  6,205  square  miles.  Fragments 
of  ten  tribes,  viz.:  the  Ouapaws,  the  Confederated  Peorias, 
Kaskaskias,  Weas,  Piankashaws  and  Miamies,  the  Ottawas, 
the  Shawnees,  the  Wyandots  and  the  Senecas,  severally,  have 
reservations,  aggregating  in  all  297  square  miles,  in  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  Territory,  east  of  the  Neosho  river.  There 
are  eis:ht  affiliated  bands  of  Wichitas,  Keechies,  Wacoes, 
Tawacanies,  Caddoes,  lonies,  Delawares  and  Penetethka 
Comanches,  who  are  gathered  around  an  agency  on  the 
Washita  river,  west  of  the  Creek  country,  but  they  have  no 
reservation.  The  Modocs,  the  remnant  of  Captain  Jack's  band, 
and  about  400  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies,  were  sent  to  the 
Indian  Territory  in  1873,  and  the  Modocs  were  placed  tem- 
porarily on  the  Shawnee  reservation,  and  the  latter  settled  on  a 
tract  on  the  Kansas  border  west  of  the  Arkansas  river.  The 
Poncas  and  some  bands  of  the  Sioux  were  sent  into  the  Terri- 
tory in  1876  and  1S77;  some  of  the  Arizona  Indians  about 
the  same  time,  and  some  bands  of  Utes  still  later. 

In  187S  the  Indian  office  reported  the  whole  number  of  In- 
dians in  the  Indian  Territory  as  75,479.  The  increase  by  births, 
and  the  additional  bands  which  have  been  sent  in  since  that  time, 
may  have  increased  the  total  number  to  78,000.  These  are  for 
the  most  part  recognized  as  civilized  or  partly  civilized  Indians. 
The  greater  part  of  them  wear  citizen's  dress,  and  a  fair  proper- 


3oo  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

lion  have  farms  or  herds  of  cattle  or  sheep,  and  can  read  or 
write  at  least  in  their  own  language.  This  is  especially  true  of 
the  five  leading  tribes,  the  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  Creeks,  Chicka- 
saws  and  Seminoles.  They  are  capable  now  of  becoming  citizens. 
They  have  churches  and  schools,  legislatures  of  their  own,  and 
have  for  many  years  maintained  self-government  with  perhaps 
no  more  failures  than  some  of  the  States  of  the  Union.  The 
capital  of  the  Cherokee  nation  is  Tah-le-quah  ;  of  the  Chicka- 
saws,  Tishemingo  ;  of  the  Choctaws,  Armstrong  Academy  ;  of  the 
Creeks,  Ok-mul-kee  ;  of  the  Seminoles,  We-wo-ka. 

In  1878-9  these  five  civilized  tribes  cultivated  237,000  acres 
of  land,  and  raised  565,400  bushels  of  wheat,  2,015,000  bushels 
of  corn,  200,500  bushels  of  oats  and  barley,  336,700  bushels  of 
vegetables,  and  176,520  tons  of  hay.  They  own  45,500  horses, 
5,500  mules,  272,000  head  of  cattle,  190,000  swine,  and  32,400 
sheep.  Among  other  products  of  Indian  labor  during  the  same 
year  were  8,100,360  feet  of  lumber  sawed,  132,886  cords  of  wood 
cut,  200,600  shingles  made,  387,000  pounds  of  maple  sugar  made, 
164,000  pounds  of  wild  rice  gathered,  17,000  woollen  blankets 
and  shawls  woven,  2,530  willow  baskets  made,  3,800  cords  of 
hemlock  bark  peeled,  211,000  pounds  of  wool  clipped  for  sale, 
and  3,600  barrels  of  fish  sold.  These  tribes  were  much  broken 
up  during  the  late  civil  war,  many  of  them  having  taken  part  in 
it,  a  majority  probably  on  the  side  of  the  South,  yet  in  1872  they 
had  so  far  recovered  from  its  effects  that  their  property,  real  and 
personal,  was  valued  at  $15,257,700,  and  is  now  estimated  at 
over  ^20,000,000.  The  population  of  these  tribes  is  about  55,000. 
In  1873  they  maintained  164  schools  with  182 teachers,  and  4,300 
scholars  in  average  attendance.  The  number  of  churches  is  not 
knowm,  but  in  1872  there  were  7,090  Indian  members  of  the 
different  churches.  The  Cherokees  have  an  orphan  asylum 
with  ninety  inmates.  The  Creeks  have  also  an  orphan  asylum. 
There  are  three  weekly  papers  published  in  the  Territory,  one 
English  and  Cherokee  at  Tah-le-quah,  one  English  and  Choctaw 
at  New  Bogy,  and  one  English  at  Caddo.  There  are  twenty- 
eight  post-ofiices  in  the  Territory. 

Of  course,  many  of  the  smaller  bands  of  Indians,  especially 


SURFACE  AND    CLIMATE   OF  INDIAN  TERRITORY.  goi 

those  more  recently  sent  there,  have  not  attained  to  this  measure 
of  civihzation,  but  for  the  most  part  they  are  improving  and  will 
continue  to  improve  if  under  favorable  influences. 

Sztr/acc,  JMountains,  Rivers,  Lakes. — The  surface  of  the  Terri- 
tory, like  that  of  Kansas,  at  the  north  of  it,  has  a  general  declina- 
tion toward  the  East.  In  the  southwest  the  Wichita  Mountains 
attain  to  a  moderate  elevation,  and  in  the  east  there  is  a  continu- 
ation of  the  Ozark  and  Washita  hills  from  Arkansas ;  beyond 
these  the  country  spreads  out  into  rolling  prairie  lands  rising 
gradually  to  the  west,  and  in  the  north  there  are  table  lands 
rising  from  3,500  to  4,500  feet  above  the  sea.  The  Territory  is 
well  watered.  The  Red  river,  which  forms  its  southern  boun- 
dary, receives  numerous  affluents  great  and  small  on  its  northern 
bank  :  the  Arkansas,  which  is  the  principal  river  of  the  Territory, 
has  for  its  largest  tributaries  the  Canadian,  the  north  fork  of  the 
Canadian,  the  Cimarron  or  Red  fork,  and  the  Little  Arkansas, 
on  its  south  bank,  and  the  Neosho,  Verdigris,  and  Illinois  on  the 
north,  and  is  itself  a  mighty  stream  where  it  enters  the  Territory 
from  Kansas.  Owing  to  the  falls  which  obstruct  it,  the  Arkansas 
is  only  navigable  in  the  Indian  Territory  as  far  as  Fort  Gibson, 
where  the  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Texas  Railway  crosses  it.  The 
Red  river  is  navigable  for  nearly  the  whole  distance  along  the 
southern  border  of  the  Territory.  None  of  the  tributaries  of 
the  Arkansas  are  navigable  for  any  great  distance,  though  sev- 
eral of  them  are  large  streams  and  afford  permanent'water  power. 
The  Territory  is  well  watered,  surpassing  Kansas  in  that  respect. 

Climate. — The  climate  is  generally  mild  and  salubrious,  but 
inclined  to  be  dry  in  the  northwest.  In  the  southwest  there  are 
tracts  of  marshy  lands  where  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers 
prevail.  The  mean  annual  temperature  in  the  southeast  is  60°, 
in  the  northwest  55°.  The  annual  rainfall,  which,  in  the  south- 
eastern extremity  of  the  Territory  is  fifty-two  inches,  decreases 
to  thirty-five  inches  in  the  central  region,  and  is  less  than  twenty 
inches  in  the  northwest  corner. 

The  followincr  table  oives  the  meteorolocjical  statistics  of  Fort 
Gibson,  on  the  Arkansas  river ;  at  the  mouth  of  the  Neosho,  and 
at  Fort  Sill,  on  Cache  creek,  in  the  southwest  of  the  Territory. 
51 


802 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


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Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  geology  of  the  Territory  has 
not  been  very  thoroughly  explored.  It  seems  to  partake  more 
of  the  characteristics  of  Kansas  than  of  Arkansas,  and  some  of 


SOIL    AND    VEGETATION.  8q^ 

its  formations  extend  across  the  Red  river  into  Northern  Texas. 
Some  of  its  mountains  have  azoic  rocks  near  the  surface,  while 
in  others,  especially  those  of  the  central  part  of  the  Territory, 
the  cretaceous  period  seems  to  have  been  predominant.  There 
are  in  the  west  and  northwest  extensive  deposits  of  gypsum, 
and  in  the  Cherokee  country  are  found  coal,  iron,  good  brick  clay, 
marble  of  fine  quality,  and  a  yellow  sandstone  suitable  for  build- 
ing purposes.  It  is  probable  that  there  is  copper,  and  perhaps 
salt  in  the  southwest,  as  the  beds  of  copper  ores  come  to  the  Red 
river  in  Wichita  and  Clay  counties,  Texas,*  and  there  are  salt 
springs  in  the  same  vicinity.  Salt  also  abounds  in  the  northwest 
of  the  Territory,  and  many  of  the  springs  and  streams  are  very 
salt.  There  has  been  no  search  for  the  precious  metals  in  the 
Territory,  and  their  existence  is  not  known  with  certainty. 

The  coal  beds  are  an  extension  of  the  coal  deposits  of  Mis- 
souri and  Arkansas.  At  McAllister,  in  the  Choctaw  country,  a 
mine  is  worked  by  a  large  force  of  white  men,  who  pay  a  royalty 
to  the  Choctaw  government;  and  near  Muscogee,  in  the  Creek 
Nation,  is  a  fine  mine  of  rich  coal.  All  the  coal  mined  in  the 
Territory  is  bituminous,  and  of  the  best  quality. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — The  valleys  of  the  Wichita  range  are 
fertile  and  have  good  timber,  water  and  grass,  and  generally  the 
region  south  of  the  Canadian  river  possesses  a  fertile  soil  and  is 
well  adapted  alike  to  cultivation  and  grazing.  There  are  exten- 
sive forests  in  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  Territory,  but 
about  three-fifths  of  the  Cherokee  country  is  rocky,  and  only  fit 
for  grazing.  Between  the  97th  and  98th  meridians  there  is  a  nar- 
row belt  of  timber  called  the  "  Cross  Timbers,"  extending  from 
the  Cimarron,  or  Red  fork  of  the  Arkansas,  to  and  beyond  the 
Texas  border.  The  reofion  west  of  this  and  north  of  the  Cana- 
dian  river  is  reported  to  be  sterile,  without  trees  or  much  grass, 
with  only  a  few  sickly  shrubs  and  cacti,  and  the  soil  covered  with 
an  alkaline  or  saline  deposit.  This  land  will  produce  nothing 
without  irrigation,  and  may  require  also  a  plentiful  application 
of  gypsum,  but  with  these  measures  it  ma)' yield  abundant  crops. 
The  principal  forest*  trees  are  the  cottonwood,  oak  of  several 

*  Copper  has  been  discovered,  but  not  mined,  at  several  points  in  the  Territory. 


3o4  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

species,  sycamore,  elm,  hickory,  ash,  yellow  pine,  osage  orang-e  or 
bois  d'arc,  pecan  and  hawthorn.  Wild  grapes  of  excellent  flavor 
abound.  The  arable  lands  of  the  Territory  are  well  adapted  to 
cereal  and  root  crops,  and  the  yield  per  acre  of  wheat,  Indian 
corn  and  oats  is  large.  In  the  hilly  and  broken  country  the 
fruits  of  the  temperate  zone  do  well.  Apples,  peaches,  pears, 
plums,  cherries,  and  small  fruits  of  good  quality  are  largely 
raised. 

Railroads,  etc. — Aside  from  the  river  navigation,  there  is  one 
railway  which  crosses  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Territory  from 
north  to  south,  viz. :  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railway, 
extending  from  Sedalia,  Missouri,  to  Denison,  Texas,  where  it 
joins  other  Texas  roads.  The  Adantic  and  Pacific  Railway,  from 
Pacific,  Missouri,  also  enters  the  Territory  from  the  northeast, 
and  forms  a  junction  with  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  at 
Vinita,  in  the  extreme  northeast  of  the  Territory.  This  road,  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific,  had  projected  a  route  crossing  the  Indian 
Territory  from  east  to  west  along  the  valleys  of  the  Cimarron 
and  Canadian  rivers,  but  in  the  strife  of  the  different  transconti- 
nental routes  and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the  right  of  way 
through  the  Territory,  we  believe  this  project  has  been  given  up. 

The  Chai'acter  of  the  Populatio7i. — Rev.  Timothy  Hill,  D.  D., 
long  a  missionary  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  tribes  which  occupy  it,  thus  describes  them  in  a 
communication  to  the  New  York  Evangelist  in  the  summer  of 
1880: 

"The  present  population  is  about  80,000.  I  have  conversed 
with  a  laree  number  of  men,  native  and  lono-  resident  there,  and 
none  have  placed  it  less  than  the  number  given,  and  some  have 
placed  it  as  high  as  100,000.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  of 
80,000.  Without  any  claim  to  absolute  accuracy,  I  place  the  pop- 
ulation as  Indians  and  people  of  Indian  extraction  about  62,000 ; 
colored,  8,000;  and  whites,  10,000.  The  Indians  are  well  classi- 
fied into  civilized  and  uncivilized.  In  the  former  class  come  the 
Cherokees,  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  a  remnant 
of  Delawares,  who  are  Cherokee  citizens ;  a  part  of  the  Shaw- 
nees,  Pottawatomies,  and  Senecas.     We  shall  gain  in  definite 


HEV.   AIR.   HILL    ON  THE  INDIAN  TERRITORY.  Sqc 

impression  if  we  consider  each  of  these  tribes  and  classes  by 
themselves. 

"  Easily  foremost  are  the  Cherokees.  They  occupy  the  north- 
east portion  of  the  Territory  (except  a  limited  portion  in  the  ex- 
treme northeast  corner),  with  only  one  district  or  county  south 
of  the  Arkansas  river.  The  Cherokee  government  has  a  popu- 
lation of  about  18,000,  but  only  some  12,000  of  them  are  Indians, 
the  remainder  are  colored  and  white.  These  people  all  live  in 
houses,  some  of  them  large  and  well  furnished.  They  live  com- 
fortably, and  are  slowly  gaining  property  and  increasing  the  com- 
forts of  life  around  them.  The  war  stripped  them  bare,  and  they 
are  now  only  regaining  some  of  their  lost  property.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  Cherokees  is  extremely  difficult  to  acquire ;  but  a 
large  number  of  them  speak  English,  and  no  difficulty  would  be 
found  in  travelling  nearly  all  over  their  country  without  an  inter- 
preter. But  to  reach  the  full  bloods,  an  interpreter  will  fre- 
quently be  needed. 

"  2.  The  Creeks  occupy  a  region  directly  west  of  the  Chero- 
kees. They  are  a  lower  type  of  men,  less  attractive  in  personal 
appearance,  less  keen  in  intellect,  than  the  Cherokees ;  but  they 
are  more  industrious  than  the  Cherokees,  and  are  probably 
making  more  rapid  advances  in  civilization.  The  Creeks  are 
greatly  intermingled  with  the  blacks.  The  Creek  government 
has  probably  a  population  of  about  13,000,  of  whom  some  2,000 
are  blacks. 

"  3.  Next  to  the  Creeks  are  the  Seminoles,  a  separate  tribe 
of  the  same  general  origin  as  the  Creeks,  and  speaking  nearly 
the  same  language,  but  with  a  separate  government.  They  are 
much  mingled  with  the  blacks,  but  are  gaining  in  civilization 
rapidly.  The  long  contest  which  they  kept  up  with  the  United 
States  in  Florida,  sufficiently  attests  their  courage  and  general 
skill. 

"  4.  The  Choctaws  occupy  the  southeast  portion  of  the  Terri- 
tory. I  have  been  among  them  but  little,  and  from  personal 
observation  cannot  say  much.'  They  arc  the  strongest  in  numbers 
of  the  civilized  tribes,  numbering  about  16,000  hidians.  They 
refused  to  give  the  blacks — their  former  slaves — citizenship,  as 


3o6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  Chcrokees,  Creeks  and  Seminoles  did.  They  are  less  ad- 
vanced in  die  arts  of  civiHzed  life  than  the  Cherokees,  but  are 
gaining  steadily. 

"  5.  The  Chickasaws  arc  a  small  tribe  of  the  same  general 
orioin  as  the  Choctaws,  and  speaking  nearly  the  same  language. 
They  are,  in  some  things,  in  advance  of  all  the  other  civilized 
tribes,  as  their  land  is  sectionized,  although  not  yet  allotted  in 
severalty,  as  they  cannot  do  that  without  consent  of  the  Choc- 
taws. There  are  many  white  men  living  among  them,  probably 
a  larger  number  than  any  other  tribe,  many  of  them  intermarried 
with  the  half-breeds,  and  thus  citizens,  and  others  living  among 
them  as  renters  of  land,  mechanics,  or  hired  laborers,  of  the 
Indians  or  Indianizcd  whites. 

"  6.  Besides  the  five  civilized  tribes  who  have  a  separate  gov- 
ernment, there  are  others  quite  as  much  advanced  as  any  Indians. 
There  is  a  remnant  of  the  Delawares,  who  are  well  advanced  in 
all  the  arts  of  life.  They  are  more  quiet  and  orderly  than  any 
other  Indians  cultivatinrr  their  land. 

"Added  to  the  Delawares  are  the  Ottawas,  not  long  since  resi- 
dent in  Kansas — a  quiet  people,  supporting  themselves  by  culti- 
vating their  land.  The  Pottawatomies,  a  small  tribe  recently 
from  Kansas,  are  partially  civilized,  some  of  them  United  States 
citizens. 

"All  these  civilized  tribes  live  in  houses,  dress  like  other  peo- 
ple, and  many  of  them  speak  the  English  language  well.  I  never 
saw  a  blanket-Indian  among  any  of  these  people ;  and  perhaps 
the  only  peculiarity  that  would  be  noticed  in  the  dress,  is  a 
fondness  for  bright  colors  with  the  women,  and  a  disposition  to 
place  a  feather  or  plume  of  some  sort  in  the  hat  of  the  men. 
But  a  trader,  who  has  lived  among  them  many  years,  recently 
said  to  me,  '  The  chan^je  in  the  character  of  o-oods  now  sold  is 
very  marked.  We  sell  fewer  beads  and  trinkets  and  cheap 
jewelry,  and  we  sell  in  the  place  of  these  a  much  better  quality 
of  cloth,  and  much  more  substantial  goods  for  woman's  wear. 
The  advance  in  these  things  has  been  quite  marked.' 

"The  uncivilized  Indians  are  the  remnants  of  a  large  number 
of  tribes  gathered   from  widely   different   regions,  and  greatly 


CIVILIZED   AND    UNCIVILIZED   INDIANS.  ^q-j 

differing-  in  character.  I  suppose  them  to  amount  to  about 
1 2,000,  These  remnants  differ  greatly  in  personal  appearance 
and  prospective  importance.  The  Ogages,  Nez  Perces  and 
Modocs  are  fine-looking  people,  fair  size,  well  formed,  and  inter- 
esting in  personal  appearance — at  least  some  of  them.  The 
Poncas  are  less  interesting  in  appearance,  and  the  Kavvs  and 
Quapaws  are  vile  in  character,  and  far  gone  in  physical  ruin,  in 
consequence  of  the  diseases  of  crime  and  vice.  With  most  of 
these  bands  I  have  no  intimate  acquaintance,  but  I  have  seen  the 
Modocs,  Poncas  and  Nez  Perces,  and  have  been  in  the  Quaker 
school  of  the  Quapaws. 

"  In  looking  at  the  present  condition  of  the  Territory,  the 
negro  has  a  prominent  place.  The  civilized  Indians  were  all 
slaveholders  before  the  war,  and  some  of  them  held  laro-e  num- 
bers.  In  the  reconstruction  that  followed  the  war,  the  Chero- 
kees,  Creeks  and  Seminoles  admitted  their  former  slaves  to  citi- 
zenship ;  but  the  Choctaws  did  not,  and  I  think  also  the  Chicka- 
saws.  These  negroes  are  more  industrious,  as  a  class,  than  the 
Indians,  and  more  thievish. 

"The  prejudices  of  the  Cherokees  against  the  blacks  are  as 
intense  as  any  white  man's  can  well  be,  but  the  Creeks  are  much 
less  prejudiced  than  the  whites.  I  never  saw  a  half-breed  Chero- 
kee and  negro,  but  some  of  the  most  prominent  families  of  the 
Creek  and  Seminole  nations  are  of  this  mixed  race,  and  it  is  not 
a  very  rare  thing  to  find  persons  whose  ancestry  will  be  found 
in  the  three.  A  former  politician  of  the  Creek  tribe,  a  man  of 
honor  and  influence,  possessed  the  general  features  and  personal 
appearance  of  an  Indian  ;  but  his  African  relationship  was  appa- 
rent in  a  woolly  head,  which  he  shaved,  and  covered  with  a  wig 
of  Indian  hair. 

"  The  white  population  is  an  element  of  great  importance,  and 
rapidly  gaining  in  numbers  and  influence.  This  class  consists  of 
missionaries  and  teachers,  and  their  families,  aggregating  quite  a 
number;  railroad  employes,  licensed  traders,  mechanics,  and  a 
laree  number  who  have  intermarried  in  the  Indian  tribes.  There 
is  a  large  force  of  coal-miners  at  McAlister.  The  government 
officials  are  not  numerous,  but  they  are  in  positions  where  their 


gQ3  Oi'R    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

influence  Is  strong,  and  in  some  instances  extremely  deleterious. 
The  licensed  traders  are  a  numerous  and  influential  body.  The 
entire  trade  of  all  the  Territory  is  in  the  hands  of  white  men  or 
half-breeds.  I  do  not  think  a  full-blood  can  be  found  behind  a 
counter  in  all  the  Territory.  These  men  remain  long  in  the 
Territory,  have  their  families  there,  and  many  of  them  intermarry 
with  the  educated  half-breeds,  and  thus  become  citizens.  From 
the  contact  I  have  had  with  this  class  of  white  men,  I  should 
place  them  higher  in  morals  and  influence  for  good  than  the 
averaee  government  officials.  Another  class  of  white  men  are 
scattered  all  over  the  Territory — those  intermarried  with  the 
Indians.  Many  of  them  are  respectable,  honest  and  good  men ; 
but  many  others  of  them  are  abandoned  men,  outcasts  from 
society.  Wicked,  corrupt  and  criminal,  they  become  the  teachers 
of  crime  and  villainy,  and  the  source  of  unmitigated  evil  to  the 
Indians. 

"A  most  important  element  in  the  estimate  of  this  country,  is 
the  mixed  race,  commonly  known  as  half-breeds.  All  persons 
who  lay  claim  to  any  consanguinity  with  the  Indians,  are  popu- 
larly designated  half-breeds.  This  class  is  rapidly  increasing, 
both  by  the  frequent  intermarriage  of  new-coming  white  men, 
and  the  raising  of  larger  families  by  the  native  half-breeds  than 
are  usually  seen  among  the  full-bloods.  It  is  said  that  in  a  given 
number  of  half-breed  families,  and  an  equal  number  of  full- 
bloods,  the  children  will  be  more  numerous  in  the  half  breed 
families.  The.  number  of  births  in  the  two  classes  of  families 
would  probably  not  be  materially  different,  but  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  full-bloods  will  die  in  infancy  and  childhood.  The  full- 
blood  father  will  take  but  little  care  of  his  babe,  especially  if  it  is 
sick  ;  while  the  white  or  half-breed  father  will  have  more  knowl- 
edge, and  take  better  care  of  his  child,  so  that  the  death-rate 
\\\\\  be  less.  The  half-breeds  occupy  the  great  majority  of  all 
the  offices  in  the  native  governments  ;  they  are  the  law-makers 
and  executive  officers  and  teachers  of  the  people.  Some  of  them 
are  well-educated  gentlemen,  and  occasionally  some  of  the  young 
ladles  possess  a  fair  share  of  personal  beauty." 

The  Indian  Title  to  this  Te7'ritory. — At  the  first  settlement  of 


INDIAN  TITLE    TO    TERRITORY.  gOQ 

this  country  by  whites,  they  found  the  whole  continent  peopled, 
sparsely  it  is  true,  by  tribes  of  Indians.  They  were  of  diverse 
origin,  and  were  not  themselves  in  all  probability  the  original 
inhabitants  of  the  land.  Every  year  brings  us  new  evidence  that 
one  or  two,  possibly  three,  races  had  preceded  them  in  the  occu- 
pation of  this  vast  continent.  Yet  at  that  time  they  had  the 
right  of  possession,  and  had  held,  at  least  by  that  title,  much  of 
it  for  some  hundreds  of  years.  The  whites,  coming  in  by  hun- 
dreds of  thousands,  pushed  the  Indian  tribes  westward  step  by 
step,  and  gained  possession  of  their  lands — sometimes  by  con- 
quest, oftener  by  treaty,  and,  perhaps,  oftener  still  by  purchase. 

As  a  result  of  these  various  methods  there  were,  in  1825,  two 
centuries  after  the  advent  of  the  whites  in  what  is  now  the  United 
States,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  only  some  small  fragments  of 
tribes  in  New  England,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  some 
larqfer  but  not  hostile  bands  in  Michio^an  and  the  Northwest 
Territory  generally,  a  considerable  body  of  Indians  in  Wisconsin 
Territory,  and  the  partially  civilized  but  resolute  tribes  of  Chero- 
kees,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Creeks  and  Seminoles  in  Northern 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Florida.  These  tribes  had 
once  or  twice  been  at  war  with  our  people,  and  though  they  had 
been  defeated  after  a  longr  and  vioorous  struo^grle,  their  defeat 
w^as  not  an  inolorious  one.  The  first  four  tribes  were  no  lonorer 
•nomadic ;  they  occupied  their  own  farms  and  dwelling-houses, 
had  their  own  churches  and  schools,  and  were  in  many  respects 
as  fully  civilized  as  most  of  the  whites  around  them.  But  the 
white  people  of  these  States  had  looked  with  envious  and  greedy 
eyes  upon  their  lands,  and  were  determined  to  drive  them  out 
and  take  possession.  Some  of  the  streams  running  through 
these  lands  were  discovered  to  carry  gold  in  moderate  quanti- 
ties ;  the  land  in  these  mountain  farms  was  rich,  and  the  careful 
culture  of  the  Indians  put  to  shame  the  slovenly  farming  of  the 
whites ;  though  there  were  millions  of  acres  of  government 
lands  in  these  States  to  be  had  at  nominal  prices,  yet  they 
seemed  poor  by  comparison  with  these  Indian  farms,  and  it  was 
these  that  they  wanted  and  must  have.  Added  to  this  was  the 
argument  so   decisive  with  a  class  of  Southern  people:   "The 


8  JO  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

owners  of  these  lands  were  nothing  but  Indians,  anyhow ;  and 
therefore  had  no  rights  which  a  white  man  was  bound  to  respect." 
The  claim  of  the  whites  to  these  lands,  it  should  be  said  in  justice 
to  the  State  of  Georgia,  had  been  anticipated  as  early  as  1802  ; 
for  in  that  year  the  United  States  government  entered  into  a 
compact  with  that  State,  covenanting  for  certain  considerations, 
that  as  soon  as  it  could  be  done  peaceably  and  on  reasonable 
terms,  the  tide  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  to  land  within  the  limits 
of  Georgia  should  be  extinsfuished.  It  was  not  until  the  adminis- 
tration  of  President  Monroe  (181 7-1 825),  that  the  State  of 
Georgia  became  clamorous  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  covenant, 
and  very  soon  thereafter  the  other  States,  Alabama,  Mississippi 
and  Tennessee,  though  they  had  no  such  compact  with  the 
United  States,  added  their  clamor  to  hers,  demanding,  under 
threats  of  forcible  ouster,  the  prompt  removal  of  these  tribes 
from  their  limits.  In  consequence  of  their  persistence  President 
Monroe  sent  a  message  to  Congress,  we  think  in  1824,  in  which 
he  submitted  a  proposition  for  the  removal  of  all  the  Indian 
tribes  from  the  lands  then  occupied  by  them  within  the  several 
States,  and  organized  Territories  east  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the 
country  west  of  that  river,  i.  c,  to  Louisiana  Territory.  At  that 
time  neither  Texas  nor  any  part  of  the  region  west  of  the 
summits  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  range,  below  latitude  42°  north 
belontred  to  us.  In  that  messao-e  President  Monroe  said,  that- 
"experience  had  demonstrated  that  in  the  present  state  of  these 
Indian  tribes  it  is  impossible  to  incorporate  them,  in  such  masses, 
in  any  form  whatever,  into  our  system.  It  has  been  demonstrated 
with  equal  certainty,  that  without  a  timely  anticipation  of,  and 
provision  against  the  dangers  to  which  they  are  exposed,  under 
causes  which  it  will  be  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  control,  their 
degradation  and  extermination  will  be  inevitable.  The  frreat 
object  to  be  accomplished  is  the  removal  of  these  tribes  to  the 
country  designated,  on  conditions  which  shall  be  satisfactory  to 
themselves  and  honorable  to  the  United  States.  This  can  be 
done  by  conveying  to  each  tribe  a  good  title  to  an  adequate 
portion  of  land  to  which  it  may  consent  to  remove,  and  providing 
for  it  there  a  system  of  internal  government  which  shall  protect 


DELA  Y  IN  TRANSFERRING    THE  INDIANS.  3  j  j 

its  property  from  invasion,  and  by  regular  progress  of  improve- 
ment and  civilization  prevent  that  degeneracy,  which  has  gener- 
ally marked  the  transition  from  one  to  the  other  state."  Presi- 
dent Monroe  in  this  messacre  overlooked  two  thinors,  viz.,  that 
the  lands  to  which  he  proposed  to  move  these  tribes  were  already 
held  by  other  tribes  whose  title  to  them  was  better  than  ours; 
and  that  in  our  onward  progress  as  a  nation  the  time  might  come, 
as  it  has  within  little  more  than  half  a  century,  when  the  new 
lands  to  which  he  proposed  to  remove  them  would  be  demanded 
by  the  whites,  and  efforts  made  to  drive  them  to  some  other 
region.  Congress  was  not  ready  to  act,  and  the  matter  went 
over  to  the  administration  of  President  John  Ouincy  Adams.  In 
1826  the  Secretary  of  War  made  a  full  and  exhaustive  report,  in 
which  he  suggested  many  difficulties  in  carrying  out  such  a  pro- 
ject as  President  Monroe  had  advocated,  and  expressed  his  fears, 
"  that  should  the  removal  be  made,  it  would  not  be  effective,  since 
it  was  probable  the  same  propensity  which  had  conducted  the 
white  population  to  the  remote  regions  which  the  Indians  now 
occupy,  will  continue  to  propel  the  tide  of  immigration,  till  it  is 
arrested  only  by  the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific." 

Notwithstanding  these  apprehensions,  the  Secretary  of  War 
felt  it  necessary  to  submit  a  plan  and  prepare  a  bill  for  the  con- 
sideration of  Congress,  providing  for  this  removal.  Among  the 
■provisions  of  this  bill  were:  that  the  country  to  the  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  which  the  tribes  should  be  removed,  should  be  set 
apart  for  the  exclusive  abode  of  the  Indians  ;  that  they  should 
be  removed  as  individuals  or  families,  and  not  as  tribes  ;  and  if 
circumstances  should  justify  it,  the  tribal  relation  should  eventu- 
ally be  dissolved,  and  the  Indians  amalgamated  in  one  common 
nation,  with  a  distribution,  of  the  property  among  the  individuals. 

The  great  difficulty,  that  the  Indian  from  past  experience  could 
not  be  induced  to  trust  our  promises,  must  in  some  way  be  ob- 
viated. Notwithstanding  the  urgency  of  the  Southern  people 
and  the  excited  and  anxious  condition  of  the  Indian  tribes,  no  ac; 
tion  was  taken  until  1830,  the  second  year  of  General  Jackson's 
administration,  when  Congress  passed  a  law  authorizing  the 
President  to  cause  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  to  which 


Sl2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  orlcnnal  title  had  been  extino^uished,  and  which  was  not 
included  within  the  Hmlts  of  any  State  or  organized  Territory,  to 
be  divided  into  a  suitable  number  of  districts  for  the  reception 
of  such  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians  as  might  choose  to  exchange 
the  lands  on  which  they  then  resided,  and  to  remove  West. 
The  law  authorized  the  President  to  solemnly  assure  the  Indian 
tribes  with  whom  the  exchange  was  made,  that  tJie  United  States 
would  forever  secure  and  guarantee  to  them  and  their  heirs  or  suc- 
cessors, the  country  so  excJianged  with  them. 

The  President,  in  pursuance  of  this  law,  offered  the  most  sol- 
emn guaranties,  on  the  faith  of  the  nation,  to  the  tribes  that  might 
be  willing  to  make  the  exchange,  and  offered  them  transportation 
and  certain  annuities  as  a  further  inducement.  Under  this  offer 
the  larger  part  of  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws, 
and  subsequendy  the  Seminoles,  Delawares,  Shawnees,  Miamis, 
Kickapoos,  Pottawatomies,  Chippewas  of  Roche  de  Bceuf,  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  Wees,  Piankashaws,  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  and  other 
tribes,  made  the  exchange,  and  were  told  that  these  lands  should 
be  \\\€\x  permanent  homes  forever.  Except  the  tracts  which  were 
granted  to  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  and 
Seminoles,  the  remainder  of  the  transplanted  tribes  were  allotted 
lands  within  the  boundaries  of  the  present  State  of  Kansas. 
Since  the  organization  of  that  State,  all  these  emigrant  tribes 
have,  notwithstanding  these  solemn  guaranties  and  pledges, 
been  removed  to  the  Indian  Territory,  and  their  permanent 
homes  taken  from  them. 

The  government  purchased  from  the  Creeks  in  1867  a  por- 
tion of  their  lands,  which  it  still  holds,  as  well  as  some  other 
lands  in  the  Territory,  with  the  intention  of  placing  Other  small 
bands  of  Indians  there,  when  it  has  extinguished  the  titles  to 
their  lands  elsewhere. 

Efforts  to  Drive  the  Indians  from  their  Territory. — Meanwhile, 
there  has  been  a  very  strong  pressure  on  the  part  of  western 
adventurers,  to  enter  upon  these  lands  solemnly  pledged  to  the 
Indians,  with  the  ultimate  purpose  of  crowding  them  out.  Dur- 
ing the  last  session  of  Congress,  in  May,  1880,  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced and  strongly  urged,  for  the  organization  of  the  Indian  I'er- 


EFFORTS   TO  DRIVE  THE  INDIANS  FROM  TERRITORY. 


813 


ritory  as  a  regular  Territory  under  government  control,  by  the 
name  of  Oklahoma.  Thus  far,  the  government  has  successfully 
resisted  the  encroachments  of  white  settlers  and  adventurers 
upon  this  Territory,  except  the  passage  of  one  or  two  railways, 
and  these,  it  is  said,  were  asked  for  by  the  Indians  ;  but  the  pres- 
sure is  growing  stronger  every  day,  and  unless  the  Indians  agree 
'to  hold  their  lands  in  severalty  or  individually  (under  certain 
restrictions  in  regard  to  alienating  them),  it  may  require  the 
whole  military  power  of  the  nation  to  restrain  these  lawless 
adventurers  from  taking  it  by  force.  If  the  lands  are  allotted 
to  the  Indians  in  severalty,  and  they,  as  fast  as  they  become 
civilized,  become  citizens,  the  surplus  of  their  lands  may  be  sold 
by  the  government  as  their  guardian  for  their  account  and  the 
amount  received  funded,  furnishing  a  further  annuity  to  each 
member  of  the  tribes.  There  are  now  held  by  the  United 
States  Government  funds  invested  for  the  Indian  tribes  to  the 
amount  of  ^5,180,066.84,  besides  ^84,000  abstracted  by  officials 
at  the  beginning  of  the  late  civil  war  and  not  yet  replaced.  Of 
this  amount  ^1,768,175.30  is  held  for  the  Cherokees ;  ^1,308,- 
664.82  for  the  Chickasaws ;  ^513,161.70  for  the  Choctaws ; 
^467,501.62  for  the  Delawares ;  ^76,993.66  for  the  Creek 
orphans,  and  the  remainder  for  other  tribes,  some  of  them  those 
removed  from  Kansas  in  1867. 

If  these  measures  can  be  effected  without  injustice  and  wrong, 
the  time  may  come  when  a  part  of  this  great  Territory  may  be 
legitimately  opened  to  white  settlement,  and  the  Indian  farmers 
be  led,  by  the  sharp  competition  which  will  follow,  to  become  bet- 
ter agriculturists  and  better  citizens  than  they  would  under  any 
other  circumstances.  But  until  that  time  shall  come,  and  it  must, 
in  any  event,  be  several  years  hence,  we  cannot  consider  the 
Indian   Territory  as   either  a  legitimate  or  desirable  field   for 


immigration. 


8i4 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

IOWA. 
The  Situation  of  Iowa — Meaning  of  the  Name — Migration  of  the  Pau- 

HOO-CHEES  thither  IN   169O CONTEMPORANEOUSLY  CLAIMED  BY  THE  FRENCH 

ON  Account  of  Father  Hennepin's  Discovery — Wars  of  the  Pau-hoo- 

CHEES,  OR  IoWAS,  WITH  THE  SlOUX — FrENCH  TrADING-PoSTS  ON  THE  RiVER 

Sale  OF  THE  Province  OF  Louisiana  TO  the  Spanish  in  1763 — Retroces- 
sion TO  France  in  iSoo — Sale  to  the  United  States  in  1803 — Settle- 
ment OF  Julian  Dubuque — The  Wars  of  the  Iowas  and  Sioux — A  New 
Enemy — The  Sacs  and  Foxes  Attack  them,  and  drive  them  across  the 
Missouri,  about  182S — Great  Reduction  in  Numbers  of  the  Iowas — 
White  Settlement  Commenced  in  1832 — Death  of  Black  Hawk — The 
Events  in  Civil  History  of  Iowa  to  its  Organization  as  a  State  in 
1846 — Topography  and  Extent  of  Iowa — Its  Surface — Rivers — Lakes — 
Prairie  and  Timber  Lands — Black  Walnut  Shipped  to  England— Geol- 
ogy and  Mineralogy — The  Drift,  Loess  and  Alluvium — Cretaceous 
Rocks — Coal  Measures — The  Character  of  Iowa  Coal — Comparison 
with  European  and  other  Coals — No  Gold  or  Silver  in  the  State — 
Lead,  Iron,  Copper  and  Zinc — Lime — Building  Stone — Gypsum  Clays — 
Soil — Mineral  Paint — Spring  and  Well-water — Natural  Curiosities — 
Climate,  General  Remarks — Professor  Parvin's  Tables — The  Signal 
Service  Statistics  of  the  River  Cities — Zoology — Soil  and  Agricultu- 
ral Productions — Iowa  an  Agricultural  State — Statistics  of  its  Crops 
— Spring  and  Winter  Wheat — Stock-raising — Dairy  Farming — Popula- 
tion OF  Iowa  at  Different  Periods — Railroads  and  Steamboat  Lines — 
The  State  Easy  of  Access — Public  Lands — Railroad  Lands — State 
Lands — Partially  Improved  Farms — Manufactures — Iowa  as  a  Home 
for  Immigrants — Education — Churches — Future  Prospects  of  the 
State. 

Iowa,  the  name  of  one  of  the  easternmost  of  the  central  belt 
of  States  and  Territories  composing-  "Our  Western  Empire," 
lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers.  The  name, 
which  was  that  of  a  river  widiin  its  bounds,  and  also  of  the 
Indian  tribe  which  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  that  river,  is  said  to 
mean,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  "The  Beautiful  Land."  The  Indians 
who  eave  it  and  themselves  this  name  were  not  the  oris^inal  in- 
habitants  of  this  region,  but  migrated  hither  from  the  country  of 


\ 


s — -/■ 

/ 

1 

t     / 

w 

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X 


V 


THE    IOWA   INDIANS    OR   PAU-HOO-CHEES.  815 

the  great  lakes  (perhaps  Michigan)  where  they  had  borne  the 
name  of  the  Pau-hoo-chees,  about  1690.  They  increased  in 
numbers  and  power  here  till  they  became  the  most  formidable  of 
the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Northwest  except  the  Sioux,  with  whom 
they  were  constantly  at  war.  That  portion  of  the  State  lying  on 
the  Mississippi  is  supposed  to  have  been  visited  by  Father  Hen- 
nepin in  1680,  and  it  was  probably  in  consequence  of  his  explo- 
rations that  the  French  government  soon  after  took  formal  pos- 
session of  it  and  erected  two  or  three  trading-posts  along  the 
river.  Their  occupation  of  the  Territory  was,  however,  of  so  tri- 
fling a  character  as  not  to  excite  the  displeasure  of  the  Iowa 
chief,  Mau-hau-gaw,  or  his  successors,  Mahaska  I,  and  II. 
Their  power  remained  undiminished,  though  the  French  title  to 
this  as  a  part  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  had  passed  to  Spain 
in  1763,  returned  to  France  in  1800,  and  been  purchased  as 
Louisiana  Territory  by  the  United  States  in  1803.  In  this  long 
interval,  two  or  three  French  families  had  settled  in  the  Terri- 
tory. Notable  among  these  was  Julian  Dubuque,  who,  in  1788, 
settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  commenced  trading 
and  mining  lead  there.  Eleven  years  later  another  Frenchman, 
Louis  Honori,  established  himself  as  a  trader  at  the  head  of  the 
"  rapids  of  the  river  Des  Moines."  But  the  power  of  the  lowas 
was  beginning  to  wane.  They  had  fought  off  their  old  enemies, 
the  Sioux,  and  held  possession  of  most  of  the  Territory,  but  a  new 
enemy  now  came  upon  them.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Illinois 
tribes,  finding  civilization  pressing  hard  upon  them,  crossed  the 
river  about  1824,  and  began  to  make  encroachments  upon  the 
hunting-grounds  of  the  lowas.  Conflicts  followed,  and  finally, 
about  1828,  a  fierce  battle  was  fought  between  the  invaders  and 
the  invaded  near  the  present  village  of  lowaville,  in  Davis 
county,  in  which,  after  a  long  and  terrible  struggle,  the  lowas 
were  vanquished  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  occupied  their  hunting- 
grounds  along  the  Mississippi.  The  lowas  moved  sullenly 
westward,  and  finally  crossed  the  Missouri.  When  the  whites 
began  to  settle  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  what  was  tlicn  the 
Territory  of  Missouri,  in  1831  and  1832,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
were  the  occupants  of  all  the  eastern  and  southern  portions  of 


8l6  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  Territory,  while  the  warHke  Sioux  held  undisputed  posses- 
sion of  the  northern  portion,  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Des 
Moines  and  the  lakes.  At  this  time  the  lowas,  once  so  powerful 
and  warlike  a  tribe,  had  been  reduced,  in  their  new  home  beyond 
the  Missouri,  by  wars,  whiskey  and  small-pox  to  about  1,300 
souls. 

After  the  close  of  the  "Black  Hawk  War,"  in  1833,  the  power 
of  the  Sac  chief.  Black  Hawk,  waned,  and  his  rival,  Keokuk,  who 
had  favored  peace  with  the  whites,  was  recognized  as  the  chief 
of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Black  Hawk  died  in  October,  1838,  on 
the  Des  Moines  river. 

Let  us  now  recapitulate  its  political  or  civil  history,  aside  from 
any  claim  of  Indian  proprietorship,  which  in  this  case,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  merely  the  right  of  the  strongest. 

1.  It  was  first  claimed  by  France  in  1682  or  1683,  by  virtue  of 
Hennepin's  discovery. 

2.  In  1 763,  as  a  part  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  it  was  ceded 
to  Spain. 

3.  October  i,  1800,  it  was  retroceded  with  the  same  bounda- 
ries by  Spain  to  France. 

4.  April  30,  1803,  France  ceded  the  province  of  Louisiana  to 
the  United  States. 

5.  October  31,  1803,  a  temporary  government  was  authorized 
by  Congress  for  the  newly  acquired  Territory. 

6.  October  i,  1804,  it  was  included  In  the  "  District  of  Louisi- 
ana," and  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  territorial  gov- 
ernment of  Indiana. 

7.  July  4,  1805,  it  was  included  as  a  part  of  the  "Territory  of 
Louisiana,"  then  organized  with  a  separate  territorial  govern- 
ment. 

8.  June  4,  181 2,  it  was  embraced  in  what  was  then  made  the 
"Territory  of  Missouri." 

9.  June  28,  1834,  it  became  part  of  the  "Territory  of  Michi- 
gan." 

ID.  July  3,  1836,  It  was  included  as  a  part  of  the  newly  organ- 
ized "  Territory  of  Wisconsin." 

II.  June  12,  1838,  it  was  included  in,  and  constituted  a  part 
of  the  newly  organized  "Territory  of  Iowa." 


AKEA   AND   EXTENT  OF  IOWA.  317 

12.  December  28,  1846,  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
State. 

Area  and  Extent. — Iowa  is  about  300  miles  in  length,  east  and 
west,  and  a  little  over  200  miles  in  breadth,  north  and  south ; 
having-  nearly  the  figure  of  a  rectangular  parallelogram.  Its 
northern  boundary  is  the  parallel  of  43°  30',  separating  it  from 
the  State  of  Minnesota.  Its  southern  limit  is  nearly  on  the  line 
of  40°  31'  from  the  point  where  this  parallel  crosses  the  Des 
Moines  river,  westward.  From  this  point  to  the  southeast  cor- 
ner of  the  State,  a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles,  the  Des  Moines 
river  forms  the  boundary  line  between  Iowa  and  Missouri.  The 
two  oreat  rivers  of  the  North  American  continent  form  the  east 
and  west  boundaries,  except  that  portion  of  the  western  boun- 
dary adjoining  the  Territory  of  Dakota.  The  Big  Sioux  river 
from  its  mouth,  two  miles  above  Sioux  City,  forms  the  western 
boundary  up  to  the  point  where  it  intersects  the  parallel  of  43° 
30'.  These  limits  embrace  an  area  of  55,045  square  miles;  or, 
35,228,800  acres.  When  it  is  understood  that  all  this  vast  ex- 
tent of  surface,  except  that  which  is  occupied  by  the  rivers,  lakes 
and  peat-beds  of  the  northern  counties,  is  susceptible  of  the 
highest  cultivation,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  immense 
agricultural  resources  of  the  State.  Iowa  is  nearly  as  large  as 
England,  and  twice  as  large  as  Scotland ;  but  when  we  consider 
the  relative  area  of  surface  which  may  be  made  to  yield  to  the 
wants  of  man,  those  countries  of  the  Old  World  will  bear  no 
comparison  with  Iowa. 

Surface. — The  surface  of  the  State  is  remarkably  uniform, 
rising  to  nearly  the  same  general  altitude.  There  are  no  moun- 
tains, and  yet  but  little  of  the  surface  is  level  or  flat.  The  whole 
State  presents  a  succession  of  gentle  elevations  and  depressions, 
with  some  bold  and  picturesque  bluffs  along  the  principal  streams. 
The  western  portion  of  the  State  is  generally  more  elevated  than 
the  eastern,  the  northwestern  part  being  the  highest.  Nature 
could  not  have  provided  a  more  perfect  system  of  drainage,  and 
at  the  same  time  leave  the  country  so  completely  adapted  to  all 
the  purposes  of  agriculture.  Looking  at  the  map  of  Iowa,,  we 
see  two  systems  of  streams  or  rivers  running  nearly  at  right 
52 


8l8  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

angles  with  each  other.  The  streams  which  discharge  their 
waters  into  the  Mississippi  flow  from  the  northwest  to  the  south- 
east, while  those  of  the  other  system  flow  toward  the  southwest, 
and  empty  into  the  Missouri.  The  former  drain  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  State,  and  the  latter  the  remaining  one-fourth. 
The  water-shed  dividing  the  two  systems  of  streams  represents 
the  highest  portion  of  the  State,  and  gradually  descends  as  you 
follow  its  course  from  northwest  to  southeast.  Low-water  mark 
in  the  Missouri  riv'er  at  Council  Blufls  is  about  425  feet  above 
low-water  mark  in  the  Mississippi  at  Davenport.  At  the  cross- 
ing of  the  summit,  or  water-shed,  245  miles  west  of  Davenport, 
the  elevation  is  about  960  feet  above  the  Mississippi.  The  Des 
Moines  river  at  the  city  of  Des  Moines  has  an  elevation  of  227 
feet  above  the  Mississippi  at  Davenport,  and  is  198  feet  lower 
than  the  Missouri  at  Council  Bluffs.  The  elevation  of  the  east- 
ern border  of  the  State  at  McGregor  is  about  624  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  while  the  highest  elevation  in  the  northwest 
portion  of  the  State  is  about  1,400  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  In  addition  to  the  grand  water-shed  mentioned  above,  as 
dividing  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  there  are 
between  the  principal  streams,  elevations  commonly  called  "  di- 
vides," which  are  drained  by  numerous  streams  of  a  smaller  size 
tributary  to  the  rivers.  The  valleys  along  the  streams  have  a 
deep,  rich  soil,  but  are  scarcely  more  fertile  than  many  portions 
of  these  undulating  prairie  "  divides." 

Rivers. — As  stated  above,  the  rivers  of  Iowa  are  divided  into 
two  systems  or  classes — those  flowing  into  the  Mississippi,  and 
those  flowing  into  the  Missouri.  The  Mississippi,  the  largest 
river  on  the  continent,  and  one  of  the  laroest  in  the  world, 
.washes  the  entire  eastern  border  of  the  State,  and  is  most  of 
the  year  navigable  for  a  large  class  of  steamers.  The  only 
serious  obstructions  to  steamers  of  the  largest  size  are  what  are 
known  as  the  Lower  Rapids,  just  above  the  mouth  of  the  Des 
Moines.  The  government  of  the  United  States  lias  constructed 
a  canal,  or  channel,  around  these  rapids  on  the  Iowa  side  of  the 
river — a  work  which  will  prove  of  immense  advantage  to  the  com- 
merce of  Iowa  for  all  time  to  come.     The  principal  rivers  which 


mVEES   OF  lOiVA.  gjQ 

flow  through  the  Interior  of  the  State,  east  of  the  water-shed,  are 
the  Des  Moines,  Skunk,  Iowa,  Wapsipinicon,  Maquoketa,  Turkey 
and  Upper  Iowa.  One  of  the  largest  rivers  of  the  State  is  the 
Red  Cedar,  which  rises  in  Minnesota,  and  flowino-  in  a  south- 
easterly  direction,  joins  its  waters  with  the  Iowa  river  in  Louisa 
county,  only  about  thirty  miles  from  its  mouth,  that  portion 
below  the  junction  retaining  the  name  of  Iowa  river,  although  it 
is  really  the  smaller  stream. 

The  Des  Moines  is  the  largest  interior  river  of  the  State,  and 
rises  in  a  group  or  chain  of  lakes  in  Minnesota,  not  far  from  the 
Iowa  border.  It  really  has  its  sources  in  two  principal  branches, 
called  East  and  West  Des  Moines,  which,  after  flowing  about 
seventy  miles  through  the  northern  portion  of  the  State,  convero-e 
to  their  junction  in  the  southern  part  of  Humboldt  county.  The 
Des  Moines  receives  a  number  of  large  tributaries,  among  which 
are  Raccoon  and  three  rivers  (North,  South  and  Middle)  on  the 
west,  and  Boone  river  on  the  east.  Raccoon  (or  'Coon)  rises  in 
the  vicinity  of  Storm  lake,  in  Buena  Vista  county,  and  after  re- 
ceiving several  tributaries,  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Des 
Moines  river,  within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  Des  Moines.  This 
stream  affords  many  excellent  mill  privileges,  some  of  which  have 
been  improved.  The  Des  Moines  flows  from  northwest  to  south- 
east, not  less  than  300  miles  through  Iowa,  and  drains  over  10,000 
square  miles  of  its  territory.  At  an  early  day,  steamboats  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year  navigated  this  river  as  far  up  as  the 
"  Raccoon  Forks,"  and  a  large  grant  of  land  was  made  by  Con- 
gress to  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  improving  its  navigation. 
The  land  was  subsequently  diverted  to  the  construction  of  the 
Des  Moines  Valley  Railroad.  Before  this  diversion  several  dams 
were  erected  on  the  lower  portion  of  the  river,  which  afford  a 
vast  amount  of  hydraulic  power  to  that  part  of  the  State. 

The  next  river  above  the  Des  Moines  is  Skunk,  which  has  its 
source  in  Hamilton  county  north  of  the  centre  of  the  State.  It 
traverses  a  southeast  course,  having  two  principal  branches — 
their  aggregate  length  being  about  450  miles.  They  drain 
about  8,000  square  miles  of  territory,  and  afford  many  excellent 
mill  sites. 


820 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


The  next  is  Iowa  river,  which  rises  in  several  branches  among 
the  lakes  in  Hancock  and  Winnebago  counties,  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State.  Its  great  eastern  branch  is  Red  Cedar,  having 
its  source  among  the  lakes  in  Minnesota.  In  size.  Red  Cedar  is 
the  second  interior  river  of  the  State,  and  is  of  great  importance  as 
affording-  immense  water-power.  Shell  Rock  river  is  a  tributary 
of  Red  Cedar,  and  is  valuable  to  Northern  Iowa,  on  account  of 
its  fine  water-power.  The  aggregate  length  of  Iowa  and  Red 
Cedar  rivers  is  about  500  miles,  and  they  drain  about  12,000 
square  miles  of  territory. 

The  Wapsipinicon  river  rises  in  Minnesota,  and  flows  in  a 
southeasterly  direction  over  200  miles  through  Iowa,  draining, 
with  its  branches,  a  belt  of  territory  only  about  twelve  miles 
wade.  This  stream  is  usually  called  "  VVapsi "  by  the  settlers, 
and  is  valuable  as  furnishing  good  vvater-power  for  machinery. 

Maquoketa  river,  the  next  considerable  tributary  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, is  about  160  miles  long,  and  drains  about  3,000  square 
miles  of  territory. 

Turkey  river  is  about  130  miles  long,  and  drains  some  2,000 
square  miles.  It  rises  in  Howard  county,  runs  southeast,  and 
empties  into  the  Mississippi  near  the  south  line  of  Clayton 
county. 

Upper  Iowa  river  also  rises  in  Howard  county,  flows  nearly 
east,  and  empties  into  the  Mississippi  near  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  State,  passing  through  a  narrow,  but  picturesque  and 
beautiful  valley.  This  portion  of  the  State  is  somewhat  broken, 
and  the  streams  have  cut  their  channels  deeply  into  the  rocks, 
so  that  in  many  places  they  are  bordered  by  bluffs  from  30c  to 
400  feet  high.  They  flow  rapidly,  and  furnish  ample  water- 
power  at  numerous  points. 

Having  mentioned  the  rivers  which  drain  the  eastern  three- 
fourths  of  the  State,  we  will  now  cross  the  frreat  "water-shed" 
to  the  Missouri  and  its  tributaries. 

Tlie  Missouri  river,  forming  a  little  over  two-thirds  of  the 
length  of  the  western  boundary  line,  is  navigable  for  large-sized 
steamboats  for  a  distance  of  1,950  miles  above  the  point  (Sioux 
City)  where  it  first  touches  the  western  border.     It  is,  therefore, 


THE  MISSOURI  AND   BIG    SIOUX  RIVERS.  82 1 

a  hig-hway  of  no  little  importance  to  the  commerce  of  Western 
Iowa.  During  the  season  of  navigation  last  year,  over  fifty 
steamers  ascended  the  river  above  Sioux  City,  most  of  which 
were  laden  with  stores  for  the  minin";  rej^ion  above  Fort  Benton. 
We  will  now  refer  to  the  larger  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  which 
drain  the  western  portion  of  Iowa, 

The  Big  Sioux  river  forms  about  seventy  miles  of  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State,  its  general  course  being  nearly  from  north 
to  south.  It  has  several  small  tributaries,  draininof  the  counties 
of  Plymouth,  Sioux,  Lyon,  Osceola  and  O'Brien,  in  Northwestern 
Iowa.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these  is  Rock  river — a  beau- 
tiful little  stream  running  through  the  counties  of  Lyon  and 
Sioux.  It  is  supported  by  springs,  and  affords  a  volume  of 
water  sufficient  for  propelling  machinery.  Big  Sioux  river  was 
once  regarded  as  a  navigable  stream,  and  steamboats  of  a  small 
size  have  on  several  occasions  ascended  it  for  some  distance.  It 
is  not,  however,  now  considered  a  safe  stream  for  navigation. 
It  empties  into  the  Missouri  about  two  miles  above  Sioux  City, 
and  some  four  miles  below  the  northwest  corner  of  Woodbury 
county.     It  drains  about  i,ooo  square  miles  of  Iowa  territory. 

Just  below  Sioux  City,  Floyd  river  empties  into  the  Missouri. 
It  is  a  small  stream,  but  flows  through  a  rich  and  beautiful  valley. 
Its  length  is  about  lOO  miles,  and  it  drains  nearly  1,500  square 
miles  of  territory.  Several  mills  have  been  erected  on  this 
stream,  and  there  are  other  mill  sites  which  will  doubtless  be 
improved  in  due  time. 

Little  Sioux  river  is  one  of  the  most  important  streams  of 
Northwestern  Iowa,  It  rises  in  the  vicinity  of  Spirit  and  Okoboji 
lakes,  near  the  Minnesota  line,  and  meanders  through  various 
counties  a  distance  of  nearly  300  miles  to  its  confluence  with 
the  Missouri  near  the  northwest  corner  of  Harrison  county. 
With  its  tributaries  it  drains  not  less  than  5.000  square  miles. 
Several  small  mills  have  been  erected  on  this  stream,  and  others 
doubdess  will  be  when  needed. 

Boyer  river  is  the  next  stream  of  considerable  size  below  the 
Little  Sioux.  It  rises  in  Sac  county  and  flows  southwest  to  the 
Missouri  in   Pottawotamie   county.     Its    entire  length   is    about 


322  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

150  miles,  and  drains  not  less  than  2,000  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory. It  is  a  small  stream,  meanderingr  dirough  a  rich  and  lovely 
valley.  The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  passes  down 
this  valley  some  sixty  miles. 

Going  down  the  Missouri,  and  passing  several  small  streams, 
which  have  not  been  dignified  with  the  name  of  rivers,  we  come 
to  the  Nishnabotna,  which  empties  into  the  Missouri  some  twenty 
miles  below  the  southwest  corner  of  our  State.  It  has  three 
principal  branches,  with  an  aggregate  length  of  350  miles. 
These  streams  drain  about  5,000  square  miles  of  Southwestern 
Iowa.  They  flow  through  valleys  of  unsurpassed  beauty  and 
fertility,  and  furnish  good  water-power  at  various  points,  though 
in  this  respect  they  are  not  equal  to  the  streams  in  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  State. 

The  southern  portion  of  the  State  is  drained  by  several  streams 
that  flow  into  the  Missouri  river,  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  The 
most  important  of  these  are  Chariton,  Grand,  Platte,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Two,  and  the  three  Nodaways — East,  West  and  Middle. 
All  of  these  aflbrd  water-power  for  machinery,  and  present 
splendid  valleys  of  rich  farming  lands. 

We  have  above  only  mentioned  the  streams  that  have  been 
desiirnated  as  rivers,  but  there  are  manv  other  streams  of  ereat 
importance  and  value  to  difierent  portions  of  the  State,  draining 
the  country,  furnishing  mill-sites,  and  adding  to  the  variety  and 
beauty  of  the  scenery.  So  admirable  is  the  natural  drainage  of 
almost  the  entire  State,  that  the  farmer  who  has  not  a  stream 
of  living  water  on  his  premises  is  an  exception  to  the  general 
rule. 

Lakes. — In  some  of  the  northern  counties  of  Iowa  there  are 
many  small,  but  beautiful  lakes,  some  of  which  we  will  notice. 
They  are  a  part  of  the  system  of  lakes  extending  far  northward 
into  Minnesota,  and  most  of  them  present  many  interesting  fea- 
tures which  the  limits  of  our  sketch  will  not  permit  us  to  give  in 
detail.  The  followinof  are  amoncf  the  most  noted  of  the  lakes  of 
Northern  Iowa:  Clear  lake,  in  Cerro  Gordo  county;  Rice  lake, 
Silver  lake,  and  "Bright's  lake,  in  Worth  county;  Crystal  lake, 
Eagle  lake.  Lake  Edward,  and  Twin  lakes,  im  Hancock  county; 


THE  LAKES   OF  IOWA.  g,. 

Owl  lake,  in  Humboldt  county;  Lake  Gertrude,  Lake  Cornelia, 
Elm  lake,  and  Wall  lake,  in  Wright  county;  Lake  Caro,  in  Ham- 
ilton county;  Twin  lakes,  in  Calhoun  county;  Wall  lake,  in  Sac 
county;  Swan  lake,  in  Emmet  county;  Storm  lake,  in  Buena 
Vista  county;  and  Okoboji  and  Spirit  lakes,  in  Dickinson  county. 
Nearly  all  of  these  are  deep  and  clear,  abounding-  in  many 
excellent  varieties  of  fish,  which  are  caught  abundantly  by  the 
settlers  at  all  proper  seasons  of  the  year.  The  name  "  Wall 
Lake,"  applied  to  several  of  these  bodies  of  water,  is  derived 
from  the  fact  that  a  line  or  ridge  of  boulders  extends  around 
them,  giving  them  somewhat  the  appearance  of  having  been 
walled.  Most  of  them  exhibit  the  same  appearance  in  this 
respect  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  Lake  Okoboji,  Spirit  lake, 
Storm  lake,  and  Clear  lake  are  the  largest  of  the  Northern  Iowa 
lakes.  All  of  them,  except  Storm  lake,  have  fine  bodies  of  tim- 
ber on  their  borders.  Lake  Okoboji  is  about  fifteen  miles  lono-, 
and  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  two  miles  wide.  Spirit  lake, 
just  north  of  it,  embraces  about  ten  square  miles,  the  northern 
border  extending  to  the  Minnesota  line.  Storm  lake  is  in  size 
about  three  miles  east  and  west  by  two  north  and  south.  Clear 
lake  is  about  seven  miles  long  by  two  miles  wide.  The  dry 
rolling  land^  usually  extends  up  to  the  borders  of  these  lakes, 
making  them  delightful  resorts  for  excursion  or  fishing  parties, 
and  they  are  now  attracting  attention  as  places  of  resort,  on 
account  of  the  beauty  of  their  natural  scenery,  as  well  as  the 
inducements  which  they  afford  to  hunting  and  fishing  parties. 

Prairie  and  Timber. — One  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the 
topography  of  the  northwest  is  the  predominance  of  prairies. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  about  nine-tenths  of  the  surface  of 
Iowa  is  prairie.  The  timber  is  generally  found  in  heavy  bodies 
skirting  the  streams  and  lakes,  but  there  are  also  many  isolated 
groves  standing,  like  islands  in  the  sea,  far  out  on  the  prairies. 
The  eastern  half  of  the  State  contains  a  larger  proportion  of 
timber  than  the  western.  The  followinij  are  the  leadiuL''  varie- 
ties  of  timber:  White,  black,  and  burr  oak,  black  walnut,  of  ex- 
cellent quality,  but  now  almost  entirely  picked  out  and  shipped 
to  England,  butternut,  hickory,  hard  and  soft  maple,  cherry,  red 


824  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

and  white  elm.  ash,  lijin,  hackberry,  birch,  honey  locust,  cotton- 
wood,  and  quaking  asp.  A  few  sycamore  trees  are  found  in 
certain  localities  alono-  the  streams.  Groves  of  red  cedar  also 
prevail,  especially  along  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers,  and  a  few 
isolated  pine  trees  are  scattered  along  the  bluffs  of  some  of  the 
streams  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State. 

The  o-reat  demand  for  timber  for  railroad  construction,  for 
ties,  stations,  bridges,  and  for  a  time  for  fuel,  as  well  as  for  dwell- 
ings, telegraph  poles,  for  agricultural  and  mining  machinery,  and 
mine  supports,  has  within  the  last  decade  nearly  stripped  Iowa 
of  its  most  valuable  timber ;  and  the  English  movement  for  cull- 
ing out  all  her  valuable  black  walnut  trees,  working  thera  up 
roughly  by  portable  saw-mills,  and  shipping  the  timber  at  once, 
is  likely  to  deprive  the  country  of  one  of  its  best  sources  of 
supply  of  this  valuable  wood. 

Nearly  all  kinds  of  timber  common  to  Iowa  have  been  found 
to  grow  rapidly  when  transplanted  upon  the  prairies,  or  when 
propagated  from  the  planting  of  seeds.  Only  a  few  years  and  a 
little  expense  are  required  for  the  settler  to  raise  a  grove  suffi- 
cient to  afford  him  a  supply  of  fuel.  The  kinds  most  easily 
propagated,  and  of  rapid  growth,  are  cottonwood,  maple,  and 
walnut.  All  our  prairie  soils  are  adapted  to  their  growth. 
Tree-planting  is  encouraged  by  national  and  State  laws,  and  is 
now  actively  practised,  but  it  will  be  long  before  these  trees  will, 
either  in  quality  or  quantity,  supply  the  loss  of  those  which  have 
been  so  recklessly  sacrificed. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  surface  geology  of  Iowa,  like 
that  of  Nebraska  and  pardy  of  Kansas,  is  peculiar  and  very 
interestinor  from  its  relation  to  the  soil  of  the  State.  Far  back 
in  the  glacial  period  this  whole  region,  including  Iowa,  South- 
eastern Dakota,  Nebraska,  and  Eastern  Kansas,  was  less  ele- 
vated thar:  it  now  is,  and  formed  the  bed  of  a  vast  lake  at  least 
500  miles  in  length  and  nearly  that  in  width.  Through  this  lake 
flowed  the  Missouri,  which  had  then  received  its  greatest  affluent, 
the  Yellowstone.  Its  other  principal  tributaries  at  that  time 
flowed  into  the  lake.  For  ag^es  numerous  streams  brouqfht  into 
the  lake  the  debris  of  mountain  and  hill,  and  the  glaciers  added 


IOWA    COAL.  825 

their  contribution  from  their  moraines.  At  length  there  carrie  a 
time  of  upheaval ;  this  vast  lake  was  drained  till  it  became  an 
immense  marsh  of  soft  and  plastic  mud  ;  through  this  the  rivers 
ploughed  their  way,  cutting  through  the  deposits  of  gravel,  of 
silica,  and  of  decayed  vegetation  easily,  and  left  on  either  side 
high  bluffs,  which,  however,  having  no  rocky  bond  of  union,  often 
crumbled  and  fell  into  the  streams.  After  another  long  period 
the  marsh  became  dry  land,  and  its  surface,  composed  of  drift 
or  gravel,  loess  or  bluff  deposit,  a  very  fine  and  rich  silicious 
powder,  and  alluvium  as  the  result  of  decayed  vegetation,  fur- 
nished the  finest  soil  in  the  world.  But  beneath  this  surface, 
which  is  of  varying,  though  everywhere  of  considerable  thick- 
ness, the  rivers,  which  have  plowed  their  way  through  its  lowest 
layers,  reveal  other  important  and  economically  valuable  strata. 
The  cretaceous  beds  underlie  this  vast  alluvial  and  diluvial 
deposit,  and  below  them  we  come  to  the  coal  measures  of  the 
carboniferous  era,  whose  existence  was  first  discovered  from 
their  outcrop  in  the  river  bluffs. 

"The  coal  of  Iowa  is  bituminous,  and  is  a  true  coal,  not  a  lig- 
nite. It  covers  an  area  of  at  least  20,000  square  miles,  and  coal 
is  successfully  mined  in  more  than  thirty  counties  of  the  State. 
It  is  not  of  identical  quality  in  all  parts  of  the  coal  field,  but  that 
produced  in  Appanoose,  Boone,  Davis,  Dallas,  Hamilton,  Har- 
din, Jefferson,  Mahaska,  Marion,  Monroe,  Polk,  Van  Buren, 
Wapello,  Webster,  and  perhaps  some  other  counties,  is  of  excel- 
lent quality  and  easily  raised. 

"The  great  productive  coal  field  of  Iowa  is  embraced  chiefly 
w^ithin  the  valley  of  the  Des  Moines  river  and  its  tributaries,  ex- 
tending up  the  valley  from  Lee  county  nearly  to  the  north  line 
of  Webster  county.  Within  the  coal  field  embraced  by  this  val- 
ley deep  mining  is  nowhere  necessary.  The  Des  Moines  and 
its  larger  tributaries  have  generally  cut  their  channels  down 
through  all  the  coal  measure  strata. 

"The  coal  of  Iowa  is  equal  in  quality  and  value  to  coal  of  the 
same  class  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  veins  which  have 
so  far  been  worked  are  from  three  to  eight  feet  in  thickness,  but 
it  is  not  necessarv  to  die  from  one  thousand  to  two  thousand  feet 


826 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


to  reach  the  coal,  as  miners  are  obliged  to  do  in  some  countries. 
But  little  coal  has  in  this  State  been  raised  from  a  depth  greater 
than  one  hundred  feet. 

"Professor  Gustavus  Hinrich,  of  the  State  University,  who 
also  officiated  as  State  Chemist  in  the  prosecution  of  the  State 
geological  survey,  gives  an  analysis  showing  the  comparative 
value  of  Iowa  coal  with  that  of  other  countries.  The  following 
is  from  a  table  prepared  by  him — lOO  representing  the  combus- 
tible : 


Name  and  Locality. 

c 

0 

c 

3 

d 

3 

'5 

> 

'5 

_3 

'sJ 

0 

< 

<5 

W 

> 

Brown  coal,  from  Arbesan,  Bohemia     .      .      . 

36 

64 

3 

II 

114 

88 

Brown  coal,  from  Bilin,  Bohemia     .... 

40 

67 

16 

GO 

123 

81 

Bituminous  coal,  from  Bcntheu,  Silesia      .      . 

.51 

49 

21 

5 

126 

80 

Cannel  coal,  from  Wigan,  England       .      .      . 

61 

39 

10 

3 

113 

87 

Anthracite,  from  Pennsylvania 

94 

6 

^ 

2 

104 

96 

Iowa  coals — average •     •     • 

50 

50 

5 

5 

no 

90 

"In  this  table  the  excess  of  the  equivalent  above  100,  ex- 
presses the  amount  of  impurities  (ashes  and  moisture)  in  the 
coal.  The  analysis  shows  that  the  average  Iowa  coals  contain 
only  ten  parts  of  impurities  for  one  part  of  combustible  (carbon 
and  bitunien)  being  the  purest  of  all  the  samples  analyzed  except 
the  anthracite  from  Pennsylvania. 

"Twelve  years  ago  (in  1868)  the  production  of  this  coal  in 
Iowa  was  reported  as  241,453  tons,  or  more  than  six  million 
bushels.  It  has  increased  steadily  since  that  time,  and  in  1877 
had  reached  over  1,500,000  tons,  or  about  forty  million  bushels. 
It  is  still  increasing,  and  is  used  in  several  of  the  adjacent  States. 

''Peat. — During  the  last  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  large  deposits 
of  peat,  existing  in  several  of  the  northern  counties  of  the  State, 
have  attracted  considerable  attention.  In  1S66,  Dr.  White,  the 
State  Geologist,  made  careful  observations  in  some  of  those 
counties,  including  Franklin,  Wright,  Cerro  Gordo,  Hancock, 
Winnebago,  Worth  and  Kossuth.  In  1869,  Hon.  A.  R.  P^ulton 
also  visited  the  counties  named,  and  from  personal  observation 


THE   PEAT  BEDS.  827 

was  convinced  that  the  deposits  of  peat  were  as  extensive  as  repre- 
sented by  the  State  Geologist.  It  is  estimated  that  the  counties 
above  named  contain  an  average  of  at  least  four  thousand  acres 
each  of  good  peat  lands.  The  depth  of  the  beds  is  from  four 
to  ten  feet,  and  the  quality  is  but  little,  if  any,  inferior  to  that  of 
Ireland.  As  yet,  but  little  use  has  been  made  of  it  as  fuel,  but 
when  it  is  considered  that  it  lies  wholly  beyond  the  coal-field,  in 
a  sparsely  timbered  region  of  the  State,  its  prospective  value  is 
regarded  as  very  great.  Dr.  White  estimates  that  i6o  acres  of 
peat,  four  feet  deep,  will  supply  two  hundred  and  thirteen  fami- 
lies  with  fuel  for  upwards  of  twenty-five  years.  It  must  not  be 
inferred  that  the  presence  of  these  peat  beds  in  that  part  of  the 
State  is  in  any  degree  prejudicial  to  health,  for  such  is  not  the 
case.  The  dry,  rolling  prairie  land  usually  comes  up  to  the  very 
border  of  the  peat  marsh,  and  the  winds,  or  breezes,  which  pre- 
vail through  the  summer  season,  do  not  allow  water  to  become 
stagnant.  Nature  seems  to  have  designed  these  peat  deposits 
to  supply  the  deficiency  of  other  material  for  fuel.  The  penetra 
tion  of  this  portion  of  the  State  by  railroads  and  the  rapid 
growth  of  timber  may  leave  a  resort  to  peat  for  fuel  as  a  matter 
of  choice,  and  not  of  necessity.  It  therefore  remains  to  be  seen 
of  what  economic  value  in  the  future  the  peat  beds  of  Iowa  may 
be.  Peat  has  also  been  found  in  Muscatine,  Linn,  Clinton,  and 
other  eastern  and  southern  counties  of  the  State,  but  the  fertile 
reorion  of  Northern  Iowa,  least  favored  with  other  kinds  of  fuel, 
is  peculiarly  the  peat  region  of  the  State.  Neither  gold  nor  sil- 
ver has  been  found  in  Iowa,  except  a  very  small  percentage  of 
the  latter  in  the  galena  or  lead  ores. 

''Lead. — Since  the  year  1833,  large  quantities  of  lead  have 
been  mined  in  the  vicinity  of  Dubuque,  and  the  business  is  still 
carried  on  successfully.  From  four  to  six  million  pounds  of  ore 
have  been  smelted  annually  at  the  Dubuque  mines,  yielding  from 
sixty-eight  to  seventy  per  cent,  of  lead.  So  far  as  known,  the 
lead  deposits  of  Iowa  that  may  be  profitably  worked  are  con- 
fined to  a  belt  of  four  or  five  miles  in  width  along  the  Mississippi, 
above  and  below  the  city  of  Dubuque. 

'^ Other  Metals. — Iron,  copper  and  zinc   have   been   found  in 


828  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

limited  quantities  in  different  parts  of  the  State — the  last-named 
metal  being-  chiefly  associated  with  the  lead  deposits. 

''Lime. — Good  material  for  the  manufacture  of  quick-lime  is 
found  in  abundance  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  State.  Even  in  the 
northwestern  counties,  where  there  are  but  few  exposures  of 
rock '' in  place,'  limestone  is  found  among  the  boulders  scattered 
over  the  prairies  and  about  the  lakes.  So  abundant  is  limestone, 
suitable  for  the  manufacture  of  quick-lime,  that  it  is  needless. to 
mention  any  particular  locality  as  possessing  superior  advan- 
tages in  furnishine  this  useful  building:  material.  At  the  follow- 
ing  points  parties  have  been  engaged  somewhat  extensively  in 
the  manufacture  of  lime,  to  wit:  Fort  Dodge,  Webster  county; 
Springvale,  Humboldt  county ;  Orford  and  Indiantown,  Tama 
county;  Iowa  Falls,  Hardin  county;  Mitchell,  Mitchell  county; 
and  at  nearly  all  the  towns  along  the  streams  northeast  of  Cedar 
river. 

"■Building  Stone. — There  is  no  scarcity  of  good  building  stone 
to  be  found  along  nearly  all  the  streams  east  of  the  Des  Moines 
river,  and  along  that  stream  from  its  mouth  up  to  the  north  line 
of  Humboldt  county.  Some  of  the  counties  west  of  the  Des 
Moines,  as  Cass  and  Madison,  as  well  as  most  ot  the  southern 
counties  of  the  State,  are  supplied  with  good  building  stone. 
Building  stone  of  peculiarly  fine  quality  is  quarried  at  and  near 
the  following  places:  Keosauqua,  Van  Buren  county;  Mt. 
Pleasant,  Henry  county;  Fairfield,  Jefferson  county;  Ottumwa, 
Wapello  county;  Winterset,  Madison  county;  Fort  Dodge, 
Webster  county;  Springvale  and  Dakota,  Humboldt  county; 
Marshalltown,  Marshall  county ;  Orford,  Tama  county;  Vinton, 
Benton  county;  Charles  City,  Floyd  county;  Mason  City,  Cerro 
Gordo  county;  Mitchell  and  Osage,  Mitchell  county;  Anamosa, 
Jones  county;  Iowa  Falls,  Hardin  county;  Hampton,  Franklin 
county;  and  at  nearly  all  points  along  the  Mississippi  river. 
In  some  places,  as  in  Marshall  and  Tama  counties,  several  spe- 
cies of  marble  are  found,  which  arc  susceptible  of  the  finest 
finish,  and  are  very  beautiful. 

^'Gypsitm. — One  of  the  finest  and  purest  deposits  of  gypsum 
known  in  die  world  exists  at  Fort  Dodo^e,  in  this  State.     It  is 


MINERALS  AND    SOIL    OF  IOWA.  829 

confined  to  an  area  of  about  six  by  three  miles  on  both  sides  of 
the  Des  Moines  river,  and  is  found  to  be  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  feet  in  thickness.  The  main  deposit  is  of  uniform  gray 
color,  but  large  masses  of  almost  pure  white  (resembling  alabas- 
ter) have  been  found  embedded  in  the  main  deposits.  The  quan- 
tity of  this  article  is  practically  inexhaustible,  and  the  time  will 
certainly  come  when  it  will  be  a  source  of  wealth  to  that  part  of 
the  State.  So  far,  it  has  only  been  used  to  a  limited  extent  for 
paving  and  building  purposes,  if  we  except  the  fraud  practised 
upon  our  Eastern  cousins  by  those  who  manufactured  from  it  that 
great  humbug  and  swindle  of  the  century,  the  'Cardiff  Giant! ' 
Plaster-of-paris  manufactured  from  the  Fort  Dodge  gypsum  has 
been  found  equal  to  the  best  in  quality. 

'■'•Clays. — In  nearly  all  parts  of  the  State  the  material  suitable 
for  the  manufacture  of  brick  is  found  in  abundance.  Sand  is  ob- 
tained in  the  bluffs  alone  the  streams  and  in  their  beds.  Potter's 
clay,  and  fire-clay  suitable  for  fire-brick,  are  found  in  many 
places.  An  excellent  article  of  fire-brick  is  made  at  Eldora, 
Hardin  county,  where  there  are  also  several  extensive  potteries 
in  operation.  Fire-clay  is  usually  found  underlying  the  coal- 
seams.  There  are  extensive  potteries  in  operation  in  the  coun- 
ties of  Lee,  Van  Buren,  Des  Moines,  Wapello,  Boone,  Hamilton, 
Hardin,  and  perhaps  others. 

''Soil. — It  is  supposed  that  there  is  nowhere  upon  the  globe  an 
equal  area  of  surface  with  so  small  a  proportion  of  untillable  land 
as  we  find  in  Iowa.  The  soil  is  generally  a  drift  deposit,  with  a 
deep  covering  of  vegetable  mould,  and  on  the  highest  prairies  is- 
almost  equal  in  fertility  to  the  alluvial  valleys  of  the  rivers  in 
other  States.  The  soil  in  the  valleys  of  our  streams  is  largely 
alluvial,  producing  a  rapid  and  luxuriant  growth  of  all  kinds  of 
vegetation.  The  valleys  usually  vary  in  extent  according  to  the 
size  of  the  stream.  On  the  Iowa  side  of  the  Missouri  river,  from 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  State  to  Sioux  City,  a  distance  of 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  there  is  a  continuous  belt  of 
alluvial  '  bottom,' or  valley  land,  varying  in  width  from  five  to 
twenty  miles,  and  of  surpassing  fertility.  This  valley  is  bordered 
by  a  continuous  line  of  'oluffs,  rising  from  one  to  two  hundred 


g,Q  OUK    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

feet,  and  presenting-  many  picturesque  outlines  when  seen  at  a 
distance.  The  bluffs  are  composed  of  a  peculiar  formation,  to 
which  has  been  given  the  name  of  loess  or  '  bluff  deposit.'  It  is 
of  a  yellow  color,  and  is  composed  of  a  hne  silicious  matter,  with 
some  clay  and  limey  concretions.  This  deposit  in  many  places 
extends  eastward  entirely  across  the  counties  bordering  the  Mis- 
souri river,  and  is  of  great  ferdlity,  promoting  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  grain  and  vegetables. 

''Mineral  Paint. — In  Montgomery  county  a  fine  vein  of  clay, 
containing  a  large  proportion  of  ochre,  was  several  years  ago 
discovered,  and  has  been  extensively  used  in  that  part  ot  the 
State  for  painting  barns  and  out^houses.  It  is  of  a  dark  red 
color,  and  is  believed  to  be  equal  in  quality,  if  properly  manufac- 
tured, to  the  mineral  paints  imported  from  other  States.  The 
use  of  it  was  first  introduced  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Packard,  of  Red  Oak, 
on  whose  land  there  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  this  material. 

'■'Spring  and  Well  Water. — As  before  stated,  the  surface  of 
Iowa  is  generally  drained  by  the  rolling  or  undulating  character 
of  the  country,  and  the  numerous  streams,  large  and  small. 
This  fact  might  lead  some  to  suppose  that  it  might  be  difficult  to 
procure  good  spring  or  well  water  for  domestic  uses.  Such, 
however,  Is  not  the  case,  for  good  pure  well  water  is  easily  ob- 
tained all  over  the  State,  even  on  the  highest  prairies.  It  is 
rarely  necessary  to  dig  more  than  thirty  feet  deep  to  find  an 
abundance  of  that  most  indispensable  element,  good  water. 
Along  the  streams  are  found  many  springs  breaking  out  from 
the  banks,  affording  a  constant  supply  of  pure  water.  As  a  rule, 
it  is  necessary  to  dig  deeper  for  well  water  in  the  timber  portions 
of  the  State,  tlian  on  the  prairies.  Nearly  all  the  spring  and 
well  waters  of  the  State  contain  a  small  proportion  of  lime,  as 
they  do  In  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  There  are  some 
springs  which  contain  mineral  properties,  similar  to  the  springs 
often  resorted  to  by  invalids  and  others  In  other  States.  In 
Davis  county  there  are  some  'Salt  Springs,'  as  they  are  com- 
monly called,  the  water  being  found  to  contain  a  considerable 
amount  of  common  salt,  sulphuric  acid,  and  other  mineral  ingre- 
dients.    Mineral  waters  are  found  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 


.  .  CLIMATE    OF  IOW)i.  3^j 

'^Naiiiral  Cicriosities. — Aside  from  its  walled  lakes  and  some 
very  beautiful  waterfalls,  the  State  does  not  abound  in  natural 
wonders.  The  '  Ice  Cave  '  at  Dccorah,  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  State,  deserves  notice.  It  is  under  a  bluff  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  upper  Iowa  river,  and  has  this  wonderful  peculiarity 
that  while  in  winter  no  ice  is  to  be  found  in  it,  it  forms  in  spring 
and  summer,  and  thaws  out  again  upon  the  advent  of  cold 
weather.  Nine  miles  east  of  Decorah,  on  Trout  river,  there  is 
an  underground  stream  navigable  for  canoes,  and  which  has 
been  explored  for  a  long  distance. 

'■'Ciirnate  and  Meteorology. — The  average  or  mean  temperature, 
from  a  series  of  observations  taken  at  different  points  and  in 
different  years,  is  found  to  be  48°.  The  temperature  of  the  win- 
ters is  usually  somewhat  lower  than  that  of  the  Eastern  States, 
but  tliat  of  the  other  seasons  hio^her,  so  that  all  veeetation  is 
forced  forward  rapidly  to  maturity.  There  is  a  somewhat  less 
average  amount  of  rain  than  that  which  falls  in  the  States  bor- 
dering on  the  Atlantic.  The  quantity  which  falls  yearly  in  Iowa 
is  tound  to  average  about  forty  and  one-half  inches,  and  of  snow 
thirty  inches — equivalent  to  three  inches  of  rain,  making  a  total 
of  forty-three  and  one-half  inches.  There  is  occasionally  a  sea- 
son which  greatly  exceeds  the  average  in  the  fall  of  rain,  but 
never  one  marked  with  such  extreme  drought  as  to  occasion  a 
failure  of  crops. 

"The  opinion  may  prevail  to  some  extent  that  the  climate, 
especially  of  Northern  Iowa,  is  rigorous,  and  the  winters  lono- 
and  severe.  It  is  true  that  the  mercury  usually  sinks  lower  than 
in  the  States  farther  south,  but  at  the  same  time  the  atmosphere 
is  dry  and  invigorating,  and  the  seasons  not  marked  by  the  fre- 
quent and  sudden  changes  which  arc  experienced  in  latitudes 
farther  south.  The  winters  are  equally  as  pleasant  and  more 
healthful  than  in  the  Eastern  or  Middle  States.  Pulmonary  and 
other  diseases,  arising  from  frequent  changes  of  temperature 
and  miasmatic  influences,  are  almost  unknown,  unless  contracted 
elsewhere.  Winter  usually  commences  in  December  and  ends 
in  March.  The  sprln^r,  summer,  and  fall  months  are  deli<^htful. 
Iowa  is  noted  for  the  glory  and   beauty  of  its  autumns.     That 


832 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


oforofeoiis  season  denominated  'Indian  summer'  cannot  be  de- 
scribed,  and  in  Iowa  it  is  peculiarly  charming.  Day  after  day, 
for  weeks,  the  sun  is  veiled  in  a  hazy  splendor,  while  the  forests 
are  tinged  with  the  most  gorgeous  hues,  imparting  to  all  nature 
something  of  t4ie  enchantments  of  fairyland.  Almost  imper- 
ceptibly, these  golden  days  merge  into  winter,  which  holds  its 
stern  reign  w^ithout  the  disagreeable  changes  experienced  in 
other  climes,  until  spring  ushers  in  another  season  of  life  and 
beauty." 

We  have  endeavored  to  obtain  definite  and  detailed  statistics 
of  the  meteorology  of  localities  which  should  represent  as  fully 
as  possible  the  differences  of  temperature  and  rainfall,  etc.,  in 
different  sections  of  the  State.  Our  statistics  are  very  full  for 
the  whole  eastern  border,  and  for  some  of  the  cities  of  the 
interior,  but  are  defective  for  the  western  counties,  though  we 
know  in  general  that  as  we  proceed  westward  the  average  tem- 
perature on  the  same  parallels  is  somewhat  higher,  the  winters  a 
little  less  severe,  and  the  rainfall  slightly  diminished  as  compared 
with  those  on  the  eastern  border.  The  following  statistics  of 
the  meteorology  of  Muscatine  and  Iowa  City  are  by  Professor 
Parvin,  and  are  from  the  averages  of  thirty  years : 


Table  showing  the  Average,  or  Mean  Temperature  of  the  Seasons,  for  the  years  1S39  to  1869, 
inclusive ;  also  the  Mean  Temperature  of  the  months  nearest  thereto,  and  the  Extremes  of 
Temperature. 


Seasons. 

Temperature. 

Months  Nearest  Seasons. 

47°  44' 
70°   37' 
44°  52' 
23°  37' 
47°  57' 

Aiiril 

48°   50^ 
70°   70^ 

49°  50' 
23°  25^ 

Stiiiim(*r 

AurjUSt 

Autumn 

Winter 

October 

December 

Year 

RANGE    OF    TEMPERATURE. 


Highest 

IjOwest 

99°  00^ 
-30°  00'' 
129°  00' 

August  31st,  1854. 
January  1 8th,  1857. 

Range 

METEOROLOGY  OF  IOWA. 


833 


Table  giving  the  Mont  lily  Thennofnetrical  Results  in  degrees  for  the  years  1 868  and  1869 — t/te 
observations  being  made  at  the  door  of  the  State  University,  lo-wa  City,  by  Prof.  T.  S.  Parvin. 


Months. 


January. .  .  . 
Fetjruary  .  . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

J"iy 

August...  .*. 
September, 
October  . .  . 
November. 
December  . 

Sums.'.. . . 

Means. . . 


I 

368. 

li 

569. 

d 

c 

rt 
u 

7 

2 

9 

E 

e 

e 

7 

2 

9 

s 

S 

g 

>. 

3 

>> 

3 

A.  M. 

p.  M. 

p.  M. 

.£ 

s 

e 

A.  M. 

p.   M. 

p.   M. 

j: 

B 

E 

C 
0 

c 

§ 

X 

c 

0 

0 

S 

% 

0 

0 

s 

^ 

*5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6.4 

24.4 

13-3 

13-37 

50 

-16 

18.9 

34-1 

24.9 

26.02 

48 

-14 

14.6 

32.1 

21. 1 

25.29 

55 

-27 

19.9 

34-7 

27.4 

27.00 

62 

-  8 

z-h-z 

48.4 

43-0 

42.69 

75 

3 

22,3 

39-2 

29.7 

30.26 

72 

-12 

36.2 

52.2 

44.0 

44.69 

7« 

18 

39-4 

55-6 

45-3 

47.09 

80 

20 

,S4-7 

71.0 

61.7 

61.69 

84 

46 

52.8 

69..'J 

62.3 

60.01 

82 

40 

6.1.8 

78.5 

69-3 

70.75 

92 

47 

60.3 

75-2 

65.1 

66.07 

85 

44 

75-6 

89.1 

76.5 

80.79 

96 

53 

64.7 

7«-3 

70.0 

70.86 

86 

55 

60.9 

78.7 

69.4 

69.12 

92 

48 

68.8 

80.6 

74-9 

74-36 

93 

S7 

52.2 

66.2 

59-6 

58.76 

81 

32 

56.1 

72.7 

62.3 

6323 

88 

33 

42.9 

58.4 

483 

49.84 

73 

30 

34-7 

53-1 

40.8 

42.72 

78 

16 

33-2 

43-9 

36.6 

37-97 

63 

18 

27.5 

3ii.3 

30.6 

32.12 

70 

5 

15.1 

28.2 

673-1 
56.1 

20.9 

21.19 

50 

-18 

234 

19 

21.6 

29.9 
691-5 

25-3 

25.46 

46 

890 

74 

-  2 

234 

19 

48S.9 

563-7 

576-15 

S89 

487.0 

557-0 

565-20 

40.7 

46.9 

48.01 

74 

40.6 

57-6 

46-4 

47.10 

Table  giving  the  Monthly  and  Annual  Quantity  of  Rain  and  Snozo  reduced  to  water  ;  the  Maxi- 
mum, Minimum,  and  A/ean  Amounts  from  1848 /c?  1 869. 


Years. 

u 
a 
3 

B 

n 
"—1 

2 

3 
1— » 

3 

< 

E 
u 

Oc 

0 
CO 

1 
0 

u 

s 

> 
0 

V 

B 
0 

a 

F6r. 

the 

•Year. 

rt 

0. 

rt 

Mean 

1.52 

2.21 

2.78 

■43 

3-79 

4-95 

4-59 

4.68 

5^69 
1.36 

4.24 

3^65 
.21 

3-27 
.19 

2.34 
•32 

44-27 

Least 

.12 

•38 

■55 

1.42 

.21 

.80 

I-I3 

23-35 

Greatest..-.  . . 

4.19 

5-80 

8.60 

11.80 

12.60 

14.30 

8.60 

14.00 

9.92 

9.16 

5-76 

6.25 

74-49 

Table  sho'U'ing  the  Monthly  and  Annual  Quantities  of  Stioiu  in  inches,  for  the  years   1S4S  to 
1869,  inclusive,  according  to  records  kept  by  Prof.  T.  S.  Parvin,  at  Muscatine  and  loiva  City. 


Years. 

rl 
3 
C 

rt 

rt 

3 

-J 

March. 

1 

.Vpril. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

For 

the 

Years. 

Means 

6.70 

6-73 

3-93' 

.76 

.00 

.40 
.00 

4-73 
.00 

9.21 

33-23 

Least      

.00 

.00 

.00 

.10 

7.90 

Greatest 

24-25 

27.00 

16.15 

6.00 

4.10 

30.00 

29.52 

61.97 

53 


834 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


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METEOROLOGY  OF  IOWA. 


835 


Table  showing  the  Dates  of  the  Earliest  and  Latest  Frost  and  Ice  for  the  years  1839  to  1869, 
inclusive ;  also,  the  Time  of  Disappearance  and  Depth  of  Frost,  and  the  Thickness  of  Ice 
from  1856  to  1S69,  according  to  records  kept  by  Prof  T.  S.  Parvin,  at  Muscatine  and  Iowa 
City,  Iowa. 


iS39. 
1840. 
1841. 
1842. 

1843- 
1844. 

1S45. 
1846. 

1847. 
1848. 

1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
1852. 

1853- 
1854. 
1855. 
1856. 

1857. 
1858. 
1859. 
i860. 
1S61. 
1862. 
1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 


Latest 


Years. 


Earliest 


Meaa 


Frost. 


Apr.  17 
Apr.  27 
Apr.  12 
May  4 
May  2 
May  21 
May  25 
Apr.  15 
May  26 
May  10 
May  I 
Apr.  23 
May  5 
May  20 
May  25 
May  2 
May  6 
Apr.  19 
May  20 
Apr.  26 
Apr.  23 
May  I 
May  4 
Apr.  24 
Aug.  25* 
May  II 
May  II 
May  2 
May  6 
Apr.  5 
May    19 

May   26 

Apr.     5 

May     4 


W 


Sept.  12 
Sept.  28 
Sept.  1 1 
Sept.  17 
Oct.  8 
Oct.  10 
Sept.  21 
Oct.  2 
Oct.  9 
Sept.  23 
Oct.  8 
Sept.  7 
Sept.  28 
Sept.  26 
Sept.  10 
Oct.  5 
Sept.  27 
Sept.  24 
Oct.  14 
Sept.  12 
Sept.  2 
Sept.  II 
Oct.  23 
Oct.  II 
Aug.  29 
Sept.  19 
Oct.  2 
Sept.  21 
Oct.  23 
Sept.  17 
Sept.  26 

Oct.    23 

Aug.  29 

Sept.  24 


P. 

rt 

P 


1 

Apr. 

10 

May 

5 

Apr. 

I 

Apr. 

I 

Mar. 

20 

Mar. 

12 

Apr. 

I 

Apr. 

2 

Apr. 

17 

Apr. 

10 

May 

7 

May 

23 

Apr. 

15 

Apr. 

7 

May 

23 

Mar. 

12 

Apr. 

10 

Ice. 


29 

4 

2 

I 

I 

20 

20 

18 

18 

20 

20 

18 

20 

21 

29 

II 

18 


rt 


Mar.  25 

Apr.  18 

Apr.  14 

Apr.  28 

May  I 

Mar.  30 

Apr.  8 

Apr.  13 

May  4 

Apr.  26 

Apr.  20 

Apr.  23 

May  I 

Apr.  22 

May  13 

M  ay  2 

May  6 

Apr.  19 

May  12 

Apr.  16 

Apr.  23 

Apr.  2 

Apr.  16 

Apr.  6 

Apr.  8 

Apr.  14 

Apr.  6 

Apr.  6 

Apr.  6 

Apr.  8 

Apr.  13 

May  13 

Apr.  2 

Apr.  18 


Nov.  7 
Oct.  3 
Oct.  17 
Oct.  19 
Oct.  8 
Oct.  16 
Oct.  5 
Oct.  18 
Oct.  14 
Oct.  I 
Oct.  13 
Sept.  29 
Oct.  15 
Sept.  26 
Oct.  2 
Oct.  15 
Oct.  25 
Sept.  24 
Oct.  20 
Oct.  7 
Oct.  6 
Oct.  24 
Sept.  24 
Oct.  25 
Oct.  7 
Oct.  18 
Oct.  15 
Oct.  31 
Nov.  4 
Nov.  I 
Oct.  13 

Nov.  7 

Sept.  24 

Oct.  15 


t,  ... 


27 

2 

O 

O 

I 

21 

20 

20 

20 

18 

24 
18 
22 
20 

27 

10 

18 


On  page  834  we  give  the  Signal  Service  statistics  for  Keokuk, 
Davenport,    and    Dubuque,    which,    though   a    Httle    differently 

*The  year  1863  was  very  cold,  not  only  in  Iowa,  but  throughout  the  country,  and  there  was 
frost  in  every  month  of  the  year.  It  has  only  once  or  twice  in  thirty  years  seriously  injured  the 
corn  crop.  When  the  spring  is  late  the  fall  is  generally  lengthened,  so  that  the  crop  has  time 
to  mature. 


3'>6  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

arranged,  give  substantially  the  same  particulars  in  regard  to 
these  cities  ;  the  chapter  on  Nebraska  will  give  the  meteorology 
of  Omaha,  which  very  fairly  represents  Western  Iowa. 

Zoolocv. — The  wild  animals  of  Iowa  are  rather  those  of  the 
Mississippi  valley  than  of  the  "Plains"  or  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  buffalo  and  the  antelope,  which  once  coursed  over  its  prairies, 
are  not  now  among  its  wild  game;  and  the  elk   (wapiti),  if  he 
ever  had  his  habitat  in  the  State,  has  it  no  longer.     The  Virginia 
deer  is  abundant  in  some  parts  of  the  State,  the  black-tailed  or 
mule   deer  is   seldom  if  ever  seen   east  of  the   Missouri  river. 
Bears,  the  black  or  brown   species,  are  still  found,  though  less 
numerous  than  formerly.     The  felidcc — panthers,  wild  cats  and 
lynxes — and  the  miistelidce — fishes,  martens,  minks,  skunks  (espe- 
cially the  last),  and   the  muskrat  and  beaver — are    sufficicndy 
numerous  to  reward  the  hunter  and  trapper  for  his  labors.     The 
gray  wolf  is  much  less  abundant  than  formerly,  and  so  is  the 
yelping   prairie   wolf,  perhaps   miscalled   coyote.     The  common 
or  red  fox  is  still  found  in  considerable  numbers,  especially  in  the 
northern,  western  and  southwestern  parts  of  the  State.     Marmots 
or  gophers,   woodchucks   or   ground-hogs,   the    porcupine,   the 
raccoon,  and  more  rarely  the  opossum,  are  among  the  other 
wild  animals  of  the  State.     Rabbits  and  hares,  squirrels  of  sev- 
eral species,  brown  and  black  rats,  half  a  dozen   kinds  of  mice 
and  moles  of  several  species,  are  the  otlver  principal  mammals 
of  the  State.     Of  birds  and  especially  game  birds  Iowa  has  its 
full  share.     Wild  geese,  many  species  of  ducks,  brant  and  teal, 
a  half  dozen  or  more  species  of  the  grouse  tribe,  including  the 
prairie-hen,  the  quail,  the  partridge  and  the  ptarmigan,  many 
species  of  snipe,  woodcock  and  other  waders,  pigeons  and  doves 
of  several  species.     Song-birds  are  also  in  great  variety,  and  the 
birds  of  prey,  especially  eagles,  vultures,  hawks  and  owls,  are 
sufficiendy  numerous.     There  are  not  so  many  reptiles  as   in 
some   States,  though  the   number   of  serpents  is   considerably 
large,  and  includes  with   many  harmless   species   three  or  four 
poisonous  serpents,  among  which  two  species  of  ratdesnakes  are 
the  most  numerous.     There  are  several  species  of  batrachians, 
but  no  true  saurians  in  the  State.    The  numerous  rivers,  stream? 


BETTER   FARMING   NEEDED.  837 

and  lakes  are  well  stocked  widi  fish,  mosdy  of  edible  species. 
There  are  many  excellent  trout  streams,  especially  in  the  north 
and  west  of  the  State. 

Agricidhwe,  Soil  and  Productions. — We  have  already  described 
the  constituents  of  the  soil  of  the  State.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
say,  further,  that  a  soil  from  four  to  ten  feet  deep  composed  of 
these  substances  and  with  such  rocks  underlying  it  as  those 
which  constitute  the  basis  of  the  Iowa  lands,  and  an  abundance 
of  water  both  in  its  streams  and  the  rainfall,  should  not  be  sur- 
passed in  fertility  by  any  soil  on  the  globe.  Yet  bad  farming 
may  make  even  this  soil  less  productive  than  it  should  be.  If 
there  is  no  rotation  of  crops,  and  the  same  fields  are  devoted  to 
wheat  or  corn,  or  other  cereals  or  root  crops  year  after  year, 
and  the  constituents  thus  drawn  from  the  soil  are  not  in  anyway 
returned  to  it;  if  there  is  very  shallow  plowing,  no  manuring, 
and  little  or  no  care  to  eradicate  weeds,  it  will  not  be  matter  for 
surprise  if  the  yield  of  wheat  or  corn  grows  less  and  less  with 
each  year. 

In  this  neglect  of  deep  plowing,  rotation  of  crops,  and  the  use 
of  fertilizers,  we  do  not  mean  to  insinuate  that  Iowa  farmers  are 
sinners  above  the  farmers  of  other  States  or  Territories  adjacent ; 
on  the  contrary  we  believe  that  much  of  the  Iowa  farming  is 
better  than  that  of  the  neighboring  States.  It  is  now  thirty-four 
years  since  her  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  and  her 
eastern  counties  have  been  long  cultivated.  In  many  respects  in 
the  diversity  of  her  products,  the  excellence  and  perfection  of  her 
fruits,  and  the  wide  introduction  of  new  varieties  from  Northern 
and  Northeastern  Europe,  and  the  general  thrift  of  her  farming, 
she  is  entided  to  high  commendation.  But  with  that  magnificent 
soil,  and  die  constant  breaking  of  new  land  for  wheat,  the  first 
crop  of  which  is  usually  the  largest,  and  on  lands  immediately 
adjacent,  in  Dakota  and  Minnesota,  yields  from  twenty-five  to 
forty  bushels  to  the  acre,  we  cannot  but  think  there  is  somethino- 
WTong,  when  the  average  wheat  crop  of  the  State,  year  after  year, 
is  only  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  bushels  per  acre.  In  England, 
with  a  soil  by  no  means  so  well  adapted  to  wheat  culture  as 
that  of  Iowa,  and  after  centuries  of  culture,  the  average  crop  is 


838  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

thirty-four  bushels  to  the  acre.  Spring-  wheat  is  a  more  certain 
crop  than  winter  wheat,  yields  better,  and  brings  a  higher  price. 
Iowa  is  not  quite  so  well  adapted  to  corn  as  Illinois,  Nebraska  or 
Kansas,  an  untimely  frost  sometimes,  though  rarely,  injuring  the 
crop  ;  but  in  average  years  she  might  very  easily  produce  a  much 
larger  amount  to  the  acre  than  she  does,  and  with  the  attention 
she  is  giving  to  earlier  ripening  varieties  of  both  corn  and 
sorghum,  she  might  make  sure  of  a  crop  sufficiently  early  to 
escape  all  danger  of  frost  save  in  an  exceptional  year  like  1863, 
when  there  was  frost  every  month.  The  average  crop  of  corn 
per  acre  in  the  State  ranges  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  bushels  per 
acre,  an  amount  which  leaves  very  little  if  any  margin  of  profit. 
The  Agricultural  College  of  the  State  at  Ames,  in  the  centre  of 
the  State,  raised  in  1879,  on  new  land  and  in  a  somewhat  un- 
favorable year,  fifty-seven  bushels  to  the  acre  on  sixty-five  acres. 
The  superintendent  insists  that  eighty  bushels  to  the  acre  ought 
to  be  the  minimum  crop  in  an  average  season  with  fair  culture. 
It  is  a  matter  of  satisfaction  that  in  1879  there  was  a  small 
advance  in  the  average  product  per  acre. 

Oats  are  of  excellent  quality,  but  the  yield  is  very  much  less 
per  acre  than  it  should  be.  In  1876  it  was  but  twenty-three  and 
a  half  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  in  1878  thirty-six  and  a  third  bushels 
to  the  acre,  and  in  1879  thirty-six  bushels.  All  over  the  State 
there  are  farms,  where,  with  ordinarily  good  culture,  oats,  in 
large  fields,  average  year  after  year  sixty  to  sixty-five  bushels 
per  acre. 

Barley  should  yield  somewhat  more  than  wheat,  especially  on 
new  lands,  but  the  average  yield,  which  should  be  from  thirty-five 
to  forty  bushels,  ranges  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  bushels. 

Rye  and  buckwheat  are  for  the  most  part  raised  on  the  poorest 
lands,  and  seldom  yield  more  than  from  nine  to  twelve  bushels 
per  acre,  and  are  not  therefore  profitable  crops  to  raise. 

Potatoes,  and  the  root  crops  generally,  do  well  in  Iowa,  espe- 
cially on  the  western  or  Missouri  slope,  the  soil  being  admirably 
adapted  to  them,  but  the  yield,  though  fair,  is  not  so  large  as  it 
should  be.  At  the  Ao-ricultural  Colle"-e  at  Ames,  in  the  centre 
of  the  State,  the  yield  averages  about  240  bushels  of  potatoes  to 


THE    CROPS   OF  1S78   AND    1S79. 


839 


the  acre ;  elsewhere  it  is  much  lower.  With  such  a  soil  as  that 
of  Iowa,  350  bushels  to  the  acre  should  be  the  minimum,  in  an 
ordinarily  favorable  year,  and  of  turnips,  beets,  carrots,  etc., 
from  600  to  750  bushels. 

The  following  table  shows  the  acreage,  yield,  quantity  raised 
per  acre,  average  price  and  total  value  of  each  of  the  principal 
crops  of  Iowa  in  1878  and  1879,  according  to  the  United  States 
Agricultural  Department: 


Crops  and  unit 

The  Crop  of 

1878. 

The  Crop  of 

1879. 

>>T3 

T3 

-0% 

^2 

c 
.0 

>>T3 

2 

•s-s 

c 
0 

of  measure. 

3    0 

> 

< 

.37  4 

Number 
acres  in  e 
crop 

0          Value  per  b 
^           pound,  or 

3 
> 

0 
H 

;^28,04i,o24 

3  0 

u  0. 

Number 
acres  in  ea 
crop. 

Value  per  b 
or  ton. 

Total  valua 

Indian  corn,  bus. 

I  75,256, '03 

4,686.000 

191,630,000 

40. 

4,790,000 

Jo.24 

547,421,000 

Wheat, 

30,440,96^       9.4 

3,238.430 

■;0 

15,220,480 

37,485,000 

10.2 

3,675,000 

•92 

34,486,200 

Rye,                 " 

431,600  16  6 

26.00-) 

35 

151 ,000 

437.250 

15-6 

27,500 

■  54 

236,115 

Oats, 

38,332,8^3  ^6.3 

1,0^6  _  0 

■13 

4.983,264 

37,008,000 

30. 

1,028,000 

■23 

8,511,840 

Barley, 

5,o88,oiX)  24. 

2I2,OO.j 

■33 

1,679.040 

4,796,000 

22. 

218,000 

•  45 

2,158,200 

Buckwheat,    " 

123,200  14. 

8,8.10 

■51 

62,832 

157,500 

18. 

8,750 

.69 

106,925 

Potatoes,         " 

10,070,000, 1  0  ) 

100.700 

.26 

2,618,200 

8,901,000 

86. 

103,500 

■  32 

2,848,320 

Hay,*  tons. 

3,564,000 

I. bo 

I  .980,000 

3.60 

12,830,400 

3,064,600 

1-54 

1 ,990,000 

4.54 

13.913,284 

11,307,930 

565,586,300 

11,840,750 

5109,681,884 

Other  crops  have  attained  a  considerable  magnitude  in  Iowa. 
Among  them  we  may  name  :  Sorghum,  which  has  been  cultivated 
to  a  moderate  extent  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  but  in  1878, 
1879  and  1880  has  taken  a  new  departure.  The  Early  Amber 
Sorghum,  though  not  the  most  profitable  variety  in  the  amount 
of  its  yield  of  the  saccharine  juice,  is  yet  better  adapted  than 
most  of  the  others  to  Iowa,  in  consequence  of  its  early  ripening, 
the  ripening  of  the  seed  being  the  condition  precedent  to  the 
production  of  the  greatest  amount  of  crystallizable  sugar,  and 
■  giving  the  additional  advantage,  that  the  seed  and  the  leaves,  both 
furnishing  excellent  food  for  cattle,  can  be  preserved.  The 
crops  of  1879  and  1880  are  both  very  large,  and  are  likely  to  in- 
crease very  greatly  in  the  future. 

Other  plants  of  the  Zea  family,  such  as  broom  corn,  Hungarian 
grass,  the  German  and  pearl  millet  and  the  dhurra  and  Egyptian 


*  This  includes  also  hay  from  forage  crops,  Alfalfa,  Hungarian  grass,  millet,  etc. 


840 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


rice  corn,  if  these  two  are  not,  as  some  suppose,  identical,  are 
cominor  into  somewhat  extensive  cuhivation  in  the  State,  and  will 

o 

prove  valuable  additions  to  its  forage  crops,  while  the  rice  corn 
and  pearl  millet  yield  grains  which  are  valuable  for  the  food 
of  man  and  animals,  and  the  broom  corn  is  always  a  profitable 
crop. 

Iowa  is  well  adapted  to  the  culture  of  the  castor-bean,  and  it 
proves  a  profitable  crop  when  it  is  planted  early  and  has  time  to 
7'ipeti  before  the  frost.  This  crop  is  one  which  will  be  more  prof- 
itable if  a  sufficient  number  of  farmers  engage  in  its  culture  to 
furnish  employment  to  an  oil  mill  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  as 
they  can  then  obtain  a  much  better  price  for  the  beans.  The 
pea-nut  or  ground-nut  might  be  successfully  cultivated,  especially 
in  Southern  and  Southwestern  Iowa,  and  while  the  vines  are  ex- 
cellent for  forage,  the  nuts  command  a  good  price,  and  if  there 
is  an  oil  mill  near,  they  may  be  ground  for  the  oil  at  a  good 
profit. 

But  notwithstanding  its  extremes  of  temperature,  Iowa  has  be- 
come famous  for  its  fruits.  The  soil  is  well  adapted  to  these,  and 
great  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  production  and  culture  of 
hardy  varieties  which  would  withstand  the  extreme  cold  of  some 
of  the  winters.  The  efforts  made  for  this  purpose  have  been 
very  successful.  Many  varieties  of  apples  and  pears  have  been 
imported  from  Northern  Russia,  Northern  China  and  Japan,  which, 
after  acclimation,  have  proved  the  best  of  these  fruits  for  sum- 
mer, autumn  and  winter  use.  The  peach  does  not  flourish  quite 
as  well,  though  some  of  the  more  hardy  varieties  do  well.  The 
plum  and  cherry  are  very  successfully  cultivated. 

The  value  of  farm,  market  garden  and  orchard  products  re- 
ported in  the  State  census  for  1875,  as  gathered  the  preceding 
year,  was  ^133,440,855.  The  census  of  the  present  year  will 
probably  show  nearly  double  the  amount. 

But  Iowa  has  been  most  successful,  perhaps,  in  stock-raising. 
Her  live-stock,  as  enumerated  at  the  last  State  census,  in  1875, 
was  as  follows.  We  give  for  the  sake  of  comparison  the  statis- 
tics of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  January, 
1S80: 


LIVE-STOCK  nV  lOlVA. 


841 


Live-stock  according  to  Census  of  1S75. 

Live-stock  Report  of  U.  S.  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment, 1880. 

Animals. 

Number. 

Number. 

Price  per 
Head. 

Value. 

Horses     .... 

Mules  and  asses 

Milch  COWS  . 

Other  cattle*    .     . 

Sheep       .... 

Hogs  .     .     .     .     . 

Hogs  slaughtered  and 
sold  for  slaughter 
in  1875     •     •     • 

700,617 
36,820 

528,483 
1,405,582! 

3.139.973 
2,514,421 

778,407 
44,702 

723.534 
1.370,368 

454,410 
2,798,400 

^52.00 

66.00 

24.20 

23.12 

2.50 

6.36 

^40,477,164 

2,950,332 

17.509.523 
31,682,908 

1,136,125 
17.797.824 

Total  value   . 

•            •            • 

$111,553,876 

Iowa  has  maintained  the  front  rank  in  the  production  of  pork, 
for  which  its  agricultural  products  give  it  great  advantages.  The 
question  has  come  to  be  one  of  mathematics  entirely.  Given 
corn,  sorghum  seed,  rice  corn  or  millet  at  a  certain  price  per 
bushel,  and  also  given  a  fixed  price  per  loo  pounds  forpork,  either 
live  or  dead  weight,  which  pays  best,  all  things  considered — 
to  sell  the  corn  or  other  grain,  or  to  fatten  hogs  with  it  ?  We 
have  seen  in  Part  II.  that  in  Kansas,  with  corn  at  from  twenty  to 
thirty  cents  a  bushel  according  to  locality,  the  farmers  decided' 
that  there  was  more  profit  in  using  it  to  fatten  hogs  than  in  selling 
it.  The  Iowa  farmers  nearer  the  great  markets  have  come  to 
the  same  conclusion  with  corn  at  a  somewhat  higher  price.  But 
with  the  new  demand  for  corn  for  glucose  sugar,  the  price  may 
be  so  much  enhanced,  that  unless  other  grains  can  be  substituted 
for  corn  for  fattening  purposes,  such  as  sorghum  seed,  millet, 
rice,  corn,  etc.,  the  quantity  of  pork  made  may  be  seriously 
diminished.  The  present  year  there  seems  to  be  no  diminution 
in  the  quantity,  but  what  there  may  be  in  the  future  remains  to 
be  seen. 

Iowa  is,  we  believe,  sixth  or  seventh  amone  the  States  and 
Territories  of  "Our  Western  Empire"   in   the  number  of  her 


*  Except  working  oxen  in  the  census  of  1S75.     In  iSSo,  working  oxen  are  included, 
f  This  includes  9,690  thoroughbred  short-horns. 


g.2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

sheep.  While  the  cost  of  rearing  a  sheep  is  somewHat  greater 
than  in  Western  Kansas,  Colorado  or  New  Mexico,  care  in  the 
selection  of  the  best  breeds  and  in  preserving  them  from  disease 
and  enemies  makes  it  a  fairly  profitable  pursuit.  On  this 
subject,  facts  are  worth  very  much  more  than  theories.  We 
introduce  therefore  without  apology  the  carefully  tabulated 
results  of  five  years  of  sheep-farming  in  Crawford  county, 
Western  Iowa,  by  one  of  a  number  of  Holstein  farmers  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  the  care  of  sheep  all  their  lives,  and  who 
had  emigrated  to  Iowa,  and  en2:aored  in  the  business  there. 

As  these  farmers  all  started  substantially  alike  in  the  business, 
they  have  followed  the  same  course  of  feeding,  and  the  results 
have  been  about  the  same.  The  staple  of  wool  has  been  combing, 
delaine,  medium,  coarse  and  fine ;  it  has  been  sold  in  the 
Philadelphia  market  at  prices  ranging  from  eighteen  to  twenty- 
eight  and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  netting  twenty  cents  per 
pound. 

In  feeding,  they  have  found  the  blue  joint  grass  most  excellent, 
and  ample  for  summer  feed.  In  winter  they  feed  corn  in  the 
stalk,  cut  for  fodder.  The  ewes  have  sheaf  oats  after  January 
I  St.  The  grain  consumed  per  head  Is  about  five  bushels,  costing 
eight  to  ten  cents  per  bushel,  in  the  shape  in  which  it  is  fed  ;  as 
Mr.  Henry  Lehfeldt  said:  "The  sheep  husk  their  own  corn  and 
thresh  their  own  oats,  and  the  sheep  farmer  has  nothing  to  do 
but  be  lazy."  The  theory  of  feeding  is,  as  the  food  is  cheap,  to 
keep  the  sheep  at  all  times  in  the  very  best  condition  ;  and  to 
that  end  they  are  allowed  all  the  grain  they  will  eat.  They  are 
fed  no  hay.  They  found  a  little  trouble  in  that  the  sheep  some- 
times ate  too  freely  of  corn  and  became  over-heated.  This  they 
have  learned  to  remedy.  They  also  found  it  injurious  to  feed 
corn  to  ewes  with  lambs  after  the  first  of  January;  some  losses 
were  had  from  this  cause.  Straw  sheds,  open  to  the  east,  about 
four  feet  high,  in  a  protected  yard,  are  all  that  is  used  for  shelter. 
We  asked  if  any  diseases  affected  the  sheep.  We  received  the 
emphatic  reply,  "  No,  none  whatever." 

These  farmers  are  from  Holstein,  and  are  thoroughly  intelli- 
gent  in    their   business.     They   were    raised    shepherds.     The 


EXPERIENCES   OF  IIOLSTEIN  SHEEP  FARMERS.  843 

business  of  raising  and  fattening  sheep  for  the  Hamburg-London 
market  they  were  brought  up  to.  They  handled  Cotswolds  in 
Holstein,  and  said  Cotswolds  did  as  well  here  as  in  Holstein, 
if  not  better.  They  prefer  the  Cotswold.  The  Southdown  is 
good  for  mutton  but  deficient  in  wool.  It  was  as  profitable  to 
raise  and  fat  them  here  as  in  Holstein  and  more  so. 

COST. 

Sept.,  1S75,  cost  of  500  ewes  at  ^2.50  .     •     •     •     • $1,25000 

Sept.,  1875,  cost  of  15  bucks  at  $20  (Cotswold) 300  00 

May,    1S76,  fed  50  acres  corn  and  oats  in  sheaf  at  ^5  per  acre    .     .         250  00 

Sept.,  1876,  cost  of  attendance  i  year 200  00 

May,    1877,  fed   100  acres  of  corn   in  stalk  and  oats  in  sheaf  at  ^5 

per  acre 500  00 

Sept.,  1S77,  cost  of  attendance  i  year 250  00 

May,    1878,  fed  125  acres  of  corn  in  stalk  and  oats  in  sheaf  at  $5 

per  acre 625  00 

Sept.,  1878,  cost  of  attendance  i  year 250  00 

May,    1879,  f^d   125  acres  of  corn   in  stalk  and  oats  in  sheaf  at  $5 

per  acre 625  00 

May,    1879,  cost  of  attendance  i  year 190  00 

Add  for  annual  interest  account — 
Sept.,  1876,  interest  on  ^1,550  i  year  at  10  per  cent,  per 

annum 1^155  00 

May,    1877,  interest   on   $250   i   year  at  10  per  cent,  per 

annum 25  00 

Sept.,  1877,  interest  on  $1,855  ^   year  at  10  percent,  per 

annum 185  50 

May,    1878,  interest  on  $775    i   year  at  10  per  cent,   per 

annum 77  50 

Sept.,  1878,  interest  on  $2,200  i   year  at  10  per  cent,  per 

annum 220  00 

May  30,  1879,  interest  on  $1,477.50  13  months  at  10  per 

cent,  per  annum 160  96 

May  30,  1879,  interest  on  $2,769  9  months  at  10  per  cent. 

per  annum 207  67 

Amount  of  interest  charged $1,040  63 

Total  cost  of  investment $5j4So  d^^ 

RETURNS. 

May  30,  1876,  sold  4,125   pounds  wool,  clip  1876,  500  ewes  at  20 

cents  per  pound  net $825  00 


844 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


May  30,  1877,  sold  8,992  pounds  wool,   clip   1877,  5°°  ewes,  525 

yearlings,  at  20  cents $1^798  40 

May  30,  1878,  sold   8,992   pounds  wool  clip  1878,   500  ewes,   525 

yearlings,  at  20  cents i>79S  40 

May  30,  1878,  sold  525  fat  sheep  at  ;^7.5o,  sold  in  March  and  April  .     3,937  50 
May  30,  1879,  sold  8,992  pounds  wool,  clip  1879,  500  ewes,  525 

yearlings,  at  20  cents Ij798  40 

May  30,  1879,  so^^  525  fat  sheep  at  $7.50,  sold  in  March  and  April .     3,937  50 
May  30,  1879,  on  hand  500  ewes  with  lamb  at  $4.50  per 

ewe ^2,225  CO 

15  bucks  for  service  at  $20 300  00 

525  yearlings  (shorn)  at  JS2 1,050  00 

^3.525  00 
Add  for  annual  interest  account — 
May  30,  1879,  interest  on  $825  i  year  at  10  per  cent,  per 

annum ^82  50 

May  30,  1878,  interest  on  $2,705.90  i  year  at  10  per  cent. 

per  annum 270  59 

May  30,  1879,  interest  on  $8,712.30  i  year  at  10  percent. 

per  annum 871   23 

Amount  of  interest  credits $1,224  32 

Total  returns  from  investment $18,894  52 

Net  returns $13,413  §9 


A  large  proportion  of  the  stock-raising-  in  Iowa  consists  in  the 
purchase  of  "  store  cattle,"  as  the  English  farmers  call  them,  from 
Dakota,  Montana,  Colorado,  Wyoming  and  Kansas,  and  fattening 
them  either  for  exportation  to  England  or  for  the  Chicago,  New 
York  or  Boston  markets.  The  distance  which  the  catde  are  to 
be  driven  is  somewhat  less,  the  grain  and  forage  somewhat 
cheaper,  and  the  distance  to  a  shipping  port  or  to  market  about 
the  same  as  from  Central  Illinois. 

There  is  also  a  greatly  increasing  demand  in  Iowa  for  catde 
for  dairy  farming.  At  the  recent  Nadonal  Dairy  fairs  and 
congresses  Iowa,  has  taken  the  first  prizes  for  the  best  butter, 
and  has  attained  high  rank  also  for  the  production  of  die  best 
cheese.  The  demand  for  these  products  all  over  the  West  is 
constandy  increasing  and  they  command  high  prices. 


POPULATION  OF  IOWA.  845 

Railroads  and  Steam  Navigation. — Iowa  is  traversed  from  east 
to  west  by  five  railroad  lines,  which,  with  their  branches,  reach 
nearly  all  the  counties ;  these  are,  beginning  with  the  northern 
tier  of  counties,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul,  the  Iowa 
Division  of  the  Illinois  Central,  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern, 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific,  and  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton and  Ouincy.  As  all  these  have  Chicago  for  their  eastern 
terminus,  so  all  of  them,  either  directly  or  by  the  intervention  of 
north  and  south  roads,  centre  at  Council  Bluffs  and  Omaha,  on 
the  western  border  of  the  State.  Six  railroads  cross  the  State 
from  north  to  south,  many  of  them  having  branches.  These  are 
the  Dubuque  and  Minnesota  and  its  continuation,  the  Chicago, 
Clinton  and  Dubuque,  the  Davenport  and  St.  Paul,  the  Burling 
ton,  Cedar  Rapids  and  Minnesota,  with  which  a  northern  branch 
of  the  Illinois  Central  forms  a  junction  at  Cedar  Falls  ;  the  Cen- 
tral Railway  of  Iowa,  the  Fort  Dodge,  Des  Moines  and  Keokuk, 
and  the  St.  Paul  and  Sioux  City,  which  hugs  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  Missouri.  The  entire  number  of  miles  of  railway  in  opera- 
tion in  Iowa,  January  i,  1880,  was  4,750.  This  was  aside  from 
sidings,  double  tracks,  etc. 

Population. — The  growth  of  population  in  Iowa  has  been  rapid, 
not  quite  equalling,  perhaps,  in  its  percentage  that  of  some  of 
its  younger  sisters,  but  sufficiently  so  for  a  healthy  development. 
During  the  last  decade,  when  the  tendency  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  States  of  the  Mississippi  valley  has  been  to  migrate  to  the 
newer  west,  Iowa  has  not  only  held  her  own,  but  has  increased 
twenty-six  per  cent.  The  following  table  shows  the  population 
at  different  periods  of  its  history.  The  official  figures  of  the 
population  in  1880  have  just  been  made  public,  and  they  give  a 
total  footing  of  1,624,463. 


In  1838  . 

22,859 

In  1854  . 

■ 

326,013 

1840  .  . 

43,114 

1S56  .  . 

519,055 

1S44  . 

75,152 

1859  . 

638,775 

1846  . 

97,588 

i860  . 

674,913 

1847  • 

116,651 

1863  . 

701,732 

1849  . 

152,988 

1865  . 

754,699 

1850  . 

191,982 

1867  . 

902,040 

1S51  . 

204,774 

1S70  . 

1,194,020 

1852  . 

230,713 

1880  . 

1,624,463 

55^6  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

There  are  laree  German  and  Scandinavian  elements  in  the 
population,  but  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  are  of  American 
birth.  There  is  one  small  Indian  reservation  of  692  acres,  occu- 
pied by  a  band  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  It  is  on  the  Iowa 
river,  in  Tama  county,  and  the  Indians  number  345  ;  164  males 
and  181  females.  They  have  made  considerable  progress  in 
civilization,  own  and  occupy  permanent  houses  of  their  own,  cul- 
tivate their  lands  and  raise  horses.  They  have  a  considerable 
amount  of  property  aside  from  their  annuities,  good  schools,  and 
many  of  them  have  adopted  citizens'  dress. 

Comities. — There  are  ninety-nine  organized  counties  in  the 
State,  the  names  of  which  follow : 


Counties. 

Adair, 

Davis, 

Jefferson, 

Pocahontas, 

Adams, 

Decatur, 

Johnson, 

Polk, 

Allamakee, 

Delaware, 

Jones, 

Pottawatomie, 

Appanoose, 

Des  MoineS) 

,              Keokuk, 

Poweshiek, 

Audubon, 

Dickinson, 

Kossuth, 

Ringgold, 

Benton, 

Dubuque, 

Lee, 

Sac, 

Black  Hawk, 

Emmet, 

Lind, 

Scott, 

Boone, 

Fayette, 

Louisa, 

Shelby, 

Bremer, 

Floyd, 

Lucas, 

Sioux, 

Buchanan, 

Franklin, 

Lyon, 

Story, 

Buena  Vista, 

Fremont, 

Madison, 

Tama, 

Butler, 

Greene, 

Mahaska, 

Taylor, 

Calhoun, 

Grundy, 

Marion, 

Union, 

Carroll, 

Guthrie, 

Marshall, 

Van  Buren, 

Cass, 

Hamilton, 

Mills, 

Wapello, 

Cedar, 

Hancock, 

Mitchell, 

Warren, 

Cerro  Gordo, 

Hardin, 

INIonona, 

Washington, 

Cherokee, 

Harrison, 

Monroe, 

Wayne, 

Chickasaw, 

Henry, 

Montgomery, 

Webster, 

Clarke, 

Howard, 

Muscatine, 

Winnebago, 

Clay, 

Humboldt, 

O'Brien, 

Vv^'inneshiek, 

Clayton, 

Ida, 

Osceola, 

Woodbury, 

Clinton, 

Iowa, 

Page, 

Worth, 

Crawford, 

Jackson, 

Palo  Alto, 

Wright. 

Dallas, 

Jasper, 

Plymouth, 

Cities  and  Larce  Toivns. — The  following-  are  the  larq^est  cities 


CITIES  AND   LARGE    TOWNS  OF  IOWA. 


847 


and  towns  of  the  State,  with  the  population  of  the  first  seven 
according  to  the  census  of  1880;  the  others  according  to  the 
census  of  1875 : 


Des  Moines  .     . 

22,408 

Dubuque .     .     . 

22,254 

Davenport    .     . 

21,834 

Burlington    .     . 

i9'45o 

Council  Bluffs  . 

18,059 

Keokuk    .     .     . 

12,117 

Muscatine     .     . 

9,987 

Clinton    .     .     . 

7,028 

Sioux  City   .     . 

4,290 

Ottumwa      .     . 

6,326 

Mount  Pleasant 

4,563 

Iowa  City     . 

.       6,371 

Lyons       .     . 

.       3,784 

Cedar  Rapids 

10,104 

Cedar  Falls  . 

.       3,270 

Marshalltown 

.       4,384 

Waterloo 

.       5,508 

Waverley 

2,405 

Washington 

2,189 

Oskaloosa 

4,263 

Fort  Dodge  . 

•       3,537 

Fort  Madison 

•       4,305 

Vinton 2,389 

Indianola 1,884 

Bella 2,536 

McGregor      ....  1,852 

Charles  City       .     .     .  2,269 

De  Witt 1,754 

Hamburg 2,058 

Independence     .     .     .  3,424 

Osceola 1,701 

Maquoketa     .     .     .     .  2,112 

Webster 2,262 

Atlantic 1,832 

Albia 1,883 

Chariton 2,174 

Mason  City    ....  1,703 

Boone 2,332 

Winterset 2,433 

Newton 2,354 

Lansing 2,280 

Marion 2,047 

Fairfield 2,343 

Decorah 2,597 


Lands  for  Settlers. — The  whole  area  of  the  State,  which  origi- 
nally belonged  to  the  United  States,  has  been  surveyed.  Of  the 
amount — 35,228,800  acres — there  have  been  granted  to  the  State 
the  School  and  University  lands,  and  3,449,720  acres  selected 
(not  all  yet  approved  or  patented)  as  swamp  lands  ;  to  railroad 
companies  in  the  State  about  3,000,000  acres,  or  in  all  somewhat 
more  than  10,000,000  acres  of  lands.  The  greater  part  of  the 
desirable  government  lands  have  been  taken  up  either  by  pur- 
chase or  pre-emption,  or  under  the  Homestead  or  Timber-Cul- 
ture Acts,  There  are,  however,  in  the  w^estern  part  of  the  State, 
some  lands,  mostly  alternate  sections  with  the  railroad  land 
grants,  still  unsold.  These  are  generally  double  minimum 
lands;  that  is,  they  are  held  at  ^2.50  per  acre.     In  the  fiscal 


848  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

year  1879  the  government  disposed  of  11,600  acres  of  these 
lands  to  actual  settlers,  9,750  acres  of  which  were  under  the 
Homestead  or  Timber-Culture  Acts. 

The  State  has  a  large  amount  of  land  yet  for  sale,  including 
its  School,  University,  Agricultural  College,  and  swamp  lands. 
The  latter  are  for  the  most  part  only  entitled  to  this  name  in  a 
Pickwickian  sense,  being,  in  many  instances,  the  best  lands  in 
the  State.  All  the  State  lands  are  held  at  prices  above  the 
government  rates,  though  varying  with  different  localities  or 
market  facilities,  the  range  of  prices  being  generally  from  ^3  to 
^10  or  ^12.  The  railroads  have  also  a  considerable  quantity 
of  land  to  sell,  and  most  of  it  of  very  good  quality.  The  rail- 
road lands  are  all  prairie,  and  are  divided  according  to  location, 
soil,  etc.,  into  grazing  and  farming  lands ;  the  grazing  lands, 
though  of  fair  quality  for  pasturing  cattle  or  sheep,  are  not  so 
rich  or  fertile  as  the  farming  lands.  They  are  held  at  about 
^2.50  per  acre,  and  where  taken  in  considerable  quantities  are 
sold  on  a  liberal  credit.  The  farming  lands  bring  from  $3.50  or 
^4  to  ^10,  according  to  locality,  fertility,  and  convenience  of 
access  to  markets.  It  is  also  often  possible  to  buy  partially  im- 
proved farms  at  very  reasonable  prices.  The  long  period  of 
financial  depression,  the  partial  failure  of  the  best  crops  from 
storms,  cyclones,  or  other  disasters,  the  grasshopper  plague,  the 
prevalence  of  the  Colorado  beetle,  and  epidemics  of  hog  cholera, 
which  greatly  reduced  their  herds  of  swine  for  several  years, 
have  interfered  with  the  prosperity  of  Iowa  very  sensibly  in  the 
past.  About  nine  or  ten  years  ago,  the  farmers  of  Iowa  were 
very  generally  in  debt  either  for  their  farms  or  their  agricultural 
machines,  and  the  ironclad  notes,  which  the  manufacturers'  agents 
exacted  from  the  farmers,  q-ave  a  lien  on  the  farms  which  resulted 
in  the  foreclosure  of  the  mortgages  in  thousands  of  cases,  and 
it  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  the  entire  body  of  farmers  would  have 
to  go  into  bankruptcy.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  organization 
known  as  "  Patrons  of  Husbandry  "  became  very  popular  in  the 
State.  The  granges,  local,  county,  and  State,  were  well  man- 
aged, and,  by  associated  action,  they  succeeded  in  rescuing  the 
greater  part  of  the  farmers  from  their  nearly  bankrupt  condition, 


LANDS  FOR   IMMIGRANTS   IN  IOWA.  S^q 

enabled  them  to  procure  their  agricukural  machines  for  cash  at 
one-half  (sometimes  at  one-third)  of  their  previous  credit  price, 
and  their  farm  supphes  in  the  same  way.  This  course  pursued 
energetically  for  a  series  of  years,  has  enabled  the  Iowa  farmers 
very  generally  to  redeem  their  lands  from  mortgages,  and  though 
they  had  a  succession  of  poor  or  indifferent  crops,  and  did  not 
till  their  farms  to  the  best  advantage,  they  have  emerged  into  a 
condition  of  comparative  independence,  and,  with  better  crops 
and  their  ambition  roused  to  attempt  better  culture,  the  future 
of  agriculture  in  Iowa  seems  much  brighter  than  a  few  years 
ago.  It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  chant  the  praises  of  the 
Patrons  of  Husbandry  or  any  other  secret  organization.  All  of 
these  organizations  have  their  faults,  and  at  times  undoubtedly 
may  exert  a  prejudicial  influence  on  the  interests  of  the  State  or 
nation  ;  but,  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak,  their  influence  in 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  and  some  other  States  was  highly 
beneficial  to  the  farmers. 

In  many  instances,  the  settler  of  limited  means,  who  has  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  Iowa  prairie  lands,  has  found  himself  compelled 
to  wait  for  eighteen  or  twenty  months  before  he  could  realize 
anything  from  his  land,  inasmuch  as  the  thick,  tough  prairie  sod 
beaten  down  for  ages  by  the  hoofs  of  the  buffaloes  and  the  In- 
dian ponies,  will  not  rot  sooner  than  that  time,  sufficiently  to 
yield  a  crop  of  any  value.  To  such  an  immigrant,  looking  for- 
ward with  anxiety  and  terror,  to  coming  months  of  privation  for 
himself  and  family,  and  ready  to  give  way  to  despair,  we  beg 
leave  to  commend  the  following  very  practical  suggestions  from 
an  Iowa  farmer  who  knows  by  personal  experience  the  success 
of  the  plan  he  recommends : 

"  How  to  bridge  over  the  first  year  on  a  new  piece  of  prairie 
has  been  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  problems  for  the  settler  of 
limited  means  to  solve.  The  uncertainty  of  being  able  to  sup- 
port tlicir  families  until  a  crop  of  grain  could  be  raised,  has  pre- 
vented thousands  from  beginning  the  healthful  and  independent 
life  of  the  farmer.  Nature,  though  ever  kind  and  bountiful,  will 
allow  no  trifling  with  her  requirements  and  processes.  To  raise 
grain   successfully,  the   tough,   thick   prairie   sod,   the   result  of 

5-! 


850  ^^•^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

untold  years  of  luxuriant  vegetation,  must  be  thoroughly  rotted. 
This  will  not  take  place  the  first  season  of  breaking,  and  there- 
fore, the  most  that  can  be  hoped  for  that  season,  in  the  way  of 
grain,  is  a  crop  of  '  sod  corn,'  which,  though  sometimes  excel- 
lent, is  yet  an  uncertain  and  unreliable  resource  as  a  means  of 
support. 

"  Is  there  any  crop  which  can  be  planted  the  first  season  upon 
breaking  of  that  year  which  will  afford  the  farmer  assurance  of 
return  for  his  labor  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  operations  ? 
This  question  has  occupied  the  most  thoughtful  attention  of 
many  of  our  best  and  most  intelligent  farmers,  and  a  complete 
answer  has  been  found  during  the  past  three  or  four  years  in 
the  culture  of  flax  upon  new  breaking.  From  the  experiments 
made  during  several  seasons,  it  may  be  considered  as  settled 
that  the  requirements  for  the  growth  and  maturity  of  this  crop 
are  afforded  as  amply  by  new  breaking,  as  by  land  previously 
cultivated.  From  many  instances  within  our  knowledge,  em- 
bracing fields  varying  from  10  to  400  acres  in  extent,  we  select 
one,  and  o-lve  below  the  details.  The  net  result  in  this  case  is 
not  as  favorable  as  in  some  others,  but  the  selection  is  made 
because  the  details  are  complete,  and  have  been  verified  by 
affidavit. 

"Mr.  Eugene  Fuller,  formerly  of  Sandwich,  111.,  upon  his  farm 
near  Storm  lake,  in  Buena  Vista  county,  Iowa,  raised  fifty  acres 
of  flax  on  new  breaking  last  year  (1878)  with  the  following 
result: 

Receipts. — 275  bushels  of  flax-seed  raised  on  50  acres  of  breaking,  sold 

at  $1.25  per  bushel ^343  75 

Expenses. — Breaking  50  acres  at  J52  per  acre ^100  00 

25  bushels  seed  at  $1.25  per  bushel 3^   25 

Cost  of  putting  in  seed,  25  cents  per  acre  ....  12  50 
Cost  of  cutting  and  stacking,  50  cents  per  acre  .  .  25  00 
Threshing,  9  cents  per  bushel 24  75     ^193  50 

Profit ^150  25 

"  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  farmer  doing  his  own  breaking, 
seeding,  and  cutting  would  be  at  an  expense  of  only  $1.12  per 


lOJ'FA   MANUFACTURES.  85 1 

acre  for  seeding  and  threshing,  and  that  the  net  result,  after 
paying  all  expenses,  is  ;^3  per  acre.  Other  cases  reported  to 
us  have  given  the  net  profit  as  high  as  $5.50  per  acre.  Besides 
the  profit  on  cultivation,  the  crop  is  a  great  advantage  to  the 
land  for  the  succeeding  crop,  as  it  leaves  it  clean  and  in  better 
condition  than  if  permitted  to  remain  idle.'"'  The  importance  of 
this  new  departure  In  farming  cannot  be  over-estimated,  for  it  is 
nothing  less  than  a  year's  gain  in  cropping,  and  that  at  the  most 
important  time  to  the  settler,  the  beginning  of  his  enterprise, 
when  the  call  upon  his  resources  is  greatest.  The  man  of 
limited  means  need  no  longer  be  deterred  from  buying  a  home 
by  the  fear  that  a  year  must  be  lost  after  breaking  before  the 
farm  will  yield  returns." 

Mamifac litres. — Iowa  has  always  been  regarded  as  an  essen- 
tially agricultural  State,  yet  she  has  from  the  first  taken  a  deep 
interest  in  manufactures,  for  which  her  fine  water-powers  and 
her  large  production  of  excellent  coal  give  her  extraordinary 
facilities. 

Her  flouring  mills  are  very  numerous  and  on  a  large  scale. 
She  has  also  extensive  smeltmg  works,  agricultural  implements 
and  machine  works,  carriage,  wagon,  and  car  works,  creameries, 
cheese  factories,  plaster  mills,  sorghum  mills  and  sugar  refineries, 
cotton,  woollen,  and  silk  mills,  etc.  The  growth  of  manufactures 
in  the  State  has  been  very  larq-e  durinof  the  last  decade  and  is 
now  rapidly  increasing.*!*  Until  the  returns  of  manufactures  for 
the  census  of  1880  are  received  and  published,  it  is  useless  to 
conjecture  thepresent  amount  of  these  in  the  State  ;  but,  though  the 
acTorrecrate  is  certainly  less  than  that  of  the  ereat  manufacturino- 
State  of  Missouri,  which  joins  Iowa  on  the  south,  yet  it  will 
reflect  high  honor  upon  its  industry  and  enterprise. 

*  The  cortical  fibre  of  the  flax  stalk,  though  nearly  worthless  as  flax,  is  valuable  for  paper 
stock,  after  being  run  through  a  flax  breaker,  and  will  bring,  anywhere  within  loo  miles  of  a  good 
paper  mill,  from  seventy  to  eighty  dollars  a  ton,  for  that  purpose.  The  best  writing  and  map 
papers  can  be  made  from  it. 

■|-  la  1874.  the  State  census,  which  omitted  all  the  small  industries,  and  only  enumerated 
nineteen  kinds  of  manufactures,  re]iorted  3,203  establishments,  employing  18,854  men,  and 
producing  goods  valued  at  $39,263,310.  The  probability  is  that  this  sum  was  not  at  that  time 
one-half  of  the  actual  production  of  that  year;  and  the  progress  since  1S54  has  been  enormous. 


gt2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Edtuational  Advantages. — The  State  has  made  ample  pro- 
vision from  the  first  for  the  education  of  all  its  children  and 
youth.  Beginning-  with  the  higher  instruction,  it  has  a  State 
University  at  Iowa  City  fully  organized  and  under  an  able  iaculty, 
having  284  students  in  its  collegiate  and  232  in  its  professional 
departments,  and  taking  rank  with  any  State  University  in  the 
country;  a  State  Normal  School  at  Cedar  Falls,  having  a  prin- 
cipal and  five  other  professors  and  237  teacher  pupils  in  1879; 
a  State  Agricultural  College  at  Ames,  well  endowed,  and  with  a 
faculty  of  24  professors  and  teachers,  and  305  students.  There 
are  also  99  Teachers'  Institutes  held  every  year,  one  in  each 
county,  where  for  from  two  to  four  weeks  the  teachers  of  the  public 
schools  are  instructed  by  the  ablest  professors  and  teachers  wlio 
can  be  obtained.  Below  these  come  the  public  schools,  graded 
and  ungraded.  Of  these  schools  there  are  now  10,951,  occupy- 
ing 10,791  school-houses,  of  which  10,719  are  substantial  build- 
ings of  frame,  brick,  or  stone.  The  appraised  value  of  these 
school-houses  in  1879  was  $9,066,145,  an  Increase  from  $38,506 
in  1849,  thirty  years  before,  of  241  times  the  amount.  There 
were  2i,i52  teachers  employed  in  these  schools,  viz.:  7,573 
males,  13,579  females,  and  the  average  compensation  for  the 
whole  State  was  $31  71  per  monrli  for  males,  and  $26.40  for 
female  teachers.  The  whole  number  of  persons  of  school  age 
of  both  sexes  (between  five  and  twenty-one  years)  in  the  State 
was  577,353,  out  of  a  total  population  of  about  1.500,000;  of 
these,  431,317  were  enrolled  on  the  school  registers,  and  the 
average  attendance  was  264,702.'  The  average  cost  of  tuition 
per  month  was  $1.49  per  head.  The  total  expenditure  for 
school  purposes  annually  w\is  $5,051,478,  or  about  f.^.^Z  for 
each  inhabitant  of  the  State  ;  of  this  amount  $2,927,308  was  for 
teachers'  salaries,  $1,149,718  for  school-houses,  apparatus,  etc., 
and  $979,452  for  fuel  and  other  contingencies.  The  permanent 
school  fund  amounts  to  $3,484,411,  and  is  constandy  increasing. 
The  income  from  this,  $276,218  in  1879,  is  distributed  to  the 
schools,  but  the  remainder,  $4,775,260,  is  raised  by  district  taxa- 
tion and  local  funds.  The  teaching  is  for  the  most  part  of  a 
very  high  order. 


BENEVOLENT  INSTITUTIONS   AND    CHURCHES.  853 

Beside  this  liberal  course  of  public  instruction,  the  State  has 
special  schools  for  deaf  mutes,  the  blind,  and  for  orphans  and 
deserted  children,  and  reformatories  for  neglected,  wayward,  and 
vicious  children.  There  are,  moreover,  fifteen  or  twenty  colleges, 
and  very  many  academies,  collegiate  schools  and  seminaries, 
mostly  under  the  control  of  the  different  religious  denominations. 
The  immigrant  coming  to  Iowa  with  his  family  need  not  fear  that 
they  will  be  deprived  of  the  opportunities  of  gaining  an  educa- 
tion, whatever  his  own  circumstances  may  be. 

Religious  Denominations. — The  general  tone  of  society  in  Iowa 
is  eminently  moral,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent,  religious.  In 
no  State  west  of  the  Mississippi  are  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
inhabitants  connected  with  some  religious  denomination.  The 
Methodists  take  the  lead,  both  in  the  number  of  members  and 
the  adherent  population;  the  Presbyterians,  Catholics,  Congre- 
gationalists,  Baptists,  German  Reformed,  Lutherans,  Episco- 
palians, and  minor  sects  follow  after  in  about  the  order  desig- 
nated. Every  village,  even  the  newest,  has  one  or  more 
churches.  The  religious,  like  the  secular  teaching,  is  generally 
of  a  high  order. 

The  immigrant  coming  to  Iowa  either  with  a  large  or  small 
capital  may  not  find  the  avenues  to  large  immediate  wealth  so 
wide  as  in  some  of  the  newer  States  and  Territories,  but  if  tem- 
perate, industrious,  and  frugal,  he  is  sure  to  acquire  a  com- 
petence in  a  few  years ;  and,  meanwhile,  he  has  the  advantages 
of  established  organizations,  good  society,  excellent  educational 
and  religious  institutions,  a  fertile  soil,  and  easily  accessible 
markets. 


854 


OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

KAMAS. 

Kansas  Geographically  the  Central  State — Its  Boundaries — Latitude, 
Longitude,  Length,  Breadth  and  Area — Its  Surface,  Declination  and 
Elevation  at  Various  Points — Rivers — Lakes— Hills — No  Mountains 
IN  THE  State — Geology  and  Mineralogy — The  Geological  Formations 
— The  Quaternary,  Tertiary,  Cretaceous  and  Carboniferous  and 
Lower  Carboniferous  Systems  Represented — Fossils— Great  Variety 
OF  these — Economic  Geology — Coal — Salt — Lead  and  Zinc — Gypsum — 
Building-Stone,  etc.,  etc. — Gas  or  Burning  Wells— Soil  and  Vegeta- 
tion— Native  Trees — Trees  Planted  under  the  Timber-Culture  Acts — ■ 
Flowers — Zoology — Natural  Curiosities  and  Phenomena — Climate  and 
Meteorology  —  Meteorological  Statistics  —  Rainfall  —  Agricultural 
Productions — Tables  of  Productions  of  1877,  1878,  1879 — Live-Stock — 
Valuations  of  Real  and  Personal  Estate — School  Statistics — No 
Mines  or  Mining  except  Coal,  Lead  and  Zinc — Manufactures — Popu- 
lation— Indians — Sources  from  which  Population  is  Derived — Counties, 
Cities  and  Towns — Schools  and  Education — Churches — Railroads — 
Kansas  a  Home  for  Immigrants. 

Kansas  is,  geoj^raphically,  the  central  State  of  the  American 
Union,  and  one  of  the  largest  and  most  enterprising  of  the  great 
States  of  the  central  belt  of  "  Our  Western  Empire."  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Nebraska,  on  the  east  by  Missouri,  on 
the  south  by  the  Indian  Territory,  and  on  the  west  by  Colorado. 
It  would  be  a  perfect  parallelogram,  but  that  the  Missouri  river 
cuts  off  a  slice  of  its  northeast  corner,  and  hands  it  over  to  Mis- 
souri. It  is  situated  between  the  37th  and  die  40th  degrees  of 
■  north  latitude,  and  between  the  meridians  of  94°  35' and  102°  of 
west  longitude  from  Greenwich,  and  is  404  miles  long  from  east 
to  west,  and  2oS}4  miles  wide  from  north  to  south.  The  latest 
Land  Office  Report  makes  its  area  80,891  square  miles,  or 
51,770,240  acres. 

TopQorapJiy  and  Surface — Rivers  and  Lakes — Plains,  Prairies 
and  Valleys. — The  topography  of  the  State  shows  an  alternation 
of  broad,  level  river  valleys  and  high  rolling  prairies,  the  whole 
forming  a  series  of  gentle  undulating  plateaus,  sloping  at  an 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  KANSAS.  855 

average  inclination  of  seven  and  a-half  feet  per  mile  from  the 
mountains  toward  the  Missouri  river.  Thus  at  Monotony  the  al- 
titude is  3,792  feet;  at  Wallace,  Kansas,  3,319  feet;  at  Ellis, 
2,135  feet;  at  Abilene,  1,173  feet;  at  Topeka,  904  feet,  and  at 
Wyandotte,  707  feet.  The  elevations  of  corresponding  points 
in  the  Arkansas  valley  and  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  Railway,  are  a  litde  lower  in  the  west,  but  a  little  higher  as 
we  go  east,  showing  a  moderate  declination  from  north  to 
southwest,  as  well  as  a  more  marked  one  from  west  to  east ; 
thus,  Sargent,  at  the  west  boundary  of  the  State,  is  3,129  feet; 
Lakin,  3,013;  Kinsley,  2,200;  Newton,  1,433;  Burlington,  1,055, 
and  Fort  Scott,  912  feet. 

The  principal  rivers  of  the  State  are  the  Missouri,  which 
washes  its  northeastern  corner  for  a  distance  of  forty  or  fifty 
miles ;  the  Arkansas,  which  leaves  the  State  near  the  97th  meri- 
dian, after  traversing  the  whole  southern  and  southwestern  por- 
tion of  it ;  the  larger  tributaries  of  this  noble  river,  the  North  and 
South  Forks  of  the  Cimmaron,  Salt  and  Red  Forks  of  the  Arkan- 
sas, Chikaskia,  Verdigris  and  Neosho  rivers  on  the  south  bank, 
and  the  Pawnee  and  W'alnut  creeks  on  the  north  bank  ;  but  most 
important  of  all  for  the  State,  the  Kansas  or  Kaw  river,  one  of 
the  largest  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  with  the  Republican  and 
Smoky  Hill  rivers,  by  whose  union  it  is  formed,  and  its  numer- 
■  ous  affluents,  the  Big  Blue,  the  Solomon,  the  Saline,  the  Soldier, 
the  Beaver,  the  Delaware,  the  Stranger,  the  Sappa,  the  Grass- 
hopper and  the  Wakarusa.  There  are  also  a  few  smaller 
streams  in  the  northeast,  affluents  of  the  Missouri,  like  the 
Nemaha,  etc.  These  streams  form  one  of  the  grandest  systems 
of  water-courses  in  the  whole  country. 

Though  the  surface  is  rolling  and  attains  so  considerable  an 
elevation  toward  the  western  border  of  the  State,  there  are  no 
mountains,  nor  hardly  any  ranges  of  hills  in  the  State  ;  occasion- 
ally the  bluffs  along  the  rivers  are  of  considerable  height  above 
the  streams,  and  in  rare  instances  one  or  two  isolated  buttes.  or 
masses  of  rock,  like  Castle  Rock,  in  Gove  county,  the  Twin 
Buttes,  in  Rooks  county,  or  the  Bkiff,  in  Clarke  county,  attract 
attention.     The  State  is  not  remarkable  for  lakes  or  ponds,  but 


gr6  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

rather  for  their  absence.  There  are  more  in  the  comparatively  arid 
western  counties  than  in  the  eastern.  The  river  valleys  or  river 
bottoms,  as  they  are  called,  are  very  fertile,  but  except  in  the  Ar- 
kansas valley,  are  sometimes  flooded  by  the  swelling  of  the 
streams  from  the  melting  of  the  snow. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — Professor  B.  F.  Mudge,  the  emi- 
nent State  Geologist,  has  described  at  considerable  length,  and 
with  maps  and  sections,  the  geology,  general  and  economic,  of  the 
State.  The  following  summary  gives  as  good  an  idea  of  its  very 
simple  geological  formations  as  can  be  obtained  without  a  geo- 
logical map.  As  we  have  already  said,  the  surface  has  a  gradual 
but  double  descent  to  the  east  and  to  the  south,  or  south-south- 
east. The  streams  follow  the  same  general  direction.  The  sur- 
face, for  the  most  part,  is  a  gentle  rolling  prairie,  with  few  steep 
hills  or  bluffs,  and  the  ravines  are  not  often  precipitous  or  deep. 
The  soil  which  forms  the  surface  of  the  whole  State,  in  both  val- 
ley and  high  prairie,  is  the  same  fine,  black  rich  loam,  so  common 
in  the  Western  States.  The  predominating  limestones,  by  disin- 
tegration, aid  in  its  fertility,  but  the  extreme  fineness  of  all  the 
ingredients  acts  most  effectively  in  producing  its  richness.  On 
the  high  prairie  it  is  from  one  to  three  feet  deep  ;  in  the  bottom 
it  is  sometimes  twenty  feet.  There  are  a  few  exceptions  to  this 
general  fertility  in  the  most  western  and  southwestern  counties, 
but  they  constitute  only  a  small  proportion  of  the  whole.  The 
State  is  so  well  drained  that  there  are  very  few  valleys  with  stag- 
nant ponds,  and  there  is  not  a  peat  swamp  of  fifty  acres  within 
its  boundaries.  The  lands  toward  the  Colorado  border  are  often 
spoken  of  as  alkaline  lands,  but  Professor  Mudge  says  that  they 
are  not  so.  In  fifteen  years  of  exploration  he  had  never  found 
but  two  springs  containing  alkalies,  and  had  never  seen  ten  acres 
of  land  in  one  place  which  had  been  injured  by  it. 

Professor  Mudge  says  that  there  is  nowhere  to  be  seen  in  the 
State  any  violent  disturbance  of  the  strata,  marks  of  internal  fire, 
or  even  any  slight  metamorphic  action  in  any  of  the  deposits. 
The  ui)lirting  of  this  State  and  the  adjoining  country  from  the 
level  of  the  ocean  must  have  been  slow\  uniform  and  in  a  per- 
pendicular direction,  which  has  left  all  the  strata  in  a  nearly  horl- 


GEOLOGY  OF  KANSAS. 


857 


zontal  position.  He  believes,  from  his  knowledge  of  western 
geology,  that  this  took  place  after  the  rise  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  probably  did  not  come  to  a  close  until  the  Drift  Period. 
A  general  vertical  section  of  ail  the  formations  seen  in  Kansas 
would  be,  in  descending  series,  as  follows  ; 

I.  Quaternary  System. 

Alluvium.  The  surface  deposit  all  over  the  State,  from  five  to  fifty  feet 
deep  in  the  river  valleys,  and  forming  the  richest  soil. 

Bluff  or  Loess.  Found  most  largely  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  par- 
ticularly on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  and  for  some  distance  back  from 
it.      It  is  the  same  deposit  seen  in  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Nebraska. 

Drift.     Mostly  in  the  form  of  boulders  found  on  the  tops  of  bluffs  and 
high  prairies  along  both  sides  of  the  Kansas  river,  especially  on  the 
north  side  from  the  Missouri  nearly  to  the  Republican  river. 
II.  Tertiary  System. 

Pliocene.  Seen  only  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  State,  where  it 
covers  an  area  of  about  9,000  miles.  It  occupies  the  greater  part  of 
seven  counties  along  the  Nebraska  border  beginning  at  the  Colorado 
line,  and  a  part  of  ten  other  counties  in  the  northwest  and  west.  The 
following  are  the  names  oi"  these  counties :  Cheyenne,  Rawlins,  Deca- 
tur, Norton,  Phillips,  Smith,  Jewell,  Sherman,  Thomas,  Sheridan, 
Graham,  Wallace,  Greeley,  Wichita,  Scott,  and  small  tracts  of  Gove 
and  Ellis.  Ten  of  these  counties  are  yet  unorganized.  The  material 
of  the  Pliocene  deposits  consists  of  sandstone  of  various  shades  of  gray 
and  brown,  with  occasionally  a  small  admixture  of  lime.  The  total 
thickness  of  it  is  about  1,500  feet.  When  it  appears  on  the  surface  it 
resembles  coarse  gravel.  It  is  seldom  seen  above  the  alluvium  except 
where  it  caps  the  hill-tops  in  Wallace  and  Sheridan  counties. 
III.  Cretaceous  System.  This  system  covers  an  area  of  over  40,000  square 
miles,  or  more  than  half  the  surface  of  the  State.  It  extends  from  the 
Colorado  border  in  the  west  and  southwest  as  far  east  as  Marshall 
and  Morris  counties,  touching  the  Nebraska  line  in  Jewell,  Republic, 
Washington,  and  Marshall  counties ;  the  Indian  Territory  in  Kansas, 
Stevens,  Seward,  Meade,  and  Clark  counties,  and  the  Colorado  line 
in  Wallace,  Hamilton,  Stanton,  and  Kansas. 

Niobrara  Group.  The  Niobrara  occupies  a  belt  of  the  country  next 
adjoining  the  Pliocene,  about  thirty  miles  in  width  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State,  but  gradually  widening  to  more  than  twice  that 
extent  in  the  Smoky  Hill  valley.  It  is  compo.sed  of  chalk  and  chalky 
shales.  This  is  said  to  be  the  only  genuine  chalk  in  North  America. 
It  ranges  from  seventy-five  to  two  hundred  feet  in  thickness.  The 
shales  sometimes  contain  fine  crystals  of  calc  spar.  The  soil  overlying 
this  group  is  rich  and  fertile  and  admirably  adapted  both  for  culture 
and  grazing. 


858 


OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


Fort  Benton   Group.     This  group  is  composed  of  a  white  or   yellowish 
limestone,  about  sixty  feet  in  thickness,  a  bluish  black  or  slate-colored 
shale  of  about  the  same  thickness,  and  shales  interstratified  with  lime- 
stone layers  containing  an  abundance  of  fossil  shells,  and  ranging  from 
50  to  140  feet  in  thickness.     There  are  some  thin  impure  beds  of 
lignite  in  the  lower  strata,  but  of  little  value.     The  Fort  Benton  occu- 
pies the  central  and  northeastern  portions  of  the  tertiary  system  in  the 
State. 
Dakota  Group.     This  group  occupies  mostly  the  southwestern  portion 
of  the  State.     There  are  no  triassic  or  Jurassic  rocks  in  the  State,  and 
the  Dakota  group  rests  directly  on  the  Permian.     The  maximum  thick- 
ness may  be  500  feet.     It   is  almost  wholly  composed  of  sandstone. 
The  soil  overlying  this  formation  is  regarded  as  the  best  in  the  State, 
being  admirably  adapted   to  wheat,  easily  drained,  and  very  fertile. 
It  is  also  an  excellent  fruit  district,  especially  adapted  to  pear  culture. 
The  whole   thickness  of  the  cretaceous  formations  in  the  State  is 
estimated  to  be  960  feet. 
IV.   Carboniferous  System — Permian  Group. — Upper  Carboniferous. 

These  two  groups  may  be  described  together.  They  cover  wholly 
or  in  part  thirty-eight  counties,  and  an  area  of  nearly  20,000 
square  miles  with  a  thicknecs  of  about  2,000  feet.  The  strata  are 
nearly  horizontal,  though  dippmg  slightly  to  tlie  northwest  in  most 
cases.  The  deposits  consist  of  limestones,  clay  shales,  sandstone, 
and,  in  the  upper  portions,  gypsum  and  chert  beds.  In  the  lower 
strata  the  hmestones  are  more  compact  and  uniform  and  the  chert 
beds  less  numerous.  This  Hmestone  contains  from  three  to  five  per 
cent,  of  magnesia.  The  soil  which  overlies  them  is  good,  and  the 
underlying  limestone  helps  to  fertilize  it.  Some  of  the  oldest  and  best 
counties  in  the  State  are  in  these  formations. 
Coal  Measures.  The  area  embraced  in  the  coal  measures  is  about  9,000 
square  miles,  and  seventeen  counties  in  the  southeastern  and  eastern 
part  of  the  State  lie  wholly  or  in  part  within  its  limits.  All  these 
counties  are  in  some  degree  supplied  with  coal.  How  large  a  portion 
of  this  territory  may  be  so  situateci  as  to  give  the  opportunity  for  work- 
ing profitable  mines  cannot  at  present  be  decided.  Most  of  the  mines 
which  have  been  opened  yield  good  and  some  of  them  largely  profit- 
able returns.  The  material  of  the  deposits  of  the  coal  measures,  in 
which  seams  or  veins  of  coal  are  found,  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
Upper  Carboniferous,  but  more  varying.  The  blue  clay  shales  and 
other  shales  are  in  some  locations  very  thick  and  soft — sometimes 
1,000  feet  or  more.  The  sandstones  are  firmer,  and  are  used  for  flag 
and  grindstones. 

Professor  Mudge  believes  that  the  indications  show  that  this  part  of 
Kansas  was  under  the  ocean,  and  then  raised  to  dry  land  at  least  sixty 
times  during  the  period  of  the  coal  measures. 


FOSSILS   OF  KANSAS.  3cq 

V.  Lower  or  Sub-Carboniferous  System. 

Keokuk  Group.  The  only  representation  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous 
in  Kansas  is  to  be  found  in  a  small  triangle  in  the  extreme  southeast, 
in  Cherokee  county.  Here  alone  in  the  entire  State  of  Kansas  there 
is  some  evidence  of  local  disturbance  of  the  strata,  which,  however, 
may  have  taken  place  gradually,  as  there  seems  to  be  no  evidence  of 
volcanic  action. 

This  little  tract  seems  to  be  allied  to  the  adjacent  region  of  Mis- 
souri, which  contains  some  of  the  richest  mines  of  lead  and  zinc  in 
that  State.  Both  metals,  or  rather  their  ores,  have  been  found  in  pay- 
ing quantities  in  this  corner  of  Kansas,  along  Short  creek,  and  nowhere 
else  in  the  State,  except  in  most  insignificant  amounts. 

The  thickness  of  the  stratified  rocks  of  Kansas  is  in  all  esti- 
mated by  Professor  Mudge  as  5,210  feet. 

All  these  groups  and  formations  contain  more  or  less  fossils, 
and  some  of  them  are  very  rich  in  them.  In  the  Bluff  or  Loess 
are  a  few  fresh  water  and  land  mollusks,  the  mastodon  giganteiis, 
the  elephas  Americamis,  a  gigantic  horse,  probably  eqinis  excelsus, 
and  several  small  mammals.  In  the  Pliocene  there  are  numerous 
fossils,  most  of  them  silicified.  Among  them  are  bones  of  deer, 
beaver,  a  large  animal  of  the  ox  kind,  two  and  possibly,  three 
species  of  the  horse,  one  three-toed  and  of  very  small  size,  an- 
other very  closely  allied  to  the  present  horse,  a  wolf,  ivory  and 
bones  from  the  elephant  or  mastodon,  bones  of  the  rhinoceros 
and  camel,  etc.  There  have  also  been  found  the  bones  and  cara- 
pace of  a  large  fresh  water  turtle,  five  feet  in  length,  smaller 
turtles  and  mollusks. 

But  the  great  field  for  fossils  is  in  the  crctaceotis  system,  and 
especially  in  the  Niobrara  group,  where  from  the  mollusks  and 
fishes  to  the  saurians,  Pterodactyls  and  birds  with  jaws  and 
teeth,  the  palaeontologist  is  constantly  stumbling  upon  new 
wonders.  Fossil  sharks,  nearly  fifty  species  of  fossil  fish,  of 
which  many  hundred  specimens  have  been  collected,  half  a  dozen 
of  marine  turtles,  between  thirty  and  forty  species  of  crocodiles 
and  other  saurians,  some  of  monstrous  size,  one  seventy  feet 
long  with  a  head  six  feet  in  length,  huge  Pterodactyls  of  forms 
and  size  hitherto  unknown,  and  birds  with  teeth  and  vertebra; 
like  a  fish. 


86o  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  Fort  Benton  group  is  more  noted  for  the  number  and 
variety  of  its  Ammonites,  and  has  also  a  few  fish  and  saurian 
remains. 

The  Dakota  group  has  a  few  fossil  mollusks  and  fish,  and  one 
saurian,  but  is  most  noteworthy  for  its  fossil  flora  and  plants, 
especially  dicotyledonous  plants.  Professor  Lesquereaux  found 
over  seventy  species,  mosdy  dicotyledons,  in  Kansas,  and  all  in 
this  formation.  Among-  these  are  four  sequoias,  closely  allied  to 
the  gigantic  redwoods  of  California,  one  or  more  pines,  and 
eight  other  conifers,  five  poplars,  six  willows,  eight  oaks,  six 
buttonwoods,  seven  species  of  sassafras,  five  magnolias,  two  figs, 
one  palm,  two  cinnamon  trees  and  a  considerable  number  of 
extinct  genera  and  species.  Intermingled  with  these  were 
numerous  ferns,  some  of  gigantic  size.  Professor  Gray  thinks 
all  these  plants  migrated  hither  from  Greenland,  which  once  had 
a  sub-tropical  climate. 

In  the  Permian  and  upper  carboniferous  groups  there  are  land 
plants  and  a  considerable  number  of  mollusks  and  corals. 

In  the  coal  measures  are  found  fossil  ferns  and  calamites, 
crinoids  and  trilobites,  numerous  species  of  fish,  and  especially 
fossil  sharks,  one  with  nearly  2,500  teeth  in  the  lower  jaw,  and 
footprints  of  reptiles  and  saurians  equal  to  the  famous  ones  of 
the  Connecticut  valley. 

Economic  Geology  and  Minerals. — Coal  is  the  first  mineral  in 
this  State  in  point  of  importance.  It  is  mined  at  many  points  in 
the  reeion  of  the  coal  measures;  and  thouofh.  differino-  some- 
what  in  quality,  it  is  in  general  a  good  bituminous  coal,  coking  well 
and  yielding  from  8,000  to  9,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  to  the  ton, 
but  requiring  more  than  average  care  in  the  purification.  That 
mined  at  Leavenworth  is  of  the  same  class  as  the  rest,  a  shaft 
over  seven  hundred  feet  in  depth  having  been  sunk  to  the  coal 
measures.  About  1,500,000  bushels  (45,000  tons)  are  raised 
here  annually,  and  about  120,000  tons  in  all  the  region. 

Lead  and  zinc  are  found  in  paying  quantities  in  Cherokee 
county,  in  the  extreme  southeast  of  the  State.  About  6,000,000 
pounds  of  lead  ore  are  raised  at  Short  creek,  and  zinc  is  smelted 
at  New  Pittsburg,  in  Crawford  county. 


ECONOMIC  GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALS   OF  KANSAS.  86 1 

Kansas  possesses  salt  springs  and  saline  deposits  of  sufficient 
strength  and  purity  to  supply  the  whole  Mississippi  valley  if 
necessary.  In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State,  below  the  great 
bend  of  the  Arkansas,  there  are  extensive  beds  of  salt  from  six  to 
twenty-eight  inches  in  depth,  caused  by  the  drying  up  of  salt 
ponds,  or  the  salt  branches  of  the  Cimmaron  river;  but  as  this 
region  is  not  yet  settled  or  easily  accessible,  it  will  be  some  time 
before  it  is  ready  for  market.  A  more  accessible  region  is  that 
in  the  Republican  and  Saline  valleys,  where  there  are  extensive 
salt  marshes,  yielding  a  brine  of  great  purity.  The  magnesia 
in  the  brine  just  as  it  comes  from  the  marsh,  is  only  from  three 
to  five-tenths  of  one  per  cent. 

Gypsum  is  found  in  many  places  in  Kansas;  in  the  western 
part  of  the  State,  in  Wallace  county,  in  most  beautiful  compound 
crystals;  in  Seward  and  Mead  counties,  in  the  southwest,  near 
the  Cimmaron  river,  there  are  beds  of  selenite  crystals  of  great 
extent.  In  Marshall  county,  in  the  north,  there  is  a  heavy  bed  of 
it  underlying  at  least  four  townships.  It  is  manufactured  at 
Blue  Rapids.  In  Saline  county  is  another  bed  of  nearly  equal 
extent.  It  is  in  demand  both  as  a  fertilizer  and  for  buildino- 
purposes. 

Lime  and  hydraulic  cement  are  produced  at  Leavenworth, 
Lawrence  and  Fort  Scott.  Kansas  has  a  great  variety  of 
excellent  building  stone,  limestone,  sandstone  and  gypsum,  and 
all  are  extensively  quarried. 

There  are  numerous  gas  or  burning  wells  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State.  There  is  probably  a  deposit  of  petroleum  some- 
where in  the  coal  measures,  but  borings  to  the  depth  of 
i,ooo  feet  have  failed  to  reach  it,  though  they  have  yielded  a 
permanent  supply  of  gas.  A  well  at  lola  yields  10,000  cubic  feet 
daily.  These  wells  are  at  Wyandotte — one  there  yielding  48,000 
cubic  feet  daily — at  Fort  Scott,  Rosedale  and  many  other  places. 
The  illuminadng  power  is  about  seven-tenths  that  of  the  best 
coal  <^as. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — From  what  lias  been  said  under  the  head 
of  geology,  the  reader  will  naturally  and  correctly  infer  that 
there  is  very  litde  poor  land  in  Kansas;  /.  c.,  land  which  cannot 


,%2  O^^     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

by  proper  cultivation  and  irrigration  be  made  to  yield  good  crops, 
rhis  is  true.  Aside  from  the  barren  salt  basins  and  desert  lands 
of  Southwestern  Kansas  on  both  sides  of  the  Cimmaron  (if, 
indeed,  that  is  wholly  an  exception),  and  some  few  gravelly 
patches  in  the  northwest,  both  together  not  amounting  to  a 
single  county,  there  is  a  smaller  (Quantity  of  barren  land  in 
Kansas  than  in  any  State  in  the  Union.  We  say  this  with  a  full 
knowledge  that  the  counties  west  of  the  hundredth  meridian  are 
generally  unorganized  as  yet,  that  the  amount  of  rainfall  Is  less 
than  in  the  Eastern  counties,  and  that  where  the  land  is  as  yet 
unbroken,  the  sage-brush  and  the  bunch-grass  grow,  and  but 
litde  else,  and  that  except  in  the  valleys  of  the  streams,  or  when 
planted  by  man,  there  are  very  few  trees,  and  the  winds  rush 
down  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  with  terrific  force.  We  are 
not  disposed  to  conceal  or  diminish  any  of  these  apparently 
untoward  facts;  yet  we  adhere  to  our  declaration. 

This  soil,  beaten  down  by  the  hoofs  of  buffaloes  for  centuries, 
is  not  now  their  pasture-ground,  and  when  the  hard-packed 
roots  of  the  bunch-grass  and  the  sage-brush  are  broken  up  by 
the  plow,  and  loosened  so  that  air  and  moisture  can  get  in,  the 
rainfall  increases,  the  soil  drinks  it  in  instead  of  letting  it  run 
away,  and  as  the  soil  is  broken  up  again,  and  planted  or  sown 
with  wheat,  or  corn,  or  flax,  or  turned  over  to  the  blue  joint 
crass,  the  moisture  continues  to  increase,  and  in  three  or  four 
years  the  rain,  which  comes  most  largely  in  May,  June,  July,  and 
August  (four-fifths  of  the  whole  falling  in  those  months),  pushes 
forward  large  crops,  while  the  trees  which  have  been  planted  for 
about  the  same  length  of  time,  break  the  fierce  winds,  and  help 
to  increase  the  amount  of  rain.  Of  five  towns  beyond  the 
ninety-ninth  meridian — Fort  Hays,  McPherson,  Kinsley,  Dodge 
City  and  Fort  Wallace — the  rainfall,  which  has  hitherto  been  about 
twelve  to  fourteen  inches,  was  as  follows  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  named,  in  1879:  16.26  inches;  32.05;  15.03;  15.43; 
16.58. 

The  season  of  the  year  at  which  the  rain  comes  makes  an 
immense  difference;  the  growing  crop  has  the  moisture  just 
when   it  needs  it,  and   it  grows  thriftily  in  consequence.     This 


SOIL   AND    VEGETATION  OF   KANSAS.  853 

rainfall  will  continue  to  increase,  and  will  make  this  portion  of 
the  State  as  fruitful  in  its  crops  as  any  other.  But  if  there 
should  be  a  lack  of  rain,  it  is  easy,  with  the  constantly  increasing 
elevation  of  the  land  and  the  rivers  and  streams  westward,  to 
irrig-ate  all  these  lands  when  once  broken  to  the  plow,  and  then 
their  yield  will  demonstrate  that  they  are  indeed  the  most  fertile 
lands  upon  which  the  sun  shines.  Land  which  will  yield  thirty- 
five  to  forty  bushels  of  wheat  or  a  hundred  bushels  of  corn, 
eighty  bushels  of  oats  and  fifty  of  barley,  or  250  to  300  or  more 
bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre,  cannot  be  called  barren  land, 
even  if  it  requires  irrigation  to  enable  it  to  do  this. 

Alonor  the  banks  of  the  rivers  of  Kansas  and  elsewhere  there 
are  now  many  trees,  those  not  on  the  river  banks  having  been 
very  generally  planted.  The  practice  of  using  the  Osage  orange 
for  hedges  in  place  of  any  other  fence  is  very  common,  and  adds 
very  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the  farms  as  well  as  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  crops  and  stock  from  the  high  winds. 

The  trees  planted  under  the  Timber-Culture  Act  and  under 
State  laws  have  been  possibly  to  a  larger  extent  than  was  desir- 
able, the  quickly  growing  trees,  such  as  the  white  and  yellow 
Cottonwood,  willows,  box  elder,  honey  locust,  ailantus,  soft  maple, 
and  basswood  or  linden  ;  the  State  Agricultural  Society  have 
strongly  urged  the  addition  to  the  list  of  the  elms,  black  walnut, 
white  and  other  oaks,  hickories,  pecan,  coffee  bean,  several  spe- 
cies of  ash,  the  red  cedar,  the  sugar  or  hard  maple,  and  the 
western  catalpa  [catalpa  speciosa)^  a  fine,  hardy,  and  handsome 
tree. 

The  native  flowers  of  Kansas  are  very  abundant  and  beautiful, 
and  deck  the  broad  prairies  with  a  glory  which  must  be  seen  to 
be  fully  appreciated. 

Zoology. — The  wild  animals  of  Kansas  are  those  of  the  plains, 
not  those  which  are  peculiar  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  still  less 
those  of  the  western  side  of  the  Great  Divide.  The  buftalo  or 
bison  are  not  plenty  anywhere  in  these  days,  but  the  remnants  of 
the  vast  herds  which  formerly  shook  the  solid  earth  by  their 
steady,  heavy  gallop  still  pass  at  some  seasons  of  the  year  over 
Southwestern    Kansas  and  thence  into  the  Indian  Territory  and 


35,  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Western  Texas.  The  antelope  of  the  plains  is  also  found  in 
larce  numbers  in  Western  and  Southwestern  Kansas.  We 
doubt  if  the  elk  is  now  to  be  found  in  Kansas,  though  some 
years  ago  he  occasionally  appeared  in  the  western  counties. 
Deer  are  plenty,  and  the  smaller  game,  hares,  rabbits,  squirrels, 
and  the  rodents  generally.  Of  beasts  of  prey  the  black  and 
brown  bear,  the  panther  or  cougar,  lynx,  wild  cat,  opossum,  rac- 
coon, weasel,  fisher,  marten  and  skunk,  are  most  common.  The 
gray  or  black  wolf  is  not  abundant  in  the  State,  and  the  coyote 
or  the  prairie  wolf  is  found  mainly  In  the  central  and  western 
counties.  Game-birds  are  very  abundant  in  the  west  and  south- 
west, ducks,  brant,  teal,  mallards,  and  wild  geese  being  found  in 
orreat  numbers  in  their  season  on  the  Arkansas  river  as  well  as 
on  the  Republican  and  Smoky  Hill.  On  the  plains  the  prairie 
hen  still  exists  in  moderate  numbers ;  If  it  had  been  as  plenty  as 
formerly  the  "grasshoppers"  or  Rocky  Mountain  locusts  would 
never  have  reached  the  farm  lands.  Other  members  of  the 
grouse  family  are  quite  abundant,  especially  sage-hens,  quails, 
and  ptarmigan.  Song-birds  are  numerous,  and  many  of  them  of 
fine  plumage. 

The  native  edible  fish  of  Kansas  are  several  species  of  perch, 
sunfish,  catfish,  roach,  black  bass,  one  or  two  species  of  trout,  etc. 
Shad,  salmon,  salmon  trout,  grayling,  an  eastern  species  of  black 
bass,  etc.,  have  been  introduced  through  the  Fish  Commission, 
but  the  success  of  these  introductions  Is  not  yet  fully  demon- 
strated. The  reptiles  are  much  the  same  as  those  of  Arkansas 
and  Missouri. 

Natural  Ciwiosities  and  PImiomena. — In  a  prairie  State  like 
Kansas  there  are  comparatively  few  of  these.  The  most  re- 
markable are  the  Monument  Rocks  in  Gove  county,  the  Pulpit 
Rock  in  Ellsworth  county,  the  Rock  City,  and  the  Perforated 
Rock  near  by,  in  Ottawa  county,  the  Table  Rock  in  Lincoln 
county,  and  the  masses  of  gypsum  and  selenite  in  the  gypsum 
beds.  Some  of  the  fossil  bones  of  vertebrates  in  the  tertiary  had 
been  so  thoroughly  slllcified  as  to  be  converted  into  moss  agates 
of  great  beauty.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  Wallace  and 
Sheridan  counties.  The  moss  agates  of  that  region,  not  fossils, 
are  very  perfect. 


V- 


TY  ; 


RUSSIAN    VILLAGE.    KANSAS — A    UUCi-OlT — HAVIM;. 


CLIMATE    OF  KANSAS.  865 

Climate  and  Meteorology. — No  State  in  the  Union,  certainly 
none  in  "  Our  Western  Empire,"  has  been  so  thorough  in  record- 
ino-  its  dimatic  changes  as  Kansas.     This  has  been  due  largely, 
indeed  almost  entirely,  to  the  persistent  and  untiring  efforts  of 
the  excellent  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  the 
late  Hon.  Alfred  Gray,  to  whom  not  only  the  State  but  agricul- 
turists and  scientists  everywhere  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  which 
can  never  be  fully  repaid.     His  admirable  reports,  prepared  with 
so  much  labor  and  with  such  accuracy  and  completeness  amid 
great  bodily  suffering  and  wasting  disease,  attest  alike  his  philan- 
thropy and  his  devotion  to  his  work.     We  may  say  in  general 
that  the  climate  of  Kansas  is  a  very  desirable  one.     The  summer., 
months  are  in  most   parts  of  the  State   rather  hot,  the  average 
mean  temperature  being  for  June  about  75°,  for  July  about  84.5°, 
and  for  August  about  77.5°.    The  extremes  of  the  winter  months 
are  sometimes  very  great,  though  not  of  long  continuance;  the 
average  minimun"!  of  December  is  about — 12",  that  of  January 
about  the  same,   while   February  was  about   +7°.     The   mean 
temperature  of  December  was  about  31°,  of  January  about  24.5°, 
and  of  February  34.5°.     These  extremes  are  very  great,  but  the 
air  is  so  pure,;rand  the  extreme  heat  and  cold  are  so  tempered 
by  it  that  the.  climate  is  a  very  healthy  one.     There  are,  as  in  all 
prairie  Stgites,  at  times,  very  high  winds,  sometimes  accompanied 
with  storms,  though  oftener  not;  and  these  winds  are  sometimes 
destructive,  and  oftener  annoying,  but  their  gc^neral  effect  is  puri- 
fyin-g  and  healthful.     The  rainfall  is  increasing,  and  may,  at  some 
no;t  very  remote  day,  become  excessive.     A  marked  character- 
i'stic  of  it  is  that  it  is  much  larger  in   the  months  of  May,  June, 
July,  and  August  than  in  all  the   rest  of  the  year,  and  that  the 
month  of  June  has  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  the  whole  rain- 
fall of  the  year.     With   these  general  remarks  we  submit  the 
meteorological  tables  of  fifteen  places  in  different  parts  of  the 
State  for  1877-1880. 
55 


866 


OVR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


Stations. 

November,  1877. 

December,  1877. 

Jani'arv,  187S. 

February,  1878. 

i 

u 

0. - 

E  =    1 
H^    ! 

C    0 

a 

V 

e  ii! 

S3 
^     1 

68° 
64 

65 

66 
66 
64 

U 

<J      , 
CUJZ 

eg 

E>o 

Jii 

looj 

9 

9 

2 

10 

10 

— 2 

9 
2 

c 
0 

.5  i 

'a 

«    1 

Si    ! 

2    1 

S  ■   i 

|l : 

E  0    , 
c  ° 

S 

£  c  , 
S  2< 

L. 

U       . 

ax 

E  c 
"  0 

ii 

3 

c 
0 

c 

'5 

■i.        i 

3        1 

s.  ! 

c  0 

1^ 

(J    •    ; 
ax    1 

E  c 

u  0 

HS 

i"B  ! 

Eii    ! 
•S2    1 

S        1 

■J    . 

n 

x' 

c 
0 

c 

u 

3 

Sx 

E^i 

c  0 

rj 
w 

A 

1^ 

w      . 

ax 

II 
<; 

E  H 

rt  rt 

u      . 

aj: 
E  c 

E-o 
g^ 

:s 

X 

c 
0 

OS 

I 
BaxterSprings 
Lawrence  .... 
Leavenworth.. 

Manhattan 

Independence. 

Fort  Hays 

Fort  Lamed. 

Salina j 

Osborne 

42" .64 

39   -23 

39    -5 
38   .70 

37   -661 
37   ■'^6 

41     .CO 
37    -71 

305 

i.47j 
2.44 
1. 9  J 
2.07 

I.28i 

.20 
1.38 

■57 
1.50 

•561 
.c6 

46°.26 

44   -43 
44    -2 

68= 

68 

67 

1 

M°l 
10 

>3 

5-3^ 
2.21 

1.63 
3.10 

3-50| 
2.44! 

2.50I 

1-35 
2.65 
2.70 
436 
2.15 

36^73 

33    -97 
33    -80 
:53   -09 
37    -7^ 
33    -oo 

30  -3' 

31  .88 

35    -oo 
33     5° 
30    .61 

32  .00 

64° 

55 
56 
55 
64 
57 
58 

r6 

6j 

54 
64 
57 

10° 

7-5 

6 

0 

10 

— I 

5 
6 

7 

3 
—I 

9 

2. 10 

3-<'5 
2-34 
2-35 
2.69 
1.24 

•  51 
1.25 

■P 
2.0J 

.50 

.21 

43° -23 
40   .22 
40    .20 
39    ..8 
42    .80 

37  -33 
36    -75 
^8    .47 
I40   .00 

36'  '.84 

34    .90 

38  .20 

64° 

66 
66 
68 
68 
70 
68 
72 
73 

'64' 
73 
70 

15-5 
18 

6 
18 

8 
13 
14 

8 

'ie 
12 
18 

2.86 

2.94 
1.44 

398 
.78 
.80 

1.29 

'■75 
.40 
.69 

•13 
1. 13 

47    -20! 

38  .oo! 
37   .661 
45     00 

39  78 

71 
7^ 
73 
66 
62 

15 
4 
8 

10 
'5 

1 

Dodge  City. .. 
Fort  Wallace.. 

38    .60 
36   -31 

7' 
73 

0 
—6 

3-)    .00 
28   .11 

68 
75 

10 
8 

Stations. 

March,  1878. 

April,  1878. 

May,  1878. 

June,  1873. 

u 

u 

3 

rt 

B  S 

V  "i 

« 

u        1  u 

aj:    ax: 

•s  a  ;|  2 

x 

c 

0 

.s 

V 
u 

3 
£  0 

^^ 

c  ° 

U 

<u     - 

a-c: 
E  c 

EJd 

■S2 
r!  rt 

86° 
82 
80 
85 

■86' 

85 
84 
88 

E  c 
u  0 

X 

c 
0 

C 

4J 

■     3 

Sx 
E^i 

hH 

c  ° 

K. 
U 
^^ 

ax 

E   3 

E  S 

■S2 

rt  rt 

E-o 
U 

48° 
38.^ 
37 
33 
48 

37 

35 
40 

X 

c 
0 

IS 

Ui 

Pi 

3 

UX 

c  ° 
u 

<=5 

11 

E'o 
E  ^ 

^« 

90° 
89 
91 
87 
94 
91 
95 
9' 

n 

E"B 

X 

c 
0 

1- 

■a. 
% 

c 

'5 
« 

BaxterSprings 

Lawrence 

Leavenworth.. 

Manhattan. 

Independence. 

54° .17 
50    .90 

50  .90 

49     29 

51  .10 

80° 
81 
80 
81 

87 

34° 

27 

28 

11 

3.00 
2.67 
2-35 
1.77 

63°.  35 
58    .6d 
58    .80 

57   -77 
61    .70 

40° 
36 

35 
27 

23 
34 
28 

30 

4.6o 

5.48 

2.86 

2.02 

3- 50 

.82 

.61 

'•37 

1-55 

.70 

•  50 

2.30 

.6d 

■44 
2.42 
3..6 
i.t6 

67° -33 
62    .60 
62    .30 

64  .07 
,66   .80 

62  .43 

63  -17 

65  .00 

88° 

85 

85 

85 

90 

94 
94 
91 

6.S0 

5.6.'; 
5.28 

4.04 

io.c6 
1.68 
465 
1.95 
1.64 
1.96 

4-15 
S.18 
1.65 
532 
7.09 

463 

74°. 41 
169    -79 
\lo    .50 
67    .21 
74    -5° 
70    .74 

72  .50 

73  -oo 

60° 
50 

49 
41 

60 

53 
50 
48 

5.92 
5.67 
527 
5.02 

8.13 

9-33 

11.22 

8.69 

4-79 
4.19 

10.30 

5-37 

6-37 

.  6.72 

■4-97 
^,19 

. . .  V . 

Fort  Lamed.. 
Great  Bend  . . . 

49  -42 

50  .00 

54   -oo 
49    -75 

80 

87 
87 

80' 

25 
28 

31 
3t 

1.20  156   .79 
.88  57   .77 

I    70'  fi^       on 

Gaylord 

Osborne 

McPherson . . 
Kinsley 

1.70 
•52 

1 

61    .80 

86 

38 

^    .56 


92 

50 

82 

;6 

I  6i 

?9    -37 
63   .70 
67   .94 
61    .gi 

91 
91 
89 
93 

33 

46 
36 

69  .27 

70  .30 

74    -91 

70    .50 

95 
9' 

95 
95 

54 
50 
57 
48 

Fort  Wallace.. 

Creswell 

Cedar  Vale  .  . 

45    -7° 
48    .90 

74 
81 

24 
30 

1.48 

5.08 

4-35 
1. 01 

53   -7' 
S8   .15 

84. 
88 

34 
30 

Dodge  City... 

49    -31 

79 

26 

55    .88 

84 

30 

Stations. 

July,  1878. 

August,  1878. 

September,  1878. 

[ 
October,  1878.       j 

1 

V 

el 

c  0 

£  c 
■J  0 

i^ 

E  !i 
'x  2 

ax: 

1° 

c 
0 

u 

B 

E  c 

h| 

E  K 
•S2 

"98^ 
99 
97 

EH 

2  -J 

58 
47 

X 
c 
0 

1 

c 
'rt 
Pi 

I 
tx 

r% 

c  0 

a 

0 

X  2 

U 

4J       ■ 

ax 
E  c 

w   0 

1 

C 
0 

c 

u 

3 

Sx 

rg 

c  0 

1^ 

ax: 
E  c 

.gh 

B   B 

, 

i. 

£  c 
E'S 

X 

c 
0 

s 

u 

•2. 

1 

BaxterSprings 
Lawrence  . .   . 
Ix-avenworth.. 
Manhattan.. . 

8d°.76 

78   .45 
80   .30 
78   .09 

100° 

!  98 
■100 

95 

70° 

■;8 

61 

52 

3.00 

4-3" 

3.C8 

12.71 

1 

77° -H 
78   .9" 
I76   .88 

2.22 

33' 
2.66 

67° '.c8 
,67    .80 
C6   .96 

94°-5o 

93 

93 

■4!° 

4' 

37 

2.51 
2.64 
3.22 

55° '.55 
55    -20 
50   .36 

8^^ 

£6 

89 

'20° 

20 

17 

•44 
1.16 
1.06 

METEOROLOGY  OF  KANSAS. 


867 


Stations. 


Independence 
Fort  Hays  ..  . 
Fort  Lariied.  . 


July,  1878. 


u 

3 
n 

E  3 

c  o 


3i°.7o 


79 


Great  Bend. . .  82 

Salina    

Gaylord 

Osborne 

McPherson. . 

Kinsley 

Fort  Wallace 

Creswcll   

Cedar  Vale. . 


.00 


78   -74 


n  « 


•2. 

c 

'5 
Pi 


August,  1878. 


September,  1878. 


October,  1273. 


103 
102 


97 


83  .49  ic6 

79  -40 •  99 
82  .54  100 

80  .00  102 


58 
6d 


62 


■;8 
62 
65 
54 


3-351 
2-75 
8.86 
12.05I 
5-35i 
5-75' 
3.^6 
3.67 

3-8i, 
1. 61 


s 

ill 

i* 

^ 

S 

i. 

. 

^' 

K^ 

c 

3 

0.-' 

V     . 

a  - 

t)     0 

v  0 

0 

u 

E  = 

n  Temp 
of  Mont 

.1 " 

1^ 

0.- 
E  0 

n 

X  2 

'^  c- 

■~  ^ 

V 

rt  rt 

•=  a 

1        3j 

S 

s 

64° 

« 

s 

«* 

46^ 

81°  .50 

ioi<= 

.72 

71°. 30 

101° 

81    .50 

,c6 

50 

1.08  65  .50 

94 

33 

82    .00 

i^S 

58 

2.52 
3-41 
3-58 

72   .00 

97 

39 

78   .83 

98 

62 

68   .65 

94 

46 

2.00 

1-25 

1. 00 

79    -62 

102 

6j 

63    .97 

95 

42 

79    -'o 

99 

64 

3.94I  66   .22 

95 

44 

81    .63 

100 

64 

4.27 

72    .40 

97 

47 

79   .02 

lOI 

56 

4.48 

67   .87 

93 

39 

o 

-a 


1-95 


•45 
2.25 
1.46 
I.ic 

2.15 

1. 10 

2-53h52 

2.40ll55 
i.c8ii. . 

•76II54 


u 

u 
3 

as 
E  o 


is!    s 


o 

>5 


.>_  1       ^ 


I    <5 


SS-^.io 


.oo 
.00 


89' 


90 

93 


6   .66    86 


■6x 


91 
88 


.04:   88 


S    ! 


OS 


24' 


20 

'7 


17 


1-53 


Stations. 


Lawrence 

Leavenworth.. 
Manhattan.  ... 
Independence. 
Great   Bend.  .. 

Sal.ina 

Gaylord 

Osborne 

Kinsley 

Fort  Wallace.. 

Creswcll 

Cedar  Vale. .  .. 
Dodge  City. .. 
Fort  Hays  . .  . 
McPherson. . . 


January,  1879. 


e^Ies 
eI    -      '^^' 


c  ° 


23"  .49 

23  .63 

21  .25 
27  .80 

24  -55 

24  .00 

25  -05 

22  .87 


20   .42 
24    .11 

29    .79 


3  ^ 


c  o 
E  t 


St 
56 
58 
70 

63 
64 
70 
64 


68 

55 
65 


23    .86    61 


-16^ 

-14 

-14 

-8 

-14 
-18 

-20 
-II 


-12 
-3 
-9 


•37 
1. 16 

•75, 
2.03 
1.07 
1-35 

•75 
1. 00 

■  85 

•45 

155 

2.12 

.87 


1.50 


February,  1879. 


E  o 


rt 

u 


m 

n 


E  Ji 

■52 
«  rt 


34° -ce     74° 
32    .93     69 


36  .30 
35  -55 
35     00 


74 

76 


29    .64     70 


30  ^95  84 

30  .12  78 

37  -94  78 

32  .54  74 


—  rt 


II 

6 


6 

12 

6 


c 
o 


PS 


•41 

•54 


1.30 
•25 

.12 


.10 
■38 
■36 

•45 
.88 
.08 


March,  1879. 


rt 

'a  A 

c  ° 
rt 


i  O..C    o-j: 

E£  es 

!   i;    C    ."   O 


.5  h    E 


X  z. 
rt  rt  ' 


1^ 


•2. 

1 

c 


April,  1879. 


E  o 

-"S 
1— '"^^ 


48°  .22 1  87^ 

46  .42;  84 

46  .64 i  85 

51  .50;  86 

47  -61  j  93 

52  .00  92 


46   .00 


89 


42   .581  86 
44   •30    90 


47     72 


11^ 

9 
10 
16 
10 
12 


.371156^40:  84° 

■321155  •S?    83 

•02|J55  .70;  78 

•85158  .7'^  93 

•05i'57  •03:  86 

.30  59.  GO'  88 


13 


55    •961   85 


53  ^76    86 

.15;  53  .18    84 

.  .  .  ;  61  .63  I     90 

.17;  59  .97;   87 

...l  6j  .79:   83 


.§5 


19   .53 

18 
26 
21 


25 

24 
26 

19 


1.26 

.21 
4.70 

Spr. 

■39 
4.C6 


.09 


o 


rt 


4.18 
357 
321 
4.76 

4-95 

4.62 

3^67 

4.02 

■87 

•75 

6.49 

4.98 

.40 

2.8o 

425 


Stations. 


Lawrence  . .  . 
[Leavenworth. 
I  Manhattan. .  . 

Independence 

Great  Uend. . 

Salina 

I  Gaylord 


V 

V 

■a 

•0 

3 

•a 

M 

3 

rt 

0 

*^ 

J 

hJ 

< 

38=58' 

95°  16' 

884 

39   21' 

94   54' 

896 

39    "2' 

96   40' 

1,200 

37     8' 

95    37 

8x> 

38   22' 

98    38' 

1,845 

39   00' 

98   00' 

1.243 

39   45' 

98   so' 

1, 8  JO 

May,    1879. 


June,  1879. 


July,  1S79. 


3 
rt 

p  = 

c  o 


E  a 


aj: 

E  = 

c 

E^S 
E  b 


690.50 
68   .96 

68  .57 

69  .30 
68  .53 
71    .00 


93" 
92 

95 

9' 

98 

103 


43" 

41 

44 

5' 

40 

39 


c 

o 

u 

.2 


c 

'rt 

OS 


1.60 

3^04 

1.79 

.92 

•3' 
'■38 
1.58 


V 
3 

rt 

c  o 
rt 


X  c: 
rt  rt 


73  ^35 

72  .80 

76  .90 

77  00 
75  •00 


97" 

93 

93 

102 

100 

103 


aj: 
u  o  ■ 


I      a 
I      o 


E  o 

.=  3 
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c 
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45" 

46 

52 

50 

33 

43 


ax: 


c  o 
« 


7-14   79" 
9.90  79 

8^48  79 
354  85 

2.6sj|8o 
8.79'  90 

4^«7j..- 


-14 

„' 

•85 

97 

.20 

98 

.qo 

104 

.00 

98 

.00 

103 

f"S 

t;     I 

,    E" 

•^     1 

!  PJJ 

>« 

c 

—  rt 

rt 

1  s 

eti 

62° 

3.66 

6i 

499 

67 

49« 

70 

326 

62 

6.79 

62 

6.72 

4.07 

868 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Stations. 


37    58 


98°  45' 
99   46 


Osborne 

Kinsley 

Fort  Wallace 

Cres well 1 38   20' 

Cedar  Vale. ...  37 
Dodge  City ...  37   45',  100  00' 
Fort  Hays    ...  38    59'    99   00' 
McPherson ..  .  38   20' j  97   40' 


39  00    loi    34 
■    97    " 
8'    96  27' 


•a 

3 


2, 000 
2,226 

3,3>8 

1.375 
1,000 
2, 6  JO 
2,107 
1,557 


May,  1879. 


n! 

£  o 
c  o 


67°  .82 


,6?  .17 
|66  .22 
72    .99 


u 

w     . 

o-r 

a-c 

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£  c 

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96°    so<: 


95 
93 


42 
46 

52 


,63   .09    98      42 
69   .89  100      25 


c 
o 


OS 


2.651 

2.00 

2.44' 

.84 

1.48 
.90 

•50 
1.70 


June,  1879. 


3 

c  o 


>:. 

«j 

O-j: 

t: 

c 

H 

0 

^ 

£ 

3 

0 

E 

aj 

X 

^ 

rt 

rt 

S 

73°. 60  94' 


.48  108 

.40  100 
.93  102 
.00' . . .  . 
.34  100 


ax 


i^' 


48° 


.2 


52 

52 

53 


3-8; 

3.6 

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6-93 
6.3; 
4.41 
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80    .92 

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83    .80 

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67 

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102 

72 

83   .40 

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I  OS 

44 

o 


c 
1^ 


3-37 
2.31 
7.01 
7.88 
2.86 

3-9° 
7.04 

6.2s 


Stations. 


August,  1879. 


3 

Sx 
E  o 

^t 

c  ° 

rt 

u 


Lawrence 

Leavenworth.. 
Manhattan... . 
Independence. 
Great  liend. . . 

Salina 

Gay  lord 

Osborne 

Kinsley 

Fort  Wallace.. 

Creswell 1 75 

Cedar  Vale....! 83 
Dodge  City..  .175 

Fort  Hays 81 

McPherson  .. .    . . 


77    -74 


75 


ax 

S  c 
y  o 

C  V. 

3    O 


n  B 


O.X 


c  o 
E  t 


99^ 
96 

99 
104 

lOI 

107 


103 


105 

lOI 

104 


102 


35 


September,  1879. 


V 

3 
rt 

iSx 
a - 

E  0 


_ 

H«* 

c 

c  0 
a 

:i 

tA 

s 

aj=  ax 

£  S  E  = 

i."  o  "  o 

§    O  C    O 

•-    3  .5    3 

o  rt  ■=  rt 


X 

c 

o 

3. 

a 

'rt 
0! 


65° 

65 
66 


1.03 
.18 
1. 61 
4.12 
1.65 
2.10 

■23 
1.90!  66 

3-37i'-- 

2.24J  64 
2.10;  69 
5.69I  71 

3  75]  66 

3-02!  62 

4.2o||.. 


■45 


92^ 
93 

92 
92 

97 
100 


94 


.15    9a 
•23    95 


42- 

43 
40 

53 
32 
42 


47 


.07 
•17 
•17 


94 
95 
98 


38 
38 
48 
38 
24 


3-57 
3-41 
4.30 

1-34 

•35 

1-95 

'■3<^ 

2.30 

.20 

•97 

1-37 

I  49 

.8c 

•3^- 
1.2 


October,  1879. 


November,  1879. 


rt 
u     . 

ux 

o- - 

E  0 

c  = 
rt 


ax 
3  c 

E 


I  3 


V 


o-x 
S  c 

V   o 


rt  rt 


|6o°\46  87°. 5 
62  .10  84.  5 
61  .13  86  .0 
■62  .80  91  .0 
59  .20  88  .0 
65   .00  90   .0 


61    .60  91    .0 


56  .25  91    .0 

58  .20J 

64  .28   90     .0 

59  .50176   .7 
48  .79  91    .0 


25". 5 

26  .0 

24  .0 
31    .0 

27  .0 

25  .0 


24 


16 


31    .0 

45    -5 
10    .0 


2.81 
425 
2.63 

2.49 
.10 

1.80 
•  23 
•15 
.40 

2.16 
2.87 


.60 


1) 
u 
3 

rt 

Sx 
E  5 

^2 
c  o 


ax 
E  -i 


£  a 

'y.  a 


ax 
.^  3  I 


c  o 
.3  a 


.26  76^ 
.63  73 
.50  73* 
.40  80 
.00J76 
.00  75 


41    .04 


37 

•.36 

77 

.c 

37 

■  24 

67 

.0 

47 

•57 

80 

.0 

40 

•7- 

72 

.<-j 

78 


17 


15 

85 
83 

30 

00 

89 

90 

77 
75 
26 

99 
43 
04 


4-55 


December,  1879. 


Stations. 


Lawrence 

Leavenworth.. 
Manhattan... . 
Lidependence 
(Jrcat  Bend..  . 

Salina 

Gaylord 

Osborne 

Kinsley 

Van  Wallace.. 

Creswell 

Cedar  Vale 

Dodge  City. .. 
Fort  Hays.  . .  . 
McPherson 


3 
rt 

Sjx 
E  3 

hf5 


26^  .23 


u 


ax 


OJ 


ax 

_  ,e  S 

5  c 

E  »-  !  3  2 

■5  5  i-s  a 

rt  rt   '•-  rt 


E'o 


23   -16 


■I 


65° -5 

63  .0 

74  -o 

64  .0 
74  -o 
79  •<> 
58  .0 

57  •o 


23  -39 

23  .63 

29  .38 

25  -7° 


72  .0 

78  .0 

66  .0 

70  .0 


-9' 
—8 
-10 

—4 
-10 
—8 
-19 

-13 


■16 
-10 
-8 
•13 


2-39 

2.34 

.62 

5-17 
.65 
•35 


•  25 

.02 

1.58 

2. 00 
.12 

•'5 


January,  1880. 


!JX 

as 

£  5 

u— . 

c  ° 

rt 

u 

"S, 


41  .40 

37  •iS 

45  80 

40  .25 

43  -oo 


38    .89 


36  .12 
41  .60 
38     .20 


t.. 

ki 

u     . 

U      . 

u-x 

ax 

t:  r 

s- 

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U    0 

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3  i^ 

3    0 

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^  u 

2  u 

E  ■- 

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.-  3 

rt  rt 

.3  rt 

IS 

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X 

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20  .0  2.00 


67°  20°. 5  1.80 

64 

61 

74 

73 

70 


15  .0 

21  .0 

16  .0 
15  .0 


•56 

»S4 

•45 

•75 


67     12    .0     .25 
...I Spr. 


62 

71 
68 


5   -o 
8   .0 


•  58 
1.65 


February,  1880. 


3 
rt 

Sx 
|1 

c  o 
rt 


37"  -9° 

36  .62 
42    .30 

37  ^50 
41    .00 


36   .46 


37  •SO 

37  -lo 

38  .30 
30  .48 


ax 
ES 


Eb 


67° 

67 

77 

73 

74 


68 


71 
68 

79 
70 


7^^ 
4 
14 
5 
6 


S 
10 

—4 


3. 


1.40 
.05 

•47 

•25 


Spr. 


March,  1880 


3 

rt 
u  X 

3   = 

E  o 

3    2 


42°. 38 

42      .93 


41      .04 

47    •00 


n 

E"- 
3  ° 
S  ii 
"S  3 

rt  rt  I 


1^ 
^% 
£  o 

E  >- 

.-  3 


79" 

76 

80 

78 

50 1   84 


46    .00!   86 
40   .32     83 


.68  40  .10 
.67  44  .97 
,28   .90 


.30 


78 
82 
85 


2.5- 
4.0 

-2.0 

-1.0 

-3.0 

3-0 


-4.0 

7.0 

-8.0 


.2 

_c 
"a 
on 


2.03 

2.22 

.50 

1.46 

•54 
.90 

•75 


.10 


.68 

1.42 

.04 

1.60 


RAINFALL    OF  KANSAS. 

SUMMARY  OF  RAINFALL  FOR  YEAR  ENDING  OCTOBER,  1878. 

FIRST,  OR  EASTERN  BELT. 


869 


Stations. 


Baxter  Spr'gs. 

Lawrencv.- 

Leavenworth. . 
Manhattan..  . . 
Independence. 


V 

v 

T3 

•0 

^ 

ta 

'^ 

c 

a 

0 

-1 

37^    3' 

94-"  37 

38    58 

)5    16 

39   21 

94    54 

39      12 

96    43 

37      8 

95    37 

820 
884 
896 

1,200 

800 


00 

ct 

U 

V 

S 
I? 

CO 

V 

B 

V 

u 

Q 

5.30 

2.21 

'■65 
310 

00 

00 

>; 

c 

B 
•— > 

— — 

2.10 

3-05 
2-34 
2-35 
2.69 

CO 
00 

M 

i- 

00 

00 

t 
a 

06 
00 

0. 
< 

00 
00 

a 
2 

DO 
(^ 
CO 

0" 

c 

>— > 

00 

3 

bO 

3 
< 

CO 

g 
a 

D. 

V 

00 

00 

0 
'-> 

0 

3-05 

J -47 
2.44 
1.90 
2.07 

3-97 
2.a6 
2.94 
1.44 

3.98 

3.00 
2.67 

2-35 
1.77 

313 

4.60 
548 

2.86 

2. 02 

3- 50 

6.80 
5.66 
5.28 
4.04 
10.06 

5-92 
5.67 
5.27 
502 
813 

3.00 
4.30 

3-o8 

12.71 

2.93 

2.22 

3-31 
2.66 

.72 

2.51 
2.64 
3.22 
1.95 

•44 
1. 16 
1.06 
1-53 

37-74 
38.54 
36.85 
39.84 

43.79 


SECOND,  OR  MIDDLE  BELT. 


Great  Bend. 

Salina 

Osborne 

McPherson. 
Cresw..ll. . . . 


38°  22' 

98°  38' 

1,845 

I.  II '  2.28    1.25    1.29 

.88   1.37 

4.65 

39   00 

q8   00 

1,127 

1.38   2. 50'  2.70   1.75 

1.70  1.55 

1.95 

39    30' 

98   45' 

2,000 

.57     1.35     I.OI:      .6j 

i.oo|    .50 

1.96 

38    20' 

97   43' 

1.557 

1.50    2.65'  2.60    2.15 

1.95  2.30 

4.15 

38    20' 

97    II 

1.375 

1 1  2.841  2.04 

5.081  2.42 

5.32 

11.22 

8.69 

4.19 

10.30 

6.72 


3-35 
2.75 
12.05 
5-35 
3.67 


1.081  .451  1.26' 
2.52:2.25!  .19I 
3.58  I. 10,  .21; 
2. 00'  2.15:  4.70 
3.941  2.40,  4.06 


30.19 
29.93 
28.31 
41.80 
38-49 


THIRD,  OR  WESTERN  BELT. 


Gaylord [39  45 

Kinsley, [37  58 

Fort  Wallace. .  I  39  00 
Dodge  City.  . .  1  37  45 


98  50 

i,8oo 

1 

■13 

.401   .52 

•70 

10.64 

4.79 

8.86    3.41  1.46 

.60 

31-51 

99  46 

2,226 

.93  '2-70 

.50 

■75  1.65 

.60 

5-18 

5.37 

5.75    1.25  I. 10 

Spr 

25.78 

loi   34 

3,318 

.06  I2.15 

.08 

.131-48 

.44 

i.bS 

6.37 

3.26  ' 1. 00  2.53 

.29 

19.44 

100  00 

2,600 

.56  I4.36 

.21 

1.13I1.01 

1.06 

4.63 

2.19 

I. 61   I4.48:   .76 

.09 

22.09 

RECAPITULATION. 


First,  or  Ea^-tern  Belt  . 
Second, or  Middle  Belt. 
Third,  or  Western  Belt. 


00* 

00 

00* 

CO 

c 

l-> 

M 

^ 

CO* 

00 

CO 

00 

u 

b 

CO 

f 

00 

00 

... 

t? 

.0 
c  oo' 

i>  t^ 

c  •^ 

u 

3 

•J   hv 

0  " 

0  CO 
U    1-1 

p 

^co 

1 

u 

0. 

< 

en 

c 

3 

"3 
>— > 

u 

t/1 

2.19 

3-09 

2.51 

3.04 

2.88 

3.60 

6.49 

5.83 

4.97 

2.64 

2.28J 

1. 00 

2.49 

1.42 

1. 18 

1.63 

1. 21 

4.44 

7.58 

5.97 

2.54 

1.56; 

.60 

2-75 

•53 

.67 

1.08 

.68 

4.29 

5-37 

6.31 

2.74 

1.39' 

'  o 


1.05 

1 57 

-24 


Mean  for  12  months — First,  or  Ea-stern  Belt 37- 58  inches. 

"       "     "         "  Second,  or  Middle  Belt 27.89       " 

"       "    "         "  Third,  or  Western  Belt 21.73      " 

SUMMARY  OF  RAINFALL  FOR  1879. 

FIRST,  OR  EASTERN  BELT. 


Stations. 


Lawrence. ... 
Leavenworth . 
Manhattan.  . 
Independence 
Cedar  Vale. . . 

Great  Bend  . . . 

Salina     

Gaylord 

Osborne , 

CreswcU.    ..   , 


C 

a 

3 
C 


37 
i.i6 

•75 
2.03 

2.12 


i 

ber. 

U 

U 

M 
^ 

0, 

< 

^ 

s 

4J 
C 
3 
>— > 

C/1 

1 
< 

c 
0. 

CO 

Octobe 

Novem 

E 

Q 

•41 

•37 

♦•i8 

1.60 

7.14 

7->4 

1.03 

3.57 

2.81 

5  »5 

2.39 

•54 

.32 

3-57 

3-04 

9.90 

9.90 

.18 

341 

4.25 

785 

2.34 

■ .. . 

.02 

3.21 

1.79 

8.48 

8.48 

1. 61 

4  3° 

2.63 

7.83 

.62 

I.30 

•85 

4^76 

.92 

3-54 

3-54 

4.12 

I. 34 

2.49 

3-30 

5.17 

.88 

.... 

4.98 

1.48 

6.37 

6.37 

5.6? 

1.49 

2.87 

3-43 

2.00 

2 
o 
H 


32-68 
4155 
364s 
33.08 

33.I7 


SECOND,  OR  MIDDLE  BELT. 


1.07 

•25 

.05 

4.95 

1.35 

.12 

•30 

4.62 

.75 



3.67 

1. 00 

.10 

.... 

4.02 

i^5S 

•45 

■  IS 

6.49 

•31 

1.38 
1.58 

2.65 

.84 


2.65 

8.79 
4.17 

3.83 
6.93 


6.79 

1.65 

-35 

.10 

2.00 

■65 

30.83 

6.7a 

2.10 

I  95 

1.80 

4.89 

■35 

34^37 

4.C7 

.23 

I  30 

.23 

1.90 

.00 

17.90 

3.37 

1.90 

2.30 

•  15 

2.77 

.00 

22.09 

7.88 

2.10 

».37 

3.j6 

4^99 

i^58 

36.491 

S70 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 
THIRD,  OR  WESTERN  BELT. 


Stations. 


Kinsley 85 

Fort  Wallace 1      .45 

Dodge  C.ty 1      .87 

Fort  Hays ..j    .... 

McPhcrson i    1.50 


E 

J3 


38 
08 


•17 


a. 
< 

■S7 

•75 

•40 

2  80 

4.25 


2.00 

2-44 
.90 

.50 
1.70 


3.6s 
1. 08 
4.40 
2.60 
7.00 


3 


2.31 
7.01 
3.90 
7.04 
6.25 


b 

U 

U 

u 

.Q 

-0 

J3 

3 

a 

W 

-^ 
0 

0 

s 

> 
0 

< 

t^ 

0 

z 

Q 

3-37 

.20 

.40 

•75 

•25 

2.24 

•2^ 

.00 

1.26 

.02 

3-75 

.8j 

.00 

.04 

.12 

3.02 

.30 

4.20 

1-25 

.60 

4-55 

•7S 

O 
H 


15.01 

16.58 

i5-4,"> 
i6.i.6 
32.05 


Agricidiwal  Productions. — Kansas  is  pre-eminently  an  agri- 
cultural State,  and  the  efforts  of  her  State  Agricultural  Board 
and  of  her  railroad  companies  to  develop  her  agricultural  inter- 
ests have  been  crowned  with  the  most  wonderful  success.  Her 
race  for  the  supremacy  in  agricultural  products  has  been  rapid 
beyond  all  precedent.  Take  wheat  as  an  example:  In  1S72  she 
produced  2,155,000  bushels;  in  1878,  32,315,358,  leading  all  the 
States  in  winter  wheat.  In  1879  the  season  was  unfavorable  for 
winter  wheat,  but  favorable  for  the  spring  wheat,  and  the  wheat 
crop  in  Kansas  fell  off  to  20,551,000,  but  the  crop  of  1880  more 
than  makes  up  all  deficiencies. 

The  following  official  statement  shows  what  were  the  agricul- 
tural crops  of  1877,  1878,  and  1879: 


Crops. 


Winter  Wheat bu. 

Rye bu. 

Spring  Wheat bu. 

Corn bu. 

1  Barley bu. 

lOats bu. 

;  Buckwheat bu. 

!  Irish  Potatoes bu. 

! Sweet  Potatoes bu. 

ISorghum   gall. 

I  Castor  Beans   bu. 

Cotton lbs. 

Flax bu 

Hemp Ib.s, 

Tobacco lbs 

Broom  Corn lbs 

Millet  and  Hungarian.,   tons 

Timothy tons 

CloVcr tons 

Prairie  Hay   tons 

Timothy  Pasture acres. 

Clover  Pasture   acres 

Blue-grass  Pasture  ...acres 
Prairie  Pasture,  under  fence  " 

Total 


Number  of 
Acres 


857,125.00 
119,971.00 
206,868.00 
2,563,112.00 
79,704.00 
310,226.00 

4, "2-37 

45,018.00 

1,726.23 

20.783-75 

50.845-23 

597.62 

27.735-37 
1,801.70 

7'7-35 

21,147.14 

164,529.00 

25,212.50 

9,796.66 

503,612.00 

4,202.25 

1.445. 49 

21,299.31 

553.71700 


Amount  of 
Product. 


10,800 

2,525 

3,516 

103,497 

1.875 

12,768 

57 

3. "9 

201 

2,390 

578 
101 
291 
1,657 
530 
16,917 

427 
40 
18 

74« 


Value  of 
Product. 


295.00 
054.00 
,410.00 
831.00 
323.00 
488  00 

,974-4i 
,1-84.00 

.42J.50 
131.25 

,356.00 
595.40 

3^9  57 
564.00 
,839.00 
,712.00 
602.25 
,318.29 
337-f'4 
763.60 


%  9,662  508.20 

8o6,c92.8i 

2,577,620.52 

20,206,184.92 

582,977.32 

2,050,001.77 

46,380.53 

2,056,078.80 

201  9^18.94 

1,195,065,63 

578,356.00 

10,159.54 

305,875.05 

99-453-84 

53.083.90 

6^.414. 20 

i,765,583-.''9 
225,262.89 
107,362.19 

2,432,660.57 


5,595,304-99     g4S, 597,051-21 


Average 

Average 

Price  per 

Yield 

Bushel, 

per  Acre. 

Gall.,  Lb. 

or  Ton. 

12.60-j- 

$0.89+ 

21.05- 

.32- 

17.00- 

-73  + 

40.  -^8- 

.20- 

23  -  5.^- 
41.16- 

.31-- 
.16-- 

12.64- 

.80+ 

69.29- 

.66- 

116.68+ 

1.00+ 

115.00 

-50 

11.37+ 

1. 00 

170.00 

.10 

10.50+ 

1.05 

920.00 

.c6 

740.00 

.10 

800.00 

.04- 

2.60- 

4.10+ 

1.60- 

5-59- 

1.87+ 

5-85  + 

1-47+ 

3.28- 

« 

Average 

Value 
per  Acre. 


gii  27  + 
6.72- 
12.46+ 
788  + 

7-31  + 
6.61- 
11.28- 

4567+ 
116. 91- 
57-50+ 

"-.'?7-f 

17.00 

11.03+ 

55.20 

74.00 

32.00 

10.73+ 

8.93  + 
10.96- 
4.83 


AGRICULTURAL    CROPS   OF  KAXSAS. 


871 


S/iozoiitg  the  Number  of  Acres,  Amount  and  Value  of  each  Product  of  Principal  Crops  of  the 

Farm,  for  1S78. 


Crops. 


Winter  Wheat bu. 

Rye bu. 

Spring  Wheat bu. 

Corn bu. 

Barliy bu. 

Oats bu. 

Buckwheat bu. 

Irish  Potatoes bu . 

Sweet  Potatoes bu. 

Sorghum gall. 

Castor  Beans bu. 

Cotton lbs. 

Flax bu. 

Hemp   lbs. 

Tobacco lbs 

Broom  Corn   lbs. 

Millet  and  Hungarian.,  .tons. 

Timothy  Meadow tons. 

Clover  Al-adow tons. 

Prairie  Meadow   tons. 

Timothy  Pasture acres. 

Clover  Pasture acres. 

Blue-grass  Pasture acres,  j 

Prairie  Pasture acres. 


Average 

Acres. 

Product. 

Value  of 
Product. 

Average 

Yield 
per  Acre. 

Price  per 
Bu..  Lb. 

or  Ti'n. 

Average 

Value 
P-r  Acre. 

1,297.553-00 

26,518,9^^.00 

^15,658,466. 87 

20.44- 

S     -59  + 

gi2.o6- 

127,842.00 

2,722,008.03 

816,602.40 

21.29-1- 

•30 

6.39- 

433.25700 

5,796.40300 

2.782,^99.97 

13-38  + 

.48  + 

6.71  + 

2,405,482.00 

89,324,971.00 

17,018.968.79 

37-13  + 

•17- 

6.31  + 

56,255.00 

1,562,793.00 

562,260.33 

27.78  + 

•36- 

9.98- 

444,191.00 

•7, 4' 1, 473-00 

2. 9:57,930. 6^ 

39.12- 

.16  + 

6.28- 

4,582.66 

85,928.20 

68,742.56 

18.08- 

.80 

14-46+ 

51,2^9.00 

4,256,336.00 

1,633,936.00 

83-07- 

■  39  + 

32.42— 

2,266  93 

269,083.57 

224,846.61 

118.69  + 

.84- 

99.70+ 

20,291.88 

2,333,566.20 

1,166,783.22 

115.00 

•  50 

57-5° 

30,928.75 

358,894.75 

448,618.38 

11.60+ 

1.2s 

14.50 

5'- 9-30 

86,581.00 

7,792-36 

170.00 

.eg 

15-30 

37,001.70 

424,770.88 

424,773.88 

.1.48- 

1.00 

11.48- 

529  79 

487,4.6.80 

29,244.40 

920.00 

.06 

55 -20 

553-15 

409,331.00 

40,933.10 

740.00 

.10 

74.00 

20,220.17 

16,065,566.03 

602,458.76 

794-53  + 

.04- 

29.79  + 

144,081.00 

432,243.00 

1,782.555-30 

3.00 

4.12  + 

12.36+ 

40,121.12 

64.553-76 

362,241.52 

1.61-, 

5.61 -h 

9-03  + 

12,429.42 

24,229.52 

137. '54-45 

1-95- 

5-66  + 

J  1.04- 

667,503.00 

986,963  00 

3,'57,557-85 

1.48- 

3-19  + 

4-72  + 

8,820.00 

3.770.2s 

27,876.73 

701,421.00 

6.=; -28.727. 8:; 

SjQ.QI4.414. ^8 

The  value  of  farm  products  for  the  year  1878  Is  as  follows 

Field  products $49,914,434.38 

Increase  in  farm  animals 6,401,871.30 

Products  of  live-stock 10,415.339.32 

Produce  of  gardens  marketed 247,510.29 

Apiarian  products 55,141.15 

Horticultural  products 2,642,770.87 


Total  valuation  of  farm  products  for  1S78 $69,677,067.31 

Total  valuation  of  all  other  property 231,164,684.95 


Grand  State  Total $300,841,752.26 

Number  of  Acres,  Amount  and  Value  of  each  Product  of  Principal  Crops  of  the  Farm, 

for  1879. 


Winter  Wheat bu. 

Rye bu. 

Spring  Wheat bu. 

Corn bu. 

Barby bu. 

Oats bu. 

Buckwheat bu. 

Irish  Potato-s bu. 

Sweet  Potatoes bu. 

Sorghum    gall. 

Castor  B.ans bu. 

Cotton lbs. 

Fla.x bu. 

Hemp lbs. 

Tobacco lbs. 

Broom  Corn   .  _ \\n,. 

Mi'let  and  Hungarian. . .  .tons. 

Timothy  Meadow tons. 

Clover  .NIead  )W tons. 

Prairie  Meadow tons. 

Timothy  Pasture acres. 

Clover  Pasture acres. 

Blue-grass  Pasture acres. 

Prairie  Pasture acres. 

Total 


Averape 

Value  of 

Product. 

Average 

Price  P-r 

Average 

Acres. 

Product. 

Yield 
per  Acre. 

Bu  .  I.b., 
or  Ton. 

Value 
ptr  Acre. 

1,520,659.00 

17,563,259.00 

$16,087,403.69 

11.55- 

%  -92- 

1^10.63- 

43,675.00 

663,4  9.00 

264,163.63 

15.12-f- 

4-) 

6.05- 

412,139.00 

2,990,677.00 

2,361,307.45 

7-25  + 

■79- 

5  73- 

2.995.070.03 

108,7  ;4,927. 00 

26,562,674.46 

36.294- 

■24  + 

87- 

45,851.00 

723,092.00 

363.046.00 

15.70  + 

.50 

78s 

573.982.00 

13,326,637.00 

3,397,410.33 

23.22- 

-25  + 

5.81- 

2,817.00 

41,306.40 

37.175-84 

15.00 

9^ 

13.50 

62,6  1.00 

3,324,129.00 

2,177,564-55 

53-10  + 

.66- 

35-os- 

2,7.'8.21 

197.437.29 

197,437.29 

72,36- 

1.00 

72.36- 

23  664.86 

2, 721. 458.93 

1,224  656.57 

115.00 

•45 

5'-75 

68,179.07 

766,143.37 

766.143-37 

11.24- 

1. 00 

11.24- 

197.58 

33,588.63 

3,023.06 

170.00 

.C9 

15.30 

69,383.17 

622,2=6.02 

622,256.02 

8.97- 

1.00 

8.97- 

606.39 

557.878-80 

33-472-72 

920.00 

.06 

55-20 

752-37 

556.753-80 

55,675-38 

740.00 

.10 

74.00 

14273-15 

8,095,145.28 

283.330.15 

567.16- 

■03  « 

19.B5  + 

174,890.00 

494,962.00 

2,042,275.75 

2.83  + 

4  13- 

11.69- 

57,481.13 

86.884.98 

483,812.15 

1.51- 

5-57- 

8.41- 

14.7^9  83 

25,822.90 

152,503-92 

1  75- 

59'- 

10.34- 

672.994.00 

943,653.60 

3,017,472.43 

1.40- 

3^i9+ 

4-47- 

14,212.38 

7.007.30 

36.166.82 

955,826.00 

7,769,926.26   i 

$60,129,780.73 

gj2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  followinor  statistics  show  the  number  and  increase  of  live- 
stock in  the  State  from  the  close  of  1875  to  the  close  of  1879 : 

LIVE-STOCK. 


Horses. 

Mules  and  Asses. 

Milch  Cows. 

C 

0 
.0 
E 

D 

u 
> 

E 

3 

1 

3 
> 

u 

u 

B 

3 

u 

3 
> 

Total  in  187:;                                

207,376 
274,450 

f9.875.245- '2 
16,467,00^.00 

;?6,59i.754-88 

24,964 
4o,i64 

15,600 
54-7- 

40.564 
51.981 

J  1. 622 ,6f  0.00 
3  042,300.00 

221,028 
286,241 

$5, 747.215.12 
7,442,266.00 

1\jtat  ill  1878      

Increase 

67,074 

jli  419  640.00 

61,213 

$1,695,050.88 

Per  cent,  of  increase  in  5  years 

Total  in  1878 

32-34 

274,4=0 
324,766 

27.20  + 

286,241 
322,020 

$7,442,266 
8,964,540 

$16,467,000 
17.537064 

$3,042,300 
4. 158,480 

Total  in  1879 

50,316 

$1,070,364 

11.417 

J5i,ii6,i8o 

Othe 

r  Cattle. 

Sheep. 

Swine. 

V 

I) 

3 

> 

.0 

S 

3 

V 

_3 

> 

1.^ 

3 

3 
> 

Total  in  187^     

478,295 
586,oj2 

$3.0-9.775-50 
12,4-.  ,2,2.40 

106,224 
243,760 

$247,5-^192 
731,280.00 

292,658 
I. '95,044 

$2,077,871.80 
6,094.724-40 

Total  in  1878 

Increase.  ..• •.. 

107,707 

^,383, 466.90 

'37.536 

$483,778.08, 

1 

902,386 

$4,016,852.60 

Per  cent   of  increase  in  ^  vears 

22.52- 

586,002 
654,443 

129.48- 

243,760 
311,862 

308.34  + 

1,195,044 
1,264,494 

Total  in  1878     

JI2, ♦23.-42 
15,7-^6,632 

$731,280 

i.o;i,5i7 

$6,C9»,724 
7,586,964 

I ncrc3.se       .           ..   ... 

68,441 

$3,283,390 

68,102 

$360,237 

69,450 

$1,492,240 

The  following  statistics  show  the  amount  not  only  of  agricul- 
tural products  but  of  other  products  of  the  State,  valuations  of 
real  and  personal  estate,  etc.,  as  well  as  school  statistics  for  1879  : 


SUMMARY    FOR    THE    STATE. 

1878. 

Field  products $49,914,434  38 

Increase  in  total  value  of  farm  animals    .     .       6,401,871   30 

Products  of  live-stock 10,415,339  32 

Products  of  market  gardens 247,510  29 

Apiarian  j)roducts 55'i4i   15 

Horticultural  products 2,642,770  87 

^''^^\ $69, 677, 067  31 

Increase  during  the  year 


1879. 
$60,129,780  73 
8,504,684  20 

II. 507. 715  46 
307,292  48 

94,789  30 
488,594  S8 

$81,032,857  05 
^ii>355.789  74 


Total  valuation  of  products  of  1879,  $81,032,857.05;  assessed 
valuation  of  property,  March  i,  1879,  $144,930,279.69;  real  valu- 


STATISTICS    OF  KANSAS.  g-, 

ation  of  assessed  property,  $241,550,466.51  ;  total  valuation  of 
all  property,  $322,611,187.86.  Value  per  capita  of  products  of 
1879,  $97.80 — ;  real  valuation  per  capita  of  assessed  property 
of  1879,  $286.21  +  ;  valuation  per  capita  of  products  of  1879, 
together  with  the  real  valuation  of  assessed  property,  $384.01  -f. 
Increase  in  cultivated  area  for  year  ending-  March  i,  1879, 
1,270,492.82  ;  number  of  farm  dwellings  erected  during  the  year 
ending  March  i,  1879,  15,952;  value  of  farm  dwellings  erected 
during  year  ending  March  i,  1879,  $2,802,053.  Tax  on  each 
$100  of  assessed  valuation,  $3.56  +  .  Number  of  school  districts, 
5,575  ;  number  of  school-houses,  4,934;  value  of  school  buildings 
and  grounds,  $3,916,931  ;  number  of  teachers  employed  during 
the  year,  6,707;  average  wages  paid,  $27.09;  total  school  ex- 
penses, $1,590,794.30. 

The  tables  given  above  are  instructive  in  many  particulars. 
They  show  the  rapidity  with  which  the  arable  lands  of  the  State 
are  brought  under  cultivation,  an  increase  of  acreage  of  about 
1,350,000  yearly,  and  a  total  of  7.757,130  acres  sown  with  these 
prominent  crops  in  1879.  At  this  rate  of  increase,  and  it  is 
likely  to  be  exceeded,  the  year  a.  d.  1900  will  see  all  or  nearly 
all  the  arable  land  of  the  State  under  culture.  They  show  also 
that  while,  as  a  new  State,  Kansas  must  of  necessity  devote  her- 
self to  the  cultivation  of  the  cereals,  corn  and  potatoes,  as  her 
principal  crops,  and  those  which  would  bring  the  readiest  and 
surest  return,  she  has  also  been  very  active  in  diversifying  her 
productions  by  the  cultivation  of  other  crops.  In  1879,  more 
than  one-seventh  of  her  cultivated  acreage  was  devoted  to  the 
culture  of  such  crops  as  millet,  pearl  millet,  Hungarian  grass, 
rice  corn,  flax,  broom  corn,  castor  beans,  sorghum,  sweet  pota- 
toes, and  small  ventures  in  cotton,  hemp,  tobacco,  etc. 

Kansas  has  generally  done  better  on  winter  wheat  than  spring 
wheat,  and  hence  of  her  large  wheat  area  about  four-fifths  is  win- 
ter wheat,  and  the  remainder  spring  wheat.  The  States  farther 
north  have  found  that  spring  wheat  was  a  much  surer  crop,  ow'ing 
to  their  long  and  severe  winters  and  their  short  but  quick-grow- 
ing and  intense  summers.  The  warm  season  is  so  much  longer, 
and  the  general  cold  of  winter  so  much  less  severe  in  Kansas, 


874 


OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


that  winter  wheat  is  a  tolerably  sure  crop,  and  its  average  yield 
is  more  satisfactory  than  the  spring"  wheat. 

The  culture  of  the  castor  bean,  of  flax,  of  the  rice  corn,  and  of 
the  broom  corn  is  larger  in  proportion  to  the  whole  farming  crop 
than  in  any  other  State.  That  of  sorghum  and  of  the  pearl  millet 
is  increasing.  All  of  these  crops  under  proper  conditions  have 
proved  profitable,  and  some  of  them  in  future  will  be  much  more 
so.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  castor  bean,  rice  corn,  flax,  and 
sorehum.  The  new  discoveries  which  enable  the  manufacturer 
at  very  moderate  cost  to  produce  a  perfectly  crystallized  sugar 
from  sorghum,  when  cut  at  the  time  the  seeds  are  hardening,  will 
cause  a  crreat  increase  in  the  cultivation  of  some  of  its  numerous 
varieties.  The  demand  for  the  flax  fibre  for  paper  stock  when 
the  seed  has  ripened  will  increase  the  production  of  flax  as  yield- 
ing a  double  crop  of  seed  and  lint,  and  the  recently  demonstrated 
fact  that  it  is  the  most  profitable  crop  to  be  used  on  land  of  new 
breaking  will  also  increase  its  production. 

We  should  not  lose  sight  in  this  connection  of  the  important 
interest  which  Kansas  has  in  the  rearing  of  live-stock.  In  1879, 
she  had  324,766  horses  and  51,981  mules  reported  by  the  asses- 
sors, a  very  fair  amount  for  a  new  State;  the  number  of  milch 
cows  was  332,020,  and  of  other  cattle  654,443,  making  together 
986,463  neat  cattle,  and  allowing  for  omissions  in  the  assessors' 
reports  the  actual  number  must  have  exceeded  1,000,000.  The 
dairy  products  of  the  State  for  the  year  ending  March  i,  1879, 
were  1,059,640  pounds  of  cheese,  and  14,506,494  pounds  of 
butter,  of  the  total  value  of  $3,759,078.50.  To  this  should  be 
added  a  large  sum  for  milk  sold.  The  number  of  sheep  was 
311,862,  not  very  large,  but  a  ten-fold  increase  from  1870.  In 
the  production  of  swine,  Kansas  stands  eleventh  in  the  United 
States,  and  fourth  in  "Our  Western  Empire,"  only  Iowa,  Missouri; 
and  Texas  having  a  larger  number.  In  the  quality  of  the  pork 
only  Iowa  surpasses  her.  In  addition  to  her  1,264,494  swine  at 
the  end  of  1879,  which  were  valued  at  $7,586,964,  there  were  in 
1879  animals  slaughtered  or  sold  for  slaughter  (of  which  the 
swine  formed  much  the  largest  portion)  to  the  value  of  $8,665,- 
543.     Western   Kansas  furnishes  such  abundant  pasturage  for 


OKCHARD  AND    VINEYARD   PRODUCTS.  37c 

cattle  and  sheep,  and  such  vast  crops  of  corn,  rice  corn,  etc.,  that 
the  raising,  and  especially  the  fattening-  of  cattle  and  sheep  for 
market,  ought  to  be  and  will  be  one  of  its  larg-est  industricG. 

The  orchard  and  vineyard  products  of  Kansas  are  remarkable 
for  a  State  so  recently  settled.  In  March,  1879,  there  were 
reported,  1,867,192  apple  trees  in  bearing,  and  3,979,062  which 
had  not  yet  borne  their  first  crop ;  58,482  pear  trees  in  bearing, 
and  154,265  not  yet  in  bearing;  4,784,076  peach  trees  in  bearing, 
and  4,049,801  not  yet  in  bearing;  169,940  plum  trees  in  bearing, 
and  264,968  not  yet  in  bearing;  432,726  cherry  trees  in  bearing, 
and  678,426  not  yet  in  bearing.  The  climate  is  favorable  to 
fruit-growing,  and  great  care  is  taken  to  obtain  choice  varieties. 
Not  so  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  viniculture,  but  there 
were  3,419  acres  of  vineyards  in  the  State  in  1878,  and  84,079 
gallons  of  wine  were  made  that  year. 

Apiaculture,  or  the  raising  of  bees,  has  been  from  the  first  a 
favorite  pursuit  in  Kansas.  In  1879  there  were  31,190  stands 
of  bees  reported  in  the  State,  which  had  produced  370,398 
pounds  of  honey,  and  10,949  pounds  of  wax. 

Prices  of  Necessaiy  Merchandise. — The  question  is  often  asked 
by  intending  emigrants :  Are  not  the  prices  of  everything  we 
have  to  buy  in  these  new  States  and  Territories  enormously 
high  ?  We  can  buy  land  cheaply  enough,  and  the  prices  of 
horses,  catde  and  sheep  are  reasonable,  but  is  not  this  cheapness 
more  than  made  up  by  the  exorbitant  price  put  upon  everything 
we  have  to  eat,  drink,  or  wear,  upon  our  furniture,  agricultural 
or  mining  tools,  lumber,  etc.,  and  is  not  the  price  of  board  and 
lodeinof  very  hicfh? 

We  answer.  No.  The  average  prices  of  most  articles  are  not 
higher  and  some  of  them  not  quite  so  high  as  those  at  the  East. 
The  following  list  of  prices  prepared  by  the  late  Hon.  Alfred 
Gray,  late  Secretary  of  the  Kansas  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
with  great  care,  shows  the  average  prices  in  Kansas,  in  the 
autumn  of  1879.  They  have  not  materially  changed  since. 
The  prices  of  board  are  given  as  at  Topeka,  Lawrence  and  other 
cities  of  the  State.  In  the  country  villages  and  on  farms,  they 
are  materially  lower. 


8/6 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


PRICES   OF   MERCHANDISE,   ETC 


Prints. 

Merrimac,  per  yard 6c.  to  8c 

Cocheco *. 7c.  to  9C 

Ordinary 5^ 


DRY  GOODS. 

Atlantic,  P 7c. 

Dvvight  Star ^Yz^- 

Booth  Mills 8>^c. 


Muslin — Bleached. 

Lonsdale,  per  yard loc. 

Fruit  of  the  Loom loc. 

Great  Falls,  Q loc. 

Wamsutta I2;^c. 

Broron. 

Indian  Head,  per  yard 9,'/^c. 

Atlantic,  A 9/'2C. 


ye  tins,  etc. 

Salem,  all  wool  filled,  per  yard.  45c. 

Tricot 25c. 

Farmers' 30c. 

Farmers'  and  mechanics'  cassi- 

mere ,  25c. 

Cheviot  shirtings loc.  to  I2)^c. 

Ticking,  best  feather 20c.  to  25c. 

Ticking,  best  straw 10c.  to  1 2^c. 


Sugar.  [For  one  dollar.) 
10^  pounds  A. 
loyz  pounds  Granulated. 
liyi  jiounils  Coffee,  "C." 
15       pounds  Blown. 

Coffee.  [For  one  dollar!^ 

4  pounds  Java. 

5  pounds  best  Rio. 
8  pounds  good  Rio. 

Tea.  [Per pound.) 

Japan ^o  25  to  ^o  80 

Gunpowder 60  to     1   00 

Imperial 50  to         80 

Oolong,  choice 60 

Miscellaneous. 

Rice,  per  pound %o  oS 

Codfi  ih 8 

Mackerel,  per  kitt 70 

Bacon — Shoulders,  per  pound 6 


GROCERIES. 

Bacon — Hams,  canvassed. .. .  $0  II 

Hams,  plain 8 

Sides 8 

Apples,  per  bushel i  00  to  i   20 

Potatoes 70  to      80 

Sweet  potatoes "jo 

Butter  crackers,  per  pound. . . 

Coal  oil,  per  gallon 25 

Flour  and  Feed. 


XXX,  per  100  pounds $2  75 

XXXX 3  25 

Patent 3  75 


Corn  meal 

Bran 

Shorts 

Corn,  per  bushel 

Oats 

Hay,  per  ton,  loose 3  00 

Hay,  per  ton,  baled 8  00 


So 
60 
70 

25 
30 


FURNITURE 
Chairs. 
Windsor,  set  of  6 ^3  50  to  $6  50 

Cane  seal 6  00  to  18  00 

Splint  bottom 4  5° 

Easy,  each 7  50  to  20  00 

Tables. 
Kitchen i$2  50 

Breakfast 3  00  to    4  50 

Extension,  oak,  ash  and  wal- 
nut, per  foot 115 

Bedsteads,  etc. 
Cottage ;?3  00 

Walnut 5  00  and  upwards 

Bureaus 12  00  and  upwards 


Rocking  Chairs,  etc. 

Common  wood $1   00  to  $1    50 

Cane  seat 2  50  to    6  00 

Washslands 2  00  to    2 

Commode  and  drawer  stands.       4  50  to    6 
Kitchen  safes 4  00  to    7 


50 
50 


Lounges,  etc. 

Carpet $8  00  to  $30  00 

Wood,  extension 2  25  to      4  50 

Sofas 1 5  00 

Bedroom  suits 35  00  to  150  00 

Parlor  suits 40  00  to  100  00 


PRICES   OF  MERCHANDISE  IN  KANSAS. 


877 


CARPETS. 


Hemp,  per  yard ;?o  20 

Rag 40 

Ingrain,  cotton  chain 25  to       50 

Two-ply,  all  wool 55  to      9° 

Three-ply,  all  wool 90  to  I    10 


Tapestry 50  90  to 

Body  Brussels i    50  to 


China  straw  matting 

Rattan  matting >%  . .  . 

Oil-cIoth,  per  square  yard. 


18  to 
35  to 
35  to 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Stoves. 

Cooking,  complete ;$ 1 7  00  to  ^50  00 

Heating 5   00  and  upwards 

Harness,  etc. 

Farm,  double ^22  00  to  $26  00 

Carriage,  double 25  00  to  75  00 

Buggy,  single 12  00  to  50  00 

Saddles,  men's 2  50  to  25  00 


Saddles,  women's $5  00  to  $ 

Collars 60  lo 

Halters 50  to 

Horse  blankets i    10  to 

Shoeing  Horses. 


U  25 

2    00 

35 

75 
75 


25  00 

4  00 
2  00 

ID  00 


Putting  on  set  of  all-new  shoes. 
Resetting  old  shoes 


$1  50 
80 


BUILDING  MATERIAL. 


Common  boards,  per  M. . 

Studding  and  joist 

Fencine 


Flooring 

Siding 

D  stock 

Shingles 

Lath 

Finishing  lumber 

Doors 

Sash,  glazed,  per  window. . 


$22  50 

22  00 

22  50 

25  00  to  35  00 

18   GO  to  25    00 
25    00 

3  00  to     4  00 

4  00 

30  00  to  60  00 

I  25  to     3  00 

90  to     2  50 


Blinds,  per  lineal  foot. 


iSo  35 


Cedar  posts 17  to 

Lime,  per  bushel 

Phastering  hair,  per  bushel.  . 

Brick,  per  M 7  GO  to 

Plaster  Paris,  per  barreL  .  . . 
Nails,  per  pound,  by  the  keg. 
Stone,  per  cord,  delivered.  ..  3  50  to 
Stone,  laid  in  the  wall,  per  foot. 

Building  hardware  is  sold  at  Eastern  prices, 
with  freight  added. 


20 

25 

20 
8  00 

3  50 


4  00 
8 


AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS. 


Plows,  etc. 

Wood  beam,  stirring,  from 

10  to  16  inches ^10  00  to  $16  00 

Steel  beam,  stirring 12  00  to    20  00 

Iron  beam,  stirring II   00  to     18  00 

Prairie  breakers 1 8  00  to    25  00 

Sulky,  12  to  16  inches 38  00  to    45  go 

Riding  sulkies,  for  plow  at- 
tachments    20  00  to    35  00 

Corn  planters 45  00 


Cultivators,     walking     or 

riding ^19  00  to  $27  00 

Harrows,  Scotch 6  00  lo      8  50 

Harrows,  vibrating g  50  to     10  50 

Hay  rakes,  sulky 22  GO  to    24  00 

Wagons. 

Farm  two-horse $60  00  to    70  go 

Spring 90  GO  to  1 25  GO 

Buggies. 

Covered t>c)0  GO  to  $275  00 

Open 60  oo  to     1 50  00 


WOODEN  AND  WILLOW  WARE. 


Two-hoop  buckets 17c. 

Three-hoop  buckets 20c. 


No.  I  washtubs. 


50c. 

No.  2  washtubs 65c. 

No.  3  washtubs 7CC. 

Small  willow  clothes  basket 65c. 


Medium  willow  clothes  basket. . .  75c. 

Large  willow  clothes  basket 90c. 

Washboards 15c.  to  25c. 

Half-bushel  market  baskets loc. 

Half-bushel  feed  baskets 30c. 

Bushel  baskets,  stave 40c. 


3-3  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

FRESH  MEATS. 
Beff.  \  Mutton,  etc. 


Boiling  piece;,  per  pound 5*^- ^o    6c. 

Roasting  pieces loc.  to  I2}^c. 

Steak,  round loc. 

Loin I2;^c. 

Porlerhousf    I2^c. 


Chops  per  pound loc.  to  t2}4c. 

Roast IOC.  to  I2y2c. 

Leg I2>^c. 

Pork 8c.  to  IOC. 

Corned  beef He. 

Pickle  J  pork loc. 


WAGES. 


Carpenters,  per  day . $t   50  to  $2  50 

Stone  masons 2  00  to    225 

Bricklayers 3  00 

Blacksmiths 1    50  to    225 

Machinists I    50  to     225 

Moulders,  iron 2  OO 


Tinners $1  5°  to  ^3  00 

Saddle    and    harness   makers, 

per  week 9  00  to  14  00 

Printers,  per  M 2510  30 

Printers,  per  week 1 2  00  to  15  00 

Laborers,  per  day i  00  to     I  50 


Boarditig. — Board  may  be  obtained  at  private  houses  for  from 
to  $5  per  week;  at  boarding  houses,  for  $4.50  to  ^6 ;  and  at 
first-class  hotels,  at  from  $1.50  to  $3  per  day. 

Railroads  and  River  Navigation. — The  amount  of  river  nayi- 
o-ation  in  the  State  is  not  large.  The  Missouri  is  navigable  for 
the  entire  distance  (some  seventy  miles),  in  which  it  forms  the 
northeastern  boundary  of  the  State,  but  none  of  its  tributaries 
in  Kansas  possess  any  considerable  value  in  that  respect.  The 
Kaw  or  Kansas,  the  largest  of  these,  has  been  ascended  in  flood 
time  by  steamboats  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the  Smoky  Hill 
and  Republican  rivers,  but  ordinarily  no  boats  would  be  able  to 
navigate  it.  The  Arkansas  is  not  navigable  in  Kansas,  except 
in  flood  time. 

But  this  lack  of  navigable  rivers  is  more  than  made  good  by 
the  abundance  of  its  railway  facilities.  Sixty-five  of  the  103 
counties  of  the  State  (organized  and  unorganized)  arc  traversed 
by  railroads,  and  many  of  the  others  arc  accessible  to  them,  by 
their  passage  near  their  borders.  Directly  or  indirectly,  all  the 
railroads  which  spread  out  over  the  State  like  a  spider's  web 
start  from  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  so  that  the  emigrant  is  sure 
of  not  going  wrong  if  he  buys  his  ticket  at  the  East  for  that 
o-reat  railroad  centre. 

We  might  go  farther,  and  say  that  with  the  exception  of  a  sin- 


HAIL  WAYS   OF  KANSAS.  g-^ 

gle  great  trunk  road  (and  how  long  that  may  be  an  exception  it 
is  hard  to  say),  all  the  railroads  which  traverse  Kansas  in  any 
direction  are  under  the  control  of  the  Wabash  Railway,  and 
most  of  them  form  parts  of  the  great  Union  Pacific  system.  This 
is  especially  the  case  with  all  the  railways  running  west  or  north- 
west from  Kansas  City,  Atchison,  and  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  but 
it  is  true,  so  far  as  the  Wabash  is  concerned,  of  those  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State  which  extend  southward  and  southwest- 
ward  to  the  Indian  Territory  and  Texas.  The  Atchison,  Topeka 
and  Santa  Fe  Railway,  though  having  its  eastern  termini  at 
Kansas  City  and  Atchison,  has  thus  far  maintained  its  indepen- 
dence of  these  grand  combinations  and  pursued  its  own  plans 
to  their  consummation.  So  far  as  Kansas  is  concerned  it  will 
probably  continue  to  do  so  ;  but  what  may  be  the  outcome  of 
its  recent  arrangements  for  reaching  the  Pacific  and  Gulf  coasts 
does  not  concern  us  in  this  connection.  Kansas  had  at  the  be- 
ginning of  1880,  about  3,121  miles  of  railroad  in  operation  in  65 
of  its  103  counties,  and  has  materially  increased  the  amount 
during  the  present  year.  It  ranks  third  among  the  States  and 
Territories  of  our  western  empire,  only  Iowa  and  Missouri  sur- 
passing it,  though  Minnesota  is  not  far  behind  in  the  race. 
Only  eight  of  the  States  of  the  Union  have  exceeded  this  State 
in  the  extent  of  their  railroad  development. 

The  following  list  we  believe  comprises  all  the  Kansas  rail- 
ways ;  their  length  cannot  be  given,  as  it  is  so  constantly  changino-, 

KANSAS  RAILROADS. 

Si.  Joseph  &  Denver'  Railroad  (formerly  St.  Joseph  &  Den- 
ver City  Railroad). — Eastern  terminus,  St.  Joseph,  Mo.;  west- 
ern terminus,  Hastings,  Neb. 

Atchison  &  Nebi'aska  Railroad. — Southern  terminus,  Atchi- 
son, Kas. ;   present  northern  terminus,  Seward,  Neb. 

Central  BrancJi  Union  Pacific  Railroad. — Eastern  terminus, 
Atchison,  Kas. ;  western  terminus,  Kirwin,  Kas. ;  with  branches 
from  Greenleaf  northwest  to  Washington  ;  from  Concordia  north 
to  Scandia;  and  from  Downs  southwest  to  Osborne. 

Atchison,    Topeka   &  Santa   Fe   Railroad. — Eastern    termini. 


g3o  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Atchison,  Kas.,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Pleasant  Hill,  Mo.;  west- 
ern termini,  Pueblo,  Col,  and  Santa  Vit,  N.  M.;  with  branches 
from  Emporia  south  to  Iiureka;  Irom  Plorence  south  to  Eldo- 
rado; from  Florence  northwest  to  McPherson;  and  from  Newton 
south  to  Winfield  and  Wellington. 

Missouri  Pacific  Raikvay. — Eastern  terminus,  St.  Louis,  Mo.; 
northern  terminus,  Atchison,  Kas.,  via  Kansas  City. 

Kansas  Central  Railroad. — Eastern  terminus,  Leavenworth, 
Kas.;  western  terminus,  Onaga,  Kas. 

Kansas  Pacific  Raikvay. — Eastern  termini,  Leavenworth,  Kas., 
and  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  western  terminus,  Denver,  Col.;  with 
branches  from  Junction  City  northwest  to  Concordia;  from  Sol- 
omon City  northwest  to  Minneapolis;  and  from  Salina  south  to 
Lindsburg. 

Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Railway. — Eastern  terminus, 
Hannibal,  Mo. ;  southern  terminus,  Denison,  Texas;  with  branch 
from  Parsons,  Kas.,  northwest  to  Junction  City,  Kas. 

Osage  Division  of  Missouri^  Kansas  &  Texas  Railway. — East- 
ern terminus,  Holden,  Mo.;  western  terminus,  Paola,  Kas.;  con- 
necting at  Holden  with  Missouri  Pacific  Railway,and  at  Paola 
with  Kansas  City,  Fort  Scott  &  Gulf  Railroad. 

6"/.  Louis  (jf  San  Francisco  Railroad. — Eastern  terminus,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.;  present  western  terminus,  Cherryvale,  Kas.;  with 
branch  from  Carl  Junction,  Mo.,  northwest,  to  Girard,  Kas, 

Memphis,  Kansas  &  Colorado  Railway. — Eastern  terminus, 
Messer,  Kas.;  western  terminus.  Parsons,  Kas.;  connecting' at 
Messer  with  St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  Railroad,  and  at  Parsons 
with  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Railway. 

Kansas  City,  Lawrence  &  Southern  Railroad. — Northern  ter- 
mini, Lawrence,  Kas.,  and  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  southern  terminus, 
Coffeyville,  Kas.;  with  branch  from  Cherryvale  southwest  to 
Independence. 

Kansas  City,  Burlington  &  Sa7ita  Fe  Railroad. — Northeastern 
terminus,  Ottawa,  Kas.;  southwestern  terminus,  Burlington, 
Kas.;  connecting  at  Ottawa  with  K.  C.  L.  &  S.  R.  R.,  and  at 
Burlington  with  M.  K.  &  T.  Rly. 

ICansas  City,  Fort  Scott  &  Gulf  Railroad. — Northern  termi- 
nus, Kansas  City,  Mo.;     southern  terminus,  Joplin,  Mo. 


LANDS  FOR   IMMIGRANTS.  ggl 

Manufactures. — There  are  no  statistics  of  manufactures  in  the 
State  since  1870  which  even  approximate  accuracy.  In  1870, 
with  a  population  of  373,299,  the  census  report,  always  imper- 
fect on  manufactures,  gave  the  following  statistics:  1,477  nianu- 
facturing  establishments;  $29,456,939  capital  employed;  $54,- 
800,087  of  annual  product.  In  the  ten  years  since  that  time, 
the  population  has  increased  three-fold,  the  assessed  valuation 
certainly  three  and  a  half  times,  and  the  true  valuation  from 
$188,892,014  to  $447,61 1,187.54.  The  annual  product  of  man- 
ufactures in  the  State  cannot  fall  short  of  $200,000,000,  and  may 
exceed  that.  Thouofh  there  are  no  cities  of  the  first  or  second 
class  In  the  State,  there  are  many  active  and  growing  towns  and 
cities  which  are  actively  engaged  in  manufactures  of  all  kinds. 

Lands  for  Immigrants. — With  the  immense  influx  of  Immigra- 
tion in  the  past  four  years  the  greater  part  of  the  government 
lands  east  of  the  98th  meridian  have  been  taken  up,  the  excep- 
tions being  for  the  most  part,  those  lands  which  were  at  too 
great  a  distance  from  railroads  or  markets,  or  those  which  were 
less  fertile,  or  swampy  In  their  character.  West  of  this  meridian, 
the  government  lands  are  yet  to  be  bought  of  good  quality, 
and  at  the  usual  rates,  $1.25  per  acre  outside  of  railroad  limits, 
or  $2,50  Inside.  These  lands  can  also  be  secured  under  the 
Homestead  or  Timber-Culture  Acts  or  pre-empted;  and  some  of 
those  west  of  the  looth  meridian  under  the  Desert  Land  Act.  If 
the  lands  are  to  be  Immediately  cultivated  we  would  sueeest  to 
the  Immigrant  that  he  should  not  go  beyond  the  frontier  of  set- 
tlement; because  the  rainfall,  which,  though  Increasing,  Is  yet 
scanty,  will  not  have  as  beneficial  an  effect  upon  the  newly  bro- 
ken lands  which  are  isolated,  as  on  those  where  the  new  breakincr 
Is  continuous;  and  If,  as  may  be  the  case,  Irrigation  Is  required, 
it  Is  better  and  less  expensive  that  It  should  be  undertaken  by 
many  farmers  than  by  one.  If  the  lands  are  Intended  for  grazing, 
it  makes  very  little  difference  where  the  selection  is  made,  so 
that  there  are  streams  for  watering  the  stock,  and  die  settler 
plants  his  trees  so  as  to  afford  them  shelter  from  the  winds  and 
cold.  Bunch  grass  will  afford  good  pasturage,  and  as  the  land 
is  broken,  blue  joint  and  other  tame  grasses  will  spring  up. 
56 


882 


OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


There  are  school,  university  and  so  called  swamp  lands  be- 
longing to  the  State,  to  be  had  on  favorable  terms,  in  almost  all 
of  the  counties.  The  railway  companies  all  have  lands  to  sell, 
along  their  lines,  throughout  the  State,  at  prices  varying  from 
^3  or  ^4  to  $12  per  acre,  according  to  location,  and  on  very 
favorable  terms  of  credit.  We  have  spoken  of  these  at  length 
elsewhere. 

If  the  immigrant  has  some  capital  he  can  often  buy  partially 
improved  farms  on  better  terms  than  to  break  up  new  land. 
The  soil  is  good  enough  to  insure  good  crops  every  year;  but 
he  should  be  sure  of  his  title.  Very  many  resdess  spirits,  bur- 
dened with  debt,  are  anxious  to  dispose  of  their  farms  at  even 
less  than  the  cost  of  the  improvements  in  order  to  begin  again  un- 
der more  favorable  circumstances,  and  there  are  many  cases  in 
which  a  shrewd  settler  with  a  little  capital  can  come  into  posses- 
sion of  an  excellent  farm  with  the  hard  labor  of  the  early  work 
on  it  done  to  his  hand  by  the  man  of  whom  he  buys  it. 

Population. — The  following  table  shows  the  population  of  the 
.State  at  different  dates  since  i860,  and  other  particulars: 


Year. 


i86j 
J  86s 
1870 
1874 
1875 
1878 
1879 
i88j 


Population. 


107,206 
135.837 
373.299 
530.367 
575. J56 
7-^8,497 
849.978 
995.966 


Males. 

Females. 

Valuation  for 
Purposes  of  Taxa- 
tion. 
60  per  cent. 

Of  School  Age. 

Between  5  and 

21  years. 

1          59.178 

202,224 
246,939 

48,028 

162,175 
228,875 

$3'. 327.895 
36,126,000 
92,125,861 
128,906,520 
121,544,000 
138,698,811 
144,930,280 

37.423 
45.441 
109,742 
199,010 
199,986 
266,575 
283,326 

1 

;      536,725 

459.24> 

Enrolled  in 
School. 


2,310 
26,409 
63,218 
135,598 
142,636 
177,836 
188,884 


The  population,  which  has  so  rapidly  increased  within  the  last 
decade,  counts  109,705  of  foreign  birth  and  twice  that  number  of 
foreign  parentage.  In  the  beginning,  there  were  two  distinct  im- 
migrations, one  from  New  England,  New  York  and  the  Northern 
States,  and  the  other  from  the  South,  struo^rrlinii  fiercelv  and  bit- 
terly  for  the  supremacy.  The  settlers  from  the  North  triumphed, 
and  made  it  a  free  State.  Of  the  influx  since  1870  probably  a  fifth 
has  been  of  foreiofn  birth;  Mennonites  and  their  co-relifrionists 
from  Russia,  Germans,  Scandinavians,  French,  Italians,  English, 
Scotch,  Welsh  and  Irish;  and  with  these  have  come  also  large 


POPULATION  OF   THE   STATE   BY  COUNTIES. 


883 


numbers  from  all  the  Atlantic  States,  Canadians,  Mexicans,  and 
of  late  negroes,  making-  their  exodus  from  the  Southern  States 
to  Kansas,  as  pre-eminently  the  land  of  freedom. 

The  Indian  population,  which  in  1870  amounted  to  over  10,- 
000,  occupying  several  large  reservations,  has,  by  the  action  of 
the  United  States  government  in  obtaining  their  lands  by  treaties 
and  annuities  and  removing  them  to  the  Indian  Territory,  been 
greatly  reduced.  There  are  now  only  690  tribal  Indians  in  Kan- 
sas, all  of  the  Pottawatomie  and  Kickapoo  tribes.  The  Indian 
reservations  still  include  102,026  acres,  but  the  title  to  a  part  of 
this  will  soon  be  extinguished. 

Counties. — There  are  104  counties  in  the  State,  78  of  which 
were  organized  and  26  unorganized,  in  March,  1880.  Their 
names,  area  and  population  in  1879  were  as  follows: 


Counties. 


A 

^ 

L. 

rt 

T 

< 

1.  Leavenworth  . 

2.  Shawnee 

3.  Atcliison 

4.  Douglas 

5.  Cherokee 

6.  Bourbon 

7.  Labette 

8.  Cowley 

9.  Sedgwick 

10.  Marshall 

11.  Buller  

12.  Johnson 

13    Montgomery. . 

14.  Doniphan  .  . . . 

15.  Osage   

16.  Miami 

17.  Siimncr 

18.  Lyon 

19.  Wyandotte  . . . 

■JO.  Crawford 

21.  Linn 

22   J'-wlU   

23.  Franklin 

24.  Mitchell 

25.  Jcjfforson 

26.  Pottawatomie 
27   Neosho , 

28.  Mcpherson  .. 

29.  Dickinson  ... 

30.  Cloud 

31.  Saline 

32.  Birton 

33.  Republic 

34.  Reno 

35.  Wilson 

36.  Washington.. 

37.  Smith 

38.  Brown 

39-  Clay 


455 

558 

409 

465 

589 

637 

649 

1,122 

1,008 

900 

1,428 

480 

636 

379 
720 
588 
1,188 
858 

153 
592 
637 
900 
576 
720 
66s 
848 

576 
900 

851 
720 
720 
900 
720 
1,260 
576 
900 
900 
576 
66j 


o  . 


30.283 
22,632 
21,700 
20,530 
18,535 
18,310 
18,171 
18,157 
17.613 

I7,is9 
17,006 
16,012 
15,979 
15,459 
15,369 
15,161 
15,090 

15,073 
15,046 
14,622 
14.586 
14,161 
14,073 
14.034 
13,872 
13.79' 
13,594 
13,196 
13,005 
12,656 
12,424 

",333 
12,193 
12,042 
11,901 
11,900 
1 1 ,498 
10,790 
10,658 


Coimties. 


40. 
41- 
42- 
43- 
44- 
45- 
46. 

47- 

48 

49- 
50. 
51- 
52. 
53 
54- 
55- 

;6. 

57- 
58. 

59 
6o. 
61 
62 

63 
64 
6-, 
66 

67 
68 
69 
T 
71 
72 
73 
74 
7'^ 
76 

77 
78 


Chautauqua  .  . 

Harvey 

Nemaha 

Marion  

Allen   

Coffey 

Osborne 

Elk. ■. ... 

Ottawa 

Jackson    .... 
Greenwood  . 

Phillips 

Rice 

Lincoln 

Riley 

Morris 

Pawnee 

Ellsworth.. . . 
AnJerson.  . . . 

Russdl 

Waubaunsee. 

Davis    

Woodson  .... 

Rush 

Ellis 

Rooks  

Norton 

Chase 

Ford    

Edwards  .... 

Kiir.;man 

Stafford 

'ircgo 

Harper 

Pratt 

Parbour 

Hodgeman  .  . 

Decatur 

Graham 


«  = 


651 
540 
720 
954 
504 
648 
900 
651 
720 
658 
1,155 

9  )0 

720 

720 

617 

700 

7:6 

720 

576 

900  I 

804  i 

407  j 

504  I 

720  I 

900 

900  I 

900 

768 ! 
1,080  I 

972 ' 

6^8  I 
720  I 
900 

i,os6  I 
792 

1,134 
864 
900 
900 


n 


10,537 
10,440 
10,267 
10,154 
10,116 
10,077 

9.445 
8,787 

8.757 
8,732 
8,202 
7.9:6 
7.501 
7  448 
7.419 
7.197 
7023 
6,741 
6.616 
6,521 
6,245 
6,087 
6,058 
5,282 

5,240 
5,104 
4  797 
4,743 
2,832 
2,801 

2.599 
2,564 
2,310 
2,158 
2,084 
2,016 
1,738 
750 
1,500 


Counties. 


i 

^ 

c 

1) 

•" 

t:t 

« 

•^ 

0* 

< 

Ul 

79 
80. 
81. 
82. 

83- 
84. 
85 

£6. 

87 
88. 
89 
90. 
9'- 

02 

93 

94 
9=; 
96. 

97- 
98 
99 

luO 

1 01 

I02 

103 
104 


Arapahoe. . . 

Buffalo 

Cheyenne 

Clark 

Comanche . . 

Foote 

Grant 

Greeley 

Gove 

Hamilton. . . 

Kansas 

Kearney.. . . 

Lane 

Meade 

Ness 

Rawlins  .. .. 

Scott    

Sequoyah. . . 
Seward  .  .  . . 
Sheridan. . . . 
Sherman. . . . 

Stanton 

Stevens 

'I'homas  .. . . 
Wall.tce ..". . 
Wichita 


Population  of 
State  in  1879. 


576 
576 
1,020 
1,170  j 
i,'55  i 
720  i 
576 
8.6  ! 
1,080  I 
986  I 
810  j 
£64  I 
576' 
924 
1,080 
1,080 
720 
864 
648 
900 
1,080 
684 
648 
1,080 
2,010 
744 


o 


O  T3 


849,978 


884 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Cities  and  Towns. — As  already  stated,  none  of  the  cities  of 
Kansas  have  yet  attained  to  the  second  rank,  but  many  ot  them 
are  growing  rapidly;  not  so  fast  indeed  as  the  mushroom  cities 
of  the  mining  regions,  which  to-day  may  have  a  population  of 
5,000  and  next  week  not  200.  In  the  West  every  settle- 
ment is  a  city,  whether  it  has  100  or  100,000  inhabitants,  and 
most  of  them  go  through  the  farce  of  having  a  municipal 
organization.  The  following  are  all  the  cities  which,  in  1879, 
had  over  1,000  inhabitants: 


Leavenworth,  Leavenwortli  county....  16.550 

Topeka,  Shawnee  county I5i45i' 

Atchison,  Atchison  county l5,iot) 

Lawrence,  Douglas  county 8,478 

Wichita,  Secigwick  county 5;235 

Fort  Scott,  Uouibon  county 5'*^'° 

Wyandotte,  Wyan'Jolte  county 4, 61 2 

Emporia,  Lyon  county 4,061 

Ottawa,  Franklin  county 3.507 

Salina,  Saline  county "S-S^S 

Parsons,  Labette  county S.'SO 

Independence,  Montgomery  county..  .  2,829 

Newton,  Harvey  county 2,539 

Junction  City,  Davis  county 2,345 

Olalhe,  [ohnson   county 2,260 

Beloit,  Mitchell  county 2,194 

Win  field,  Cowley  county 2,103 

Osage  City,  Osage  county 2,003 

Paola,  Miami  county i>973 

Burlington,  Coffee  county 1, 74° 


Hutchinson,  Reno  county 1.709 

Clay  Center,  Clay  county 1,600 

Manhattan,  Riley  county 1.593 

Empire  City,  Cherokee  county '.591 

Mound  City,  Linn  county 1.497 

Humboldt,  Allen  county 1-45^ 

Conct)rdia,  Cloud  county 1 .44 1 

Great  Bend,  Barton  county I.430 

Marysville,  Marshall  county 1,420 

Garnett,  Anderson  county 1,252 

Osage  Mission,  Neosho  county 1,216 

Guard,  Crawford  county I,'S4 

Hiawatha,  Brown  county 1,078 

Wamego,  Pottawatomie  county 1,071 

15axter  .Springs,  Cherokee  county 1,069 

Minneapolis,  Ottawa  county   1,045 

Holton,  Jackson  county 1 ,044 

Seneca,  Nemaha  county 1 ,036 

Lamed,  Pawnee  county 1,031 


Education. — Kansas  occupies  among  the  newer  States  the 
very  first  rank  in  her  facilities  for  education.  Her  school  fund 
has  been  wisely  husbanded,  and  she  has  yet  2,200,000  acres  of 
school  lands  unsold,  which,  by  judicious  management,  may  be 
made  to  realize  ^5  per  acre.  If  this  is  accomplished  the  fund 
will  eventually  reach  more  than  $13,000,000,  the  interest  of  which 
will  l)e  annually  distributed  to  the  schools.  Rut  this  income, 
amounting  in  1878  to  $314,380,  is  only  a  small  item  in  the  amount 
annually  raised  for  tlie  support  of  public  schools.  In  1878  the 
amount  raised  and  expended  for  common  schools  in  the  State 
was  $1,261,459.14,  of  which  $980,435.07  was  paid  as  wages  to 
the    teachers,  the    male   teachers  receiving  $32.99    per    month, 


EDUCATION    IN    KANSAS.  885 

and  the  female  teachers  <^26.04.  There  were  6,359  of  tliese 
teachers  in  1878,  and  the  number  had  increased  to  6,707  in  1S79. 
The  whole  number  of  scholars  enrolled  was  188,884,  and  the 
average  attendance  about  113,000.  In  the  latter  year  there 
were  5,575  school  districts,  and  4,934  school-houses,  and  the 
value  of  school-buildings  and  grounds  was  $3,91 6,93  r.  Besides 
these  schools  and  the  oraded  and  hiofh  schools  of  the  cities  and 
larger  towns,  there  are  four  normal  schools,  with  about  800 
teacher  pupils;  a  State  Agricultural  College,  near  Manhattan, 
well  managed  and  largely  attended  ;  the  University  of  Kansas, 
at  Lawrence,  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  the  Western  State  uni- 
versities, and  eight  other  colleges,  sustained  by  different  religious 
denominations  (two  of  them  Roman  Catholic),  with  about  50 
professors  and  nearly  1,000  students.  There  are  also  many 
collegiate  schools  and  seminaries,  generally  denominational, 
which  are  for  the  most  part  well  sustained.  The  immigrant  to 
Kansas  may  feel  fully  assured  that  his  children,  if  he  has  any, 
will  not  suffer  for  the  want  of  advantages  of  education. 

Churches  and  Religioits  Denominations. — In  1878,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  708,497,  the  aggregate  membership  of  the  nine 
leading  denominations  was  135,713,  nearly  one-fifth  of  the 
entire  population.  Their  church  edifices  and  other  church 
property  was  valued  at  ^2,037,508.  Of  these  the  Catholics  had 
the  largest  membership  (as  they  include  as  members  all  their 
adherent  population),  reporting  63,510  adherents  to  223  organ- 
izations. The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  came  next,  though 
with  many  more  church  organizations,  having  1,018  churches  and 
2)2)'7^7  members.  The  Baptists  were  next,  with  334  churches 
and  16,083  niembers.  These  were  followed  by  the  Presbyterians, 
with  229  churches,  8,961  members;  the  Congregationalists,  with 
157  churches,  and  5,620  members;  the  Lutherans,  with  58 churches 
and  4,560  members;  the  United  Presbyterians,  with  43  churches 
and  1,469  members;  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  with  36 
parishes  and  1,389  members;  and  the  Universalists,  with  16 
congregations  and  354  members.  There  are  also  Mennonite 
churches,  churches  of  the  Disciples  or  Camj^bellites,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  other  minor  denominations.     In  the  order 


gg5  OUR    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

of  the  valuation  of  their  church  property,  the  different  denomina- 
tions stand  as  follows :  the  Methodists  first,  then  consecutively 
the  Presbyterians,  the  Catholics,  the  Congregationalists,  the 
Baptists,  the  Episcopalians,  Lutherans,  United  Presbyterians, 
and  Universalists. 

Such,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  present  them,  are  the 
advantages  which  Kansas  offers  to  the  immiorant; — a  fertile  soil, 
an  aoreeable  thou^di  rather  warm  climate  in  its  summer  half, 
with  a  very  wide  range  of  temperature  between  winter  and 
summer;  land  easily  tilled,  and  a  ready  and  sure  market  for  all 
that  is  produced;  a  wider  range  of  production  than  most  of  the 
States;  an  intelligent,  enterprising  and  liberty-loving  population  ; 
good  schools  and  churches,  and  an  abundance  of  both.  The 
people  who  have  migrated  to  this  State  are  not  given  to  long- 
ings to  go  back  either  to  the  Eastern  States  or  Europe. 

We  oannot  close  this  sketch  of  Kansas  without  paying  a 
tribute  of  respect  and  honor  to  one  man  who  has  passed  away 
while  this  woi-k  was  in  progress,  but  who  had  done  more  to 
make  Kansas  what  it  is  to-day  than  any  hundred  men  in  it. 
The  Hon.  Alfred  Gray,  for  fourteen  years  either  Director  or 
Secretary  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  or  the  State  Board 
of  Agriculture,  was  born  at  Evans,  Erie  county,  New  York, 
December  5,  1830,  of  English  parentage.  His  early  education 
was  obtained  in  his  native  village.  Eilial  duty  led  him  to  en- 
deavor at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  to  support  his  widowed 
mother  by  his  own  labor.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  after  the  death 
of  his  mother,  he  commenced  a  course  of  study  which  culminated 
six  years  later  in  his  graduation  from  the  Albany  law  school  and 
his  successful  practice  of  law  for  two  years. 

In  1857  he  removed  to  Quindaro,  Kansas,  and  soon  abandoned 
the  law  for  farming,  a  pursuit  for  which  he  had  a  passion.  His 
farm,  gardens  and  herd  were  the  finest  in  the  State.  He  was 
called  to  fill  many  offices  of  honor  and  trust  in  the  State,  and 
was  a  member  of  its  Legislature.  P>om  1862  to  1864  he  served 
as  Regimental,  Brigade  and  Division  Quartermaster  in  the 
Union  army,  and  gave  proofs  of  extraordinary  ability  in  the  dis- 
charo:c  of  his  duties.     In   1866  he  was   made  a   director-  in  the 


SKETCH  OF  HON.   ALFRED    GRAY.  887 

State  Agricultural  Society,  and  continued  in  that  position  pro- 
moting its  interests  till  it  was  merged  in  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture,  when  he  became  its  Secretary,  and  selling  his  farm 
moved  to  Topeka.  Here,  though  in  failing  health,  he  was  inces- 
sant and  unremitting  in  his  labors.  He  was  the  organizer  and 
soul  of  that  unsurpassed  exhibit  of  Kansas  at  the  Centennial. 
He  had  a  genius  for  statistics,  and  everything  bearing  upon  a^rri- 
culture  was  the  object  of  his  careful  solicitude;  no  State  Aericul- 
tural  reports  in  the  country  bear  any  comparison  to  his  in  fulness 
or  in  perfection  of  detail.  While  wasting  away  with  pulmonary 
consumption,  he  remained  in  the  harness  to  the  last.  A  letter 
to  the  writer,  dated  but  three  days  before  his  death,  makes  no 
allusion  to  his  personal  condition,  but  is  filled  with  important  in- 
formation relative  to  the  condition  of  his  beloved  Kansas.  He 
died  January  23,  18S0.  Happy  may  Kansas  well  be  if  she  can 
replace  him  with  a  man  of  like  ability  and  industry. 


CHAPTER  X. 

LOUISIANA. 


Louisiana  not  wholly  within  "Our  Western  Empire" — Its  Location — Irs 
Extent  and  Area — Its  Surface  and  Topography — Rivers.  Lakes  and 
Bayous — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Iron,  Salt,  Sulphur — Other  Min- 
erals— Soil  and  Vegetation — Forest  Trees — Zoology — The  Jaguar  or 
American  Leopard  or  Tiger,  Alligators  and  Crocodiles — Climate — 
Malarial  Fevers  in  the  Delta — The  Uplands  Healthy  but  Hot — Me- 
teorology OF  New  Orleans  and  Shreveport — Agricultural  Productions 
— Cotton,  Sugar,  Rice,  and  Corn — The  Soil  Fertile,  but  the  Farming 
Poor — Live-Stock— Manufacturing  and  Mining  Industries — Commerce 
— The  great  Facilities  enjoyed  by  the  State  for  Foreign  and  Coast-wise 
Commerce — Railroads — Finances — Population — History  as  bearing  on 
Population — Mixed  Races  largely  prevaleni- — The  State  not  largely 
increased  by  recent  Immigration — Parishes  or  Counties — Principal 
Towns  —  Education  —  Churches  —  Not  specially  attractive  to  Immi- 
grants at  Present. 

Only  about  two-thirds  of  Louisiana  lie  within   the  bounds  of 
"Our  Western  Empire."     Its  commercial  and  political  capital, 


888  OUR     WESTERN-  EMPIRE. 

New  Orleans,  the  chief  city  of  the  Southwest,  is  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Mississippi  river,  as  are  several  other  considerable  towns. 
Its  boundaries  are:  On  the  north,  Arkansas  and  Mississippi;  on 
the  east,  Mississippi,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  the  distance  the 
Mississippi  river  and  Sound;  south  and  southeast,  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico;  and  on  the  west,  Texas,  the  Sabine  river  being  the 
boundary  for  about  three-fourths  of  the  distance.  It  is  situated 
between  the  meridians  of  89°  and  94°  W.  from  Greenwich,  and 
between  the  parallels  of  28°  56'  and  ^2>°  N.  latitude.  Its  extreme 
length  from  east  to  west  is  298  miles,  and  its  extreme  breadth 
from  north  to  south  2S0  miles.  Its  area  is  41,346  square  miles, 
or  26,461,440  acres. 

Surface  and  Topo^(^nxpJiy,  Rivers,  Lakes,  Dayoiis,  Sounds  and 
Gulfs. — The  highest  land  in  the  State,  the  hills  in  its  northern 
and  northwest  portions,  does  not  exceed  240  feet  in  height. 
From  these  uplands  there  is  a  gentle  slope  both  towards  the 
Mississippi  river  and  the  Gulf.  The  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  espe- 
cially below  New  Orleans,  is  below  the  level  of  the  Mississippi 
at  the  spring  floods ;  and  at  least  8,450  miles,  or  one-fifth  of  the 
area  of  the  State,  is  only  protected  from  annual  submergence  by 
the  levees.  With  the  exception  of  a  tract  in  Southeast  Cali- 
fornia, once  a  part  of  the  bed  of  the  ocean,  the  greater  part  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana  is  the  lowest  land  in  "Our  Western  Em- 
pire." The  rivers  are  the  Mississippi,  which  has  a  course  of 
about  590  miles  within  the  State,  and  is  now,  through  the  labors 
of  Captain  Eads,  navigable  not  only  for  the  largest  steamers  but 
for  all  ocean  steamships  of  the  first-class,  from  its  mouth  to  and 
beyond  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State;  the  Red  river,  one 
of  its  larcrest  tributaries,  which  enters  the  State  near  its  north- 
west  corner  and  crosses  it  diagonally  to  the  31st  parallel,  where 
it  joins  the  Mississippi;  the  Washita,  the  largest  affluent  of  the 
Red  river,  which  comes  into  the  State  from  Arkansas,  and  with 
its  two  large  branches,  the  Tensas  and  Boeuf,  drains  the  northern 
parishes  of  the  State;  the  Dugdemona,  the  Saline  Bayou,  and 
the  Bistineau  river  and  lake,  all  tributaries  of  the  Red  river. 
The  Sabine  river,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  forms  a  part  of  the 
western  boundary  of  the  State,  but  receives  no  considerable  af- 


RIVERS  AND   BAYOUS    OF  LOUISIANA.  g3g 

fluents  on  the  east  bank.  The  Calcasieu  and  Mermenteau  are 
considerable  rivers,  both  having  several  tributary  bayous  or  slug- 
gish streams.  East  of  the  Mississippi  are  the  Pearl  river,  with  its 
tributary,  Bogue  Chitto,  the  Tangipahoa,  Tickfaw  and  Amite. 
There  are,  besides  these,  several  large  estuaries  or  bayous,  which 
are  really  secondary  mouths  or  outlets  of  the  Mississippi,  which 
in  flood- dme  convey  a  large  portion  of  its  waters  to  the  Gulf, 
and  at  other  times  drain  the  greater  part  of  Southern  Louisiana. 
Among  these  are:  Atchafalaya  Bayou  with  its  series  of  lakes  and 
inlets;  Vermillion  Bayou,  Bayou  Teche  which  connects  with  it, 
Bayou  de  Large,  Bayou  la  Fourche,  and  the  lakes,  bays  and  es- 
tuaries which  discharge  their  waters  into  Barataria  bay.  In  the 
ordinary  sense  of  the  term  there  are  no  lakes  in  Louisiana, 
all  that  are  so  called  being  either  estuaries,  bayous  or  expansions 
of  rivers.  Thus  Lake  Pontchartrain  is  a  land-locked  estuary 
whose  waters  are  salt  and  rise  and  fall  with  the  tide;  Lake 
Maurepas  is  closely  connected  with  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and 
partakes  of  its  character;  Lake  Borgne  is  only  a  sound  or  bay; 
Sabine  lake,  Calcasieu  lake.  Lake  Mermenteau,  Grand  lake, 
Marsh  lake,  Lake  Charles,  Grand  Cheniere,  Caillon,  Lake 
Washa,  and  the  rest  are  all  estuaries  connected  with  rivers  or 
bayous.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  State  there  are  ten  or 
fifteen  so  called  lakes  which  are  mere  expansions  of  the  Red  river, 
or  some  of  its  tributaries.  There  are  numerous  bays  and  sounds 
along  the  coast,  indenting  the  alluvial  delta  of  the  Mississippi  in 
all  its  borders. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — Three-fifdis  of  the  State,  including 
the  Mississippi  basin  and  delta,  the  Red  river  region  and  basin, 
and  the  Bluff  or  Loess  region,  which  comprises  nearly  all  of  Cal- 
casieu, St.  Landry  and  Lafayette  parishes,  and  a  long  but  narrow 
strip  east  of  the  Mississippi  river,  belong  to  the  alluvial  and 
diluvial  formations.  The  Mississippi  delta  proper  covers  over 
I  2,000  square  miles,  and  its  deposits  are  from  thirty  to  forty  feet 
in  depth  and  of  wonderful  fertility.  The  remaining  two-fifths 
of  the  State  is,  for  the  most  part,  tertiary,  the  formations  in  the 
northwest  and  west-northwest  parts  of  the  State  being  subdivi- 
sions of  the  eocene.      There  are  occasional  small  outcrops  of 


8qo  our   western  empire. 

cretaceous  strata  in  the  northwest,  west  and  central  parts  of  the 
State,  and  in  these  are  found  hmestone,  gypsum,  and  salt-bearing 
strata.  Below  the  alluvium  and  teriiar)  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  State,  there  are  deposits  of  sulphur,  and  at  one  point 
between  the  Sabine  and  Calcasieu  rivers,  the  borino;-  of  an  ar- 
tesian  well  demonstrates  that,  beginning  428  feet  below  the 
surface,  there  is  a  deposit  of  sulphur  112  feet  thick,  which  will 
yield  from  sixty  to  ninety-six  per  cent,  of  pure  sulphur.  Of  other 
minerals  and  metals  Louisiana  lias  not  a  great  variety.  Brown 
coal  (lignite)  is  found  in  the  tertiary  in  considerable  quantities 
and  of  moderately  good  quality.  Iron  (bog  ore,  probably)  and 
salt  are  plentiful  in  this  region,  and  on  Petit  Anse  island  salt  has 
been  mined  to  a  depth  of  sixty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Gulf, 
fifty-eight  feet  of  it  through  soHd  rock-salt  of  the  purest  quality. 
This  was  in  ereat  demand  durincr  the  late  civil  war.  In  the 
cretaceous  rocks,  ochre,  marl,  gypsum,  lead,  sulphate  of  soda, 
sulphate  of  iron,  and  a  very  pure  carbonate  of  lime  are  found. 
Petroleum  has  also  been  discovered,  but  not  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  pay  for  working.  Copper  and  quartz  crystals,  agates,  jasper, 
cornelian,  sardonyx,  onyx,  feldspar,  of  fine  quality,  meteoric 
stones  and  numerous  fossils  have  been  found  in  the  tertiary. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — The  alluvial  and  diluvial  soils  are  of 
extraordinary  and  unsurpassed  fertility.  The  delta  lands  are 
admirably  adapted  for  the  culture  of  sugar-cane,  cotton,  rice, 
wheat,  barley,  sweet  potatoes,  figs  and  oranges.  The  orange 
is  quite  as  successful,  and  of  flavor  fully  equal,  to  those  grown  in 
Plorida.  The  Sea  island  or  long  staple  cotton  is  grown  on  the 
islands  of  the  delta,  but  on  the  main  land  the  upland  or  short- 
stapled  cotton  is  most  generally  cultivated.  The  tertiary  region 
has  not  so  rich  a  soil,  but  with  proper  culture  yields  good  crops. 
Indian  corn  yields  better  there  than  on  the  alluvial  soils,  and 
cotton  is  successfully  cultivated.  A  portion  of  the  tertiary  region 
is  covered  with  pine  forests,  which  are  heavy  but  not  dense,  and 
these  lands,  though  healthful,  arc  not  productive.  About  one- 
fifth  of  the  area  of  the  State  is  too  swampy  and  marshy  for  cul- 
tivation, and  much  of  it  is  covered  with  lofty  cypress  trees,  from 
which  the  Spanish  moss  hangs  in  graceful  festoons.     The  other 


TREES  AND    VEGETATION.  3q£ 

forest  trees  of  the  alluvial  reg-ion  are  the  sweet-gum,  ash,  black 
walnut,  hickory,  magnolia,  live-oak,  Spanish,  water,  black,  chest- 
nut, white  and  post  oaks,  tulip-tree  {liriodendro7i),\\Vif\^n,  Florida 
anise,  lance-leaved  buck-thorn,  four  or  five  species  of  acacia, 
wild  cherry,  pomegranate,  holly,  arbor-vitae,  tillandsia,  lime,  pecan, 
sycamore,  white  and  red  cedar,  and  yellow  pine;  in  the  tertiary 
lands,  sassafras,  mulberry,  poplar,  hackberry,  red  elm,  maple, 
honey-locust,  black  locust,  dogwood,  tupelo,  box  elder,  prickly 
ash,  persimmon,  etc.  Along  the  river  banks,  the  inevitable  Cot- 
tonwood, willow-basket  elm,  palmetto,  wild  cane,  pawpaw,  w^ild 
orange,  etc.,  are  found.  Of  fruit-trees,  the  peach,  quince,  plum,  fig, 
orange,  pawpaw,  olive  and  pomegranate  are  cultivated  with  great 
success;  the  apple  and  pear  do  not  thrive  so  well.  Local  to- 
pographers classify  the  lands  of  the  State  as  "good  uplands;" 
"pine  hill  lands,"  usually  not  very  fertile;  "alluvial  tracts;'' 
"Bluff  or  Loess  regions;"  "marsh  lands;"  "the  prairie  regions;" 
and  "the  pine  flats,"  The  grazing  in  the  uplands  generally  is 
excellent;  in  the  Attakapas  country,  along  the  Atchafalaya  and 
Bayou  Teche,  the  pasturage  is  unsurpassed  in  quality. 

Louisiana  is  a  land  of  fragrant  flowers,  and  the  sweet  perfume 
of  its  orange  blossoms,  magnolias,  jessamines,  oleanders,  virgin's 
bower,  its  innumerable  varieties  of  roses  and  its  thousands  of 
other  sweet-scented  semitropical  and  tropical  flowers,  which  grow 
wild  upon  its  rich  alluvial  lands,  feast  the  senses  with  perpetual 
delight. 

Zoology. — The  wild  animals  of  Louisiana  are  for  the  most  part 
the  same  as  those  of  Texas,  though  there  is  a  greater  preponder- 
ance of  reptiles.  The  jaguar  or  American  tiger,  the  most  for- 
midable of  the  North  American  Felidcs,  is  found  in  the  cypress 
swamps  in  this  State,  and  in  Texas  and  Arizona.  The  cougar, 
puma,  panther  or  American  lion,  is  also  an  inhabitant  of  the 
swamps,  and  this  wild-cat  and  perhaps  some  of  the  other  Fclidcs 
are  also  found.  The  black  and  brown  bear  are  more  common 
in  the  uplands;  while  the  raccoon,  skunk,  opossum,  otter  and 
most  of  the  rodents  are  abundant. 

Alligators  of  great  size  a:id  ferocity  abound  in  all  the  bayous, 
and  are  destructive  of  cattle  and  sometimes  of  human  beinc^s. 


Sg2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

It  is  believed  that  the  crocodile  exists  in  the  cypress  swamps 
here  as  well  as  in  Florida.  There  are  several  species  of  marine 
turtles  and  land-tortoises  and  terrapins.  The  lizard  tribe  is 
larg'ely  represented;  the  gecko,  chameleon,  lizards  of  all  kinds 
and  sizes,  as  well  as  a  great  variety  of  batrachians,  the  horned 
and  common  frog,  many  species  of  toads;  and  of  ophidians,  rat- 
tlesnakes, vipers,  moccasins,  horned  snakes,  and  a  great 
variety  of  harmless  serpents  are  common.  There  are  many 
birds  of  prey:  among  them  are  the  bald  and  gray  eagle,  the 
king-vulture,  the  turkey-buzzard  and  other  vultures,  kites,  owls, 
hawks,  gulls,  and,  very  numerous  in  the  bayous  and  in  the  gulfs, 
bays  and  sounds  west  of  the  Mississippi,  the  pelican,  which  has 
been  recognized  as  the  patron  bird  of  the  State,  which  very  gen- 
erally bears  the  name  of  "the  Pelican  State."  Cranes,  herons, 
ibises,  flamingoes  and  other  waders  are  found  only  in  this  State 
and  Texas  of  "Our  Western  Empire;  "  and  wild  geese,  many 
species  of  wild  ducks,  brant,  teal,  and  some  swans  are  inhabitants 
of  its  lakes,  bayous  and  bays  in  their  season.  The  game  birds, 
wild  turkeys,  pigeons,  partridges  and  several  species  of  grouse 
are  plentiful  in  the  uplands.  Birds  of  gay  plumage,  including 
the  niacaw  and  paroquet,  and  many  others,  and  a  great  variety 
of  song-birds,  among  which  are  the  mocking-bird,  the  cedar  bird, 
several  of  the  finches  and  tanagers,  a  great  variety  of  humming- 
birds, and  orioles  are  abundant  in  the  forests. 

Climate. — The  climate  of  New  Orleans  and  of  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  delta  is  somewhat  malarious,  and  bilious  and  cong-es- 
live  fevers,  remittent  and  intermittent,  are  prevalent.  The 
yellow  fever  is  seldom  entirely  absent  from  this  region  in  sum- 
mer, but  becomes  epidemic  only  about  once  in  four  or  five  years. 
Strict  sanitary  supervision  is  maintained,  but  the  drainage  is 
difficult.  By  careful  attention  to  cleanliness  the  city  is  healthier 
than  formerly.  The  yellow  fever  made  fearful  ravages  in  1878, 
and  reappeared  in  a  milder  form,  in  1879:  1880  has  been  generally 
healthy.  The  cholera  has  at  times  made  fearful  ravages  here. 
The  water  is  so  near  the  surface  in  New  Orleans  and  most  of 
the  adjacent  region,  that  all  burials  are  made  in  cells  of  vaults, 
built  above  the  surface.     The  climate  of  the  upland  region  is 


AGRICULTURAL   PRODUCTIONS.  gg^ 

healthy  though  warm,  and  that  of  the  delta  is  so  in  winter.  The 
table  on  next  page,  giving  the  meteorology  of  New  Orleans,  which 
represents  fairly  the  region  of  the  delta  and  of  Shreveport,  in  the 
northwest  of  the  State,  which  shows  that  of  the  upland  country, 
will  exhibit  more  satisfactorily  the  climate  of  the  two  sections 
than  any  general  description.  Not  only  from  its  climate,  but 
from  the  habits  and  customs  of  its  people,  its  productions,  mar- 
kets, etc.,  Louisiana  will  be  a  more  a^jreeable  reeion  for  immi- 
grants  from  Southern  and  Southwestern  Europe  and  from  the 
Southern  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States,  than  for  those  from  more  north- 
ern climates.  The  French,  Spanish,  and  Italians,  and  the  Swiss 
and  South  Germans  will  do  better  here  than  the  North  Germans, 
Scandinavians  or  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain. 

Agriculttwal  Productions. — The  staple  productions  of  Louis- 
iana are  cotton,  sugar,  corn,  together  with  a  moderate  quantity 
of  rice  and  the  cereals.  The  cotton  production  of  1878  was 
214,483,050  pounds,  from  1,348,950  acres,  a  yield  of  only  an 
average  of  159  pounds  to  the  acre,  or  about  one-third  of  a  bale, 
a  very  small  return  for  land  so  rich  as  that  of  Louisiana.  The 
yield  of  1879  was  not  quite  so  large,  though  a  trifle  more  per 
acre,  being  175  pounds.  At  the  price  per  pound  in  1878  this 
yielded  but  $13.97  P^^  acre,  including  all  the  cost  of  cultivation, 
picking  and  ginning,  and  of  course  was  unprofitable;  the  price 
in  1879.  ten  cents,  gave  $20,20  per  acre,  but  even  this  is  not 
profitable.  There  is  no  land  in  Louisiana  devoted  to  cotton 
which  ought  not  to  yield  at  least  a  bale  (480  pounds)  to  the  acre, 
and  of  the  delta  lands  there  are  none  which  should  yield  less  than 
two  bales  to  the  acre.  The  farming  of  Louisiana  is,  however, 
for  the  most  part  very  slovenly  and  careless.  The  sugar  crop 
in  favorable  years,  of  which  1878  was  a  good  example,  does  bet- 
ter, yielding  250,000,000  pounds,  an  average  of  1,700  pounds  to 
the  acre  (a  fair  crop  is  stated  to  be  from  2,500  to  5,000  pounds), 
which  at  the  current  price  of  tliat  year  was  worth  $93.50.  The 
drawbacks  on  the  cultivation  of  sugar-cane  are  that,  it  is  an  ex- 
otic and  never  comes  to  perfection  here;  that  the  only  way  of 
propagation  is  by  layers,  which  after  a  few  years  run  out  and 
require  new  stock;  that  it  is  only  about  one  crop  in   three  that 


894 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


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AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTIONS.  gp^ 

is  successful;  that  the  great  fluctuation  in  price  makes  the  profit 
uncertain;  and  that  the  first  plant  or  outlay  for  a  sugar  planta- 
tion with  sugar-house  complete  is  enormous,  and  only  possible 
where  there  is  large  capital  at  command.  The  crop  of  corn, 
thouo-h  considerable  in  amount  and  coverino-  a  larc^^e  acreage,  orives 
equally  conclusive  evidence  of  indifferent  and  slovenly  farming; 
the  yield  ranges  from  fifteen  to  twenty  bushels  per  acre,  where 
thirty-five  to  forty  bushels  ought  to  be  the  minimum.  The  total 
yield  of  1878  was  16,875,200  bushels,  which  at  sixty  cents,  the 
current  price  of  that  year,  brought  $10,125,120.  The  crop  of 
1879  was  of  smaller  amount,  and  yielded  only  fifteen  bushels  to 
the  acre,  but  the  higher  price,  seventy-six  cents,  made  the 
money  value  somewhat  greater. 

Oats,  which  might  be  a  profitable  crop,  give  an  average  yield, 
one  year  with  another,  of  but  fourteen  bushels  to  the  acre.  Rice 
is  cultivated  more  than  formerly,  and  the  Louisiana  rice  crop 
forms  a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  whole  rice  product  of 
the  United  States,  ranging  from  twelve  to  fifteen  million  pounds. 
There  is  some  wheat  and  barley  grown;  a  small  amount  of  very 
excellent  tobacco,  and  hay  and  forage  grasses  in  increasing 
quantities.  Fruits  and  market-garden  vegetables  are  cultivated 
to  a  considerable  extent,  mainly  by  Creoles;  but  the  cultivation 
of  fruits  might  be  almost  indefinitely  enlarged. 

The  amount  of  live-stock  in  Louisiana  in  1879  was:  79,300 
horses,  worth  about  $4,000,000;  80,600  mules,  worth  about  $5,- 
080,000;  the  number  of  horses  and  mules  is  slowly  increasing. 
There  were  110,900  milch  cows,  a  moderate  increase  from  1S75, 
previous  to  which  time  there  had  been  a  decided  decrease. 
These  were  worth  $1,864,800.  Of  oxen  and  other  cattle,  there 
had  been  a  marked  decrease,  118,700  against  168,650  in  1875, 
and  their  value  did  not  exceed  one  million  dollars.  The  num- 
ber of  sheep  was  only  127,500,  and  their  value  about  $250,000. 
There  were  360,500  swine,  worth  about  $1,250,000.  Both  sheep 
and  swine  had  largely  increased  in  numbers  since  1875.  The 
total  value  of  live-stock  was  about  $13,363,000,  and  of  agricul- 
tural products  somewhat  more  than  $50,000,000. 

Alamifactiu-ing  and  Mining  Industries. — Louisiana   is   not  a 


Sg6  OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

manufacturing-  State.  She  produces  raw  sugar  on  her  sugar 
plantations,  gins  her  cotton,  produces  a  small  amount  of  relined 
sugar,  about  three-fourths  of  a  million  dollars  worth  of  Hour  and 
meal,  a  million  and  a  half  dollars  worth  of  lumber  and  timber, 
cotton-seed  oil,  machinery,  clothing,  tobacco  and  cigars,  and  malt 
liquors.  Her  entire  manufactured  products  do  not  much  exceed 
thirty  million  dollars.  The  mining  industry  of  the  State  consists 
of  some  coal  mines  (lignite),  not  very  efficiently  worked,  a  small 
quantity  of  iron  mined,  the  salt  mine  at  Petit  Anse  island,  and  a 
sulphur  mine  at  Calcasieu  springs. 

Co7iirnei^cc. — Louisiana  has  a  very  large  commerce,  both  for- 
eign and  domestic.  In  the  amount  of  her  exports  she  is  second 
only  to  New  York;  in  imports  she  falls  behind  New  York,  Mas- 
sachusetts, Maryland,  Pennsylvania  and  California.  In  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1880,  her  domestic  exports  were  $90,238,503; 
her  foreign  exports  $203,516;  and  her  imports,  $10,611,353. 
Considerable  amounts  are  imported  and  trans-shipped  without 
appraisement  to  interior  ports  on  the  Mississippi  river  and  in  the 
Mississippi  valley,  the  aggregate  being  several  millions — while 
the  cotton,  rice  and  sugar  exported  from  Louisiana  are  not  all 
produced  in  the  State,  the  cotton  especially  being  largely  the 
product  of  Arkansas  and  Mississippi,  while  some  comes  also  from 
Tennessee,  Alabama  an4  Texas.  The  amount  of  exports  has  been 
fluctuating  for  several  years  past,  having  reached  its  highest 
point  in  1870,  when  it  was  $107,658,042;  and  its  next  higliest  in 
1873,  when  itwas  $104,329,965.  The  export  of  1879  was  the  small- 
est since  1868.  Its  imports  have  fallen  off  in  still  greater  propor- 
tion since  1873,  when  they  were  $19,933,344,  the  largest  amount 
since  i860.  The  exports  of  foreign  merchandise  show  a  still 
greater  proportion  of  diminution,  falling  from  $1,301,700  in  1872 
to  $187,187  in  1879. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  coast-wise  anci  interior  trade 
of  Louisiana  has  fallen  off  in  any  similar  proportion.  In  1874 
it  was  estimated  at  $250,000,000.  It  has  hardly  amounted  to 
that  sum  in  the  more  recent  years. 

Railroads. — Besides  its  immense  traffic  on  the  Mississippi  and 
Red  rivers  by  steamer,  New  Orleans,  the  commercial  capital  of 


LOUISIANA   FINANCES.  807 

Louisiana,  is  connected  to  the  northwestern  and  northern  States 
by  one  line  of  raih'oad,  with  numerous  connections,  and  with  the 
Atlantic  and  northeastern  States  by  another.  These  are  both 
east  of  the  Mississippi.  West  of  that  river  there  are  three  com- 
paratively short  routes:  one  from  New  Orleans  to  Brashear, 
which  connects  there  with  Morgan's  steamship  line  to  Galveston, 
a  line  from  Vicksburg.  Mississippi,  to  Monroe,  which  may  at 
some  time  possibly  be  extended  to  Shreveport,  and  one  from 
Shreveport  west,  forming  a  part  of  the  Texas  Pacific  line.  The 
entire  railroad  lines  operated  in  the  State  have  a  length  of  only 
495  miles. 

Finances. — The  State  is  heavily  In  debt,  but  has  repudiated  a 
considerable  part  of  her  debt  and  scaled  the  remainder,  reducing 
the  interest.  The  financial  manao-ement  has  been  deolorable 
for  some  years.  The  amount  of  debt  acknowledged  and  not 
repudiated  was,  January  i,  1879,  $12,136,166.24.  $3,971,000 
were  repudiated  ;  and  the  bonds  which  were  acknowledged  were 
reduced  forty  per  cent,  in  order  to  bring  them  to  $12,136,166. 
A  part  at  least  of  the  interest  on  these  is  in  default. 

Population. — The  following  table  gives  the  population  at  dif- 
ferent dates: 


Years. 

Total 
Popula- 
tion. 

Whites. 

Freb  Col- 
ored. 

Slaves. 

Natives. 

Op  Foreign 
Birth. 

Op  School 
Age. 

Op  Voting 

Age. 

Males. 

1810 

76,556 

34.3" 

7.585 

34,660 

1820 

152.923 

73,383 

10.476 

69,064 

1830 

215.529 

89,231 

16,710 

109,588 

*3'.903 

1840 

352.411 

158,457 

25,502 

168,452 

*5 1,904 

1850 

5'7.762 

255.491 

17,462 

244,809 

448,848 

68,233 

*84.283 

*86.50O 

1S60 

708,002 

357.456 

18,647 

331.726 

627,021 

80,975 

*I22,I4I 

*98.i43 

1870 

726,915 

362,065 

364,210 

None. 

665,088 

61,827 

226,114 

174.187 

1880 

940,263 

455.063 

483,898 

(( 

886,119 

54,144 

The  great  increase  from  1870  to  1880  has  given  rise  to  the 
suspicion  of  error  in  the  enumeration,  and  it  will  be  investigated 
before  its  final  acceptance. 

Of  this  population  a  very  large  proportion  are  natives,  not 
only  of  the  United  States,  but  of  the  State.     This  is  due  to  the 


•  Whites  only. 


57 


898  OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

circumstances  under  which  the  State  was  settled.  Discovered 
by  the  French  in  1 541,  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  the 
Colony  or  Province  of  Louisiana  was  made  in  1699  by  the  same 
nation.  It  remained  a  French  province  and  largely  peopled  by 
the  rVench  till  1 762,  when  it  was  secretly  ceded  by  France  to 
Spain,  and  remained  till  1800  under  the  control  of  that  power, 
a  considerable  influx  of  Spanish  settlers  migrating-  to  its  rich 
lands.  In  1800  it  was  retroceded  to  France,  and  in  1803  was 
purchased  from  France  by  the  United  States  for  $15,000,000,  of 
which  $3,750,000  was  allowed  to  be  set  off  by  the  assumption 
of  the  claims  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  against  France 
growing  out  of  French  spoliations  upon  American  commerce. 
This,  though  assumed  by  the  government,  has  never  been  paid 
to  the  sufferers  or  their  heirs.  The  Province  of  Louisiana  as 
thus  purchased,  comprised  nearly  the  whole  of  the  present  States 
of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Dakota  Ter- 
ritory, Nebraska,  most  of  Kansas,  and  the  Indian  Territory,  part 
•of  Colorado,  most  of  Wyoming,  and  the  whole  of  Montana, 
Idaho,  Oregon,  and  Washington  Territory.  Most  of  that  part 
'of  Louisiana  lying-  east  of  the  Mississippi  was  purchased  from 
Spain  in  18 10,  and  annexed  the  same  year  to  the  Territory  of 
Orleans,  as  Louisiana  itself  was  called.  It  became  a  State  in 
April,  181  2,  with  its  present  name  and  boundaries.  The  popu- 
lation of  Louisiana  is  very  largely  composed  of  descendants  of 
.French  emigrants,  with  a  considerable  percentage  of  mixed 
blood  ;  these  people  are  usually  termed  Creoles,  whether  of 
pure  or  mixed  blood.  There  are  also  a  moderate  number  of 
old  French  and  Spanish  families  of  pure  blood,  and  somewhat 
exclusive  manners.  The  remainder  of  the  population  are  of 
American  stock,  with  some  admixture  of  Irish,  English,  Germans, 
and  Italians.  The  Neorroes  and  mixed  races  form  a  laro-e  con- 
stitueut  (about  one-half)  of  the  population.  There  have  never 
been  -any  great  accessions  from  immigration,  and  except  in  the 
large  towns  there  are  not  likely  to  be.  The  Creole  population 
are  intensely  wedded  to  old  ideas,  and  while  friendly  and  good 
humored,  do  not  encourage  immigration.  The  prevalence  of 
malarial  fevers  and  occasional  epidemics  of  yellow  fever  deter 


EDUCATION  AND    CHURCHES.  ggo 

many  from  settling  in  the  State,  and  neither  its  financial  nor 
its  political  condition  since  the  war  has  had  a  tendency  to 
attract  immigrants.  With  a  good  and  honest  State  govern- 
ment, a  prompt  and  efficient  collection  and  disbursement  of 
its  revenues,  the  protection  of  the  lowlands  from  overflow,  by 
good  and  sufficient  levees,  a  stringent,  vigilant,  and  effective 
Health-Board,  and  the  banishment  of  its  corrupt  and  self-seeking 
politicians,  of  all  parties,  to  some  point  so  remote  that  they  could 
not  return  in  a  hundred  years,  Louisiana  might  become  a  health- 
ful, prosperous,  and  wealthy  State,  with  a  noble  record  for  hon- 
esty and  integrity. 

The  State  has  57  parishes,  answering  to  the  counties  in  other 
States.  Its 'principal  towns  and  cities  are  New  Orleans,  with  a 
population,  in  1880,  of  216,140  and  many  attractive  buildings 
and  streets,  the  principal  commercial  port  of  the  Southwest; 
Baton  Rouge,  with  7,000  or  8,000  inhabitants;  Shreveport,  with 
a  little  more  than  11,000;  Thibodeaux,  Monroe,  Donaldson,  and 
Opelousas,  about  2,500  each.;  New  Iberia,  Natchitoches,  and  Pla- 
quemines, nearly  2,000  each. 

Ediicaiio7i. — There  is  a  moderately  efficient  public  school  sys- 
tem in  the  State  orio-inatinof  since  the  war;  but  the  amount  of 
illiteracy  is  frightful.  The  schools  of  New  Orleans  have  gener- 
ally maintained  a  fair  standing.  Considerable  efforts  are  now 
making  to  educate  the  Freedmen.  There  are  thirty-five  or 
forty  collegiate  schools  for  both  sexes,  and  besides,  a  State 
University  at  Baton  Rouge,  which  is  not  very  efficient;  there 
are  six  other  so-called  collecres  or  universities,  three  of  them  for 
the  education  of  Freedmen  for  preachers  and  teachers,  and  two 
others  Roman  Catholic,  one  a  Female  College.  Out  of  900 
students  in  these  institutions,  558  are  in  the  preparatory  schools. 
There  is  one  Theological,  one  Law,  one  Medical,  one  Dental,  and 
one  Scientific  school  in  the  State. 

Churches. — There  were,  in  1875,  867  churches  or  congrega- 
tions, with  744  church  edifices.  Of  these  124  were  Roman 
Catholic,  with  an  adherent  population  loosely  estimated  at 
200,000.  After  these  the  Baptists  had  371  churches  with  309 
church  edifices  and  20,734  members  ;  the  Methodists  255  churches, 


900 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


221  edifices,  and  23,271  members,  including-  probationers.  The 
other  leading  denominations  were  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians, 
Jews.  Congreg-ationalists,  and  Lutherans.  All  the  Protestant  de- 
nominations reported  a  membership  of  about  58,000,  and  an  ad- 
herent population  of  about  263,000. 

Under  existing  circumstances  Louisiana  is  not  likely  to  attract 
a  very  larg-e  number  of  immigrants  either  from  Europe  or  the 
Atlantic  States. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

MINNESOTA. 


Minnesota  the  Centre  of  North  America — Its  Situation,  Boundaries,  Di- 
mensions, AND  Area — Surface  of  the  Country — The  Three  Slopes — 
Rivers,  Lakes,  etc. — The  Lake  State — Seven  Thousand  Lakes — Geol- 
ogy AND  Mineralogy — Some  Gold  and  Silver,  more  Iron  and  Copper — 
Minnesota  an  Agricultural  State — Soil  and  Vegetation. — Rich  Soil — 
Forests — The  Big  Woods — The  Prairij:  Lands — Iree-planting  in  Min- 
nesota— Fruits — Zoology — Climate — Its  Salubrity — Advance  of  the 
Annual  Temperature  as  the  Country  is  Settled — Peculiarities  of  the 
Climate — Meteorology — Navigable  Rivers  and  Railways — More  than 
3000  Miles  of  Railroad  in  the  State — Projected  Railways — Land 
Grants — Agricultural  Products — The  Crops  of  1878,  1879,  ^nd  18S0 — 
Special  Crops — Gen.  Le  Due's  Efforts  to  Introduce  the  Amber  Cane — 
Statistics  of  Crops — Grazing  Lands — Live- Stock — Statistics  of  Live- 
Stock — Dairy  Farming — Statistics  of  Butter  and  Cheese — Manufactures 
— Lumber  and  Flour,  the  Leading  Articles — Immense  Quantities  of 
BOTH  Produced — Other  Manufactures — Valuation  and  Wealth — Popu- 
lation— Statistics  of  Increase  in  Thirty  Years — Nationalities — The 
Indian  Population — Education — School  Fund — Public  Schools — Uni- 
versities, Normal  Schools,  etc. — Counties  and  Cities — Valuation — 
Population  of  Cities  and  Towns  at  different  Periods — Religious  De- 
nominations— History — Conclusion. 

If,  as  is  often  said,  Kansas  is  the  central  State  of  the  United 
States,  and  Colorado  the  central  region  of  "Our  Western  Em- 
pire," Minnesota  may  fairly  claim  the  higher  honor  of  being  the 
central  State  of  the  North  American  Continent.  Its  boundary 
at  the  north  is  British  America,  Manitoba  abutting  upon  it  at  the 
northwest;   at   the    northeast,  for    about    120    miles,  Lake    Su- 


SURFACE    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  qqj 

perior  forms  its  boundary;  on  the  east  it  joins  Wisconsin,  being 
separated  only  by  the  St.  Croix  and  Mississippi  rivers ;  on  the 
south  it  is  bounded  by  Iowa,  and  on  the  west  by  DalvOta  Ter- 
ritory, with  which  it  shares  the  rich  and  fertile  valley  of  the  Red 
river  of  the  North.  It  is  just  about  equidistant  from  the  capes 
of  the  peninsulas  which  send  off  their  annual  icebergs  into  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  and  the  narrowing  neck  of  land  which,  by  its  vol- 
canoes, lights  alike  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
from  Newfoundland  on  the  east  and  Vancouver  Island  on  the 
west.  It  lies  between  the  parallels  of  43°  30' and  49°  N.  latitude, 
and  between  the  meridians  of  89°  29'  and  97°  5'  W.  longitude 
from  Greenwich.  The  extreme  length  of  the  State  from  north 
to  south  is  380  miles,  while  its  breadth  varies  from  -1)31  niiles, 
about  the  48th  parallel,  to  262  miles  on  the  south  line,  and  183  at 
about  45°  30.'  Its  area  is  estimated  at  the  United  States  Land 
Office  at  83,531  square  miles,  or  53,459,840  acres.  From  this 
area  must  be  deducted  2,900,000  acres  of  water  surface,  lakes, 
etc.  (not  including  that  part  of  Lake  Superior  which  lies  within 
its  limits),  leaving  50,759,840  acres  of  land,  including  the  Indian 
reservations.  This  is  nearly  equal  to  the  combined  areas  of  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania,  and  a  little  more  than  that  of  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee. 

Surface  of  the  Coimtry. — From  its  location  it  was  inevitable 
that  Minnesota  should  be  the  water-shed  or  divide  for  all  the 
great  streams  w'hich  traverse  the  continent  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  It  has  not,  it  is  true,  anywhere  within  its  area,  any 
range  of  mountains  or  very  high  hills,  but  its  general  elevation 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  except  in  the  river  valleys,  is 
from  1,500  to  1,550  feet  above  the  sea.  Across  this  table-land, 
in  or  near  the  parallel  of  47°  40',  is  a  low,  curved  line  of  drift 
hills,  not  much,  if  at  all,  above  100  feet  in  height,  and  extending 
westward  to  the  bluffs  of  the  Red  River  valley,  when  it  turns 
southward,  and  separates  the  waters  of  the  affluents  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi from  those  of  the  Red  river  of  the  North.  In  these  low 
hills  three  great  river  and  lake  systems  have  their  sources,  viz. : 
the  Mississippi  river  proper  and  its  northern  tributaries  ;  the  St. 
Louis  river  and  its  numerous  branches,  which  together  form  the 


Q02  ^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

head  and  fountain  of  those  waters  which,  through  the  great 
lakes,  find  their  wav  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  throuofh  its  broad 
expanse  to  the  northern  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  and  the  affluents  of  the 
Red  river  as  well  as  those  of  Rainy  Lake  and  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
all  of  which  finally  discharge  their  waters  into  Hudson's  Bay 
and  into  the  Arctic  Ocean.  There  is  but  one  other  point  in 
the  whole  of  our  Western  Empire,  or  for  that  matter,  in  the 
United  States,  where  rivers  flowing  to  such  distant  and  diverse 
points  have  their  sources  so  near  together,  and  that  is  the  point 
near  the  Yellowstone  Park,  where  the  sources  of  the  Missouri, 
the  Columbia,  and  the  Colorado  of  the  West  are  found  within  a 
mile  or  two  of  each  other. 

There  are  then  three  distinct  slopes,  differing  in  soil,  vegetation, 
and  geological  character,  in  the  State.  The  northern  slope,  includ- 
ing not  only  the  Red  river  valley,  but  the  valleys  and  streams  drain- 
ing into  the  Rainy  Lake  chain,  and  into  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  ; 
the  eastern  slope,  occupying  the  valley  of  the  St.  Louis  river, 
and  declining  gently  toward  Lake  Superior;  and  the  southern 
slope,  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  affluents,  comprising 
about  two-thirds  of  the  State,  and  extending  into,  and  forming 
part  of,  the  great  Mississippi  valley.  The  descent  from  the  sum- 
mit of  the  divide,  M'hich  has  an  elevation  in  lat.  47°  45'  to  48°  of 
about  1,680  feet,  to  the  southern  line  of  the  State,  lat,  43°  30',  is 
not  far  from  930  feet ;  but  except  in  the  successive  terraces  at 
and  near  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the  declination  is  very  gradual, 
not  exceeding  two  and  a  half  or  three  feet  to  the  mile.  Three- 
fourths  of  the  State  may  be  described  as  generally  rolling  prairie, 
interspersed  with  frequent  groves,  oak  openings,  and  belts  of 
hard-wood  timber,  dotted  with  numberless  small  lakes,  and 
drained  by  numerous  clear  and  limpid  streams.  The  remain- 
ing fourth  includes  the  hills  which  form  the  divide,  the  extensive 
mineral  tract  reaching  to  Lake  Superior,  and  the  heavy  timbered 
region  ("  The  Big  Woods ")  lying  around  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Red  river  of  the  North. 

Rivers,  Lakes,  etc. — The  greater  part  of  the  State,  all  of  It,  in- 
deed, except  two  or  three  of  the  northern,  anil  as  yet  unorganized 
counties,  which  are  watered  by  streams  falling  into  the  Rainy 


RIVERS  AND    LAKES.  QO3 

Lake  chain — is  drained  by  the  affluents  of  the  St.  Louis,  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  Red  river  of  the  North.  The  St.  Louis  has 
fourteen  or  fifteen  tributaries,  several  of  them  streams  of  con- 
siderable size ;  the  Mississippi  has  about  fifty — two  of  them,  the 
St.  Croix  and  the  Minnesota,  being  themselves  large  rivers ; 
only  the  affluents  of  the  Red  river  on  the  eastern  bank  belong 
to  Minnesota,  but  there  are  fourteen  or  more  of  these,  of  which 
the  Red  Grass,  Red  Lake,  Sand  Hill,  Wild  Rice,  and  Buffalo 
rivers  are  considerable  streams. 

The  Rainy  Lake  river  forms  a  part  of  the  northern  boundary, 
and  its  afiiuents,  the  Big  and  Little  Fork,  and  the  Vermilion 
river,  which  flows  into  the  same  chain  of  lakes,  are  streams  of 
moderate  size.  There  are  fifty  or  more  creeks  flowing  into  Lake 
Superior,  which  aid  in  watering  and  fertilizing  this  northeastern 
slope. 

Minnesota  is  emphatically  the  Lake  State.  In  the  surveyed 
area  of  the  State  there  are  upwards  of  7,000  lakes  ;  their  average 
extent  is  about  300  acres,  but  a  number  of  them  exceed  10,000 
acres,  and  others  are  still  larger;  Lake  Minnetonka  covers  16,000 
acres  ;  Lake  Winnebagoshish,  56,000  acres  ;  Leech  Lake,  1 14,000 
acres;  Mille  Lacs,  130,000;  Red  Lake,  at  least  350,000,  and 
Lake  of  the  Woods  and  the  Rainy  Lake  Chain,  which  form  part 
of  the  northern  boundary,  are  still  larger.  Not  content  with 
these,  Minnesota  claims  a  considerable  slice  of  Lake  Superior  as 
her  property.  Many  of  the  smaller  lakes  are  very  deep,  and  all 
are  well  stocked  with  fish.  Ordinarily  their  shores  are  dry  and 
firm  down  to  the  water's  edge,  except  at  their  outlets,  and  the 
waters  are  clear,  cool  and  pure.  The  bottoms  are  generally 
sandy  or  pebbly.  The  water  of  Minnesota,  whether  obtained 
from  lake,  spring  or  well,  is  of  excellent  quality.  The  beautiful 
scenery  around  many  of  these  lakes,  and  the  cascades,  rapids  and 
falls  at  the  outlet  of  others,  have  made  them  very  pleasant  re- 
sorts. Among  these  Minnetonka  and  White  Bear  Lakes,  and 
the  F"alls  of  Minncopa  and  Minnehaha  have  perhaps  the  widest 
reputation. 

Geolo{^y  and  Mineralojry. — The  greater  part  of  the  State  is 
covered  with  a  rich  and  fertile  alluvium,  or,  as  in   the   highlands, 


Q04  OUK     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

by  an  older  and  less  fertile  drift,  which,  however,  sustains  a  noble 
forest  growth.  Beneath  this  drift  there  is,  along  the  northern 
shore  of  Lake  Superior,  and  extending  southward  on  both  sides 
of  the  St.  Croix  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  and  below 
that  point  along  the  eastern  and  western  banks  of  that  river 
below  the  southern  line  of  the  State,  a  broad  belt  of  metamorphic 
slates  and  sandstones  intermingled  with  volcanic  rocks,  traps  and 
porphyries ;  these  are  of  the  Silurian  epoch,  and  many  dikes  of 
greenstone  and  basalt  are  interjected  in  the  strata.  Occasionally 
deposits  of  marl-drift  and  red  clay  are  found  above  these  rocks. 
This  is  the  principal  mineral  region  of  the  State.  Near  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  State,  or,  rather,  in  the  southeast 
quarter,  between  the  92d  and  94th  meridians,  is  a  small  tract  of 
Devonian  rocks  ;  west  anci  northwest  of  the  Silurian  slates  and 
sandstones,  the  underlying  rocks  are  eozoic,  hornblende  and  argil- 
laceous slates,  and  granite,  gneiss  and  metamorphic  rocks.  In  the 
western  and  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  between  the  94th 
and  96th  meridians,  but  not  extending  below  the  46th  parallel, 
and  underlying  the  low  hills  which  form  the  divide  between  the 
affluents  of  the  Mississippi  and  those  of  the  Red  river  of  the 
North,  is  another  belt  of  Silurian  rocks,  upper  Silurian,  in  the 
northern  portion,  and  lower  Silurian,  nearer  the  Mississippi. 
These  are  mostly  limestone,  and  like  those  of  the  same  epoch 
farther  east  are  almost  entirely  devoid  of  fossils.  West  of  these, 
and  forming  the  underlying  strata  of  the  Red  River  valley,  we 
find  a  broad  belt  of  cretaceous  rocks,  mostly  of  the  Niagara,  Ga- 
lena and  Trenton  limestones,  with  smaller  outcrops  of  St.  Peter 
and  perhaps  Potsdam  sandstones.  Lasdy,  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  State,  in  and  near  the  valley  of  the  Big  Sioux,  the 
eozoic  rocks  again  approach  the  surface,  and  some  of  them  are 
mineral-bearing  rocks.  The  Lake  Superior  region  yields,  in  large 
quantity,  iron  of  the  same  character  and  purity  as  that  found  in 
the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan,  and  copper  ores  identical  with 
those  of  Ontonagon  ;  but  neither  have  been  as  yet  extensively 
worked.  Gold  and  silver  exist  in  moderately  paying  quantities 
near  Vermilion  lake,  in  the  northern  part  of  St.  Louis  county; 
but  the  region  is  yet  so  wild  and  inaccessible  that  the  mines  are 


SOIL    AND    VEGETATION.  ^q- 

not  now  worked.  Salt  springs  occur  at  various  points  in  the 
State,  and  salt  of  excellent  quality  Is  manufactured  In  the  Red 
River  valley,  and  at  Belle  Plaine,  on  the  Minnesota  river. 
Among  the  other  minerals  of  the  State  are  :  slates  (both  building 
and  writing),  lime,  white  sand  for  glass-making,  building  stone, 
peat,  marl,  tripoli,  etc.  The  red  pipe  stone,  of  which  the  Indians 
made  their  pipes,  is  found  in  large  quantities  in  the  southwest, 
and  Is  quarried  and  used  for  many  purposes. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — The  three  slopes  named  under  the 
heading  of  Surface  of  the  Country  have  each  a  different  soil  and 
vegetable  growths.  The  northern,  along  the  Red  River  valley, 
and  the  basins  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  which  form  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  State,  Is  a  rich  alluvial  deposit  admirably  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  cereals  and  to  grazing.  The  Red  River  valley, 
from  sixty  to  seventy  miles  in  width,  though  but  half  of  it  is  in 
Minnesota,  is  unsurpassed  in  fertility,  and  may  well  become  the 
granary  of  the  world  In  the  production  of  wheat.  While  it  Is 
cultivated  more  carelessly  than  it  should  be,  and  averages  only 
about  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre, 
it  Is  capable  of  doing  much  better  than  that,  and  instances  are 
not  wanting  on  land,  within  twenty  months  from  Its  first  breaking. 
In  which  fifty,  sixty,  eighty,  and  even  one  hundred  and  two  bushels 
of  wheat  to  the  acre  have  been  raised,  and  that  not  on  a  single 
acre  only,  by  any  trickery,  but  on  broad  fields  of  sixty  or  eighty 
acres.  This  region  has  forests  of  oak,  beech,  elm  and  maple, 
though  the  greater  part  is  a  gendy  undulating  prairie.  The 
eastern  slope  has  much  broken  land,  and  is  a  better  mineral  than 
agricultural  region  ;  though  the  soil  yields  fair  crops,  especially 
of  roots,  much  of  this  slope,  as  well  as  the  highlands  or  divides, 
is  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  pine,  spruce,  and  other  conif- 
erous trees,  of  great  value  as  lumber,  though  the  soil  beneath 
them,  when  cleared.  Is  comparatively  barren.  This  region  occu- 
pies about  twenty-one  thousand  square  miles.  The  southern 
slope,  which  comprises  all  of  the  State  below  the  highlands,  is 
composed  of  alternate  rolling  prairie  and  woodland,  and  has  a 
very  rich  and  fertile  soil.  About  one-third  of  tlie  surface  of 
Minnesota  Is  woodland,  and  her  citizens  have  wisely  taken  meas- 


Q06  <^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

ures  to  renew  the  forest  growth,  and  not  suffer  the  land  to  become 
dry  and  sterile  for  the  want  of  forests.  They  have  planted 
already  nearly  tliirty  millions  of  trees,  to  replace  those  which 
have  been  cut  off.  By  this  wise  precaution  they  have  secured 
to  their  State  its  forest  supplies,  without  material  diminution.  In 
the  southern  slope  there  are  detached  groves  and  copses  of  great 
beauty  sprinkled  everywhere  among  the  prairies  and  around 
the  numerous  lakes,  while  growths  of  dwarfed  oaks  skirt  the 
prairies  and  are  known  as  oak  openings.  There  is  also  a  tract 
on  both  sides  of  the  Minnesota  river,  over  one  hundred  miles  in 
length,  and  of  an  average  width  exceeding  forty  miles,  comprising 
an  area  of  five  thousand  square  miles,  known  as  the  "Big  Woods," 
which  is  covered  with  a  dense  and  maenificent  ei'owth  of  hard- 
wood  timber.  This  is  said  to  be  the  largest  forest  of  deciduous 
timber  between  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers.  In  this,  as 
well  as  in  the  smaller  groves,  are  found  almost  every  species  of 
deciduous  trees  native  to  the  States  and  Territories  north  and 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  indigenous  flora  of  the  State  is  a  combination  of  the  Can- 
adian, or  sub-alpine,  which  is  found  along  our  northern  frontier, 
with  the  Appalachian  or  Mississippian  of  the  upper  portion  of 
the  Great  Valley.  Owing  to  the  great  number  of  small  lakes, 
streams  and  marshes  in  the  northeast,  the  aquatic  plants  of  the 
sub-alpine  flora  predominate — wild  rice,  reeds,  callas,  and  water- 
loving  plants  generally.  In  the  northeast  part  of  the  State  it  is 
estimated  that  there  are  256,000  acres  of  cranberry  marsh,  which 
yield  abundantly.  Wild  fruits  come  to  great  perfection,  and,  in 
cultivated  fruits,  all  except  the  peach  and  the  later  grapes  are 
produced  of  remarkable  excellence  and  in  great  quantities.  The 
apples,  pears,  plums,  cherries,  early  grapes,  strawberries,  rasp- 
berries, currants,  blackberries,  whortleberries  and  gooseberries 
of  Minnesota  are  not  surpassed  anywhere. 

Zoology. — The  forests  abound  with  wild  animals  and  beasts  of 
prey,  but  these  are  not  as  numerous  in  the  prairie  regions.  The 
bear,  panther  or  cougar,  wnld  cat  and  lynx,  and  the  gray  wolf,  as 
well  as  the  marten,  fisher,  otter,  inink,  beaver,  and  muskrat,  skunk, 
raccoon,  fox,  woodchuck,  gopher,  hare  and  squirrel,  and  other 


ZOOLOGY  AND  CLIMAl^E    OF  MINNESOTA.  g^y 

rodents  are  sufficiently  numerous,  and  the  coyote  or  prairie  \volf 
hunts  in  packs  in  the  open  lands.  Of  the  larger  game  there  are 
the  elk,  two  species  of  deer,  and  possibly  the  moose.  The  buf- 
falo is  rarely  seen,  and  the  antelope,  if  ever  an  inhabitant  of  this 
reo-ion,  north  and  east  of  the  Missouri,  is  so  no  loncrer.  Of 
game  birds,  land  and  aquatic,  there  is  no  end.  Wild  turkeys, 
pigeons,  grouse  of  several  species,  and  partridges,  frequent  the 
woods,  and  wild  geese,  several  species  of  ducks,  brant,  teal,  etc., 
are  found  in  their  season  in  great  numbers,  around  the  hundreds 
of  larger  lakes.  Birds  of  gay  plumage,  and  those  of  melodious 
song,  make  the  woods,  lakes  and  rivers  vocal  with  their  sweet 
notes  or  brilliant  with  their  varied  and  beautiful  hues.  The  rep- 
tile tribes  are  not  so  numerous  as  elsewhere.  There  are  three 
or  four  poisonous,  and  a  considerable  number  of  innocuous  ser- 
pents, large  and  small.  The  batrachians  pour  forth  their  music 
in  the  northern  marshes,  but  the  lizard  family  are  missing.  Fish 
abound  in  all  the  waters  of  the  State,  and  the  State  Fish  Com- 
mission, in  co-operation  with  the  United  States  Fish  Commis- 
sion, have  been  stocking  the  larger  lakes  and  streams  with  choice 
species  of  edible  fish.     This  work  is  still  progressing. 

Climate. — A  great  deal  has  been  written  about  the  climate  of 
Minnesota,  both  in  its  praise  and  dispraise.  From  its  central 
situation  and  the  curving  northward  of  the  isothermal  lines,  as 
well  as  from  its  very  moderate  elevation,  the  climate  is  undoubt- 
edly milder  than  that  of  States  or  countries  farther  east  in  the 
same  latitude.  The  mean  average  temperature  of  the  State 
has  been  given  as  44.6°  Fahrenheit.  This  is  not  \-et  true, 
though  it  may  become  so  in  a  few  years.  Its  present  average 
annual  mean,  from  observations  made  at  many  different  points 
for  from  eight  to  twelve  years  past,  does  not  exceed  42.9°  Fah- 
renheit, and  this  is  a  very  decided  advance  from  the  mean  of 
eight  or  ten  years  since.  As  the  country  is  settled,  the  annual 
temperature  rises,  and  though  there  may  be  occasional  severe 
winters  like  those  of  1877-78,  and  of  1879-80,  when  the  temper- 
ature sinks  to — 53°,  or — 60°,  yet  it  is  gradually  advancing  to  a 
milder  temperature.  The  air  is  very  dry  and  bracing;  the  rain- 
fall is  not  as  great  as  it  is  farther  east,  and  probably  averages^ 


908  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

one  year  witli  another  for  the  whole  State,  about  27.5  Inches; 
but  it  is  one  of  the  pecuHarities  of  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  that 
three-fourths  of  it  falls  between  April  and  October,  and  more 
than  one-half  between  the  ist  of  May  and  the  15th  of  August — 
the  season  when  the  growing  crops  most  require  it.  The  sum- 
mer is  hot,  and  everything  (including  weeds)  grows  with  the 
greatest  rapidity.  When  the  harvest  is  gathered,  winter  comes, 
sometimes  with  abundant  snows,  but  oftener  without  them  ;  and 
the  frost-king  reigns  from  November  to  April,  but  the  dryness 
of  the  air  renders  the  intense  cold  more  endurable,  and  the 
winter  is  a  season  of  activity.  The  climate  is  healthful,  the 
death-rate  low,  and  malarious  diseases  unknown.  The  climate 
is  regarded  as  a  desirable  one  for  consumptives  from  its  dry 
and  bracing  air.  It  is  certain  that  many  of  those  who  come  to 
the  State  with  weak  lungs,  when  the  disease  is  not  too  far  ad- 
vanced, do  recover  and  enjoy  good  health.     The  table  on  page 

909  prepared  with  great  care  and  labor,  gives  all  the  necessary 
particulars  for  determining  die  climate  of  all  parts  of  the  State. 
The  temperature,  rainfall,  humidity,  etc.,  are  averages  from  ob- 
servations continued  for  from  five  to  ten  years,  and  are  more 
satisfactory  than  any  statement  of  the  temperature,  rainfall,  etc., 
of  a  single  year,  which  may  be  exceptional  in  its  character. 

Railroads  and  Steam  Ahivigation. — There  are  none  of  the 
Western  States  which  have  made  more  rapid  progress  in  railroad 
construction  than  Minnesota,  and  none  which  possess  greater 
facilities  for  travel  and  transportation.  Let  us  begin  with  the 
navigable  waters.  The  Mississippi,  interrupted  only  by  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  Sauk  rapids,  and  Little  Falls,  is  navigable 
to  the  foot  of  Pokegama  Falls,  distant  but  236  miles  from  its 
source.  As  far  as  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  about  175  miles 
froni  the  point  where  it  enters  the  State,  it  is  navigable  for  large 
steamers,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  since  the  recent  improve- 
ments made  by  the  United  States  government;  and  above  Min- 
neapolis, there  is  navigation  for  smaller  steamers  for  400  miles, 
except  the  obstructions  mentioned  above.  On  the  Minnesota 
river,  in  good  stages  of  water,  boats  run  to  Granite  Falls,  a  dis- 
tance of  238  miles  from  its  mouth.     That  fertile  Nile,  called  the 


METEOROLOGY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


909 


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2 


Qio  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Red  river  of  the  North,  gives  380  miles  of  navigable  water  on  the 
western  boLindary  of  the  State.  The  St.  Croix  furnishes  fifty-two 
miles  of  navigable  water  on  the  eastern  border.  Lake  Superior 
gives  167  miles  of  shore  line  to  the  northeastern  section  of  the 
State,  and  the  St.  Louis  river,  the  principal  stream  of  that  sec- 
tion, adds  twenty-one  miles  of  navigable  waters  to  the  extreme 
iwest  end  of  Lake  Superior.  To  sum  up,  Minnesota  has  2,796 
miles  of  shore  line  of  navicrable  waters — one  mile  of  coast  line 
to  every  thirty  square  miles  of  surface. 

Of  railroads  there  were  over  3,140  miles  completed  and  in 
operation  on  the  ist  of  September,  1880.  The  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  crosses  the  State  from  Duluth  to  Fargo  and  the  North- 
west, and  its  principal  feeders,  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacific  and  the 
St.  Paul  and  Duluth,  connect  it  with  the  two  chief  cities  of  Min- 
nesota, Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  and  with  the  more  distant 
cities  of  Milwaukie  and  Chicago,  also  ;  these  three  lines,  with 
their  various  branches  and  extensions,  include  about  975  miles 
in  the  State,  and  have  three  lines  crossing  the  State  from  east  to 
west,  and  two,  the  Duluth  road  and  the  St.  Vincent  extension, 
from  north  to  south.  The  other  four  roads  which  cross  the  State 
from  east  to  west  at  lower  points  are,  the  Hastings  and  Dakota 
Division  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukie  and  St.  Paul,  which  also 
operates  two  roads  running  southward  to  the  State  line  (the 
River  Division  and  the  Iowa  and  Minnesota  Division)  ;  the  Wi- 
nona and  St.  Peter's  ;  the  Sioux  City  and  St.  Paul,  with  its  ex- 
tensions ;  and  the  Southern  Minnesota.  These  are  crossed  in 
every  direction  by  local  railways  as  well  as  by  two  important 
lines,  the  Minneapolis  and  St.  Louis,  the  Rochester  and  Northern 
Minnesota,  and  the  St.  Paul  and  Sioux  City,  and  the  Milwaukie, 
Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  now  the  Iowa  and  Minnesota  Division 
of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukie  and  St.  Paul  Railway. 

All  these  roads,  or  all  except  a  single  narrow  gauge  road,  are 
run  in  connection  with,  and  controlled,  more  or  less,  by  one  of 
three  great  railways,  viz.  :  The  Northern  Pacific,  the  Chicago  and 
Northwestern,  and  the  Chicago,  Milwaukie  and  St.  Paul.  In 
January,  1880,  there  was  no  town  or  village  in  the  State,  except 
in  the  great  unorganized  counties  in  the  north,  which  was  more 


RAILROADS    OF  MINNESOTA.  a\\ 

than  twenty-five  miles  from  a  railway  station.  When  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  first  railroad  in  the  State  was  built  in  1862, 
and  that  at  the  end  of  that  year  there  were  but  ten  miles  of  rail- 
road in  operation,  while  by  the  close  of  1880,  eighteen  years 
later,  there  will  be  at  least  3,500  miles,  in  thirty  different  lines, 
and  that  the  earnings  have  risen  from  about  ^15,000  in  1862  to 
$8,156,846  in  1879,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  the  commercial  wealth  of  Minnesota.  This  rapid  de- 
velopment is  destined  still  to  go  on.  Among  the  projected  roads, 
already  in  progress,  is  one  to  connect  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
with  the  Grand  Trunk  road  at  Manitowoc,  on  Lake  Michigan  ; 
another  to  connect  Duluth  with  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  at  that 
point  with  the  Canadian  Central ;  while  a  third  is  already  con- 
tracted for  to  tap  the  Canadian  Pacific  from  Duluth.  The  two 
latter  will  open  up  the  vast  mineral  country  of  the  north  and 
northeast,  and  may  make  the  gold  and  silver  region  of  Vermilion 
lake,  and  the  copper  and  iron  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  as 
famous  as  any  of  the  mining  districts  of  the  States  and  Territo- 
ries farther  west.  Most  of  the  roads  in  the  State  hold  land 
grants  from  the  United  States  Government,  and  the  commend- 
able enterprise  which  they  have  displayed  in  making  known  to 
emicrrants  from  other  lands  and  States  the  advantaoes  which 
Minnesota  had  to  offer  to  settlers,  was  undoubtedly  prompted  in 
part  by  the  desire  to  sell  their  own  lands,  and  to  develop  the 
region  through  which  their  route  passed,  so  as  to  build  up  a 
large  way  traffic.  It  can  be  said,  however,  with  truth,  of  most 
of  them,  that  they  have  readily  furnished  information  to  settlers 
in  regard  to  securing  Government  lands  by  purchase,  by  pre- 
emption, and  by  the  Homestead  and  Timber-Culture  Acts. 

Agriculhiral  Prodiicts. — The  rapid  increase  of  agricultural 
production  has  kept  pace  with  the  development  of  railways  and 
other  means  of  transportation  for  the  crops  which  were  raised. 
This  progress  has  been  greatly  accelerated  within  the  past  three 
years.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the  penetration  of  railways  into  new 
districts,  where  the  land  is  amazingly  fertile,  and  in  still  greater 
measure  to  the  discovery  that  the  lands  of  the  Red  River  valley 
were  better  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  spring  wheat  than  any 


g^2  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Other  lands  yet  sown  with  that  grain  on  this  continent.  This 
discovery,  widely  heralded,  was  immediately  followed  by  the  con- 
struction of  railways  through  that  valley  and  across  it,  whkh 
secured  to  every  wheat-grower  an  immediate  cash  market  for  all 
the  wheat  he  could  raise.  The  great  immigration  to  that  region 
since  1877,  and  the  immense  quantity  of  land  which  has  been 
broken  there  for  wheat,  has  had  a  wonderful  effect  in  bringing 
this  new  State  into  the  front  rank  of  grain-producing  States.  Yet 
only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  vast  territory  of  Minnesota  has, 
up  to  this  time,  come  into  cultivation.  Of  its  53,459,840  acres, 
or  somewhat  more  than  50,000,000  after  deducting  the  water 
surface,  not  quite  one-ninth  is  yet  tilled  ;  and  this  not  because  the 
land  is  worthless  or  difficult  of  tillage,  but  because  it  is  so  exten- 
sive that  men  enough  cannot  be  brought  there  to  till  it  as  rapidly 
as  the  demand  for  the  grain  requires.  In  1850,  thirty  years  ago, 
there  were  but  1,900  acres  in  the  whole  territory  cultivated  ;  in 
i860  there  were  433,267;  in  1870  there  were  1,863,316;  in  1877 
there  were  2,914.654;  in  1879,4,090,039;  in  18S0,  a  litde  more 
than  6,000,000.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  30,000,000 
acres  yet  remain  of  lands  as  fertile  as  any  that  have  been  pur- 
chased and  broken  by  the  plow,  besides  an  area  of  about 
15,000,000  of  acres  of  grazing  and  timber  lands.  In  all,  proba- 
bly nearly  30,000,000  acres  have  been  disposed  of,  including 
the  lands  certified  to  railroads — something  like  8,500,000  acres — 
and  the  lands  sold  and  granted  to  actual  settlers — over  15,000,- 
000  acres  more — and  the  swamp  lands,  school,  university,  inter- 
nal improvement  and  other  lands  held  by  the  State — but  as  we 
have  said  only  a  litde  more  than  6,000,000  acres  of  the  whole 
have  yet  been  brought  into  cultivation.  And  what  are  the  crops 
produced  on  these  6,000,000  acres  ?  The  reports  of  the  crops 
of  1880  are,  of  course,  not  yet  at  hand.  We  only  know  that  the 
wheat  crop  of  the  summer  of  18S0  was  not  less  than  44,000,000 
bushels,  and  probably  reached  48,000,000  bushels. 

Of  the  crops  of  1879  we  have  more  definite  information. 
There  were,  it  will  be  remembered,  only  4,090,039  acres  under 
cultivation  that  year,  and  of  this  2,769.369  acres  were  in  wheat. 
But  1879  was  not,  in  Minnesota,  a  pardcularly  good  wheat  year; 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTIONS.  oi-j 

the  average  yield  throughout  the  State  was  only  12.3  bushels  to 
the  acre.  Of  course  the  Red  River  valley  did  much  better  than 
this,  the  yield  there  being  over  twenty-two  bushels  to  the  acre; 
but  other  parts  of  the  State  fell  below  the  twelve  bushels  ;  yet 
with  this  really  half-crop,  the  State  reported  34,063,239  bushels 
of  wheat;  19,518,450  bushels  of  oats,  which  yielded  thirty-five 
bushels  to  the  acre;  and  12,764,955  bushels  of  corn,  which  also 
yielded  thirty-five  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  other  principal  crops 
were  barley,  sorghum  (of  which  the  Minnesota  amber  cane  was 
most  largely  cultivated),  potatoes,  hay,  of  which  a  large  propor- 
tion is  what  is  known  as  "wild  hay,"  and  is  derived  either  from 
the  native  grasses,  some  of  which  are  of  excellent  quality,  or 
from  the  nutritious  wild  rice  which  abounds  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
lakes,  and  furnishes  a  valuable  substitute  for  hay,  much  relished 
by  cattle  and  sheep.  There  is,  in  the  older  counties,  a  disposi- 
tion to  cultivate  to  some  extent  the  forage  grasses  ;  but  the  State 
has  not  yet  made  such  progress  in  the  rearing  of  live-stock  as 
to  make  the  cultivation  of  forage  plants  and  grains  on  a  large 
scale  indispensable.  The  cultivation  of  sorghum,  especially  of 
the  early  amber  variety,  which  ripens  usually  before  frost  comes, 
is  becoming  very  general  in  the  State,  and  mills  or  factories  for 
grinding  the  cane  and  making  sugar  on  a  large  scale  are  already 
numbered  by  the  score.  For  the  promotion  of  this  new  agricul- 
tural industry  not  only  in  this  but  in  other  States,  the  public  is 
indebted,  to  Hon.  William  G.  LeDuc,  the  present  Commissioner 
of  Aijriculture,  who  is  himself  a  citizen  of  Minnesota.  Mr.  LeDuc 
has  labored  earnestly,  zealously  and  persistently  to  bring  about 
this  great  change  from  the  importing  of  cane  sugar  to  the  raising 
and  producing  our  own  sugar  from  the  sorghum.  The  success 
which  seems  now  to  be  within  reach  within  the  next  five  or  ten 
years,  means  an  increase  of  our  agricultural  production  to  the 
annual  amount  of  eighty  to  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  the 
diminishing  of  our  importations  to  the  same  amount  or  even 
more,  since  the  cheapening  of  the  price  of  sugar  will  cause  an  in- 
creased consumption  and  the  diminution  of  the  duties  to  the 
extent  of  about  forty  millions  of  dollars. 

We  have  not  the  complete  statistics  of  the  crops  of  1879  and 
58 


914 


OUR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 


1880,  but  the  following  table  gives  the  amount  and  value  of  the 
principal  crops,  with  the  yield  per  acre  and  the  price : 


Crop. 


el 


Amount  of  crop; 
in  busliels,  tons, 
pounds  or        i 
gallons. 


T3 


Wheat bu . 

Oats bu. 

I  Corn bu. 

!  Barley bu. 

I 

I  Rye bu 

i  Buckwheat bu. 

j  B^ans bu 

I  Flaxseed bu 

i 

'   Potatoes bu, 

I  Sorghum  Syrup.    ...gal. 

i  Tame  Hay tons 

j  Wild  Hay tons 

i  Wool ^pounds 


Totals. 


fi879 
'i  1 88  J 
(1879 

\  1880 

(  1879 
\  1S80 

I1B79 
\  1 88 J 

I  1879 
\  1880 

I  1879 
\  1880 
f  1879 
\  1880 

I  1879 
i8So 

■1879 
1880 

•1879 
1880 
1879 
1880 
1879 
1880 
(  1879 
\  1880 


37, '53, 
45.93' 
21,114 

27.53<^ 

12,692 

16,598 

2.4'3 

3.565 

172 

204 

33 

33 

24 

25 

99 

407 

3.915 

4,203 

446 

775 
194 

205 

1,200 

1,270 

948 

925 


842 

533 
966 
6)J 
.563 
,504 
.199 
,680 
,887 
.54^ 
,'63 
.359 
,434 
,260 

.378 
,124 

,890 

963 
946 

,602 

994 
700 
506 
,000 
1184 
,278 


'3-5 

15-5 

3725 

40.00 

34.00 

36.04 

24.88 

30.00 

15.00 

'7-5 
9.81 
10.5 

"•35 
12.00 

77 
9  00 

103-3 

103-7 

89.3 

106.1 

1-35 

1.42 


Number  of 
acres  in  ciop 


2,76:^,521 

2,963,325 

567,37' 
688,415 

379,766 

455, 5'4 

96.951 

118,856 

".534 
11,688 

3,380 
3. '77 
2,156 

2.105 
12,966 
45.236 
37.9'o 
40,618 

5,033 

7.317 

145, '50 

146,928 


I'  S  o    . 
^-  X  o  bo 

Oi   3   O. 


Total  value  of 
crop. 


■94 

^34,924,612 

•98 

45,012,937 

•23 

4,854,442 

•29 

7,985,614 

.27 

3,48^,992 

•35 

5,739.476 

•43 

1,037,676 

.70 

2.495.976 

•49 

84.7'S 

•75 

153. 4^55 

.62 

20,561 

•  63 

21,016 

1.40 

34.208 

1.65 

4 '.679 

1.2s 

124,223 

1.30 

529,261 

•25 

978.973 

.50 

2,101,982 

.30 

134.083 

•32 

248,193 

474 

924,272 

5^30 

7,090,210 

3^50 

4,201,771 

4.00 

4,9^8,ooo 

.26 

246,528 

•30 

277-583 

8,507>9i7 


121,652,358 


Live-Stock. — Minnesota  is  too  new  a  State,  and  has  too  much 
arable  land  and  timber,  and  too  many  other  interests  calling  for  her 
special  attention  to  allow  her,  as  yet,  to  become  largely  engaged 
in  rearing  stock.  By  and  by,  when  her  great  northern  counties 
become  accessible  as  grazing  lands,  and  when  her  ample  pro- 
duction of  hay,  corn,  oats,  and  the  forage  grasses  and  nutritious 
seeds,  such  as  millet,  pearl  millet,  rice  corn,  etc.,  gives  her  ample 
facilities  for  it,  she  will  receive  immense  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks 
of  sheep  to  fatten  for  the  foreign  markets.  We  do  not  mean  to 
be  understood  that  the  young  State  has  not  a  respectable  show- 
incr  in  the  way  of  live-stock,  or  that  it  is  not  increasing ;  but  only 
that,  as  compared  with  States  where  the  rearing  of  cattle,  sheep 
and  swine  has  been  made  a  specialty,  and  where  much  of  the 
land  is  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  to  cultivation,  its  numbers 
may  appear  relatively  small.  It  is,  at  most,  only  another  indica- 
tion of  the  variety  of  agricultural  and  pastoral  pursuits  of  which 
"  Our  Western  Empire  "  is  capable.     The  following  table  shows 


LIVE-STOCK  AND  DAIRY  FARMING. 


915 


the  number  and  value  of  the  live-stock  of  Minnesota  in  January, 
1879,  and  January,  1880,  according  to  the  reports  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Department: 


Animals. 

Horses 

Mules  and  Asses. . . . 

Milch  Cows 

Oxen  and  other  cattle 

Sheep  

Swine 

Totals 


Number   in 
Jan.,  1879. 

Price. 

247,300 
7,000 
278,900 
316,100 
307,500 
196,200 

^63.01 

79.02 

19.10 

17.28 

2. 1 1 

370 

1,353,000 

Value. 


Number    in 
Jan.,  1880.   I 


u 


Value. 


)gi5,582,373 
553.140 
5,326,990 
5,462,208 
648,825 
725,940 


^28,299,476 


274,170  588. 34 

7,350  100.00 

304.110  20.16 

322,422j       30.00 
369,000  2.50 

196,000   6.  II 


^24,220,178 
735,000 
,885 
9,672,660 
922,500 
1,197,560 


6,13? 


1,473.052 '542,880,783 


Dairy  farming  has  been  constantly  increasing  in  Minnesota 
during  the  last  decade.  In  1871  there  were  produced  7,356.768 
pounds  of  butter,  and  469,147  pounds  of  cheese  ;  in  1872,  8,828,- 
030  pounds  butter,  and  772, 63Q  pounds  cheese ;  in  1873  there 
were  10,140,316  pounds  of  butter,  1,031,510  pounds  of  cheese; 
in  1874,  10,916,942  pounds  of  butter,  1,090,238  pounds  of 
cheese;  in  1875,  12,000,000  pounds  of  butter,  1,250,000  pounds 
of  cheese;  in  1876,  12,348,971  pounds  of  butter,  1,052,348  pounds 
of  cheese;  in  1877,  13,443,195  pounds  of  butter,  and  829,075 
pounds  of  cheese  ;  in  1879,  15,639,069  pounds  of  butter,  and 
586,448  pounds  of  cheese,  in  1880,  16,000,000  pounds  of  butter, 
and  600,000  pounds  of  cheese.  Great  attention  is  paid  to  secur- 
ing the  best  cows  for  dairy  purposes,  and  all  the  improved  appa- 
ratus for  butter  and  cheese-making  is  promptly  obtained.  The 
great  extension  of  the  cultivation  of  forage  plants  has  been  stim- 
ulated largely  by  the  growing  zeal  of  the  farmers  of  Minnesota 
to  become  large  producers  of  the  best  butter  and  cheese.  The 
increase  of  26,000  milch  cows  in  a  single  year  is  a  strong  indica- 
tion of  the  energy  and  enterprise  of  the  dairy  farmers. 

Afanufacitires. — Few  States  of  the  Union,  certainly  none  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  equal  Minnesota  in  manufacturing 
capacities.  In  none  is  there  a  more  advantageous  distribution 
of  water-power  with  reference  to  supplies  of  raw  material  and 
accessibility  to  markets.  Here  the  great  rivers  take  their  rise 
which  (gather  contributions  from  half  the   continent  and  afford 


C)i6  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  marvellous  interior  navigation  of  the  North  American  con- 
tinent. Yet  the  abrupt  descents  which  give  manufacturing 
power  are  in  close  proximity  to  the  levels  which  afford  navigation 
to  the  heart  of  the  continent.  The  Mississippi  itself  lends  the 
State  a  shore  line  of  one  thousand  miles,  half  of  which  it  con- 
tributes to  purposes  of  manufactures  and  the  other  to  those  of 
commerce.  The  Mississippi  originates  at  an  elevation  of  836 
feet  above  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  In  its  descent  from  the 
sumniit  level  to  this,  its  water  line  is  broken  at  long  intervals  by 
falls  and  rapids,  which  form  extensive  and  valuable  water-powers. 
Pokegama  Falls,  Little  Falls,  Sauk  Rapids,  and  St.  Anthony  Falls 
are  amono-  those  on  the  main  river,  besides  numerous  others  on 
all  the  tributary  streams,  especially  those  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  Mississippi,  which  have  a  much  more  rapid  descent  than 
this,  and  form  numerous  cascades  and  rapids.  St.  Anthony  Falls, 
on  which  Minneapolis  is  situated,  forms  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent natural  seats  of  manufactures  in  the  country. 

The  St.  Croix  affords  navigation  to  the  falls  and  rocky  abut- 
ments which  are  capable  of  vast  power.  The  Minnesota  river  is 
navigable  to  the  granite  obstructions,  where  busy  industry  is  al- 
ready in  full  career.  The  St.  Louis  river  descends  to  the  level 
of  Lake  Superior  through  a  series  of  jagged  falls  of  incalculable 
power.  Fergus  Falls,  on  Red  river,  the  several  falls  on  the  Zum- 
bro,  on  Cannon,  Root,  Cottonwood,  Redwood,  and  other  streams 
exhibit  the  distribution  of  water-power  throughout  the  State.  A 
small  fraction  only  of  this  manufacturing  force  is  yet  made  avail- 
able. Considering  its  vastness  and  diffusion,  the  capacity  of  the 
surrounding  country  for  feeding  it  with  raw  material  and  the 
illimitable  field  for  the  consumption  of  the  products,  it  is  difficult 
to  limit  the  industrial  progress  which  may  be  reasonably  expected 
of  the  future. 

The  leading  staples  of  manufacturing  industry  in  Minnesota 
are  flour  and  lumber — one  the  manufactured  product  of  its  vast 
areas  of  fertile  soil,  the  other  of  the  pine  forests  which  cover  a 
large  part  of  Northeastern  Minnesota  above  latitude  46°  30'.  The 
jjine  belt  is  intersected  by  the  St.  Croix  and  its  affluents  and  by 
the  upper  Mississippi  and  its  numerous  tributaries,  which  furnish 


MINNESOTA'S  LUMBER    TRADE.  gjy 

convenient  channels  for  floating  the  logs  cut  upon  their  banks  in 
winter,  upon  the  high  spring  waters  to  Minneapolis  and  Still- 
water, which  are  the  principal  depots  of  lumber  manufacture, 
though  lumber  is  manufactured  extensively  at  Marine  Mills  and 
other  points  on  the  St.  Croix,  and  also  at  Hastings,  Red  Wing, 
Winona,  which  receives  extensive  supplies  of  logs  from  the  Chip- 
pewa river,  and  indeed  almost  all  the  river  towns.  A  first-class 
boom  w^as  constructed  in  1879  at  St.  Paul,  and  two  or  three  large 
saw-mills  were  erected  in  1880.  The  pine  forests  which  clothe 
the  head  waters  of  the  three  great  river  systems  which  have 
their  sources  in  Minnesota  are  a  part  of  the  vast  belt  of  pine 
which  stretches  across  Northern  Wisconsin.  The  immense 
areas  of  prairie  country  which  stretch  west,  southwest  and  south 
of  this  pine  zone,  comprising  about  three-fourths  of  Minnesota, 
and  all  of  Iowa,  Dakota,  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  afford  an  illimit- 
able market  for  this  lumber,  which  is  constantly  increasing  with 
the  rapid  growth  of  population,  and  its  extension  over  the  naked 
plains  of  the  West.  The  railroad  system  which  centres  at  St. 
Paul  and  Minneapolis,  and  which  extends  throughout  all  this  vast 
region,  the  vast  supplies  of  lumber  manufactured  at  Minneapolis, 
Stillwater,  Menomonie,  Eau  Clare,  Chippewa  Falls,  and  at  other 
points  in  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  are  distributed  throughout 
this  great  prairie  region,  and  the  transportation  of  lumber  forms 
a  very  important  item  in  the  business  of  these  railroads.  Im- 
mense supplies  of  logs  are  annually  floated  down  the  Mississippi 
from  the  St.  Croix  river  and  its  Wisconsin  tributaries,  to  be  sawed 
into  lumber  at  different  river  points,  especially  at  St.  Louis.  A 
great  proportion  of  the  lumber  supply  of  Western  Iowa  and  Ne- 
braska has  heretofore  been  derived  from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  ; 
but  arrangements  have  recently  been  entered  into  by  the  rail- 
roads connecting  the  Wisconsin  pineries  with  those  penetrating 
these  prairie  States  whereby  the  cost  of  transportation  has  been 
considerably  reduced.  They  have  formed  an  organization  know-n 
as  the  lumber  line,  with  its  head-quarters  at  St.  Paul,  by  which 
lumber  is  transported  without  change  of  cars  from  the  seats  of 
its  manufacture  in  Wisconsin  to  the  most  distant  western  markets 
upon  such  terms  as  will  give  them  the  control  of  the  lumber 


pi 8  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

traffic  over  an  Immense  region  of  country  in  Iowa,  Nebraska  and 
Kansas. 

But  the  chief  manufacturing  Industry  of  Minnesota,  measured 
by  the  amount  of  capital  Invested  and  the  value  of  its  product,  is 
flour.  Flour  mills  are  distributed  all  over  the  State,  but  the 
principal  seat  of  this  Industry  Is  at  Minneapolis,  which  has  in  a 
few  years  past  witnessed  an  enormous  development  of  this  in- 
terest, Minneapolis  has  now  more  than  twenty  saw-mills,  which  in 
1880  produced  over  165,000,000  feet  of  lumber,  besides  the  pro- 
portionate amount  of  lath  and  shingles.  Its  lumber  product 
alone  exceeded  ^4,500,000.  Its  flouring  mills,  including  three 
erected  during  the  year,  were  twenty-seven,  several  among  them 
being  the  largest  flouring  mills  In  the  world.  They  all  make  the 
so-called  "  New  Process  "  flour,  which  can  only  be  made  in  perfec- 
tion from  spring  wheat,  the  only  wheat  grown  to  any  extent  in 
Minnesota.  These  mills  have  the  capacity  for  producing  17,500 
barrels  of  flour  per  day,  or  5,250,000  barrels  In  the  year  of  300 
da\s — the  equivalent  of  25,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  annually. 
There  are  also  a  great  number  of  flour  mills — many  of  them  of 
the  highest  rank — along  the  numerous  water-powers  of  the  Can- 
non, the  Zumbro,  the  Root  and  other  streams  of  Southeastern 
Minnesota.  Red  Wing,  Faribault,  Cannon  Falls,  Stillwater,  Ro- 
chester, Winona,  and  nearly  every  village  In  Houston  and  Fill- 
more are  thriving-  seats  of  flour  manufacture.  There  are  almost 
as  many  run  of  stone  employed  In  the  mills  along  the  Cannon 
river  or  along  the  Root  as  at  Minneapolis. 

The  number  of  saw-mills  In  the  State  Is  about  200,  and  of 
flouring  mills  not  less  than  450,  though,  of  course,  of  varying 
capacity.  The  amount  of  lumber  produced  In  the  State  cannot 
be  accurately  stated,  but  Is  not  less  than  1,000,000,000  feet, 
and  is  increasing.  Most  of  It  is  pine,  though  the  mills  In  the 
southwest  of  the  State  run  on  the  logs  from  the  "Big  Woods," 
which  are  mostly  hard  woods.  The  flour  production  Is  more 
than  10,000,000  barrels,  equal  to  50,000,000  bushels  of  wheat, 
and  the  Millers' Association,  which  has  its  head-quarters  in  Min- 
neapolis, by  Its  admirable  organization  and  management,  has 
been  able  to  command  not  only  the  greater  part  of  the  wheat 


INCREASE   IN  WEALTH  AND    TAXABLES.  gig 

grown  in  Minnesota,  but  also  most  of  that  produced  in  Eastern 
Dakota  and  Northern  Iowa.  The  flour  manufacture  in  Minne- 
sota has  an  annual  product  of  from  thirty-five  to  forty  millions 
of  dollars. 

But  though  these  are  the  leading  manufactures  of  Minnesota, 
they  are  by  no  means  the  only  productions  of  manufacturing  in- 
dustry in  the  State.  There  are  a  number  of  iron  works  and 
several  boiler,  stove,  harvester,  plow  and  other  agricultural  ma- 
chine factories,  woollen  mills,  cotton  mills,  paper  mills,  linseed  oil 
mills,  wood  ware,  furniture,  fence,  sash,  door  and  blind  factories, 
foundries,  car  wheel  works,  boot  and  shoe  factories,  clothinp-  fac- 
tories,  creameries,  cheese  factories,  wagon  factories,  soap  and 
glue  works,  broom  factories,  brick  yards,  breweries,  coopers' 
shops,  confectionery,  large  printing  and  book  manufacturing 
establishments,  etc.,  etc.  The  entire  annual  products  of  manu- 
facturing industry  in  the  State  are  estimated  to  exceed  seventy- 
five  millions  of  dollars. 

Increase  in  Wealth  and  Taxable  Valuations  of  the  State. — The 
only  available  measure  of  the  increase  of  wealth  in  Minnesota  is 
that  afforded  by  the  valuations  of  !-eal  estate  and  personal  prop- 
erty for  taxation — a  very  unreliable  one,  since  real  estate  is 
generally  valued  at  much  less  than  its  market  value,  while  per- 
sonal property,  even  that  small  portion  of  it  which  is  visible  or 
listed,  is  generally  valued  in  the  assessment  list  at  less  than  one- 
third,  frequendy  at  one-fourth  or  fifth,  its  actual  value.  Besides 
this,  under  the  laws  of  Minnesota,  all  public  school-houses,  acad- 
emies, colleges,  their  furniture  and  libraries  and  grounds,  all 
churches  and  the  lots  on  which  they  stand,  all  public  buildings 
of  State,  county  or  city,  all  public  hospitals  or  institutions  of 
charity,  all  public  libraries,  etc.,  and  in  addition  to  these  the  per- 
sonal property  of  each  person  liable  to  taxation,  to  the  amount 
of  one  hundred  dollars,  are  exempt  from  taxation  or  assessment. 
But,  though  these  valuations  are  not  even  approximations  to  the 
true  value,  they  will  answer  very  well  for  purposes  of  compari- 
son. The  following  table  will  show  the  growth  of  taxable  prop- 
erty and  population  in  Minnesota  since  June,  1849: 


g20  ^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Valuation. 

1849 »^5i4,936 

1850 806,437 

i860 36,738,4x0 

1870 87,179,257 

1879 248,283,215 

Population. — The  Increase  of  population  In  Minnesota  has  been 
exceedingly  rapid  from  the  first.  In  1850,  the  first  time  when 
there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  white  settlers  to  be  enumerated, 
and  when  all  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  still  occupied 
and  held  by  the  Indians,  the  number  reported  by  the  census  was, 
by  a  singular  coincidence,  precisely  that  of  the  Indians  now  resi- 
dent in  the  Territory — 6,077.  ^i"'  ^"^^  years  it  had  Increased 
more  than  ten-fold  ;  In  ten  years,  almost  thirty-fold  ;  in  twenty 
years,  seventy-five-fold  ;  in  twenty-five  years  a  hundred-fold  ;  and 
in  thirty  years,  a  hundred  and  thirty-one  times.  The  following 
table  gives  some  additional  particulars  of  interest  In  regard  to 
this  population.  The  enumerations  of  1870,  1S75  ^.nd  1880  In- 
clude the  tribal  Indians  resident  In  Minnesota: 


•     CJ 

^ 

^  d 

4J           >J-1 

J. 

0 

.0  rt 

a;   Ui   w 

ta      -3- 

■u    "2 

wi          I 

A    3 

.  u 

M"  0 

<      c 

M      i; 

0 

_i 

Total 
Popula- 
tion. 

Males. 

(/I 

'a 
E 

Natives. 

c 

Colored 

and 
Indians. 

nsity  Inh 
mts  to  St 
Mile. 

tes  of 
Increase 
Per 

School  A 

both  se> 

5t 

Military 
males, 
18  t 

f  Voting  A 
males, 
and  upw 

u. 

tM 

> 

1.977 

^ 

A 

0 

0 

0      N     1 

1850 

6,077 

3.716 

2,561 

4,100 

39 

.04 

1,751 

1.378 

1,449 

1855 
i860 

68,812 
172,023 

.8, 

£83 
250 

93.084 

78,939 

113,295 

58.728 

2,628 

2.10 

52,731 

41,226 

48,186 

1865 

250,099 



3.04 

45-3 

87,244 

1870 

446,056 

23>;,299 

204,407 

279,0:9 

160,697 

7.799 

5.26 

78 

157,913 

94,238 

114,739  ! 

1875 

609,777 

316,076 

281,331 

379,978 

217,429 

14,9  .1 

7.24 

36.8 

228,362 

128,374 

150,916 

1878 

700,000* 

444,748 

255,252 

I5,i75t 

8.38 

14.9^ 

262,328 

147,370 

175.817 

1880 
*  Fst 

787.oo5t 
im.nted  fron 



\^ 

;turns. 

9.40 

:ofw 

12.3? 
lich  nu 

294,780 

196,639 
d  Indians. 

1  State  cen 

sus  of  187,  and  As 

sessors'  n 

mber  6,198 

were  tribs 

tOf 

which  nuni 

)i-r  5,047  w 

ere  tribal  Indians. 

\  For  the  deca 

de,  77  per 

cent. 

From  whence  are  the  people  who  constitute  the  present  popu- 
lation of  this  rapidly  growing  and  thrifty  State  ?  An  Investigation 
made  In  1878  showed  that  about  five-eighths  were  born  in  the 
United  States,  a  trifle  more  than  one-third  being  born  In  Minne- 
sota, and  about  twenty-nine  per  cent,  in  other  States;  one-ninth, 
or  eleven  per  cent.,  were  natives  of  some  of  the  German  States  ; 
fourteen  per  cent.,  or  about  one-seventh,  were  from  Norway  and 
Sweden ;   three  and  a  half  per  cent,  were  from  Ireland ;  about 


THE   INDIAN  POPULATION.  ^21 

three  per  cent,  from  the  British  provinces,  and  one  and  one-half 
per  cent,  from  England  and  Wales,  while  three  per  cent,  were 
from  other  countries.  The  Scandinavian  emigrants  have  very 
generally  preferred  Minnesota  to  other  States  and  Territories 
from  a  real  or  fancied  similarity  between  its  climate  and  their 
own,  and,  in  some  of  the  counties,  Norse  is  the  language  of  a 
majority  of  the  inhabitants.  There  are  a  number  of  newspapers 
printed  in  the  Swedish  and  Norwegian  languages,  and  at  one 
time  the  laws  of  the  State  were  published  in  these  languages. 

TJie  Indian  Popnlation. — In  its  earlier  history,  even  after  it 
became  a  State,  the  Indians  were  very  troublesome  neighbors. 
They  originally  claimed  the  whole  Territory,  gnd  their  title  to 
lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  was  not  extinguished  till  1838  ;  in 
1 85 1  the  Indian  title  to  lands  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Red  river  of  the  North  was  extinguished,  except  the  reservations. 
The  southwest  and  part  of  the  western  portion  of  the  State  was 
still  occupied  by  the  Sioux,  and  in  1862,  taking  advantage  of  the 
absence  of  most  of  the  able-bodied  men  in  the  civil  war,  these 
treacherous  savages  made  an  irruption  upon  the  new  settle- 
ments and  murdered  about  1,000  persons,  slaughtering  whole 
families,  burning  and  plundering  villages,  etc.  Vengeance  came 
swiftly  upon  the  savages;  they  were  pursued,  defeated,  con- 
quered and  expelled  from  the  State,  and  the  most  guilty  publicly 
executed.  The  only  Indians  now  in  the  State  are  the  Chippewas, 
6,198  in  number,  who  have  reservations  at  Leech  lake.  Red  lake 
and  White  Earth.  Their  reservations  comprise  4,761,112  acres, 
which  include,  however,  a  large  amount  of  lake  surface,  probably 
more  than  3,200,000  acres,  as  only  1,553,960  acres  are  reported 
as  tillable.  This  tribe  has  always  maintained  peaceful  and 
pleasant  relations  with  the  whites. 

Minnesota  is  fully  alive  to  her  educational  interests.  Her 
school  lands  consist  of  two  sections,  the  sixteenth  and  thirty- 
sixth,  in  every  surveyed  township,  and  amount  to  2,969,990  acres, 
which,  by  a  provision  of  the  constitution  introduced  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Governor  Ramsey,  the  present  Secretary  of  War  in  the 
United  States  War  Department,  cannot  be  sold  for  less  than  ^5 
per  acre.     Of  these  lands  there  have  been  already  sold  602,873 


g22  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

acres,  at  an  average  price  of  ^6.10  per  acre,  or  a  little  more  than 
one-fifth  ;  ^3,678,472  have  been  derived  from  this  source  for  the 
school  fund  ;  and  the  addition  of  other  items,  stumpage,  the  sale 
of  timber  from  the  unsold  school  lands,  etc.,  there  had  been  re- 
alized up  to  x'Xugust  31,  1879,  the  sum  of  ^^4,067,5 17,  which  con- 
stitutes the  principal  of  the  school  fund.  The  remainder  of  the 
school  lands  are  not  inferior  in  quality  to  those  already  sold,  and 
will  probably  yield  in  all  from  ^18,000,000  to  ^20,000,000;  but 
the  interest  from  the  school  fund,  which  is  now  nearly  ^250,000 
and  constantly  increasing,  forms  only  a  small  part  of  the  total 
annual  expenditure  for  public  schools.  In  1878  this  expenditure 
was  ^1,322,949.07,  or  ^8.40  to  each  scholar  reported  for  appor- 
tionment. It  is  now  probably  at  least  ^200,000  more.  The 
excess  over  the  current  school  fund  is  raised  by  county  and  local 
taxation.  The  following  statement  gives  some  particulars  in 
re^rard  to  the  condition  of  the  public  schools  of  the  State  for  the 
year  ending  the  31st  of  August,  1879,  the  latest  report  yet  pub- 
lished, which  does  honor  to  the  enterprise  and  educational  zeal 
of  this  youthful  State:  Permanent  school  fund,  ^4,067,517  ;  cur- 
rent school  fund,  ^246,942  ;  enrolment  of  pupils,  171,945  ;  school 
houses,  3,416;  school  districts,  4,001  ;  average  months  of  school, 
46;  male  teachers,  1,797;  female  teachers,  3,210;  total  teachers, 
4,907;  total  of  teachers  in  1878,  4,872;  average  wages,  males, 
^35.78  f  average  wages,  females,  $27.23  f  amount  paid  for  teach- 
ers' wages,  including  board,  $920,121.38  ;  value  of  school-houses 
and  sites,  $3,382,351.85.  Besides  these  public  schools,  there 
were  seventy-nine  graded  schools  and  sixteen  high  schools  in  the 
State,  in  all  of  which  advanced  studies  were  pursued.  This  was 
in  1878.  The  number  is  now  increased  largely.  These  graded 
schools  were  erected  at  a  cost  of  over  $1,500,000.  But  the  public 
schools  are  only  a  part  of  the  educadonal  facilities  afforded  by 
the  State.  There  are  three  normal  schools  in  the  State,  at  Wi- 
nona, Mankato  and  St.  Cloud,  all  established  since  1859,  and 
having  buildings  erected  at  a  cost  of  $239,932,  and  receiving  an 
annual  appropriation  of  $30,000  from  the  State.     These  schools 


*  This  is  a  slifjht  falling  off  from  the  wages  of  the  previous  year,  which  were  for  males  ^37.52 ; 
for  females,  ^28.12. 


EDUCATION— COUNTIES  AND  CITIES.  023 

had  respectively  eleven,  seven  and  nine  professors  and  teachers, 
and  an  enrolment  of  407,  215  and  209  students  in  each.  The 
graduates  are  in  demand  for  the  public  schools  of  the  State. 

There  is  also  a  State  University  at  Minneapolis,  which  includes 
also  the  Agricultural  College,  and  has  a  faculty  of  about  twenty 
professors  and  teachers,  and  had  in  1879  about  250  students.  It 
has  an  endowment  fund  from  the  sales  of  lands  granted  to  it  by 
Congress  and  the  Agricultural  College  grant.  This  fund  now 
amounts  to  about  ^450,000,  and  nearly  one-half  the  lands  remain 
unsold,  and  have  appreciated  so  much  in  value  that  the  fund  will 
probably  amount  to  over  a  million  dollars.  Its  buildings  are 
very  fine  and  commodious,  and  are  unencumbered,  and  it  has 
the  proceeds  of  a  State  tax  of  one-tenth  of  a  mill,  which  amounts 
to  upwards  of  $20,000  a  year.  It  admits  both  sexes,  and  its 
teachinn-  is  of  a  hio-h  order. 

There  is  also  an  institution  for  the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  at 
Faribault,  which  has  fine  buildings  and  grounds,  costing  $1 50,000, 
and  capable  of  accommodating  200  pupils. 

There  are  also  two  or  three  colleges  and  seven  or  eioht  col- 
legiate  schools  of  high  order  in  the  State  under  denominational 
control.  Some  of  these  are  equal  to  any  schools  of  their  class  in 
the  country. 

CoiLutics  and  Cities. — There  are  seventy-six  counties  in  the 
State,  of  which  seven  were  not  organized  in  1878.  Several  of 
the  northern  counties,  as  Polk,  Beltrami,  Cass,  Itasca  and  St. 
Louis  are  of  immense  extent,  and  some  of  them  have  yet  extensive 
Indian  reservations  within  their  limits.  The  assessed  valuation 
of  the  taxable  real  estate  of  these  counties  (a  laree  amount 
escapes  taxation  for  a  variety  of  causes)  in  1878  was  ;^i83,6i5,- 
738.  This  was  nominally  on  a  valuation  of  sixty  cents  on  the 
dollar,  but  really  not  more  than  fifty  per  cent.  The  assessed 
value  of  personal  property  (probably  less  than  one-sixth  of  the 
real  value)  was  $46,175,304,  and  adding  the  two  we  have  an  as- 
sessed valuation  of  personal  and  real  estate  of  $229,791,042  ;  in 
1879  this  valuation  had  reached  $248,283,215,  and  the  real  value 
undoubtedly  exceeded  $500,000,000. 

The  principal  cities  and  towns  are : 


924 


OUK     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Cities  and  Towns. 


Counties  in  which  they 
are  located. 


3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
lo 
II 

12 

M 

15 
16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 
22 
23 
24 

zS 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 


St.  Paul...... 

Mmiikjnpolis  . . . 

.Winona 

S.illw.Ttor 

Red  Wing 

F.irlbault 

Mankatu 

Rochester  . .    . . 

Hastings 

(Duhith 

I  Owatonna 

I  St.  Peter 

Austin 

Lake  City 

New  Ulm 

NorthfiJd 

|St,  Cloud 

!  Wabasha    

Shakopee 

Waseca 

Rushford 

St.  Charles 

Spring  Valley.. 

Hokah 

Anoka 

Albert  Lea 

Beaver  Falls. .. 
Hutchinson    ... 

Chaska 

Watertown 

Sauk  Centre. . . 
Redwood  Falls. 

Le  Sueur 

Glencoe 

St.  Vincent 

Moorhcad 


Ram<;ey  .  . .  . 

Hennepin.  .. 

Winona  . . .  . 
Washington. 

tioodhue 

;Rice 

Blue  Earth. 
!  Olmsted 

Dakota 

St.  Louis. . .. 

'Steele 

^  Nicollet 

'.Mower 

Wabasha  .  .. 

Brown 

Rice 

Stearns  

Wabasha.. . . 

Scott  

Waseca.   . . . 

Fillmore. . . . 

Winona  . .. . 

Fillmore   . .  . 
'  Houston 

-Anoka 

Freeborn 

Renville 

McLeod 

C.trver 

Carver 

Stearns  

Redwood  .  . . 

Le  Sueur. . . . 

McLcod   ... 

Kittson  ...    . 

Clay 


Population 
in  1863. 


10,401 
5.82t 
2,464 
^.38> 
1,156 
i,5c8 
1.559 
1 .444 
1,653 

7' 
69 
980 

2C  O 

£66 

635 
867 


Population 
in  1870. 


Population 
in  1875. 


894 

,133 
191 

477 
6^9 

723 
309 

6  J2 

262 


94 
7i9 


237 


20,030 

i&,o79 

7,192 

^.124 

4,-60 

3,'  45 
3,482 

3,953 
3,458 

3.131 
2,070 
2,124 

2,'-39 
2,6-8 

1,310 
2,1-78 
2,161 
1.737 
1.349 
551 
1,245 
1,151 
1,279 

525 
1.498 
1,167 


440 
847 


33.170 

32,721 

10.737 

5,750 

5,630 

5,525 

5,416 

4, .544 

3.644 

2.953 

'  2,799 

2,680 

2,599 
2,452 
2,180 
2,140 
2,c8o 
1,866 
1,820 
1.325 
1.240 
1,202 
1 ,870 
1,021 
2,420 
1,897 

634 
1,581 

767 


i,i?5 
691 

i,«-9 
4S7 


1,178 

1,177 
1,120 
1,001 


Population 
in  1880. 


41,498 
46,887 
io,2o8 
8,500 
7,150 
6,950 
7,075 
5,125 
4,500 
3,170 
4,250 


3,500 


1,308 

1,276 
1,175 


1 ,059 
1,500 


Relio-ions  Denominatioiis. — The  Lutherans  (of  whom  there  are 
at  least  six  different  and  not  entirely  harmonious  organizations) 
are  tlie  most  numerous  of  the  religious  denominations  in  Min- 
nesota, having  an  actual  membership  in  1877-78  of  112,705,  to 
which  large  additions  have  since  been  made  by  immigration  and 
otherwise. 

The  Catholics  claimed  a  Catholic  population  estimated  at  1 14,000 
in  1877  ;  but  though  they  have  some  strong  colonies  in  the  State, 
there  is  a  large  minority  of  the  estimated  Catholic  population  in 
these  new  States,  which  drifts  away  from  that  church,  and  cannot 
fairly  be  reckoned  as  under  its  control.  The  Methodist  churches 
come  next,  with  about  24,000  members,  and  are  succeeded  in  the 
following  order  by  Baptists.  Congregationalists,  Presbyterians, 
Episcopalians,  Mennonites,  Free  Will  Baptists,  Universalists  and 
several  minor  denominations.  The  following  table,  which  does 
not  give  the  number  of  churches  or  church  edifices,  except  the 
Catholics,  gives  some  other  particulars  of  interest  concerning 
them  in  1877-78.     Two  years  have  undoubtedly  wrought  many 


REL IGIO  US  DENOMINA  TIONS. 


925 


changes,  but  have  hardly  greatly  disturbed  their  relative  propor- 
tions : 

Membership  of  the  Various   Religious  Bodies,   Value  of  Church  Property,  and  Benevolent  Con- 
tributions in  the  State. 


Denomination. 


Noiwet^ian-Danish  Evangelical  l.utJieran 

Methodist  Episcopal 

Baptist 

Conr;re<i;ational 

Presbyterian 

German  Evangelical  Lutheran 

T-   .  ,.  (  ^Reformed 

Episcopalian    s  r,    .    .     t 
'^        "^  1^  Protestant 

Evangelical  Association 

Unitarian 

Friends 

Universalist    

Swedenhorgian 

Hebrew 

Freewill    Baptists 

Mennonite '. 


Norwegian  and   Danish  Conferents. 
Other  Lutheran  Societies 


*Swedish  Evangelical  Lutheran . 
*Norweo;ian  Lutheran  Auiiustain. 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Minnesota. 


Member- 
ship. 

Value  of 

Church 
property. 

47,469 

$120,000 

20,160 

757,925 

6,430 

224,150 

6,223 

255,000 

6,158 

420,000 

22,000 

19 

2,000 

4,298 

278,245 

3,801 

96,575 

150 

160 

5,000 

966 

190,225 

80 

8,000 

54 

4,000 

1,280 

1,408 

13,966 

5,000 

22,268 

175,000 

2,000 

10,000 

2,358 

6,000 

Membership 

of  Sunday- 
i^chools. 


5,000 
20,265 

5,41s 
10,430 

9,279 


4,766 

3,690 

80 

75 
560 

20 

No.ofsch'ols 
70 

No.ofscho'ls 
100 

Number  of 

Associations 
15 


Contributions 

to  benevolent 

objects. 


$671.94 
10,046,26 

10,595.87 
7,265.00 


*5,o69.oo 

6,566,71 

400.00 
730.00 


10,904.91 


1 8, 000.00 


*  CATHOLICS. 


Colleges 

Religious  Orders 

Academies  (Female).  . 
Charitable  Institutions. 
Priests 


I 

18 

7 

5 

118 

Churches 188 

Hospitals I 

Asylums 3 

Catholic  population 1 14,000 

History. — Father  Hennepin,  a  Franciscan  priest,  was  the  first 
European  who  is  known  to  have  visited  Minnesota.  In  1680  he 
ascended  the  Mississippi  with  a  party  of  fur  traders  to  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  which  they  still  bear. 
Some  French  traders  and  their  descendants  settled  around  the 
falls,  but  they  soon  lapsed  into  Indian  customs  and  modes  of  life. 
In  1763  the  country  subsequently  known  as  the  Northwest  Ter- 


*  Report  of  1877. 


g25  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

ritory  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain.  In  1766  Jonathan  Carver,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  explored  that  part  of  Minnesota  extending 
from  the  present  southern  border  to  the  sources  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. In  1783  it  was  transferred  to  the  United  States  as  a  part 
of  the  Northwest  Territory.  In  1805  a  tract  of  land  was  pur- 
chased from  the  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  river,  in- 
cluding the  present  site  of  Hastings,  and  another  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Minnesota  river,  which  includes  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 
In  1S20  Fort  Snelling  was  built,  and  in  1822  a  small  grist  mill 
was  erected  on  the  present  site  of  Minneapolis  for  the  use  of  the 
oarrison  at  Fort  Snelline.  In  182^  the  first  steamboat  visited 
Minnesota.  Between  1823  and  1830  a  small  colony  of  Swiss 
settled  near  St.  Paul.  The  Indian  title  to  lands  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi was  extinguished  in  1838.  In  1843  a  settlement  was 
commenced  at  Stillwater,  on  the  St..  Croix.  The  Act  of  Congress 
establishing  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  was  passed  March  3, 
1849,  ^^"^  ^'^^  Territory  was  organized  in  the  following  June.  It 
extended  to  the  Missouri  river,  and  thus  included  nearly  all  of 
Eastern  Dakota.  Its  population  was  then  between  4,000  and 
5,000.  In  1 85 1  the  Indian  title  to  the  lands  lying  between  the 
Mississippi  river  and  the  Red  river  of  the  North,  except  the  res- 
ervations, was  extinguished.  Immigration  at  once  commenced, 
though  considerably  hindered  by  the  very  general  impression 
that  the  region  was  too  cold  to  produce  any  crops.  Gov- 
ernor Ramsey,  the  first  Territorial  Governor,  now  United 
States  Secretary  of  War,  says  that  when  he  came  to  Wash- 
ington, and  broueht  with  him  some  ears  of  corn  and  wheat 
raised  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Paul,  he  was  accused  of  trying 
to  deceive,  for  it  was  said  that  it  was  impossible  that  anything 
should  grow  in  such  an  Arctic  climate.  But  the  Territory 
grew,  and  in  1857  had  about  150,000  inhabitants;  and  on  the 
26th  of  February  in  that  year.  Congress  passed  an  enabling  act, 
providing  for  its  admission  as  a  State.  It  was  admitted  into  the 
Union  May  11,  1858.  In  i860  it  had  a  population  of  172,023. 
General  H.  H.  Sibley,  one  of  its  pioneer  setders,  was  its  first 
State  Governor,  and  was  succeeded  in  i860  by  Governor  Ram- 
sey.    In    1862   occurred  the  Sioux  massacre,  to  which  we  have 


HISTORICAL   NOTES.  037 

already  alluded.  Nearly  a  thousand  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the 
State  were  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  outrages  and  butchered 
in  cold  blood.  It  seemed  at  first  that  this  would  paralyze  the 
young  State,  and  prevent  its  growth  for  a  long  time.  But  it  had 
just  the  contrary  effect.  The  summary  and  terrible  punishment 
inflicted  on  the  Sioux  for  their  atrocious  crimes  and  their  prompt 
ejectment  from  the  State,  encouraged  immigration,  and  in  the 
eighteen  years  which  have  since  elapsed,  the  State  has  grown 
with  wonderful  rapidity.  The  railroad  controversy,  involving 
the  power  of  the  State  to  limit  and  reduce  the  charges  for  freight, 
to  which  all  the  States  of  the  Northwest  were  in  a  ereater 
or  less  degree  participants,  was  less  severe  or  protracted  in 
Minnesota  than  in  some  of  the  other  States,  and  was  amicably 
settled.  In  the  extent  and  fertility  of  her  soil ;  in  the  cheapness 
of  choice  lands,  whether  purchased  from  the  United  States,  the 
State  or  the  railways ;  in  the  accessibility  of  every  settled  county 
of  the  State  to  the  best  markets,  thereby  securing  high  prices  for 
her  products  ;  in  her  abundant  water  and  all  the  facilities  for  suc- 
cessful manufacturing ;  in  the  excellence  of  her  educational 
system  and  its  expansion  over  the  whole  State,  and  in  the  moral 
and  religious  character  of  its  inhabitants,  the  immigrant  will  find 
Minnesota,  as  a  home  for  himself  and  his  children,  unsurpassed 
by  any  State  or  Territory  in  "Our  Western  Empire." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MISSOURI. 


Missouri's  Situation,  Boundaries  and  Extent  of  Latitude  and  Longi- 
tude— Face  of  the  Country — Mountains  and'Hills — Valleys — Rivers 
and  Lakes — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Economic  Minerals — Lead — 
Zinc — Copper  —  Iron —  Coal  —  Baryta — Cabinet  Minerals  —  Buildino 
Materials — Mineral  Springs — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology — Soil 
and  Vegetation — Agricultural  Products — Tables  of  Crops,  1S7S  and 
1879 — Notes  on  the  Crops — Live-Stock — Tables,  1S79,  18S0 — Adapta- 
tion OF   Missouri  for  Grazing  and   Dairy-Farming — Manufactures — 


928 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


Mining  Products — Railroads — Population — Notes  on  Population — 
Counties  AND  Cities — Table  of  Cities — St.  Louis — Kansas  City — Lands 
for  Immigrants — Immigration  in  the  Past — Why  it  has  largely  passed 
BY  Missouri — The  State  now  a  Desirable  One  for  Immigrants — Educa- 
tional Advantages — Public  Schools — Normal  Schools — Universities — 
Colleges  and  Professional  Schools — Special  Institutions — Religious 
Denominations  and  Churches — Historical  Dates. 

Missouri  is  one  of  the  central  belt  of  the  States  of  "Our 
Western  Empire,"  having  the  Mississippi  for  its  eastern  bound- 
ary, and  the  Missouri  in  part  for  its  western.  It  extends  (includ- 
ing a  small  tract  lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Francis 
rivers)  from  the  parallel  of  36°  to  that  of  40°  30'  north  latitude, 
and  from  the  meridian  of  89°  2'  to  that  of  95°  44'  west  longitude 
from  Greenwich,  Its  greatest  length  from  north  to  south  is  about 
309  miles;  its  greatest  breadth  from  east  to  west  318  miles,  and  its 
average  breadth  about  244  miles.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Iowa,  the  parallel  of  40°  30'  forming  the  dividing  line  from  the 
Missouri  river  to  the  Des  Moines,  and  thence  down  the  channel 
of  that  river  to  the  Mississippi ;  on  the  east  it  is  bounded  by  the 
Mississippi  river,  which  separates  it  from  Illinois,  Kentuck)'  and 
Tennessee  ;  south  by  Arkansas,  on  the  line  of  36°  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  the  St.  Francis  river  and  from  the  St.  Francis  to  the 
meridian  of  94°  38',  the  parallel  of  36°  30';  on  the  west  by  the 
Indian  Territory,  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  following  the  meridian 
of  94°  38',  from  the  Arkansas  line  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas 
river,  and  from  that  point  to  the  parallel  of  40°  30',  the  channel 
of  the  Missouri  river.  Its  area  is  65,370  square  miles,  or  41,- 
836.931  acres,  the  whole  of  which  has  been  surveyed. 

Face  of  the  Coimtry. — The  State  is  divided  into  two  unequal 
portions  by  the  Missouri  river,  which  crosses  it  from  west  to 
east,  and  also  forms  its  northwestern  boundary.  The  portion 
south  of  the  Missouri,  which  forms  about  two-thirds  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  State,  has  a  very  varied  surface.  In  the  southeast, 
the  region  l)'ing  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Francis 
rivers,  as  far  north  as  near  the  parallel  of  Cape  Girardeau,  is 
very  low  and  swampy  and  subject  to  frequent  overflow  by  the 
Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  This  comprises  all  the  land  lying 
opposite  to  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  most  of  Alexander  county, 


FACE    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  g2g 

Illinois.  Above  this,  a  little  below  Cape  Girardeau,  the  highland 
bluffs  commence,  and  extend  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri. 
Between  St.  Genevieve  and  the  mouth  of  the  Meramec  these 
bluffs,  which  are  solid  masses  of  limestone,  rise  from  250  to  360 
feet  above  the  river,  and  extend  westward  across  the  State,  but 
are  less  precipitous  and  rugged  as  they  approach  the  Osage 
river.  In  the  south  and  southwestern  portion  of  the  State,  the 
Ozark  mountains,  or,  rather,  hills,  occupy  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  country;  they  form  no  continuous  or  systematic  rano-es, 
but  render  the  whole  region  exceedingly  broken  and  hilly,  the 
isolated  peaks  and  rounded  summits  [biittcs  they  would  be  called 
farther  west)  sometimes  rising  from  500  to  1,000  feet  above  their 
bases,  and  then  sinking  into  very  beautiful  and  often  very  fertile 
valleys.  Though  not  distinctly  defined,  the  general  course  of 
this  hilly  region  is  slightly  north  of  east  from  the  southeastern 
border  of  Kansas,  where  it  enters  the  State  to  the  Mississippi 
river.  Beginning  as  a  broad  arable  plateau,  it  slopes  gendy  to 
the  water  courses  on  either  side,  and  with  fine  farmino-  lands  even 
on  its  highest  levels.  For  one-third  of  the  distance  across  the 
State  it  possesses  no  characteristic  of  a  mountain  rano-e,  and 
from  thence  as  it  extends  eastwardly  its  ridges  become  gradually 
more  irregular  and  precipitous,  until  near  the  centre  of  the  range 
they  begin  to  break  up  into  a  series  of  knobs  and  hills,  which, 
finally  attain  their  highest  elevation  at  Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot 
Knob,  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State.  The  numerous  river 
bottoms  formed  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Osage  and  Missouri 
rivers  are  generally  fertile,  but  most  of  them  are  subject  to  over- 
flow. Farther  north,  in  the  basin  of  the  Osage  and  above  it,  the 
land  is  mosdy  rolling  prairie  with  occasional  forests ;  the  imme- 
diate  valley  of  the  Missouri  is  a  rich  alluvial  valley  of  great 
fertility,  and  abounding  in  forest  trees  of  magnificent  size  and 
circumference. 

North  of  the  Missouri  the  country  is  generally  either  rollino- 
or  level  prairie,  though  with  considerable  tracts  of  timber;  it  forms 
a  part  of  that  great  bed  of  the  prehistoric  lake  more  than  500 
miles  from  shore  to  shore,  through  which  the  Missouri  formerly 
flowed,  and  which  included  the  greater  part  of  Iowa  and  Eastern 
59 


g^Q  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Nebraska,  and  its  surface  soils,  for  many  feet  in  depth,  are  com- 
posed of  loess  or  silty  deposits  ;  the  tributaries  of  both  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Missouri  have  worn  deep  channels  through  the  rocks, 
and  the  valleys  of  erosion  thus  made,  as  well  as  the  surface  and 
soil  of  this  entire  region  north  of  the  Missouri,  are  very  similar 
to  those  of  Iowa.  The  river  bottoms  are  exceedingly  rich  and 
productive. 

Rivers  and  Lakes. — The  Mississippi  river  forms  the  entire  east- 
ern boundary  of  the  State,  for  a  distance  of  540  miles.  The 
Missouri  river  flows  along  its  western  boundary,  separating  it 
from  the  States  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  for  a  distance  of  250 
miles,  and  then  flows  eastwardly  entirely  across  the  State,  until  it 
joins  the  Mississippi  upon  the  eastern  boundary,  twenty  miles 
above  St.  Louis,  a  distance  of  450  miles  ;  thus  giving  the  State  a 
shore  line  upon  these  two  great  inland  arteries  of  commerce  of 
upwards  of  1,550  miles.  The  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  on 
its  west  bank  in  this  State  are,  with  the  exception  of  the  Mis- 
souri, mostly  small  and  of  no  great  importance.  The  St.  Francis 
and  its  largest  tributary,  the  Little  river,  as  well  as  the  White  with 
its  numerous  branches,  forks,  and  its  tributaries,  the  Black,  Current, 
Paint  and  Spring  rivers,  all  belong  to  Arkansas,  and  enter  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  that  State.  The  Meramec  and  its  principal  tributary,  the 
Big  river,  is  the  only  considerable  affluent  of  the  Mississippi  in  the 
State  south  of  the  Missouri.  Nortli  of  that  river,  Salt  river  is  the 
largest  aftiuent,  but  the  Cuivre  or  Copper  river.  North  river. 
South,  Middle  and  North  Fabius,  Wyaconda  and  Fox  rivers,  are 
streams  of  considerable  size.  The  Missouri  receives  numerous 
laree  affluents  in  the  State.  On  the  south  side  are  the  Famine 
river,  the  Osage  (a  large  and  beautiful  stream),  with  its  tributa- 
ries, the  Litde  Osage,  Marmiton,  Sac  river.  Grand  river,  Pomme 
de  Terre,  Bie  and  Litde  Niancrua,  Auijlaize,  and  Mane's  creek; 
and  Gasconade  river,  with  its  Osage,  Lick  and  Piney  Forks.  On 
the  north  side  there  are  the  Nishnabatona,  the  Big  and  Little 
Tarkio,  Nodaway,  Platte,  Grand  (with  fourteen  considerable  trib- 
utaries), Chariton  (with  seven  or  eight),  Rocher  Perche,  Cedar, 
Muddy  and  L'Outre  creeks.  In  the  southwest  the  Neosho,  an 
affluent  of  the  Arkansas,  with  its  tributaries,  drains  six  or  eight 


GEOLOGY  AND  MINERAL OGY.  g, i 

counties.  Wherever  the  Great  American  Desert  may  be,  it  is 
certain  that  no  part  of  it  is  in  a  State  whose  every  county  is  so 
abundantly  watered  by  large  and  small  streams  as  Missouri. 
There  are  comparatively  few  lakes  in  the  State.  In  the  southeast 
there  are  extensive  swamps,  overflowed  at  seasons  of  high  water 
like  those  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  In  St.  Charles  county,  between 
the  Missouri  and  the  Mississippi,  there  are  a  number  of  small 
lakes.  In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  in  Platte,  Buchanan 
and  Holt  counties,  there  are  several  lakes  of  considerable  size. 
The  Missouri,  as  well  as  the  Mississippi,  at  times  widens  into  a 
wide  expanse  of  water  dotted  with  islands. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy — The  geology  of  Missouri  maybe 
briefly  summed  up  as  follows  :  i.  Quaternary  (alluvium,  bluff,  and 
drift  or  loess)  deposits,  found  in  greater  or  less  degree  all  over  the 
State,  but  especially  deep  and  thick  in  the  southeastern  counties, 
Ripley,  Butler,  Dunklin,  Pemiscot,  New  Madrid,  Mississippi, 
Scott,  Stoddard,  and  portions  of  Carter,  Wayne  and  Bollinger, 
as  well  as  through  the  immediate  valley  or  bottom  lands  of  the 
Missouri,  to  the  point  in  the  northwest  at  which  it  enters  the 
State.  There  are  no  tertiary,  cretaceous,  triassic  or  Jurassic 
groups  in  the  State,  but  we  come  below  the  quaternary  immedi- 
ately upon — 2.  The  upper  carboniferous,  which  with — 3.  The 
lower  carboniferous,  covers  23,000  square  miles  of  the  State. 
There  are  in  these  two  formations,  the  upper,  middle  and  lower 
coal,  and  the  Clear  creek  sandstone  of  the  upper  carboniferous, 
and  six  successive  deposits  of  the  lower  carboniferous,  com- 
prising an  unclassified  sandstone,  and  the  St.  Louis,  Keokuk  and 
Chouteau  groups  of  limestones  and  .  sandstones,  most  of  them 
rich  in  fossils.  This  great  coal  field  occupies  in  general  the 
western,  northwestern  and  northern  portions  of  the  State. 

Next  in  order,  and  for  the  most  part  immediately  adjacent  to 
the  coal  measures,  are — 4.  Three  considerable  tracts  of  Devonian 
rocks,  one  in  the  southwest,  another  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
the  State,  and  the  third  a  narrow  belt  which  follows  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  carboniferous  deposits  in  all  their  devious  lines,  and 
extends  southeast  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  St,  Louis.  The 
only  strictly  Devonian  rocks  in  the  State  are  the  Hamilton  and 
Onondaga  groups,  both  mainly  limestones. 


Q.,2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

5.  The  upper  and  lower  Silurian  formations  come  next  in 
order ;  they  occupy  a  tract  almost  200  miles  in  width,  and  ex- 
tending from  the  Missouri  river  to  the  southern  line  of  the  State, 
and  also  crop  out  in  the  immediate  bottom  lands  of  the  Missis- 
sippi above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  The  groups  of  the  upper 
Silurian  found  here  are  Oriskany  sandstone,  lower  Helderberg  or 
Delthyris  shale,  Niagara  group,  and  Cape  Girardeau  limestone. 
Of  the  lower  Silurian  formation  there  are  three  groups  belonging 
to  the  Trenton  period,  viz. :  The  Cincinnati,  Galena  and  Trenton 
groups,  composed  mainly  of  shales  and  limestones ;  and  three 
groups  of  the  magnesian  limestone  series,  consisting  of  mag- 
nesian  limestones,  saccharoidal  and  other  sandstones,  and  Pots- 
dam limestones,  sandstones  and  conglomerates. 

6.  Below  these,  around  the  head  waters  of  the  affluents  of  the 
St,  Francis  and  White  rivers,  there  are  frequent  outcrops  of  eozolc 
or  archaic  rocks — greenstone,  porphyry  and  granite.  Much  of 
the  limestone  of  the  coal  measures,  as  well  as  some  of  the  other 
formations,  is  cavernous,  and  there  are  numerous  caves  of  great 
extent  and  beauty  in  the  central  and  western  portions  of  the 
State, 

Missouri  has  a  great  variety  of  minerals,  and  in  those  of 
greatest  economic  value  is  hardly  surpassed  by  any  State  or 
Territory  of  "Our  Western  Empire,"  Gold  has  thus  far  been 
discovered  only  in  the  drift  in  Northern  Missouri  in  placers  over- 
lying the  coal  measures,  and  therefore  without  hope  of  veins  or 
lodes ;  these  placers  are,  as  they  are  situated,  too  lean  for  profit- 
able working,  yielding  only  from  thirteen  cents  to  $2,51  per  ton. 
Silver,  has  been  diligently  sought  in  the  lead  ores  which  abound 
in  the  State,  but  they  are  not,  to  any  profitable  extent,  silver- 
bearing.  In  August,  1S79,  argentiferous  galena  was  discovered 
in  the  eozoic  rocks  in  Madison  county,  one  of  the  eastern  coun- 
ties of  the  State,  about  twelve  miles  east  of  Ironton,  and  perhaps 
fifteen  miles  southeast  of  Pilot  Knob.  What  is  the  value  of  these 
lodes  is  not  stated,  but  they  are  sufficiently  rich  to  have  drawn 
about  twenty  companies  there,  who  are  now  at  work,  and  are 
very  sanguine  that  these  lodes  also  contain  gold  and  platinum. 
The  first  attempts  to  reduce  the  ores  were  made  by  the  wet 
amalgamation  process,  and  not  by  smelting. 


METALS  AND  METALLIC  ORES.  q^^ 

But  if  the  precious  metals  (so  called)  have  not  hitherto  yielded 
much  wealth  to  Missouri,  her  mines  of  lead,  copper,  zinc,  and, 
above  all,  of  coal  and  iron,  have  made  ample  amends  for  any 
lack  of  the  others.  Iron  is  found  in  some  form  in  every  county 
in  the  State — bog  ores  in  Southeastern  Missouri ;  limonite,  or 
brown  haematite,  in  most  of  the  southern  counties  :  goediite,  a  va- 
riety of  the  brown  haematite  in  Adair  county ;  red  haematite 
throughout  the  coal  measures ;  red  and  yellow  ochres  in  many 
counties  ;  spathic  ores  in  the  coal  measures  and  in  Phelps  county  ; 
the  specular  oxide,  in  vast  masses,  such  as  the  Iron  mountain, 
Shepherd  mountain,  Pilot  Knob,  Simmon  mountain,  Iron  ridge, 
the  Meramec  mines,  in  Phelps  county,  and  numerous  other  de- 
posits in  eight  or  ten  other  counties ;  sulphurets  (iron  pyrites) 
throughout  the  coal  measures,  and  sulphate  of  iron  (copperas)  in 
the  coal  measures  and  abandoned  coal  mines.  Some  States  and 
Territories  have  perhaps  an  equal  abundance  of  iron  ores,  but 
lack  smelting  coals  to  reduce  them  ;  but  Missouri  has  an  abun- 
dance of  excellent  smelting  coa,ls  and  fluxes  in  close  proximity 
to  her  beds  of  iron  ores. 

After  iron,  lead  is  the  metal  most  largely  produced  in  Mis- 
souri, her  product  of  that  metal  being  greater  than  that  of  all  the 
rest  of  the  United  States.  Our  latest  complete  statistics  of  the 
lead  produced  in  the  State  are  for  1879,  when  the  St.  Louis  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  reported  a  production  of  56,868,960  pounds. 
This  was  a  very  decided  falling  off  from  the  product  of  1878, 
which  was  60,348,560  pounds,  and  still  more  from  that  of  1877, 
which  was  63,202,240  pounds.  About  one-third  of  the  whole 
was  exported.  The  consumption  as  well  as  the  production  of 
lead  has  largely  increased  within  the  past  five  years,  and  while 
Colorado,  Montana,  Utah,  Nevada  and  California  are  sending 
into  market  large  amounts  of  lead  parted  from  silver,  and  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona  are  preparing  to  do  the  same,  the  produc- 
tion in  Missouri,  Iowa  and  Kansas  has  also  increased  and  kept 
pace  with  them.  There  are  two  great  lead  fields — one  in  South- 
eastern and  the  other  in  Southwestern  Missouri.  It  is  also 
found  in  smaller  quantities  in  many  counties  outside  of  these  lead 
fields ;  galena,  or  sulphuret  of  lead,  and  cerussitc,  or  the  carbon- 


g^^-  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ate,  are  the  principal  ores,  though  some  deposits  of  the  phosphate 
(pyromorphite)  are  found.  Zinc  in  the  form  of  blende  is  abun- 
dant in  the  same  regions  as  the  lead — in  Southeastern  and  South- 
western  Missouri,  and  the  silicates  and  carbonates,  also,  while 
zinc  bloom  sometimes  occurs.  The  production  of  zinc  in  Missouri 
is  about  one-third  of  that  in  the  entire  United  States,  and  is  ex- 
ceeded only  by  that  of  Illinois.  Copper  in  the  form  of  blue  and 
green  carbonates  (malachite)  and  sulphurets,  is  found  in  large 
quantities  in  Shannon,  Crawford,  Jefferson,  Franklin  and  Madison 
counties,  and  in  smaller  quantities  in  a  dozen  other  counties. 
For  many  years  copper  mining  was  successfully  carried  on  in  the 
State,  and  even  now  small  quantities  are  produced  ;  but  the  yield 
of  copper  in  the  ores  ranges  only  from  twenty-two  to  twenty-six 
per  cent.,  and  the  Lake  Superior  ores  are  so  much  richer,  and 
their  mines  contain  so  much  native  copper  as  to  render  the  busi- 
ness generally  unprofitable.  Thesulphate  of  cadmium  (greenock- 
ite)  is  associated  with  the  zinc  blende  in  many  of  the  mines. 
Nickel  and  cobalt  are  found  in  paying  quantities  at  Mine  La 
Motte,  in  Madison  county,  aiid  in  the  St.  Joseph  mines,  and  the 
beautiful  hair-like  crystals  of  sulphuret  of  nickel  (Millerite)  in  the 
vicinity  of  St.  Louis.  Wolfram  occurs  in  Madison  county,  and 
manganese  and  mano-aniferous  iron  in  Iron  and  other  counties. 

Of  minerals,  not  ores,  there  is  a  great  variety ;  carbonate  of 
lime  (calcite),  arragonite,  pearl  spar,  fluor  spar,  quartz  in  all 
forms;  heavy  spar  (sulphate  of  baryta),  mainly  used  in  the  adul- 
teration of  white  lead  ;  gypsum,  mainly  in  the  form  of  selenite  ; 
pickeringite,  feldspar,  mica,  hornblende,  asbestos,  bitumen  or  min- 
eral tar  (throughout  the  coal  measures),  fire-clay,  potter's  clay 
and  kaolin ;  an  excellent  glass  sand  from  the  saccharoidal  lime- 
stone ;  lime  of  several  qualities;  hydraulic  lime  and  cement;  pol- 
ishing stone,  saltpetre,  building  stones  of  granite,  sandstones, 
limestones  and  marbles,  grindstones,  millstones,  slates,  and  numer- 
ous fine  varieties  of  colored  marbles  are  the  principal  of  these. 
But  of  all  the  minerals  not  metallic,  coal  is  the  most  important  in 
Missouri.  The  coal  fields  underlie  an  area  of  about  26,000  square 
miles  in  the  State.  The  coal  includes  deposits  belonging  to  the 
upper,  middle  and  lower  coal  measures,  and  is  of  various  quali- 


ZOOiaCY  AND   CLIMATE.  0^5 

ties,  some  being  common  bituminous,  some  very  rich  in  carbon, 
and  developing-  excellent  results  under  the  coking  process,  while 
some  will  not  coke;  some  is  equal  in  quality  to  the  Liverpool 
cannel  coal.  The  percentage  of  fixed  carbon  varies  from  thirty^ 
to  sixty  per  cent.,  the  average  being  not  far  from  fifty  per  cent. 
Among  the  coal  beds  already  worked  are  many  which  produce 
excellent  smelting  coals,  though  perhaps  a  larger  number  yield 
a  coal  better  adapted  to  the  use  of  locomotives  and  stationary 
engines.  The  coal  mines  are  usually  easily  worked,  and  do  not 
require  deep  shafts  or  expensive  machinery,  and  coal  is  very 
cheap.  There  are  many  mineral  springs  in  the  State,  sulphurous, 
saline  and  chalybeate,  but  none  of  national  reputation.  There 
are  also  brine  springs  in  Howard  county,  which  yield  from  two 
to  three  ounces  of  very  pure  salt  to  the  gallon. 

Zoology. — Having  extensive  forests,  Missouri  has  an  abun- 
dance of  wild  animals.  They  are  mostly  those  of  the  Mississippi 
valley  and  of  the  plains.  Bears  (the  black  and  cinnamon),  cou- 
gars or  panthers,  wild  cats,  lynxes,  wolves,  both  the  gray  wolf  and 
the  coyote,  foxes,  raccoons,  opossums,  skunks,  beavers,  martens, 
minks,  muskrats,  gophers,  woodchucks,  and  nearly  all  the  ro- 
dents and  burrowino-  animals.  The  buffalo  and  the  elk  have 
disappeared  from  Missouri,  though  they  were  formerly  abundant 
there  ;  but  there  are  two  species  of  deer,  antelopes  (rare),  rabbits 
and  hares.  Wild  turkeys,  quails,  pigeons,  partridges,  prairie 
hens  (though  these  are  not  as  numerous. as  formerly),  and  other 
grouse  exist  in  great  abundance.  The  birds  of  prey,  eagles,  vul- 
tures, hawks,  owls,  etc.,  destroy  great  numbers  of  game  birds  and 
rodents  ;  wild  geese,  ducks,  brant,  teal  and  snipe  are  found  in 
their  season  on  the  rivers  and  in  the  marshes,  and  with  them 
herons,  swans,  divers,  and  more  rarely  ibises.  Snakes,  lizards, 
frogs,  toads,  turtles,  etc.,  are  numerous. 

Climate. — The  climate  of  Missouri  is  generally  healthy,  except 
in  the  river  bottoms  and  the  marshy  districts  of  the  southeast ; 
but  it  is  a  climate  of  frequent  changes  and  of  great  extremes. 
The  months  of  July  and  August  are  marked  by  extreme  heat,  and 
there  are  periods  of  equally  intense  cold  in  January  and  Feb- 
ruary. The  autumn  and  spring  are  very  mild  and  pleasant, 
though  with  occasional  days  of  intense  cold  or  heat. 


936 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


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METEOROLOGY  OF  MISSOURI. 


937 


We  give  below  the  following  additional  items  in  regard  to  the  meteorology 
of  St.  Louis,  taken  from  the  Signal  Service  Reports. 


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Prevalent  winds  and  their  direction 

1878. 

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each  month. 

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0   C.C 

§35 

s 

s 

Inches. 

Per  cent. 

Inches. 

January 

29.462 

66.4 

2.36 

N.  W.,  S.,  W.,  N.,  E. 

February 

29 

361 

65.2 

1.69 

N.,S.,N.  W.,N.  E.,S.  E. 

March 

29 

353 

56.6 

2.79 

S.,N.  W..  S.  E.,  W.,  N. 

April 

29 

201 

55-5 

6.74 

S.  E.,N.,N.  W.,S.,S.  W. 

May 

29 
29 
29 
29 

362 
366 

398 
372 

6-vi 

4-63 
2.40 

4-75 

S.,  N.  W.,N.,  S.  E.,  N  E 

June 

0 

60.8 

S.,N.,S.E.,N.W  ,W    N  E 

Tulv 

62.9 
64.2 

S.,  N.,  N.  E.,  E  ,  S   W 

August 

S.,N.,S.  W.,N.W.,N.E. 

September  ... 

29 

503 

59-9 

3-42 

S.,  N.,  S.  E.,  E.,  N.  W. 

October 

29 

475 

60.6 

3-27 

S.,  N.,  N.  W.,  W. 

November. ... 

29 

467 

61.7 

1.38 

S.,N.W.,W.,N.,S.E.,N.E. 

December.... 

29 

562 

74.0 

3-48 

W.,N.W.,S.E.,N.,S.,E. 

Year 

29 

476 

62.6 

40.83 

S.,N.\V.,N.,S.E.,W.,N.E.,E. 

According  to  a  well-known  authority,  Dr.  Engleman,  of  St. 
Louis,  the  mean  annual  temperature  on  a  line  passing  across  the 
State  from  east  to  west,  not  far  from  its  northern  border,  is  50° 
Fahrenheit ;  a  little  south  of  the  middle,  including  St.  Louis, 
53°  Fahrenheit ;  at  about  middle,  including  St.  Louis,  summer 
mean  75°  Fahrenheit;  somewhat  north  of  southern  border, 
also  including  St.  Louis,  winter  mean  32°  Fahrenheit.  The 
Doctor  states  that  the  climate  on  the  whole  is  dry  and  rarely 
overloaded  with  moisture,  and  that  it  yields  an  unusual  amount 
of  fair  weather. 

Such  meteorological  conditions  are  highly  conducive  to  health, 
since  they  admit  of  and  encourage  active  out-door  life  at  all 
seasons.  Missouri  presents  .such  a  diversity  of  surface  that  all 
can  find  localities  within  its  boundaries  suitable  to  their  peculiari- 
ties of  constitution.  The  Signal  Service  Reports  do  not  vary 
greatly  from  Dr.  Engleman's  meteorological  estimates,  but  they 
exhibit  one  feature  which  he  docs  not  particularly  notice,  viz, : 
the  great  range  of  the  thermometer  in  the  winter,  spring  and 
autumn  months.     The  annual  range  is  about  93°;  the  range  of 


Q38  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  spring  months  averages  80°;   of  the  summer,  about  45°  ;  of 
the  autumn,  about  65°  ;  and  of  the  winter,  a  little  more  than  70*^. 

The  average  rainfall  all  over  the  State  is  40.5  inches,  and  con- 
trary to  the  popular  belief  is  greater  in  the  western  than  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State,  being  46.16  at  St.  Joseph,  and  only 
Zl-'^Z  ii"!  l^lie  same  years  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  on  the  Mississippi. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — The  Hon.  Andrew  McKinley,  President 
of  the  Missouri  State  Board  of  Immigration,  a  man  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  soils  and  productive  capacity  of  the  Missouri 
lands,  thus  classifies  and  describes  them  : 

"  When  the  territory  now  embraced  within  the  boundaries  of 
Missouri  emerged  from  the  waters  that  covered  it,  the  marls  of 
the  bluff  formation  were  the  upper  stratum  beneath  the  soil,  of 
all  that  section  of  the  State  lying  north  of  the  Osage  and  Mis- 
souri rivers,  and  also  of  the  county  of  St.  Louis  and  other  coun- 
ties lying  on  the  Mississippi  river,  to  the  southern  boundary  of 
the  State.  This  formation  furnishes  a  deep,  porous,  flexible  and 
imperishable  sub-soil,  that  absorbs  moisture  like  a  sponge  and 
enables  the  soil  to  endure  greater  excesses  of  rain  or  drouth 
than  any  other.  It  rests  upon  the  ridges  and  river  bluffs  and 
descends  along  their  slopes  to  the  lowest  valleys.  Reposing  on 
this  surface  is  a  jjreat  variety  of  soils,  each  in  its  kind  of  unsur- 
passed  fertility  and  productiveness.  From  time  to  time  animal 
remains  and  decayed  vegetable  matter,  in  vast  profusion,  but  in 
just  proportions,  were  added,  until  the  soil  formation  became 
complete,  and  now  exhibits  all  of  the  essentials  for  the  fullest 
nourishment  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  In  the  process  of  the 
formation  of  the  upper  soil,  a  rank  vegetation  of  grasses,  plants 
and  trees  sprang  up,  which  was  suppressed  In  the  dryer  portions 
by  fires  that  overrun  the  country.  Along  the  streams,  and  where 
there  was  a  scarcity  of  vegetation,  the  fires  failed  to  destroy  the 
young  trees,  which  grew  apace  until  strong  enough  to  resist,  and 
then  they  began  to  encroach  upon  the  prairies  ;  this  they  con- 
tinued to  do  until  more  than  one-half  of  the  State  was  appropri- 
ated by  our  magnificent  forests. 

"  The  mareins  of  the  rivers  first  received  the  most  extensive 
deposits  of  soil  matter  from  floods,  which  carried  down  the  wealth 


SOIL    AND    VEGETATION.  O^g 

of  the  vast  regions  they  drained,  and,  upon  the  subsidence  of  the 
waters,  deposited  it  on  the  lower  levels.  Each  flood  furnished 
its  new  supply,  adding  to  the  height  of  the  bottom  lands  until, 
after  the  lapse  of  time,  they  became,  for  the  most  part,  sufficiently 
elevated  to  be  above  danger  of  overflow.  No  rivers  of  the  world 
can  boast  of  more  extensive  bottom  lands  than  can  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi,  and  none  have  soils  with  ingredients  richer, 
better  combined,  or  more  productive. 

"  For  practical  purposes,  the  best  classification  of  the  soils  of 
Missouri  is  that  adopted  by  Professor  Swallow,  which,  after  de- 
fining them  in  general  as  forest,  prairie  and  alluvial  lands,  indi- 
cates their  great  variety  by  the  kind  of  timber  which  is  most 
abundant  on  them,  or,  where  timber  is  wanting,  by  the  grasses 
and  plants  of  the  prairie.  Following  this  classification  those 
known  as  Hackberry  Lands  are  first  in  fertility  and  productive- 
ness. Upon  these  lands  also  grow  elm,  wild  cherry,  honey 
locust,  hickory,  white,  black,  burr  and  chestnut  oaks,  black  and 
white  walnut,  mulberry,  linden,  ash,  poplar,  catalpa,  sassafras  and 
maple.  The  prairie  soils  of  about  the  same  quality,  if  not  iden- 
tical, are  known  as  Croiv  Foot  Lands,  so  called  from  a  species  of 
weed  found  upon  them,  and  these  two  soils  generally  join  each 
other  where  the  timber  and  prairie  land  meet.  Both  rest  upon 
a  bed  of  fine  silicious  marls,  and  even  under  most  exhaustive 
tillage  will  prove  perpetually  fertile.  They  cover  more  than 
7,000,000  acres  of  land.  On  this  soil  white  oaks  have  been 
found  twenty-nine  feet  in  circumference  and  one  hundred  feet 
high ;  linden  twenty-three  feet  in  circumference  and  quite  as 
lofty;  the  burr  oak  and  sycamore  grow  still  larger.  Prairie 
grasses,  on  the  Crow  Foot  Lands,  grow  very  rank  and  tall,  and 
by  the  old  settlers  were  said  to  entirely  conceal  herds  of  catde 
from  the  view.  These  lands  alone  are  capable  of  sustaining  a 
population  greater  than  that  now  occupying  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri. 

"The  Ehn  Lauds,  whose  name  is  derived  from  the  American 
elm,  which  here  grows  magnificently,  are  scarcely  inferior  to  the 
hackberry  lands,  and  possess  very  nearly  the  same  growth  of 
other  timber.     The  soil  has  about  the  same  properties,  except 


g^Q  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

that  the  sand  Is  finer  and  the  clay  more  abundant.  The  same 
quality  of  soil  appears  in  the  prairie  known  as  the  Resin  Weed 
Lands. 

"  Next  in  order  are  Hickory  Lands,  with  a  growth  of  white  and 
shellbark  hickory,  black,  scarlet  and  laurel  oaks,  sugar  maple, 
persimmon  and  the  haw,  red-bud  and  crab  apple,  trees  of  smaller 
growth.  In  some  portions  of  the  State  the  tulip  tree,  beech  and 
black  gum  grow  on  lands  of  the  same  quality.  Large  areas  of 
prairie  in  the  northeast  and  southwest  have  soils  of  nearly  the 
same  quality  called  Jlltdafto  Soils.  There  is  also  a  soil  lying 
upon  the  red  clays  of  Southern  Missouri  similar  to  the  above. 
These  hickory  lands  and  those  described  as  assimilating  to  them, 
are  highly  esteemed  by  the  farmers  for  the  culture  of  corn,  wheat 
and  other  cereals.  They  are  admirably  adapted  to  the  culti- 
vation of  fruits,  and  their  blue  grass  pastures  are  equal  to  any 
in  the  State.  Their  area  may  be  fairly  estimated  at  6,000,000 
acres. 

"The  Magncsian  Limestone  Soils  extend  from  Callaway  county 
south  to  the  Arkansas  line,  and  from  Jefferson  west  to  Polk 
county,  an  area  of  about  10,000,000  acres.  These  soils  are  dark, 
warm,  light  and  very  productive.  They  produce  black  and  white 
walnut,  black  gum,  white  and  wahoo  elms,  sugar  maple,  honey 
locust,  mulberry,  chestnut,  post  laurel,  black,  scarlet  and  Spanish 
oaks,  persimmon,  blue  ash  and  many  trees  of  smaller  growth. 
They  cover  all  the  country  underlaid  by  the  magnesian  lime- 
stone series,  but  are  inconvenient  for  ordinary  tillage  when  they 
occupy  the  hillsides  or  narrow  valleys.  Among  the  most  fertile 
soils  in  the  State,  they  produce  fine  crops  of  almost  all  the  staples, 
and  thrifty  and  productive  fruit  trees  and  grape  vines  evince 
their  extraordinary  adaptation  and  fitness  to  the  culture  of  the 
grape  and  other  fruits.  Large,  bgld  springs  of  limpid,  pure  and 
cool  waters  gush  from  every  hillside  and  flow  away  in  bright 
streams,  giving  beauty  and  attraction  to  the  magnificent  forests  of 
the  elm,  the  oak,  the  mulberry  and  the  buckeye,  which  often  adorn 
their  borders.  The  mininf;:  regions  embraced  in  this  division  of 
the  soils  are  thus  supplied  with  vast  agricultural  wealth  and  a 
large  mining,  pastoral  and  agricultural  population  may  here  be 


OAK,  BLACK  JACK  AND  PINE  LANDS.  041 

brought  together  in  relations  scarcely  to  be  found  in  any  other 
country  in  the  world.  Blue  grass  and  other  succulent  and  nutri- 
tious grasses  grow  luxuriantly,  even  on  the  ridges  and  hillsides 
of  the  upland  forests,  in  almost  every  portion  of  Southern  Mis- 
souri. The  alfalfa  grass  {incdicago  sativa),  so  highly  prized  in 
California,  has  been  introduced  into  this  part  of  Missouri,  and 
proves  a  valuable  addition  to  the  forage  grasses,  yielding  eight 
tons  of  the  best  of  hay  at  four  cuttings,  withstanding  summer 
droughts,  and  furnishing  excellent  pasture  in  October  and  No- 
vember. 

"Oi?  the  ridges,  where  the  lighter  materials  of  the  soil  have 
been  washed  away,  or  were  originally  wanting.  White  Oak  Lands 
are  to  be  found,  the  oaks  accompanied  by  shellbark  and  black 
hickory,  and  trees  and  shrubs  of  smaller  growth.  While  the  sur- 
face soil  is  not  so  rich  as  the  hickory  lands,  the  sub-soil  is  quite 
as  good,  and  the  land  may  be  greatly  improved  by  turning  the 
sub-soil  to  the  surface.  These  produce  superior  wheat,  good 
corn  and  a  very  fine  quality  of  tobacco.  On  these  lands  fruits 
are  abundant  and  a  sure  crop.  They  embrace  about  1,500,000 
acres. 

"'Post  Oak  Lands  have  about  the  same  o-rowth  as  the  white  oak 
lands,  and  produce  good  crops  of  the  staples  of  the  country,  and 
yield  the  best  tobacco  in  the  West.  Fruits  of  all  kinds  excel  on 
this  soil.     These  lands  require  deep  culture. 

"The  Blackjack  Z«;z^^  occupy  the  high  flint  ridges  underlaid 
with  hornstone  and  sandstone,  and  under  these  conditions  are 
considered  the  poorest  in  the  State,  except  for  pastures  and 
vineyards.  The  presence,  however,  of  black  jack  on  other  lands 
does  not  indicate  thin  or  poor  lands. 

''Pine  Lands  are  extensive,  embracing  about  2,000,000  acres. 
The  pine  is  the  long  leaf  variety,  grows  to  great  size,  and  is  mar- 
ketable. It  is  accompanied  by  heavy  growths  of  oak,  which  takes 
the  country  as  successor  to  the  pine.  This  soil  is  sandy,  is 
adapted  to  small  grains  and  grasses,  and  carries  fertilizers  well. 

"The  bottom  lands  of  the  southeast  are  now  being  rapidl)-  re- 
duced to  cultivation  by  the  common  effort  of  the  lumberman  and 
settler.     A  more  extensive  system  of  scientific  drainage  is  now 


0^2  <5^'-^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

authorized  by  the  State,  and  effective  measures  are  determined 
upon.  They  are  of  the  Hackbcrry  variety  of  soils,  and  bear  the 
heaviest  of  timber.  The  strength  of  soils  is  such  as  to  produce 
great  crops  with  regularity,  proved  in  many  fields  by  more  than 
fifty  years  of  cuUivation  without  rotation  of  crops." 

Agricidtural  Products. — In   1870  somewhat  more  than  one- 
half  the  area  of  the  State — 21,707,220  acres — was  included  in 
farms,  of  which,  however,  only  9,130,615  acres  were  under  culti- 
vation ;  within  the  last  decade,  the  amount  of  improved  lands  has 
greatly  increased.     The  culture  of  the  grape  and  the  production 
of  wine  has  been   largely  developed,  and  the  vineyards  of  Mis- 
souri are  favorably  known.     The  State  possesses  some  advan- 
tages for  the  production  of  excellent  wines,  which  are  not  sur- 
passed by  those  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  and  not  equalled 
by  any  except  California.     Two  classes  of  grapes — those  which 
produce   the   best  wines — the  Aestivalis  or  summer  grapes,  and 
the  Ripara  or  river  grapes,  attain  their  greatest  perfection  on  her 
soil ;  and  many  of  the  best  varieties  of  these  are  either  native 
Missouri  grapes  or  seedlings  from  them.     Of  the  y^stivcJis  class 
the  "  Norton's  Vircrinia "  and  its   seedlings,  the   Hermann   and 
the  White   Hermann,  the  Cynthiana,  a  grape  of  wonderful  ex- 
cellence, and  the  Neosho,  a  native  grape,  produce  the  finest  red 
wines.  Burgundies,  sherries,  clarets  and  white  wines,  in  the  world. 
Of  the  river  grapes,  the  Taylor,  and  especially  its  seedlings,  the 
famous  Elvira,  the  Amber,  the  Pearl  and  others,  are  of  the  great- 
est value  for  the  production  of  the  choicest  hocks,  still  wines  and 
champagnes.     Most  of  these,  also,  are  very  fine  table-grapes.    A 
wide  field  is  open  to  the   State  and  to  immigrants  from  wine- 
growing   countries   for   the    production    of   pure    wines    of   the 
highest  qualities.     There  are  six  native  varieties  of  grapes,  and 
they  are  all,  so  far  as  known,  proof  against  the  phylloxe^'a,  that 
deadly  enemy  of  the  grape-vine.    Among  other  special  crops  are 
sorghum,  now  largely  cultivated,  both  for  sugar  and  syrup  ;   fiax 
and  hemp,  both  for  fibre  and  seed  ;  cotton  and  sweet  potatoes  in 
the  southern  counties,  hops  and  the  larger  fruits.     Apiaculture 
is  also  very  popular  in  some   portions  of  the   State,  and  large 
quantities  of  honey  and  beeswax  are  exported.     The  following 


CROPS  AND   STOCK-RAISING  IN  MISSOURI. 


943 


tables  show  the  production  of  agricultural  staples  In  the  years 
1878  and  1879,  and  also  the  amount  of  live-stock,  which  is  a 
large  and  rapidly  increasing  interest  in  Missouri: 


The  Principal  Crops 

of  Missouri 

• 

Crops,  1878. 

Quantity  pro- 
duced in  1878. 

Average 

yield  per 
acre. 

No.  of  acres 
in  each  crop. 

Price  per 

bushel,  pound 
or  ton. 

Value  of 
each  crop. 

Indian   corn    bu 

93,062,400 

20,196,000 

732,000 

19,584,000 

46,400 

5,415,000 

23,023,000 

1,620,000 

26.2 
II. 

15- 

30.6 

16. 

75- 
770. 
1.62 

3,552,000 

1,836,000 

48,800 

640,000 

2,900 

72,200 

29,900 

1 ,000,000 

$   .26 
.67 
.41 
.18 
•52 
•38 
•05 
6.43 

$24,196,224 
13,531,320 

j(00,I20 

3,525,120 

24,128 

2,057,700 

1,151,150 

10,416,600 

Wheat,  bu 

Rye    bu           

Oats,  bu 

Huckwheat.  bu 

Potatoes   bu           

Tobacco,  pound 

Hay,  ton 

Totals 

7,181,800 

^55,202,362 

1 

Crops,  1879. 

Quantity  pro- 
duced in  1S79. 

Avfrayie  :    ^,        , 

.,,'='    '    No.  of  acres 
yield  per:    .           , 

acre.      1   '"  ^^''^  '^'""P- 

Price  per 

bushel,  pound 

or  ton. 

Value  of 
each  crop. 

Indian  corn,  bu 

153,446,400 

18,084,240 

6S8,o8o 

15,077,680 

46,864 

6,570,200 

21,411,390 

1,012,500 

40 
14 

17 

25 
20 

91 
663 
1.06 

3,836,160 
1,356,016 

40,475 
603,107 

2,871 
72,200 

32,595 
955,200 

$  .25 

1. 01 

.61 

.26 

•63 

.48 
.06 

9-43 

$38,361,600 

19,174,082 

419.729 

3,807,114 

29-524 
3,153,696 
1,284,684 

9,547,5^75 

Wheat,  bu 

Rve,  bu      

Oats,  bu 

Buckwheat,  bu 

Potatoes,  bu 

Tobacco,  pounds 

Hay,  tons 

Totals 

' 

6,898,624 



i?75>778,304 

' 

Missouri  is  remarkably  adapted  for  grazing  and  stock-raising 
generally,  and  has  within  her  own  borders  markets  so  accessible 
and  of  such  boundless  capacity  that  she  can  increase  her  live- 
stock to  any  extent  without  fear  of  glutting  the  market.  In 
swine  husbandry  she  Is  very  close  to  her  northern  neighbor, 
Iowa,  and  no  other  State,  except  Illinois,  equals  these  two  in  the 
number  and  quality  of  Its  swine.  In  the  number  of  its  sheep  it 
ranks  below  Texas,  California,  Oregon,  New  Mexico  and  Colo- 
rado, but  with  more  enterprise  it  might  easily  pass  the  last  three, 
as  it  has  ranges  for  sheep  equal  to  any  in  the  world.  Her  beeves, 
whether  shipped  to  Europe  or  to  the  New  York  markets,  have 
an  excellent  reputation,  and  she  Is  a  formidable  competitor  with 
Iowa  for  the  excellence  as  well  as  the  abundance  of  her  dairy 
products. 

Barley,  though  not  named  among  the  crops  in  above  tables,  is 


944 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


raised  to  the  amount  of  a  million  bushels  or  more  annually.  The 
average  yield  is  about  twenty-eight  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  the 
price  in  1879  was  sixty-seven  cents  per  bushel.  The  production  of 
cotton  is  confined  to  the  southern  counties  of  the  State, and  seldom 
exceeds  1,500  bales.  The  sorghum  crop  is  becoming  a  very  im- 
portant one  for  the  State.  The  following  statistics  show  the 
number,  price  and  value  of  the  live-stock  in  the  State  in  January, 
1879,  and  January,  1880: 


Live-stock  in  Missouri,  Jan.,  1879. 

Live-stock  in  Missouri,  Jan.,  iSSo. 

Animals. 

Number. 

Price. 

1 

Total  value. 

Number. 

Price. 

Total  value. 

Horses          

627,300 

191,900 

516,200 

1,632,000 

1,296,400 

2,817,600 

$39-89 
43-38 
17.80 
14.94 

1-59 
22.1 

$25,022,997 
8,324,622 
9,188,360 
24,382,080 
2,061,276 
6,226,896 

639,846 

192,000 

526,524 

1,648,300 

1,322,328 

2,620,368 

$45-52 

57-05 
19.21 

23-33 
2.00 
4.02 

$29,115,790 
io,953,6co 
10,114,526 
38,455.306 
2,644,656 
10,533.978 

Mules  and  asses 

Milch  cows 

O.Nten  and  other  cattle 

Sheep 

Swine 

Totals 

$75,206,231 

$101,817,757 

1 

Ahnmfachires. — Missouri  possesses  greater  advantages  for 
extensive  and  successful  manufacturing  than  any  other  State  of 
"  Our  Western  Empire ''  and  she  has  improved  them  in  part. 
In  1870  Missouri  ranked  as  the  fifth  State  in  the  Union  in  the 
annual  product  of  her  manufactures,  and  St.  Louis  in  1876  was 
the  third  manufacturing  city  in  the  Union.  Within  the  last  de- 
cade the  State,  outside  of  St.  Louis,  has  nearly  tripled,  and  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  has  more  than  doubled  the  amount  of  its  manu- 
factures. Great  manufacturing  centres  have  sprung  up  in  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  State ;  St.  Joseph,  Kansas  City,  Hannibal,  St. 
Charles,  Springfield,  Palmyra,  Union,  Jackson,  Columbia,  Lex- 
ino-ton,  Moberly,  Sedalia,  Boonville  and  Rolla,  are  all  manufac- 
turing centres  of  considerable  importance.  About  three-fourths 
of  the  manufactures  of  Missouri  are  produced  in  St.  Louis,  which 
reported  in  1879  manufactured  articles  of  the  value  of  ;^2 75,000,- 
000.  For  the  whole  State  the  products  of  manufactures  the 
same  year  were  estimated  in  round  numbers  at  $335^,000,000. 
The  principal  lines  of  manufacture  were  approximately  as  follows: 
Flouring  mills,  $40,000,000  ;  carpenters  and  builders,  $20,000,000; 


MANUFACTURES    AND  MINING   PRODUCTS. 


945 


meat  packing,  ^20,000,000;  tobacco,  including  cigars,  ^14,000,000; 
iron  and  castings,  ^15,000,000;  liquors,  $10,000,000;  clothing, 
%\  1,000,000  ;  lumber,  $10,000,000  ;  bags  and  bagging,  $7,000,000; 
saddlery,  $7,000,000 ;  oil,  $6,000,000 ;  machinery,  $6,000,000 ; 
printing  and  publishing,  $5,500,000 ;  molasses  and  sugar,  $10,- 
000,000;  boots  and  shoes,  $5,000,000;  furniture,  $5,000,000; 
paints  and  painting,  $4,500,000;  carriages  and  wagons,  $4,500,- 
000  ;  marble,  stone-work  and  masonry,  $4,000,000  ;  bakery  pro- 
ducts, $4,000,000 ;  bricks,  $4,500,000 ;  tin,  copper  and  sheet  iron, 
$4,000,000;  sash,  doors  and  blinds,  $3,250,000;  cooperage,  $3,- 
000,000;  blacksmithing,  $3,000,000;  bridge  building,  $2,500,000; 
agricultural  implements,  $2,000,000 ;  patent  medicines,  $2,500,- 
000  ;  soap  and  candles,  $2,500,000 ;  plumbing  and  gas-fitting, 
$2,000,000. 

Mining    Products. — The    principal   of    these    now    profitably 
worked  are — i.   Lead,  of  which  the   receipts  at   St.  Louis  from-. 
1863  to   July,   1879,  are  given  in   pigs   in  the  following    table. 
(N.  B. — A  pig  of  lead  is  eighty  pounds.) 


YEARS. 


RECEIPTS. 


INCREASE. 


1863 

1864 

1865 

1866 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

60 


Pigs. 


79.823 

93.035 
1 16,636 

149.584 

144,555 
185,823 

228,303 

237.939 
229,796 
285,769 
356,037 
479.448 
579,202 

665,557 
790,028 


754,357 
817.594 


Pigs. 


13,212 
23,601 
32,948 

41,268 

42,480 

9.636 

55-973 
70,268 

123,411 
99,754 

86,355 
124,471 


DECREASE. 

35.671 
INCREASE. 

63.237 


Per  cent. 


16.56 

25-36 

28.25. 

28.55 
22.86 

4-23 

24.36 
24.60 
34.66 
21.00 
14.91 
18.70 

DECREASE. 

4-5° 
INCREASE. 

8.30 


946 


OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


The  lead  industry  of  St.  Louis  amounts  annually  to  over 
;^5,000,000.  This  includes  pig  lead,  white  lead,  shot,  pipe  and 
sheet  lead. 

2.  Iron.  With  ample  facilities  for  making,  at  the  lowest  pos- 
sible prices,  iron  enough  to  supply  the  whole  continent,  Missouri 
has  fallen  far  below  her  proper  position  in  the  production  of  iron. 
In  1872  the  iron  ore  mined  amounted  to  509,200  tons,  of  which 
291,200  tons  were  exported,  and  the  remainder  smelted  in  Mis- 
souri. The  same  year  87,176:1  tons  of  pig  iron  were  produced 
and  shipped  to  St.  Louis.  In  1879  the  iron  product  of  St.  Louis 
was  over  ^12,000,000. 

3.  In  1872  11,582,440  pounds  of  zinc  ore  \vere  raised  and 
shipped  to  St.  Louis.  Of  this  10,000,000  pounds  were  smelted 
for  zinc,  yielding  1,727,450  pounds,  and  the  remainder  was  used 
for  the  manufacture  of  white  oxide  of  zinc.  The  same  year  10,- 
437,420  pounds  of  barytes  were  shipped  to  St.  Louis.  In  1879 
Kansas  tity  alone  shipped  15,931,793  pounds  of  zinc;  32,371,059 
pounds  of  lead,  and  55,709,497  pounds  of  ore. 

4.  Copper  is  not  now  produced  except  incidentally  in  connec- 
tion with  other  metals.  Nickel  is  shipped  to  St.  Louis  from 
several  mines  to  a  large  and  annually  increasing  amount. 

5.  Th.e  output  of  coal  in  the  State  was,  in  round  numbers, 
900,000  tons  in  1877,  and  1,000,000  tons  in  1878.  In  1879  the 
amount  was  36,978,150  bushels,  or  about  1,100,000  tons. 

The  products  of  the  quarries  consist  of  building-stone  of  many 
kinds,  granite,  sandstones,  limestones,  marbles,  white,  black  and 
colored,  slate  of  all  kinds,  millstones,  grindstones,  polishing 
stone,  hydraulic  lime,  glass  sand  from  the  saccharoidal  sandstone, 
etc.  The  amount  of  quarry  products  is  known  to  be  very  large, 
but  we  have  no  statistics  of  it. 

Railroads. — The  State  is  traversed  by  3,627  miles  of  railway. 
The  greater  part  of  the  railroad  lines  are  great  trunk  routes, 
connected  with  the  Union  Pacific,  the  Northern  Pacific,  the  At- 
chison, Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  or  some  of  the  routes  to  Texas  and 
the  Gulf  Of  those  traversing  Northern  and  Western«>Missouri, 
the  Chicago  railway  kings  have  obtained  and  hold  possession, 
crready  to  the  grief  of  St.  Louis,  which  is,  nevertheless,  a  great 


POPULATION  OF  MISSOURI. 


947 


railroad  centre,  having  nineteen  trunk  lines  radiating  from  it. 
The  Chicago  roads  include  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  the 
Chicago  and  Rock  Island,  Chicago  and  Alton,  the  Wabash,  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy,  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and 
Texas.  The  principal  roads  going  westward  or  southward  from 
St.  Louis  are  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern,  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific,  made  up  of  several  lines,  the  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco,  the  St.  Louis,  Keokuk  and  Northwestern,  and  the  St. 
Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern.  Hannibal,  Louisiana, 
Quincy,  Illinois,  St.  Joseph  and  Kansas  City  are  also  points  at 
w^hich  several  important  railways  originate.  There  are  also  a 
few  merely  local  railways.  Of  the  1 1 5  counties  in  the  State,  it 
is  stated  that  only  seventeen  are  without  railroads.  The  actual 
cost  of  road  and  equipment  for  the  roads  within  the  State  has 
been  about  ^160,000,000.  Of  course,  their  stock  and  debts  rep- 
resent a  still  larger  sum.  Recently  combinations  have  been 
formed  with  great  railway  companies  holding  possession  of  trunk 
lines,  by  which  much  of  the  railroad  property  of  the  State  will 
become  more  profitable. 

Popidation, — With  the  exception  of  Louisiana,  Missouri  is  the 
oldest  State  of  "  Our  Western  Empire,"  having  organized  as  a 
State  in  1820,  and  having  been  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1S21. 
The  following  table  exhibits  its  population  at  various  dates  of  its 
history,  their  condition  of  race,  color,  birth,  etc. : 


POPULATION  OF  MISSOURI. 


c 
0 

C 
g-1 

00 

h 

•H 

"J 

V    CI* 

zi 

V 

D.-J 

c 

«  K 

>.'a 

a 

0 

(/> 

S 

C  rt 

<— 

"c  " 

se 

tJC  c 

3 

C 
4> 

D. 
'a 
0 

0 

12 

0 

8 

a 

> 

0 

S2 

0 

2-5 
u  0 

u 
1810 

t-i 

''- 

b 

■? 

fc 

in 

•^ 

fa 

M 

Pi 

0 

0 

0 

20,84s 

11,390 

9,455 

17,227 

607 

3,o" 



•32 

1820 

66,586 

36,544 

30,042 

55.988 

376 

10,222 



1.02 

2>9-43 

1830 

140.455 

74,128 

66,327 

"4.795 

569 

25,09' 

2.15 

110.94 

1840 

383,702 

203,095 

180,607 

323,888 

I.S74 

58,240 

5.87 

173.18 

1850 

682,044 

357,832 

324,212 

592,004 

■      2,618 

87,422 

604,522 

76,592 

10.44 

77-75 

27-!, 157  138,248 

262,157 

i860 

1,182,012 

6^2,201 

559.8" 

1,063,489 

I      3.572 

"4,931 

1,021,471 

i6j,54I 

.8.09 

73-30 

446,397   ?49.249 

290,778 

1870 

i.72>.295 

.Sij6,347 

824,948 

1,603,146 

1 18,071 

none 

1,499,028 

222,267 

26.34 

45.62 

577.803,352,998 

408,206 

1880 

2,168,804 

1,127,424 

1,041,38c 

)i  2,023,568 

145,23^ 

i    none 

1.937,564 

2", 240    36.34 

38. 

1 

There  are  several  things  worthy  of  notice  in  this  table.     One 


948 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


is,  the  marked  disproportion  at  each  census  between  males  and 
females.  This  is  very  singular  in  a  State  as  old  as  Missouri. 
Another  is  that  Missouri,  having  been  a  slave  State  until  1863, 
there  should  have  been  so  small  a  proportion  of  the  African  race 
there,  never  much  exceeding  ten  per  cent,  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion, and  that  after  their  emancipation  their  number  actually  de- 
creased. A  third  is  that  while  the  State  is  so  orreat  a  thoroughfare 
for  immigrants  and  offers  such  inducements  to  them,  so  small  a 
proportion  of  its  inhabitants  should  be  of  foreign  birth,  nevermore 
than  thirteen  per  cent.,  and  that  the  actual  number  is  decreasing. 

Cowitics  and  Cities. — There  are  115  counties  in  the  State, 
which  had  in  1870  a  true  valuation  of  ^1,284,922,897.  Their 
present  true  valuation  would  probably  exceed  ^2,000,000,000. 

The  following  table  gives  the  principal  towns  and  cities  of  the 
State,  with  their  population  in  1870  and  as  far  as  reported  in 
1880.  St.  Louis  is  considerably  the  largest  city  in  "  Our  Western 
Empire,"  although  somewhat  less  populous  than  its  enterprising 
inhabitants  hoped.  Kansas  City  has  grown  very  rapidly,  and  is 
now  the  second  city  in  the  State. 


CITIES. 


St.  I^ouis 

Kansas    City... 

St.   Joseph 

Hannibal 

St.  Charles 

Springfield 

Setlalia 

Lexington 

Chillicothc. 

Cape  Girardeau 

Louisiana 

Macon 


2  o 

rt  00 
o  •'- 


310,864 

32,260 

10,125 

5'57o 
5>555 
4,560 

4,373 
3>978 

3,585 
3.639 
3,678 


2  o 

ZL  00 
rt  00 

O  •-' 

Ph 


CITIES. 


o   o 

rt  00 

&  c 
o  •- 


O    O 

"z;  CO 

£-  c 

P^ 


350,522     Booneville 3,506 

55,813  I  Independence j     3,184 


32,484 
11,074 


Jefferson  City I     4,420 

Warrensbura:. 


...!  2,945 

jCanton '  2,363 

iColumbia 2,236 

Palmyra 2,615 

Pleasant  Hill 2,554 

Rulla  , \  1,354 

Mexico 2,602 

Iron  Mount 2,018 

iMoberly 1,514 


6,000 


St.  Louis  is  a  city  of  great  enterprise,  largely  engaged  in 
manufactures  and  in  the  sale  of  mining  products,  dairy  products, 
meats  and  provisions,  mining,  agricultural  and  railroad  machinery, 


LANDS  FOR   IMMIGRANTS.  g^Q 

locomotives,  cars,  wagons,  Concord  coaches,  hollow-ware,  and 
o-enerally  articles  of  steel  and  iron.  Its  schools  and  some  of  its 
institutions  of  higher  learning  are  models  in  their  way,  and  it  has 
a  deservedly  high  reputation  for  morality  and  business  probity 
and  honor.  Its  growth  during  the  past  decade  has  been  some- 
what retarded  by  various  causes,  but  it  is  now  increasing  with 
great  rapidity. 

It  is  the  point  of  departure  for  the  great  volume  of  travel  and 
immicrration  to  the  Western  and  Southwestern  States  and  Terri- 
tories,  and  wdth  its  rapidly  growing  daughter,  Kansas  City,  on 
the  western  border,  and  St.  Joseph  on  the  northwestern,  manages 
to  secure  for  Missouri  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the  passenger 
and  freight  traffic  of  the  Great  West. 

Kansas  City,  as  we  have  elsewhere  said,  has  concentrated 
within  its  own  bounds  all  the  principal  lines  traversing  the  West, 
Northwest  and  Southwest.  Its  growth  has  been  very  rapid,  rising 
from  32,361  in  1S70  to  56,946  in  1880,  and  its  schools,  churches, 
public  buildings  and  general  improvement  have  kept  pace  with 
its  grow^th  in  population.  Much  the  same  can  be  said  of  St. 
Joseph,  Hannibal  and  Sedalia.  They  are  ail  railroad  centres  of 
considerable  importance,  and  are  having  a  rapid  growth. 

Lands  for  Immigrants. — Immigrants  coming  to  the  State  of 
Missouri,  who  desire  to  buy  and  improve  lands,  will  have  their 
choice  of  the  following,  namely  : 

I.  There  are  1,000,000  acres  yet  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  subject  to  sale  and  homestead  entry.  These  lands  lie 
principally  south  of  the  Missouri  river,  in  counties  heavily  tim- 
bered, well  watered,  and  are  among  the  best  fruit  and  pasture 
lands  in  the  United  States.  It  is  desirable  that  these  lands 
should  be  taken  as  homesteads  by  the  poorer  classes,  w^ho  will 
improve  them,  and  add  to  the  taxable  wealth  of  the  State.  These 
lands  can  be  purchased  at  $1.25  per  acre  where  they  are  not 
within  ten  miles  of  a  land-grant  railway,  and  at  $2.50  or  upwards 
where  they  are  inside  of  that  limit.  They  are  also  subject  to 
entry  under  the  homestead  law,  which  will  make  the  cost  of  a 
good  farm  of  160  acres  from  5^25  to  '^2'6,  the  title  being  perlect- 
ible  after  five  years  of  residence  and  improvement.    The  Timber- 


.p50  ^^-^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Culture  and  Desert  Land  Acts  do  not  apply  to  public  lands  in 
Missouri. 

2.  There  are  yet  large  bodies  of  swamp  lands  in  different 
parts  of  the  State.  These  lands  are  the  richest  alluvial  lands  in 
the  world,  which  are  subject  to  occasional  overflow,  which  make 
the  best  meadow  and  pasture  lands. 

3.  Much  of  the  land  grant  made  by  the  general  government 
to  the  Aericultural  Collecje  remains  unsold,  and  these  lands  are 
now  in  market. 

4.  Of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  various  railroads,  which  were 
granted  them  by  the  general  government,  a  considerable  quan- 
tity are  yet  for  sale.  These  grants  embrace  some  of  the  best 
agricultural  lands  in  the  State  ;  well  located,  accessible  to  market, 
with  all  the  conveniences  of  an  old  settled  country,  of  churches, 
schools  and  markets. 

5.  There  is  a  large  amount  of-land  in  the  State  owned  by  non- 
residents, speculators,  widows  and  orphans,  who  are  anxious  to 
part  with  It. 

6.  There  are  many  large  farmers  in  the  State  who  are  anxious 
to  divide  their  farms  to  enable  them  to  reduce  these  farms  to 
cultivation,  and  still  others  who  through  age.  Infirmity  and  other 
causes,  desire  to  change  their  business,  and  will  put  their  land 
into  market  at  a  low  rate. 

7.  There  are  a  great  many  persons  Avhose  property  is  mort- 
gaged, and  who  are  compelled  to  make  sale  of  it,  to  save  their 
equities  that  remain  after  the  payment  of  the  liens. 

The  entire  aggregate  of  these  lands  amounts  to  several  million 
acres,  and  they  are  scattered  through  every  part  of  the  State. 
The  products  of  these  lands  embrace  everything  which  may  be 
grown  in  the  temperate  zone,  from  the  apple  to  the  orange  and 
fig,  from  flax  to  cotton,  from  the  Irish  potato  to  the  yam. 

The  advantages  of  these  lands  over  those  more  remote  from 
the  great  markets,  from  schools,  churches  and  the  social  sur- 
roundings which  make  homes  desirable,  must  be  obvious;  yet 
these  lands  have  been  taken  up  slowly,  while  those  of  Kansas, 
certainly  no  more  Intrinsically  desirable,  and  many  of  them  less 
so,  have  found  ready  purchasers.    The  reasons  for  this  difference 


W//y  IMMIGRATION  HAS  NOT  BEEN  LARGER.  gr  j 

in  the  past  have  been  :  The  Missouri  lands  have  been  much  less 
thoroughly  advertised ;  the  State  has  not  kept  itself  before  the 
public  to  so  great  an  extent,  and  has,  indeed,  seemed  wholly  in- 
different to  accessions  by  immigration  ;  the  State  debt  was  some- 
what large,  and  with  the  county  and  city  debts  made  taxation 
heavier  ;  the  lands,  though  fairly  fertile,  were  badly  cultivated, 
and  gave  to  the  new-comers  an  impression  of  their  barrenness 
and  worthlessness,  which  facts  did  not  justify ;  the  farming  in 
many  parts  of  the  State  was  very  slovenly  and  inefficient.  On 
as  good  lands  as  those  of  Missouri,  the  average  yield  of  wheat 
should  never  be  as  low  as  eleven  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  of  corn, 
twenty-six  bushels  to  the  acre,  or  of  potatoes  seventy-five  bushels 
to  the  acre  ;  yet  these  were  the  reported  averages  of  1878.  The 
efforts  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  have  produced  some 
improvements  in  these  crops,  but  they  are,  even  now,  much  below 
what  they  ought  to  be.  The  educational  advantages  in  the 
country  were  much  inferior  to  those  of  the  neighboring  States  of 
Iowa  and  Kansas,  whereas  they  ought  to  have  been  much  better 
than  in  those  States.  There  was,  moreover,  hanoino-  about  the 
State  the  old  taint  of  slavery.  The  slaves  had  been  emancipated 
ten,  fifteen,  sixteen  years  before  ;  but  the  thriftless,  indolent,  reck- 
less, and  sometimes  ruffianly  spirit  engendered  by  it,  still  re- 
mained in  some  degree,  and  this  spirit  repelled  immigration.  It 
is  now  more  than  half  a  generation  since  slavery  was  abolished, 
and  most  of  these  untoward  obstacles  have  now  disappeared. 
To-day  Missouri  is  as  good  a  State  for  the  immigrant  as  any  in 
the  Great  West,  and  better  than  some.  Its  climate,  soil,  markets 
and  advantages  are  unsurpassed,  and  cordiality  toward  the 
stranger  is  no  longer  wanting,  though  perhaps  not  yet  so  warmly 
manifested  as  in  some  of  the  newer  States ;  but  this  will  come  in 
time. 

Educational  Advantages. — The  public  schools  of  Missouri  are 
in  an  anomalous  condition.  In  the  cities  the  schools  are  of  a 
high  order,  and  will  compare  favorably  with  those  in  any  State 
or  city  in  the  Union.  In  vSt.  Louis  within  the  last  decade,  owing 
to  an  enormous  estimate  of  more  than  100,000  more  inhabitants 
than  the  city  contained,  the  school  population  was  supposed  to  be 


Q52  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

much  larger  than  it  really  was,  and  the  city  superintendent  and 
other  officers  were  distressed  because  the  scholars  enrolled  were 
but  two-sevenths,  and  the  actual  attendance  less  than  one-fifth 
of  the  supposed  school  population.  They  understand  this  better 
now. 

The  country  schools  were,  to  a  large  degree,  without  system 
or  order,  and  were  as  much  below  those  of  the  neighboring 
States  in  all  good  qualities  as  those  of  the  cities  were  beyond  the 
same  class  of  schools  elsewhere.  There  are  not  quite  300 
schools  of  very  high  character  in  the  State,  most  of  them  in  the 
cities;  the  remainder,  numbering  nearly  8,200,  are  of  very  indif- 
ferent quality.  In  1875,  out  of  7,224  school-houses  in  the  State, 
2,164  were  built  of  logs;  4,636  were  frame  buildings,  and  only 
424  brick  or  stone.  The  school  fund  is  partly  available,  and 
partly  at  present  unavailable.  About  |;3,ooo,ooo  are  available, 
and  ^7,300,000  unavailable  now,  but  will  eventually  become  so. 
The  low  condition  of  the  country  schools  is  due  in  part  to  the 
indifference  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  people  to  education  ; 
in  part  to  the  apathy  of  the  legislature,  and  in  part  to  the  vague- 
ness and  incompleteness  of  the  school  law.  The  superintendent 
is  deserving  of  great  credit  for  his  perseverance  and  efficiency 
under  circumstances  of  great  difficulty,  but  his  efforts  have  not 
been  so  thoroughly  sustained  by  the  legislature  as  they  should 
have  been. 

The  following  are  the  school  statistics  of  the  State  for  1878, 
the  last  year  whose  report  is  published :  School  population, 
688,248  ;  school  enrolment,  448,033;  number  of  ungraded  school 
districts,  8,142  ;  number  of  graded  school  districts,  279  ;  number 
of  school-houses,  8,092  ;  estimated  value  of  school-houses,  ^8,321, - 
399  ;  average  school  year  in  months  in  graded  school  districts,  9  ; 
in  all  the  districts,  5  months ;  total  number  of  teachers  employed, 
11,268  ;  total  wages  of  teachers,  $2,320,430.20;  average  wages 
of  teachers  per  month,  males,  $36.36  ;  females,  $28.09  ;  average 
wages  of  teachers  per  month  in  graded  schools,  males,  $87.81  ; 
females,  $40.73. 

Revenue. — From  interest  on  State  permanent  fund,  $174,- 
030.15;   from   one-fourth  the    State  revenue  collections,  ^'^d'^r 


EDUCATION  IN  MISSOURI.  Qt^ 

276.32 ;  from  county  and  township  permanent  funds,  $440,- 
191.37;  from  district  taxes,  $2,446,910.71  ;   total,  $3,424,408.55. 

Pennanejit  Funds. — State  fund,  $2,909,457.11;  county  fund, 
$2,388,368.29  ;  township,  or  sixteenth  section  fund,  $1,980,678.51 ; 
total,  $7,278,046.80. 

There  are  five  normal  schools  in  the  State,  besides  normal  de- 
partments in  several  of  the  colleges.  There  is  one  of  these 
(Lincoln  Institute)  in  Jefferson  City  for  the  instruction  of  colored 
teachers,  which  receives  $5,000  a  year  from  the  State.  The  ap- 
propriations to  the  other  normal  schools  are  $7,500  each  per 
annum.  The  State  University  at  Columbia,  with  a  School  of 
Mines  and  Metallurgy  at  Rolla,  has  ten  different  departments  or 
courses,  in  two  groups,  academic  and  professional.  The  Univer- 
sity receives  $19,500  annually  from  the  State,  and  the  School  of 
Mines,  $7,500.  Washington  University,  at  St.  Louis,  has  de- 
partments of  science,  medicine  and  law,  besides  its  academic 
course.  There  are  also  fifteen  other  colleges,  four  of  them  Ro- 
man Catholic,  three  Methodist,  and  the  rest  under  the  control  of 
other  denominations,  four  of  medicine,  one  of  dentistry,  and  one 
of  pharmacy,  beside  those  which  are  connected  with  the  State  Uni- 
versity and  Washington  University.  There  are  special  institu- 
tions for  deaf  mutes,  for  the  blind,  for  orphans,  the  aged,  etc.,  etc. 
Most  of  these  receive  liberal  appropriations  from  the  State.  The 
educational  condition  of  the  State,  as  a  whole,  is  improving,  and 
will  in  a  few  years  attain  to  as  high  a  standard  as  that  of  the 
adjacent  States. 

Religious  Denominations  and  Churches. — About  315,000,  or 
one-seventh  of  the  population  of  Missouri,  are  members  of 
churches,  and  two-thirds  of  the  population,  say  1,575,000,  are 
adherents,  more  or  less  pronounced,  of  these  churches.  The 
Baptists  have  the  largest  number  of  churches  and  church  edifices, 
but  are  followed  very  closely  by  the  Methodists,  who  are,  how- 
ever, divided  into  Northern  and  Southern.  The  Methodist 
membership  is  a  few  hundred  more  than  the  Baptist,  and  their 
adherent  population  is  about  the  same — not  far  from  375,000. 
The  Roman  Catholics  count  all  their  adherent  population  as 
members,  and  report  about  275,000,  but  their  church  property, 


Q54  <^^'^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

including  their  costly  cathedral  and  churches  at  St.  Louis,  is  esti- 
mated at  about  ;fts4,300,ooo,  or  double  that  of  the  Methodists  or 
Baptists.  The  other  denominations  in  their  order  of  churches, 
membership  and  church  property,  are  regular  Presbyterians, 
Christians  and  T3isciples,  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  Lutherans, 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Congregationalists,  United 
Brethren  in  Christ  and  Evangelical  Association  (both  minor 
Methodist  churches),  Free  Will  Baptists,  Reformed  German, 
Unitarians,  Friends,  Universalists,  Jews,  New  Jerusalem  Church, 
and  Union.  The  total  amount  of  church  property  in  the  State 
exceeds  1^15,000,000;  the  whole  number  of  churches  is  about 
5,000,  and  of  church  edifices  nearly  4,000  ;  of  clergymen  and 
preachers  about  2,900. 

Historical  Dates. — First  settlements  in  Missouri  at  or  near  St. 
Louis  and  Cape  Girardeau,  by  the  French,  probably  in  1720;  at 
St.  Genevieve  about  1755.  In  1775  St.  Louis  was  a  fur  depot 
and  trading  station,  with  800  inhabitants.  In  1803  France  ceded 
all  this  territory  to  the  United  States.  In  1805  St.  Louis  was 
made  the  capital  of  the  new  Territory  of  Louisiana.  In  18 10 
there  were  1,500  inhabitants  within  the  present  limits  of  Missouri. 
In  181  2  the  name  of  the  Territory -was  changed  to  Missouri  Ter- 
ritory. In  1820  the  people  prepared  and  adopted  a  State  Con- 
stitution. It  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State  August  10, 
1 82 1,  after  a  bitter  and  violent  controversy  in  Congress  as  to  its 
admission  as  a  slave  State,  by  an  act  known  as  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  which  permitted  slavery  there,  but  prohibited  it  in 
all  territory  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude.  This  act  was  virtu- 
ally repealed  in  1854.  The  people  took  part  in  the  Kansas 
difficulties  of  1854-59,  and  were  very  much  divided  in  the  civil 
war.  Several  severe  battles  were  foui^ht  in  the  State.  A  new 
Constitution  was  adopted  in  1865,  and  still  another  in  1875. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  MONTANA. 


95; 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Situation — Boundaries — Extent — Mountains — Timber — Lakes — Rivers — 
Geology  and  Mineralogy — Gold  in  Extensive  Placers  and  Lodes — 
Silver — Copper — Lead — Iron — Other  Minerals — Soil  and  Vegetation 
— Arable  Lands — Grazing  Lands — Timber  Lands  —  Mining  Lands — 
Desert  Lands — Zoology — Climate — Blizzards — The  "Chinook"  Wind 
— Meteorology  of  Fort  Keogh — Fort  Benton — Helena — Virginia  City 
— Mining — Enormous  Yield  of  the  Placers — Gold  Lodes — Silver  Lodes 
— The  Stemple  District — Last  Chance  Gulch,  now  Helena — Phillips- 
burg — WiCKES — Butte — Peculiarities  of  the  Butte  Mines — Other  Mines 
— Trapper  District — Mining  thus  far  almost  Exclusively  in  Western 
Montana — Probabilities  of  jNIines  in  Southern  and  Southeastern  Mon- 
tana— Agricultural  Productions — Testimony  of  Z.  L.  White — of  Rob- 
ert E.  Strahorn — OF  Thomson  P.  McElrath — Enormous  Crops,  of  Excel- 
lent Quality — Stock-Raising — Sheep-Farming — Breeding  Horses  and 
Mules — Gov.  Potts'  Experience — Manufactures — Objects  of  Interest 
— The  Madison  River — The  Upper  Yellowstone  Valley — The  Struggle 
of  the  Waters  to  Force  a  Passage  Through — Other  Wonders — Rail- 
roads— Best  Routes  for  Immigrants  at  Present — Indian  Reservations 
and  their  Population — Population  of  Montana  Counties  and  Assess- 
ment— Pkcncipal  Towns  of  Montana — Prices  of  Articles  of  General 
Use — Average  Wages  —  Education — Religious  Denominations — Con- 
clusion. 

Montana  Territory  is  a  central  Territory  of  the  northern  belt 
of  States  of  "Our  Western  Empire."  About  four-fifths  of  its 
area  lies  east  of  the  Main  Divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Be- 
tween this  Main  Divide  and  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  which 
are  a  second  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  form  the 
boundary  between  Montana  and  Idaho,  is  a  broad,  elevated 
valley,  throuc^h  which  flows  Clarke's  fork  of  the  Columbia  river. 
East  of  the  Main  Divide  there  are  several  isolated  mesas  or  pla- 
teaus, such  as  the  Snake's  Head,  Beque  d'Otard,  Bear's  Paw, 
Litde  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Snow  Mountains  and  Bull  Moun- 
tains farther  south.  In  the  southeast  there  are  several  short 
ranges  extending  northward  from  W'yoming,  and  part  of  them 
apparently  connected  with  the  Black  Hills.     These  are,  begin- 


Qc5  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

ning  with  the  west,  a  short  spur  from  the  Big  Horn  range,  the 
Woh'  Mountains,  Tongue  River  Mountains,  and  the  Powder  River 
rancfe,  which  consists  of  four  or  five  chains  of  hills  of  no  "-reat 
elevation,  on  both  sides  of  the  Powder  river  and  its  tributaries, 
and  Cabin  creek,  all  affluents  of  the  Yellowstone.  The  valleys 
of  the  Missouri  and  its  three  constituent  streams,  the  Madison, 
Jefferson  and  Gallatin,  of  the  Yellowstone  and  its  numerous 
tributaries,  of  Clarke's  fork,  the  INIilk  river,  Maria's  river,  Flathead, 
Musselshell  and  other  rivers,  affluents  of  the  Missouri  or  the 
Yellowstone,  are  fertile  and  level  or  rolling  lands,  somewhat  ele- 
vated, but  not  cold  or  bleak.  The  timber  of  Montana  Is  peculiar, 
there  being  very  little  hard  w'ood ;  if  deciduous,  the  trees  are 
almost  wholly  willow,  poplar,  linden  and  cottonwood ;  the  only 
exception  being  on  Tongue  river,  near  the  southern  boundary, 
where  there  are  large  bodies  of  oak ;  If  evergreens,  pine,  spruce, 
fir,  cedar  and  balsam.  The  native  grass  is  mainly  the  bunch  grass, 
which  grows  to  the  height  of  four  or  five  feet,  and  Is  the  most 
nutritious  of  all  the  native  grasses  of  this  region  for  cattle,  fatten- 
ing them  more  thoroughly  than  corn  or  barley.  Flowers  are 
abundant  In  their  season  In  all  the  valleys. 

Montana  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  British  Columbia;  on  the 
east  by  Dakota  ;  on  the  south  by  Wyoming  and  Idaho ;  on  the 
west  by  Idaho,  from  which  It  is  separated  by  the  Bitter  Root 
Mountains.  It  lies  between  the  parallels  of  44°  6'  (Its  southwest- 
ern corner  only  extending  below  45°)  and  49°  north  latitude; 
and  between  104°  and  1 16°  west  longitude  from  Greenwich.  Its 
greatest  length  from  east  to  west  along  the  4Sth  parallel  is  over 
700  miles;  and  Its  greatest  breadth  near  the  113th  meridian  is 
about  340  miles.  Its  area  is  143,776  square  miles,  or  92,016,640 
acres. 

Moimtains,  Lakes,  Rivej^s,  etc. —  Montana  Is  appropriately 
named,  for  mountain  ranges,  spurs,  Isolated  peaks  and  hills  con- 
stitute a  large  portion  of  its  surface.  Yet  between,  around  and 
among  these  mountains  arc  a  great  number  of  as  lovely  valleys 
as  the  sun  ever  shone  upon.  The  mountains,  unlike  those  of 
Idaho,  are  not,  with  a  few  exceptions,  bare,  with  steep  and  inac- 
cessible sides,  but  rounded   summits,  covered  either  with  grass 


MOUNTAINS  AND   RIVERS    OF  MONTANA.  qty 

or  timber  to  the  very  top.  They  are  admirably  adapted  to 
grazing,  and  of  all  the  lands  of  "Our  Western  Empire,"  Montana 
is  likely  to  be  most  completely  the  grazier's  paradise.  The  sum- 
mits are  none  of  them  so  lofty  as  some  of  those  in  Idaho  or 
Colorado,  none  of  them  reaching  ii,ooo  feet.  There  are  three 
peaks  in  the  Yellowstone  Park  which  are  credited,  not  all  of  them 
correctly,  to  Montana.  Of  these  Electric  Peak  is  10,992  feet; 
Mount  Washburn,  10,388  feet,  and  Mount  Doane,  10,118  feet. 
Aside  from  these  there  are  but  six  peaks  above  9,000  feet  in 
height.  These  are :  Emigrant  Peak,  10,629;  Ward's  Peak,  10,- 
371;  Mount  Delano,  10,200;  Mount  Blackmore,  10,134;  Old 
Baldy,  9.71 1,  and  Badger's  Peak,  9,000  feet.  There  are  four 
passes  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  within  the  limits  of  the  Terri- 
tory: Cadott's  pass,  between  the  47th  and  4Sth  parallels,  6,044 
feet  high ;  Deer  Lodge  pass,  between  the  same  parallels,  6,200 
feet;  Lewis  and  Clarke's  pass,  6,323  feet,  and  Flathead  pass,  in 
the  north  of  the  Territor)^  5,459  feet.  The  general  elevation  of 
the  Territory  is  from  2,500  to  3,000  feet. 

Montana  is  not,  like  Minnesota,  a  land  abounding  in  lakes. 
There  are  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  in  the  Territory ;  of  these 
Flathead  lake  is  the  largest,  and  Grizzly  Bear  lake,  a  triangular 
lake  in  the  western  part,  nearly  north  of  Helena,  the  most  pecu- 
liar in  form. 

Montana  is  certainly  well  supplied  with  rivers,  though  portions 
of  it  may  need  irrigation.  The  Missouri,  including  its  head 
waters,  has  a  course  of  more  than  1,200  miles  in  this  Territory; 
the  Yellowstone,  its  largest  affluent,  about  850;  Maria's  river, 
Milk  river.  Breast  or  Teton  river.  Rolling  Branch  and  Park  river 
are  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  on  its  north  bank  ; 
on  its  south  bank  it  receives  Red  Water,  Elk  Prairie  and  Big  Dry 
creeks,  and  the  large  and  important  Musselshell  river,  the  Judith 
river  and  many  smaller  streams,  besides  the  three  forks,  Jeffer- 
son, Madison  and  Gallatin,  which  unite  to  form  the  Missouri. 
The  Yellowstone,  rising  in  Yellowstone  lake  in  the  National 
Park,  has  numerous  affluents,  especially  on  its  south  bank;  among 
these  are  Clarke's  fork,  Pryor  river,  the  Big  Morn  or  Wind  river, 
Rosebud  creek,  Tongue  river,  the  Powder  river  with  its  numerous 


Q58      •  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

branches,  and  Cabin  creek.  In  the  valley,  between  the  Rocky 
and  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  the  Clarke's  fork  of  the  Columbia 
river  has  a  course  of  about  300  miles,  and  the  Lewis  fork  or 
Snake  river,  another  affluent  of  the  Columbia,  has  its  source  in 
Yellowstone  National  Park,  and  perhaps  within  the  bounds  of 
Montana.  The  Kootenai,  probably  still  another  tributary  of  the 
Columbia, has  its  head  waters  in  Northwestern  Montana.  Clarke's 
fork  has  two  or  three  affluents  of  considerable  size,  the  most 
important  of  which  are  the  Missoula  and  the  Flathead  river;  the 
latter  passes  through  Flathead  lake.  Nearly  all  these  rivers 
furnish  abundant  water-power. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  volcanic  action  in  the  past,  and 
the  repeated  epochs  of  upheaval,  have  made  the  geology  of  Mon- 
tana somewhat  involved,  but  some  simple  explanations  will  give 
the  reader  a  tolerable  understanding  of  it.  In  the  early  geologic 
acfes,  the  eastern  half  of  Montana  seems  to  have  been  a  shallow 
sea,  and  its  deposits  were  of  chalk  and  the  chalky  limestones  of 
the  cretaceous  period.  These  cretaceous  deposits  were  suc- 
ceeded farther  west  by  the  rocks  of  the  Wealden  and  Jurassic 
periods — limestones,  sandstones  and  shales,  and  during  their 
deposition,  as  well  as  that  of  the  cretaceous  rocks  farther  east, 
there  was  a  great  abundance  of  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life 
of  gigantic  size,  mollusks  and  radiate  animals,  and  some  fish. 
The  ammonites,  conchifers,  gasteropods,  terebratulae  and  other 
radiates  and  mollusks  found  in  these  rocks  are  amone  the 
largest  of  these  fossils  ever  discovered.  Fossil  plants  are  also 
plentiful,  and,  in  the  Wealden,  fossil  insects,  reptiles  and  fish 
abound;  at  the  western  limit  of  these  beds  there  are  narrow  belts 
of  Silurian  rocks.  Over  all  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  in  the 
Bitter  Root  range  and  the  valley  between,  as  well  as  in  occa- 
sional patches  east  of  the  mountains,  especially  in  the  isolated 
mountains  and  buttes  of  Central  Montana,  we  have  evidence  of 
repeated  and  violent  convulsions  of  nature,  and  the  ejection  of 
vast  quantities  of  lava  and  of  molten  azoic  and  metamorphic 
rocks  through  the  superimposed  strata.  There  were  at  one  time 
numerous  active  volcanoes  in  this  region.  The  repeated  up- 
heavals and  their  time  of  activity  was  probably  mainly  during  the 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERALOGY.  g^O 

tertiary  period,  though  a  later  upheaval  occurred  in  the  post- 
tertiary  or  quaternary  period,  perhaps  ahnost  within  historic 
times.  As  a  result  of  this  action,  the  whole  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain summits  and  those  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  Bear  Paw, 
Great  and  Little  Belt,  Crazy,  Judith,  Snowy  and  Highwood 
Mountains,  are  composed  of  eozoic  rocks,  granite,  porphyry,  trap, 
etc.,  and  contain  many  veins  and  lodes  of  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead  and  zinc,  and  possibly  platinum  and  quicksilver.  The  course 
of  these  veins,  as  well  as  the  regular  position  of  the  stratified 
rocks,  is  greatly  disturbed  and  deranged  by  the  frequent  dikes 
of  porphyry,  trap  and  obsidian  which  have  intruded  upon  the 
others  when  in  a  state  of  fusion. 

Borderino-  these  igneous  rocks  \ve  find  belts  of  Silurian  rocks, 
and  beyond  these  the  Jurassic  and  Wealden  beds,  often  overlaid 
by  either  tertiary  or  post-tertiary  deposits,  and  these  by  allu- 
vium. Farther  south,  in  the  Yellowstone  Park,  we  find  abundant 
evidence  that  volcanic  action,  though  feebler  now  than  formerly, 
has  not  yet  ceased.  After  the  volcanic  action  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  Montana  must  have  presented  the  appearance  of  a  series 
of  laree  fresh  water  lakes  whose  shores  were  the  summits  of  the 
present  mountain  ranges.  From  these  mountain  slopes  came 
extensive  elaciers,  as  the  elevation  was  grreater  than  now  after 
many  ages  of  denuding  action  and  the  intense  cold  of  that  time 
favored  the  formation  of  these  glaciers,  which  carried  down  in 
the  glacial  deposits  large  quantities  of  gold  and  silver,  and  thus 
formed  those  immensely  rich  placers  which  have  yielded  such 
vast  quantities  of  gold.  While  the  glaciers,  by  their  denudatory 
action,  reduced  the  mountains  and  cut  them  into  the  most  fan- 
tastic shapes,  there  must  have  been  also. a  gradual  subsidence  of 
these  elevated  plains,  and  this  subsidence  rendered  the  climate 
milder,  and  thus  the  ice  of  the  glaciers,  melting  the  moraines  or 
debris,  were  deposited  along  their  course.  The  boulders  scat- 
tered by  these  glaciers  are  found  all  over  the  western  half  of 
Montana,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  southeast  also. 
Eastern  and  Northeastern  Montana,  having  been  originally  the 
bed  of  a  lake,  have  not  undergone  so  many  changes,  and  the  super- 
ficial geology  is  later ;  the  tertiary  and  post-tertiary  deposits  are 


q(5o  our    IVESTERX  EMPIRE. 

the  surface  rocks  of  this  region,  though  there  are  occasional  out- 
crops of  the  cretaceous  rocks.  It  is  a  disputed  point  whether 
the  Henite  or  brown  coal  of  the  region  lyino-  west  of  the  Little 
Missouri  river  and  extending  almost  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  from  the  Black  Hills  nearly  to  the  British  line,  belongs  to 
the  tertiary  or  to  the  cretaceous  epoch,  but  the  opinion  of  the 
most  eminent  geologists  is  In  favor  of  its  being  a  tertiary  deposit. 
It  is  a  very  good  coal,  and  is  coming  into  demand  largely  not 
only  for  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  which  traverses  it  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  but  for  domestic  purposes,  for  which  purpose  it 
is  far  better  than  the  cottonwood  and  linden  firewood,  and  is  less 
than  half  the  price  of  wood. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Montana  is  very  great.  The  whole  re- 
gion lying  west  of  the  Big  Horn,  Musselshell  and  Milk  rivers, 
comprising  fully  three-fifths  of  the  Territory,  is  full  of  gold  and 
silver.  The  placers  and  gold  lodes  of  this  region  lying  west  of 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  comprising  not  more  than 
one-fourth  of  the  Territory,  have  yielded  in  gold  since  1863 
about  ^140,000,000  in  gold  and  ^10,000,000  or  more  in  silver. 
Eastern  Montana,  except  perhaps  In  the  southeast,  is  better 
adapted  to  agriculture  and  grazing,  though  this,  as  we  have  said, 
Includes  extensive  beds  of  coal.  Of  other  minerals,  copper,  lead 
and  zinc  are  found  extensively,  the  last  two  generally  in  connec- 
tion with  silver.  There  are  Immense  beds  of  Iron  ores.  Petro- 
leum has  been  discovered  at  several  points.  The  silver  ores  of 
Montana  belong  to  the  refractory  class,  and  the  principal  obstacle 
In  the  way  of  a  much  greater  annual  yield  from  the  rich  silver 
mines  of  Montana  has  been  due  to  this  very  refractoriness.  The 
ores  averaged  perhaps  sixty-five  to  seventy-five  ounces  of  silver, 
and  from  twenty  to  forty-five  per  cent,  of  lead  to  the  ton,  but  in 
the  various  processes  necessary  for  their  reduction — processes 
which  could  only  be  conducted  at  Omaha,  Newark,  N.  J.,  or 
Freiberg,  Germany,  and  the  enormous  expense  of  their  trans- 
portation to  a  railroad,  the  nearest  being  about  300  miles  distant, 
and  the  freight  very  heavy,  while  the  reducing  processes  were 
also  expensive — there  was  a  necessary  expenditureof  from  ^108  to 
^114  per  ton,  and  the  returns  did  not  come   in  under  from  four 


SOIL  AND    VEGETATION.  96 1 

to  six  months  from  the  time  of  shipment  of  the  ore.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  mining  companies  lost  money  on  all  ores  which 
did  not  yield  at  least  140  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton,  and  even  on 
150  ounces  they  only  made  a  mere  pittance.  Several  attempts 
were  made  to  establish  reduction  works  at  some  point  in  the 
Territory,  but  owing  to  the  immense  cost  of  their  transportadon 
and  bad  management  afterwards,  they  all  proved  failures.  The 
last  effort  was  made  in  1879  at  Wickes,  and  has  proved  success- 
ful, and  as  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad  now  traverses  this 
part  of  the  Territory,  and  the  Northern  Pacific  will  soon  be  there, 
the  days  of  cosdy  transportation  and  high  cost  reduction  have 
come  to  an  end. 

Soil  and  Vegetation. — In  the  western,  central  and  southern 
portions  of  the  Territory,  the  land  along  the  valleys  adjacent  to 
the  streams  is  rich  and  well  adapted  to  agriculture,  large  crops 
of  grain,  vegetables,  etc.,  being  produced  with  little  or  no  irriga- 
tion. The  soil  of  the  table  lands  is  generally  good,  only  re- 
quiring Irrigation,  for  which  abundant  water  can  be  had,  to  pro- 
duce largely;  while  the  foot  hills  are  covered  with  an  abundant 
o-rowth  of  nutridous  cfrasses  extending-  to  the  timber  line.  In 
the  northern  and  eastern  portions  of  the  Territory  are  vast  tracts, 
of  so-called  Bad  Lands ;  but  these  have  a  much  worse  name  than, 
they  deserve,  many  portions  of  them  being  covered  with  grasses^ 
more  or  less  abundant,  and  affording  grazing  to  large  herds  of 
buffalo,  antelope,  etc.,  and  where  there  are  stock  farms  near,  to 
cattle  also.  The  Territory  Is  well  timbered  throughout,  though,. 
as  we  have  already  said,  the  soft  woods,  whether  evergreen  or 
deciduous,  predominate  largely.  There  are  some  small  groves 
of  ash,  and  large  bodies  of  oak  have  lately  been  discovered  on 
the  head  waters  of  Tongue  river,  near  the  southern  boundary. 
The  fdrests  In  the  Immediate  vicinity  of  the  setdements  have  suf- 
fered somewhat  from  the  wanton  depredations  of  settlers,  who 
often  destroy  half  a  dozen  small  trees  In  obtaining  one  of  requi- 
site size  for  their  purposes;  but  even  in  those  sections,  where 
the  hillsides  have  been  stripped  entirely  bare,  there  is  a  sturdy 
and  flourishing  second  orrowth.  The  loss  from  forest  fires  Is  far 
greater  than  from  any  other  source,  but  as  die  country  becomes 
61 


q52  our  western  empire. 

more  settled,  and  the  Indians,  who  are  most  careless  with  fire,  are 
kept  upon  their  reservations,  these  will  become  less  frequent. 
Until  the  present  year  (i8So),  there  being  no  railroad  for  the 
transportation  of  grain  out  of  the  Territory,  and  the  steam- 
boat navigation  interrupted  by  falls  and  rapids,  there  was  no  ex- 
port demand  for  Montana  grain.  This  is  all  changed  now ;  the 
Northern  Pacific  enters  the  Territory  from  the  east,  and  is  already 
near  Powder  river,  while  the  Utah  and  Northern  is  already  at 
Helena,  and  will  probably  go  further,  and  the  Pend  d'Oreille 
Division  of  the  North  Pacific,  which  communicates  directly  with 
the  Pacific  through  the  Columbia  river,  will  soon  be  stretching 
down  the  valley  of  Clarke's  Fork.  With  these  three  outlets  the 
agricultural  lands  of  Montana  will  be  rapidly  taken  up,  and  there 
is  no  better  land  for  agricultural  crops  in  the  world.  The  yield 
per  acre  of  grain,  vegetables,  etc.,  with  irrigation  where  it  is 
needed,  and  without  it  where  it  is  not,  is  very  large,  and  the  quality 
is  of  the  best.  Montana  wheat  especially  is  unexcelled;  careful 
analysis  has  demonstrated  that  it  contains  a  larger  amount  of 
both  the  flesh  and  fat  producing  constituents  than  any  other,  and 
the  weight  is  from  sixty-four  to  sixty-nine  pounds  to  the  bushel 
(the  standard  being  sixty),  and  the  average  yield  from  thirty  to 
forty  bushels.  The  Territory  will  not  only  be  self-sustaining  in 
respect  to  its  cereals,  but  will  have  for  many  years  to  come  a  large 
supply  for  exportation. 

Zoology. — The  larger  game  animals  are  abundant  in  Montana. 
This  is  one  of  the  few  remaininsr  haunts  of  the  buffalo,  which  is 
now  found  in  considerable  numbers  both  north  of  the  Missouri 
and  south  of  the  Yellowstone.  The  moose  is  seen,  thouoh  not 
in  laro-e  numbers,  in  the  mountain  Qforijes.  The  elk  roam  in 
large  herds  on  the  mountain  slopes  and  in  the  valleys,  as  do  the 
two  species  of  deer.  The  Big  Horn  or  Rocky  Mountain 'sheep 
and  the  antelope  are  at  home  all  over  the  Territory.  Bears, 
badgers,  gray  wolves,  panthers,  beaver,  otter,  marten  and  mink, 
are  found  in  the  forests  and  streams  in  ^reat  numbers,  and  are 
largely  captured  for  their  pelts.  In  the  mountai-n-  streams  are 
an  abundance  of  salmon  trout,  brook  trout  and  grayling  ;  and 
in  their  season  the  rivers  and  lakes  are  alive  with  wild  geese, 


ZOOLOGY  AND    CLIMATE   0I<  MONTANA.  gQ 


:> 


brant,  ducks  of  numerous  species,  and  teal.  The  birds  of  prey 
are  less  numerous  than  farther  south,  though  there  are  two 
species  of  eagle  and  many  hawks  and  owls.  Song  birds  are 
abundant. 

Climate. — "  In  a  general  way,"  says  Mr.  Thomson  P.  McElrath, 
in  his  excellent  little  volume  on  the  Yellowstone  valley,  just  pub- 
lished, "  the  climate  of  Montana  may  be  compared  to  that  of  the 
western  sections  of  the  Middle  States.  The  summers  are  very 
warm,  but,  as  a  rule,  the  winters  are  far  from  being  rigorous. 
The  mean  annual  temperature  of  the  valleys  of  Montana  is  48°, 
which  is  higher  than  that  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin  or  Iowa,  and  only  a  little  lower  than  that  of  Ne- 
braska, Illinois  and  Ohio.  Owing  to  the  purity  and  dryness  of 
the  atmosphere,  the  heat,  which  is  in  the  ascendency  during  five 
months  of  the  year,  is  seldom  oppressive.  There  is  a  reduced 
tendency  to  perspire,  and  out-door  exercise  with  the  mercury  at 
100°  is  not  nearly  so  uncomfortable  as  it  is  in  the  East  under 
considerably  lower  conditions  of  caloric.  A  brief  rainy  season 
sets  in  annually,  in  April  or  May,  lasting  with  considerably  more 
persistency  than  in  corresponding  latitudes  on  the  Missouri  river, 
until  the  middle  of  July,  under  the  refreshing  influence  of  which 
vegetation  receives  a  wonderful  impulse.  The  same  amount  of 
rain  distributed  through  the  whole  year  would  be  of  little  value 
to  the  agriculturist.  During  the  rest  of  the  year  rain  seldom 
falls  in  large  quantities."  '•' 

The  average  mean  temperature  of  Helena,  Montana,  which  is 
1,000  feet  higher  than  many  of  the  valleys,  is  44.5  degrees; 
that  of  six  stations  in  Minnesota  for  the  same  time  41.6  degrees; 
the  amount  of  rain  and  melted  snow  at  Helena,  22.36  inches;  in 
Minnesota,  27.89  inches.  The  average  temperature  of  the  winter 
months  at  Helena  is  23.7  degrees;  of  Minnesota,  21.3  degrees. 

*  In  ihe  first  part  of  this  volume  we  animadverted  with  some  severity  upon  some  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  No?-t/i  American  Rcvieio  and  the  N'no  York  Tribune,  by  Colonel  (now  Brigadier- 
General)  Hazen,  U.  S.  A.,  in  relation  to  the  climate,  rainfall  and  fertility  of  Montana.  These 
papers  have  brought  upon  General  (Colonel)  Ilazen  a  large  but  just  measure  of  opprobrium, 
because  he  wrote  without  any  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  actual  climate  and  character  of 
the  region  he  was  denouncing,  and  because  many  of  his  statements  in  regard  to  it  have  been  efl'ec- 
tually  disproved.  His  recent  appointment  as  Cliief  Signal  Service  Officer  may  convince  him  of 
his  errors. 


gg.  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  mean  annual  temperature  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire 
for  six  years  (from  1866  to  1872)  was  43.7  degrees;  of  Vermont, 
4^2  degrees;  that  of  the  valleys  of  Montana,  48  degrees;  yet 
half  of  Maine  and  nearly  the  whole  of  Vermont  and  New  Hamp- 
shire are  below  the  45th  parallel,  which  forms  Montana's  south- 
ern boundary.  The  n^ean  annual  temperature  of  Wisconsin  for 
five  years  (1866  to  1871)  was  44.8  degrees;  of  Michigan,  45.8 
degrees ;  of  Iowa,  46.4  degrees  ;  Massachusetts  and  New  York, 
47.3  degrees  ;  Connecticut,  47.6  degrees ;  Nebraska,  48.6  de- 
grees;  Illinois,  49.9  degrees;  Ohio,  51.2  degrees. 

The  Missouri  river  at  Helena  is  thoroughly  open  a  month 
earlier  each  spring  than  at  Omaha,  500  miles  further  south.  The 
rainy  season  is  in  June,  while  the  amount  of  rainfall  is  three- 
fourths  that  of  Minnesota. 

The  winters  are  generally  open,  the  long  nights  at  that  season 
being  quite  cold,  but  the  days  brilliant  and  far  milder  than  would 
be  expected  in  so  high  a  latitude.  The  dryness  of  the  atmosphere 
likewise  prevents  the  cold  from  being  as  severely  felt  as  it  is  in 
damp  climates.  The  snow  fall  in  the  valleys  is  in  most  winters 
quite  light,  and  after  falling  it  is  quickly  melted  or  carried  off  by 
evaporation.  The  army  officers  stationed  at  Fort  Keogh  declare 
that  until  the  past  winter  they  have  never  enjoyed  sleighing  on 
the  prairies  for  a  week  at  a  time,  except  occasionally  in  March, 
when  the  clear  weather  which  had  prevailed  almost  unbrokenly 
since  the  previous  rainy  season  gave  way  to  a  short  period  of 
cold  squalls  accompanied  by  snow.  These  winci  storms  are  liable 
to  occur  at  any  time  during  the  year,  resembling  in  llie  sudden 
lowering  of  temperature  which  accompanies  them  the  chilling 
"northers"  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  occasionally  equalling  in 
their  vehemence  and  abrupt  subsidence  the  hurricanes  which  pre- 
vail on  our  South  Adantic  coast  yearly,  from  the  middle  of  Au- 
gust to  the  middle  of  September. 

Another  phenomenon  of  a  more  agreeable  character  witnessed 
frequently  in  the  winter  season  is  the  occurrence  of  tlie  so-called 
*'  Chinook  wind,"  a  balmy  zephyr,  which,  wafted  fro'm  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  penetrating  the  gaps  and  passes  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, converts  winter  cold  into  summer  warmth  so  suddenly  that 


BLIZZARDS  AND  "CHINOOK''    WINDS.  q^k 

sometimes  a  foot  depth  of  snow  will  evaporate  and  disappear 
under  its  influence  in  the  course  of  a  single  day.     This  is  the 
realization  of  the  "Japan  current"  theory,  and  while  it  prevails, 
it  fully  justifies  that  idea.     One  writer  says :   "  I  have   known  a 
foot  of  snow  on  the  level  to  fall  during  the  night  and  every  patch 
of  it  to  be  melted  before  noon  of  the   next  day;   and  there  are 
open  spells  in  mid-winter,  often  lasting  many  days,  when  the 
trapper  is  comfortable  without  a  coat  over  his  woollen   shirt." 
General  Miles  and  others  at  Fort  Keogh  testify  to  similar  facts. 
The  winter  of  1879-80  was  exceptionally  cold  and   protracted. 
From  the  end  of  November  to  the  middle  of  March  there  was 
almost  continuous  sleighing  in  the  lower  Tongue  river  region, 
though  the  snow  was  not  deep  and  the  mercury,  ranging  in  the 
vicinity  of  zero  for  several  weeks,  reached  on  one  occasion,  and 
probably  only  momentarily,  on  the  night  of  December  24,  1879, 
as  Iowa  point  as — 57°.    The  Indians  about  Fort  Keogh  declared 
emphatically  that  they  had  never  known  the  cold  weather  before 
to  be  so  intense  and  so  long  continued.     Notwithstanding  the 
remarkably  low  temperature  which  prevailed  for  so  long  a  period, 
no  extraordinary  discomfort  was  experienced  beyond  a  few  frozen 
fingers  and  toes  on  the  part  of  travellers  and  soldiers  unavoidably 
exposed  on  the  bleak  prairie  roads,  and  not  a  single  instance  has 
been  announced  of  cattle  perishing  from  cold  on  their  snow-cov- 
ered pastures.     The  "Chinook  wind"  did  not  seem  to  manifest 
itself  as  efficiently  as  usual  during  that  winter  season.     There 
was  not  much  snow,  however,  in  the  valley  twenty  miles  above 
Miles  City;  and  eighty  miles  up  the  Tongue  river  the  cold  was 
not  nearly  so  severe  as  that  above  recorded.     Subjoined  is  a 
condensed  summary  never  before  published  of  the  meteorological 
observations  made  at  the  United   States  signal  station  at  Fort 
Keogh  since  the  occupation  of  the  valley  by  white  residents.    The 
observations  were  begun  in  the   middle  of  January,  1879.     The 
table  shows  the  highest  and  lowest  temperature  recorded  during 
each  month,  the  average  daily  temperature,  the.  range  of  temper- 
ature in  each  month,  and  the  total  rainfall. 


966 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 
Thermometric  Observations  at  Fori  Keogh,  1879-80. 


MONTH. 


1879. 
January  (from  13th). 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

1880. 

January 

February  

March 


TEMPERATURE. 

Mean 
temper- 

Range. 

Total  rain- 

fall, Inches. 

Highest.  Lowest. 

ature. 

0                0 

0 

0 

36             II 

32 

25 

.26 

52              15 

23 

67 

.69 

76             25 

40 

Id 

.28 

76             23 

60 

53 

2.20 

85             30 

66 

55 

2-75 

94              40 

74 

54 

5-23 

100              50 

83 

50 

5-9° 

97             40 

83 

57 

1.84 

96             33 

71 

63 

•  44 

90             12 

58 

78 

2.47 

94               5 

42 

99 

.11 

42             46 

2 

88 

.58 

50         —18 

•  •  • 

68 

•32 

54             19 

•  •  • 

73 

•17 

72             24 

•  •  • 

96 

•51 

Annual  range,  146  degrees. 

Total  rainfall  and  melted  snow  in  1879,  22.75  inches. 


Thefieures  in  the  fifth  column  form  a  more  effective  refutation 
of  the  "barren  land"  theory  than  any  argument  that  could  be 
framed  in  words  alone.  But  the  collateral  facts  speak  yet  more 
emphatically  than  the  figures  ! 

In  further  illustration  of  the  climate,  we  add  the  weather  report 
from  Fort  Benton,  Montana,  which  lies  on  or  near  the  forty- 
eighth  parallel : 

Weather  RepoTt  at  Fort  Bento7ifro7n  Jajiiiary  i,  i2>'j2,toJufy  I,  1879. 


1872.     1873.     1874. 


No.  of  fnir  days 

No.  of  cloudy  days 

Mean  temperature  of  year.  . 

'Spring 

Summer 

Autumn 

Winter   

Average  annual   fall  of  rain 
or  melted  snow 


305 
60 

37-25 
11° 
48° 
61° 
29° 
In. 


17.00 


1875- 


1876. 


1877.   1S78 


291 

74 
42° 

25° 

52° 

63° 
28° 
In. 


12.72 


277 
88 

42°.5 
13° 
56° 
68° 

In. 

23.76  121.84 


289 
76 

43°-5 

17° 

66^ 
36° 
in. 


286 
79 
30°-75 
14° 
54° 
61° 
30° 
In. 

20.64 


300        195 
65         169 
41°. 00  48°.oo 


24" 

50° 

58°- 

32% 

In. 

12.72 


37" 
55° 
64° 
36° 
In. 

20.40 


First  si.K 

months 

1879. 


no 

70 

21° 
58° 

Inches. 
21.60 


ME  TE  OROLO  GJCAL    TABL  ES. 


967 


This  shows  an  average  of  275  fair  days  for  each  year. 
We  also  give  from  the  Surveyor-General's  office  in   Helena 
the  following  record  of  temperature  and  weather  in  1S78-9  : 

Record  of  Temperature  at  Helena,  Montana,  from   Jnly,  1878,  to  June,  \%-](),indusive,  taken 

at  the  office  of  the  Surveyor-General  for  Montana. 


Month. 


July,  1878 

August,    1878 

September,  1878 

October,   1 87S 

November,  1S78 

December,  1878 

January,   1879 

February,  1879 

March,  1879 ''' 

April,  1 879 70 

May,  1879 77 

June,  1879 '  80 


"HJo 


98 
94 

76 
62 
52 

52 
62 


For  the  year 9^ 


o 


c 

<5 


rri 

days. 

i 

l3 

TS 

3 

>» 

<u 

0 

0 

2 

rt 

'      CJ 

CJ 

y: 

0 

0        1 

50 

74 

51 

70M   i 

30 

54^    ' 

12 

46M 

22 

41% 

0 

27^ 

— 12 

23>^ 

—  II 

26 

8 

38^ 

27 

49 

30 

53>i 

43 

59>< 

—  II 

44.6 

24 
28 
16 
14 
23 

9 

23 
19 
24 
16 

14 
12 


222 


88 


I 

1 

2 

10 

I 

"5- 

I 
2 

15 

7 

5 

3 

4 

5 

4 

3 

13 

12 

S 

22 


6 
I 

3 
4 


I 

5 
13 


33 


.  We  add  also  the — 

Mi'fcoro/ogy  of  Virginia  Cify,  Montana,  1878- 


Year  and 
Months. 


Year. . . . 
January. . . 
February.. 

March 

April 

May 

Tune 

"July 

Augusi.  .. 
September 
October  . . 
Ni)veml)er 
Dectmber 


ii 

y.  u 

a  =. 


92 
43 
49 
64 

65 

70 

85 
92 
90 
88 
64 

59 
46 


Temperature. 


.t:  a. 


0 

0 

—15 

42.2 

—4 

23.1 

10 

27.9 

II 

37-8 

'9 

39.8 

25 

45-5 

35 

5S.G 

42 

(7.2 

5-:> 

69.2 

26 

489 

9 

38.9 

II 

351 

— »S 

"7-7 

107 
47 
39 
53 
46 

45 
50 
50 
40 
62 
55 
48 
61 


Moisture. 


inch's. 

20.l6 

0.45 
0.62 
0.91 
1.83 
513 
378 
0.88 
2.16 
1.36 
0.98 
0.31 
0.65 


Barome- 
ter. 


u 
rt  c  ^ 


Winds. 


<              1 

1 

percent. 

inches. 

540 

29,705 

62.5 

29,661 

63.2 

29,536 

58.2 

29,657 

57.0 

29.565 

54-8 

29,668 

48.0 

29,766 

36.9 

29.745 

45-4 

29,808 

545 

29,771 

59-7 

29,734 

S4-0 

29.777 

72.0 

29,785 

Prevailing  Winds 

in  tne 

Order  of  their  Frequency. 


Direction. 

Calm,  S.  E.,  \V.,  S.W..  N.E. 

Calm.S.  E..S.  W..  N.  E. 

Cahn,S.  W..  S.  E.,  W. 

S.  E..  calm.  S.  W.,  W. 

W..  S.  E.,  S.  W.,  E..  calm. 

Calm.S.  E.,  N.  E.,  W..S.W, 

Calm.  S.E.,  W.,  N.W.,  N.E. 

Calm.S.  E..  W.,  S.,  N.  E. 

Calm,  S.  E.,  N.  E..  E..  W. 

Calm.S.  E.,\V..  N.  E. 

Calm,  AV.,  N.  W.,  S.  W. 

Calm.S.  E..  W. 
W.,  calm,  S.  W..  N.  W. 


Mi7iinf^. — It  is  matter  of  history  that  in    1S52,  a  Scotch  half- 
breed  from  the   Red   River  country,  returning  from  California, 


968 


OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


found  gold  on  Gold  creek,  in  Deer  Lodge  county.  This  was,  of 
course,  a  placer,  though  apparently  not  a  very  rich  one.  Others 
who  had  heard  of  this  find,  in  1856  prospected  Benetsee  creek, 
in  the  same  vicinity,  and  found  some  gold,  as  did  another  party 
who  came  thither  in  1858  ;'  but  being  without  provisions  or  tools, 
and  the  Indians  being  hostile,  they  soon  abandoned  the  country. 
In  i860,  Henry  Thomas,  better  known  as  "Gold  Tom,"  sunk  a 
shaft  down  to  the  bed  rock  on  Benetsee  creek,  a  depth  of  thirty 
feet ;  but  owing  to  his  poverty  and  disadvantages  for  work, 
having  but  little  food  and  but  few  tools,  he  only  made  about  $1.50 
a  day.  From  i860  to  1863,  the  Stuart  brothers,  James,  Granville 
and  Thomas,  a  Mr.  Anderson,  M.  Bozeman,  S.  T.  Hauser,  F. 
Louthan  an^  others,  were  the  principal  pioneers  in  gold  discov- 
eries in  what  is  now  known  as  Southwestern  Montana.  The 
earlier  discoveries  were  all  of  placers,  some  of  them  exceedingly 
rich.  Alder  gulch,  on  which  Virginia  City  is  situated,  was  prob- 
ably the  richest  placer  ever  discovered  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
At  first  the  product  was  from  ^100  to  ^200  a  day  for  each  ma*i, 
and  in  the  first  five  years  after  its  discovery  Alder  gulch  and  its 
tributaries  yielded  on  an  average  ^8,000,000  a  year.  The  total 
product  from  this  single  placer  up  to  the  end  of  1876  was  $70,- 
000,000.  Latterly  it  has  fallen  off  to  ^600,000  or  ^800,000  a 
year.  Silver  Creek  gulch,  about  twelve  miles  from  Helena,  and 
Last  Chance  gulch,  upon  which  the  town  of  Helena  itself  is  situ- 
ated, have  also  proved  very  rich  placers,  the  two  yielding  about 
^16,000,000  since  their  discovery.  Mining  is  still  continued  in 
these  and  other  placers,  and  the  advent  of  railroads  into  the  re- 
gion has  caused  machinery  and  timber  to  be  brought  there  at  so 
much  less  expense,  and  the  gold  product  sent  to  market  at  so 
much  cheaper  rates,  that  hydraulic  mining  on  a  most  extensive 
scale  is  to  be  resorted  to  in  all  the  best  placers.  The  total  product 
of  gold  from  placer  mining  in  the  Territory  has  been  variously 
estimated  at  from  ^120,000,000  to  $140,000,000.  It  is  difficult 
to  determine  the  exact  amount,  as  the  returns  of  the  placers  and 
the  quartz  veins  or  lodes  have  not  in  all  cases  been  kept  separate. 
It  is  probably  not  less  than  $125,000,000. 

Quartz  mininof  for  o^old  beo^an  in    Montana  almost  simultane- 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  MONTANA.  ggg 

ously  with  that  of  the  placers.  The  first  lode  located  was  discov- 
ered near  Bannock,  in  Beaverhead  county,  in  1862,  and  the  mine 
was  called  the  Dakota.  Mr.  Warner,  in  his  "  History  and  Di- 
rectory of  Montana,"  says  that  the  decomposed  quartz  found 
near  the  surface  of  this  vein  was  taken  down  the  hill  on  which  it 
was  situated,  to  the  creek,  on  pack  animals,  and  the  gold  was 
there  washed  out.  In  the  spring-  of  1863  a  small  water-mill  for 
crushing  this  quartz  was  completed.  The  stamps  were  made  of 
old  wagon-wheel  tires  welded  together  and  had  wooden  stems. 
Other  mills  were  subsequently  erected,  and  gold  in  small  quan- 
tities has  been  taken  from  this  and  other  mines  in  the  vicinity 
almost  ever  since.  Gold  quartz  ledges  were  discovered  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  many  other  placer  mines,  and  the  ores  have  been  worked 
on  a  small  scale  in  different  parts  of  the  Territory,  A  few  of  the 
lodes  have  produced  large  quantities  of  bullion.  The  chief  ob- 
stacles to  the  development  of  the  gold  quartz  mines  of  Montana 
have  been  lack  of  capital,  bad  management  due  to  want  of  expe- 
rienced superintendents,  and  the  enormous  cost  of  machinery. 
When  freights  from  Chicacro  or  St.  Louis  were  never  lower  than 
five  cents,  and  frequently  as  high  as  ten,  twelve  or  fifteen  cents  a 
pound,  it  cost  two  or  three  times  as  much  to  bring  machinery  into 
Montana  as  was  paid  for  it  at  the  place  where  it  was  manufac- 
tured, and  a  man  not  only  had  to  have  a  good  mine  but  consid- 
erable ready  capital  in  order  to  be  able  to  develop  it  and  bring 
it  into  a  paying  condition.  Some  of  the  most  promising  gold 
mining  enterprises  in  this  Territory  have  also  failed  on  account 
of  ignorance  or  extravagance  in  their  management,  and  these 
failures  have  deterred  capitalists,  who  at  best  were  timid  about 
investing  their  money  in  a  country  so  difficult  of  access,  from 
becoming  interested  even  in  the  good  properties. 

The  principal  mines  of  gold  in  quartz  lodes  are  almost  as 
numerous  as  the  placers.  After  the  Dakota,  which  still  yields  a 
fair  amount,  are  the  Union  lode  and  others  in  Lewis  and  Clarke 
county,  which  have  yielded  about  ^3,000,000;  the  Atlantic  Cable 
lode,  in  Deer  Lodge  county,  a  very  rich  mine  ;  while  there  are 
mines  which  have  paid  well  for  a  number  of  years  at  Unionville 
and  the   Park,  four  miles  from  Ilelena,  at  Silver  Star,  Summit, 


gyQ  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Alder,  Meadow  Creek,  Iron  Rod,  Bannock,  Radersburg,  Pony,  ' 
Boulder  and  Highland.  But  die  richest  quartz  gold  mines  in 
Montana  are  those  of  the  Stemple  District,  fifteen  to  twenty 
miles  northwest  of  Helena.  The  famous  Penobscot  and  other 
extensions  of  the  Snow  Drift  lode  are  probably  the  most  valuable 
gold  quartz  mines  in  the  world.  Mr.  Nathan  S.  Vestel  first  de- 
veloped the  Penobscot  mine,  which  is  on  the  summit  of  the  main 
range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  His  first  efforts  in  1877  did  not 
meet  with  much  encouragement,  and  late  in  the  year  he  found 
himself  $7,000  in  debt  and  in  doubt  where  he  could  obtain  the 
means  of  payment.  But  the  three  shafts  he  had  sunk  on  the 
Penobscot  claim  began  to  show  good  results,  and  the  first  clean- 
ups from  a  little  five  stamp  mill,  which  had  been  brought  there, 
gave  him  $20,000,  with  which  he  paid  his  debts  and  had  $13,000 
over.  The  yield  now  increased  rapidly,  some  of  the  ore  yielding 
$1,000  in  gold  to  the  ton,  and  the  average  being  more  than  $100 
to  the  ton  aside  from  the  waste,  which  was  considerable,  as  it  was 
in  very  fine  particles.  In  the  summer  of  1878  he  sold  the  mine 
to  Mr.  William  B.  Frue,  of  Detroit,  on  terms  from  which  he  re- 
alized $350,000.  It  has  proved  a  very  profitable  investment, 
yielding  about  $23,000  a  month.  Mr,  Vestel  immediately  com- 
menced developing  another  mine,  900  feet  below  the  Penobscot, 
which  is  yielding  about  $12,000  a  month.  It  is  called  the  Bel- 
mont. Odier  mines  of  this  district  and  vicinity  are  the  Blue 
Bird,  Whip-poor-will,  Black  Hawk,  Viola,  Grey  Eagle,  Emma 
Miller,  Mount  Pleasant,  Green  Northern  Light,  Piegan,  Humbug 
and  Long  Tom.  These  are  all  paying  largely.  The  gold  quartz 
mines  have  yielded  since  1864  over  $20,000,000 ;  of  the  $162,- 
000,000  of  the  precious  metals  sent  to  market  to  the  end  of  1879, 
about  $145,000,000  are  gold  and  the  remainder  silver. 

The  silver  ores  of  Montana  are  mostly  refractory,  and  have 
proved  difficult  of  reduction,  and  in  the  past  would  only  pay 
when  they  were  very  rich.  Now  the  machinery,  and  concen- 
trating, stamping,  smelting,  wasting,  chlorodizing,  amalgamadng 
and  leaching  works  are  all  in  the  Territory  and  easily  accessible  by 
railway,  and  the  silver  ores,  which  arc,  many  of  them,  very  rich, 
will   yield  great  profits   to  the  mine-owners  and  ore  reducers. 


SILVER  MIXING    IN  MONTANA.  g»7I 

The  most  important  of  these  works  are  those  of  the  Alta  Mon- 
tana Company,  which  owns  several  mines  also,  at  Wickes,  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Helena,  and  about  mid- 
way between  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad  and  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Division  of  the  Northern  Pacific.  When  these  works 
were  first  established  they  proved  a  failure,  but  they  have  now 
been  taken  up  by  an  enterprising  company  from  the  East,  with 
large  capital,  and  are  achieving  a  grand  success.  The  Colorado 
and  Boulder  Districts  have  a  large  number  of  silver  mines,  with 
very  rich  lodes,  many  of  which  will  contribute  to  the  supply  of 
ores  to  be  reduced  at  Wickes.  Another  extensive  silver  lode, 
the  earliest  one  discovered  in  Montana,  is  in  the  district  of  Phil- 
lipsburg,  in  Deer  Lodge  county,  nearly  loo  miles  west-southwest 
of  Helena,  in  the  elevated  valley  between  the  main  Rocky  Moun- 
tain chain — the  "Great  Divide" — and  the  Bitter  Root  Moun- 
tains. This  is  on  the  surveyed  route  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Division  of  the  Northern  Pacific.  The  Speckled  Trout,  the 
Algonquin  and  the  Hope  mine  are  the  largest  and  most  promising 
mines  in  this  district.  These  have  yielded  somewhat  largely  of 
argentiferous  galena,  with  considerable  sulphur  and  other  com- 
binations. The  yield  is  from  seventy-five  to  ninety  ounces  of 
silver  to  the  ton.  Owing  to  heavy  expenses,  these  mines  have 
not  proved  very  profitable  till  recently.  But  the  most  remark- 
able of  all  the  mining  districts  is  Butte  and  its  vicinity,  also  in 
Deer  Lodge  county,  but  east  of  the  Great  Divide.  The  silver 
ores  were  first  discovered  in  1864  (or  perhaps  earlier),  but  the 
working  of  them  could  not  be  made  profitable  on  account  of  their 
refractory  nature  and  the  great  cost  of  transportation.  They 
again  attracted  attention  in  1874-5,  and  Butte  City  has  a  popu- 
lation of  about  3,500,  and  in  its  immediate  vicinity  are  twenty  or 
more  mines,  all  yielding  well.  The  ores  are  of  different  kinds, 
and  require  different  processes  for  their  reduction.  There  is  a 
silver-gold  belt,  with  no  copper,  but  some  galena  and  oxide  and 
carbonate  of  manganese.  Above  the  water-line  this  is  free  mill- 
inof,  and  can  be  reduced  with  a  moderate  amount  of  labor.  Below 
the  water-line  it  is  baser,  and  requires  chlorodization  and  roasting 
for  its  reduction.     The  silver  predominates,  but  there  is  a  small 


Q^2  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

amount  of  gold  mixed  with  it.  The  yield  ranges  from  twenty-five 
to  one  hundred  and  eighty  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton.  One  mile 
east  of  this  is  a  belt  of  copper  ore  of  great  richness,  but  containing 
some  arsenic.  The  yield  is  about  400  pounds  to  the  ton.  In  a 
contrary  direction,  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the  silver-gold  belt, 
just  beyond  the  Butte,  is  an  extensive  lode  of  chloride  of  silver,  on 
which  several  mines  have  been  opened,  but  though  apparently 
very  rich,  it  has  not  yet  been  largely  developed.  There  are  now 
extensive  reverberatory  furnaces  for  smeldng  these  ores,  and 
when  reduced  to  a  matte  carrying  from  600  to  900  ounces  of 
silver  to  the  ton,  they  are  sent  to  Denver  to  be  parted.  Most 
of  the  mines  are  what  are  known  as  surface  mines ;  that  is,  they 
do  not  penetrate  below  the  water-line.  Indeed,  it  was  found  that 
the  ores  rapidly  depreciated  in  quality  as  they  approached  this 
line.  The  owners  of  the  Alice  mine,  one  of  the  best  of  the  sur- 
face mines,  had  the  courage,  against  the  opinion  of  all  the  other 
miners,  to  go  below  the  water-line,  and,  following  the  vein,  to 
ascertain  whether  it  would  not  improve  as  they  reached  deeper 
levels.  They  have  expended  ^600,000  on  this  experiment,  all 
of  which,  however,  had  been  made  out  of  the  mine,  and  at  300 
feet  depth  found  the  ore  much  better,  and  at  400  and  500  feet 
they  were  richer  than  at  the  surface.  Encouraged  by  this  they 
have  proceeded  to  strike  the  vein  at  a  depth  of  800  feet.  The 
silver  deposits  at  Butte  are  believed  to  be  more  extensive  than 
any  yet  discovered  in  Montana.  The  production  of  silver  and 
gold  at  this  camp  to  September,  1880,  had  been  somewhat  more 
than  ^4,000,000,  and  is  likely  to  be  largely  increased. 

Glendale  and  the  Trapper  district,  situated  in  and  around  the 
Trapper  Creek  Canon,  in  Beaverhead  county,  but  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  "Great  Divide,"  has  come  into  notice  within  the  last 
four  years,  and  is  regarded  by  Mr.  Z.  L.  White  as  one  of  the 
two  successful  silver  camps  of  the  Territory,  Butte  being  the 
other.  The  mines  which  have  proved  most  profitable  are  on 
White  Lion  Mountain,  about  9,000  feet  above  the  sea.  The  ore 
is  found  in  a  wide  belt  of  dolomite  or  soft  white  limestone,  lying 
between  two  limestone'  strata  of  a  much  harder  texture.  The 
bulk  of  the  ore  in  these  mines  is  decomposed,  earthy,  and  easily 


PROBABLE  EXTENSION  OF  MINING  DISTRICTS.  gy^ 

mined  with  pick  and  spade.  It  consists  of  silver,  copper,  sulphur, 
lead,  arsenic,  antimony,  aluminum  and  silica,  with  occasionally  a 
litde  undecomposed  galena.  It  yields  on  an  average  from  eighty 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  ounces  of  silver  to  a  ton. 

There  are  several  copper  mines  in  the  Territory,  one  large 
deposit  of  copper  ores  being  at  Copperopolis,  on  the  head  waters 
of  the  Musselshell  river.  There  is  also  a  beginning  of  iron 
mining  in  the  Territory.  Coal  mining  is  becoming  a  profitable 
pursuit  along  the  Missouri  and  Yellowstone  Divisions  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad.  The  mining  products  of  Montana 
in  1879  were  about  ^10,000,000 — an  amount  which  will  soon  be 
doubled. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  all  the  vein  and  lode  mining,  whether 
of  eold  or  silver,  has  been  confined  to  the  southwestern  section 
of  Montana,  a  region  lying  west  of  a  line  drawn  southward  from 
the  junction  of  the  Dearborn  river  and  the  Missouri,  and  striking 
the  Yellow^stone  at  or  near  Fort  Ellis,  thence  along  the  Yellow- 
stone to  the  Yellowstone  Nadonal  Park.  It  comiprises  both 
slopes  of  the  "Great  Divide,"  extends  across  the  valleys  beyond, 
and  includes  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains. 
That  this  is  not  the  only  part  of  the  Territory  which  contains 
gold /deposits  appears  from  the  fact  that  rich  placers  have  been 
found  in  Missoula  county,  northwest  175  miles  or  more  from 
Helena,  and  east  and  northeast  of  the  Missouri  river  as  far  as 
the  slopes  of  the  Bear's  Paw  Mountains,  northeast  of  Fort  Ben- 
ton ;  and  where  there  are  placers  the  gold  and  silver  lodes  are 
not  far  off.  We  may  look  confidently  for  further  discoveries  of 
both  o-old  and  silver  in  the  detached  and  isolated  mountains  of 
the  Territory,  and  very  possibly  extensive  gold  lodes  in  the 
Powder  river  range,  in  the  southeast  of  the  Territory,  that  range 
having:  stronof  ofeoloeical  affinities  with  the  Black  Hills.  There 
have  been  some  gold  and  silver  lodes  of  rich  promise  recently 
discovered  on  Clarke's  fork  of  the  Yellowstone,  about  the  middle 
of  the  Crow  Indian  reservation,  and  negotiations  are  now  in 
progress  with  the  Crows  to  cede  this  part  of  their  reservation. 

Azi^icidttiral  Productions. — Writers  on  Montana  have  irener- 
ally  estimated   its  arable  lands  at   1 5,000,000,  or  at  the  utmost 


gy^  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

16,000,000  acres  ;  but  the  recent  reports  of  the  Surveyor-General 
of  the  Territory,  and  of  the  missionaries  and  travellers  who  have 
been  up  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone  and  through  Eastern  Mon- 
tana Indicate  that  there  are  millions  of  acres  which,  with  moder- 
ate irrigation,  for  which  the  facilities  are  abundant,  will  yield 
immense  crops,  and  in  fact  a  part  are  already  yielding  crops 
which  astonish  all  beholders.  Of  the  agricultural  productions  of 
the  valleys  and  benches  of  Western  Montana,  the  affluents  of 
Clarke's  fork  of  Columbia  river,  of  the  Jefferson,  Madison  and 
Gallatin,  and  of  the  Yellowstone  and  the  upper  Missouri,  we  will 
let  Mr.  Zimri  L.  White,  the  cautious  and  able  correspondent  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  tell  us  : 

"The    agricultural    lands  of  Montana  are  the  valleys.     The 
main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  extends  through  the  Terri- 
tory generally  in  a  northerly  and  southerly  direction,  and  from 
this  there  are  spurs  and  auxiliary  ranges  extending  in  all  direc- 
tions and  covering  nearly  the  whole  face  of  the  country  except 
in  the  north  and  east,  where  there  are  extensive  elevated  plains. 
Between    these    rano-es  flow  hundreds  of   beautiful  clear-water 
streams,  some  large  and  some  small,  and  bordering  these  rivers 
and  creeks  are  fine  rich  valleys  from  one  to  ten  or  twenty  miles 
in  width.     The  soil  in  the  valleys  is  an  alluvial  deposit,  and  the 
land  generally  has  a  gentle  and  regular  slope  from  the  bed  of 
the  stream  to  the  foot  of  the  bench  which  separates   the  valley 
from  the  foot-hills.     So  true  is  this  slope  that  in  almost  every  in- 
stance water  taken  out  in  a  ditch  parallel  with  the  stream  can  be 
made  to  flow  over  every  foot  of  land  below  it.     The  benches,  of 
which  there  are  sometimes  several  and  sometimes  only  one,  are 
simply  continuations  of  the  valley  at  a  higher  elevation.     They 
frequently  look  like  great  terraces  rising  one  above  the  other,  and 
where  the  quantity  of  water  in  the  stream  and  the  fall  are  sufficient 
to  make  irrigation  possible,  the  bench  lands  are  found  to  be  equally 
productive  with  the  valleys  proper.     Behind  the  benches  rise  the 
foothills,  with  their  rounded,  grass-clad  tops,  now  extended  for 
miles  and  forming  the  divide  between  two  streams,  and  again 
seeming  to  support  a  rocky,  precipitous  ridge  that  rises  beyond 
them. 


/ 


THE    FERTILE    VALLEYS  OF  MONTANA.  gy^ 

"  Very  few  of  these  valleys  are  as  yet  settled.  The  Bitter  Root 
Valley,  in  the  west,  where  the  farmers  have  become  rich  by  the 
sale  of  their  products  to  the  government  for  use  at  the  military 
post  at  Missoula,  the  Gallatin  in  the  east.  Prickly  Pear,  in  which 
Helena  is  situated,  Deer  Lodge  and  Jefferson  Valleys,  have  the 
oldest  ranches,  and  until  lately  the  largest  breadth  of  land  under 
cultivation. 

"Within  the  last  year  or  two  the  immigration  to  the  Yellowstone 
Valley  and  its  tributaries -has  been  very  great.  This  is  about 
650  miles  long,  and  the  average  width  of  the  valley  which  can  be 
irrigated  is  about  ten  miles.  It  has  only  recently  been  safe  for 
white  people  to  go  there,  but  the  vigor  with  which  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  has  pushed  westward  during  the  past  summer 
(this  line  will  extend  through  the  Yellowstone  Valley  for  almost 
its  entire  length)  has  attracted  many  settlers,  and  I  am  told  that 
there  are  already  about  400  families  there.  I  saw  it  reported 
early  in  the  summer  that  General  Sheridan  told  a  Chicago  re- 
porter that  he  saw  on  one  boat  in  his  late  trip  up  the  Yellow- 
stone twenty-seven  threshing-machines  bound  for  the  very 
country  in  which  General  Custer  lost  his  life  in  1876,  and  which 
three  years  ago  was  one  of  the  most  remote  and  inaccessible 
sections  of  the  country.  So  rapid  has  been  the  agricultural 
development  of  the  Territory  that  Mr.  R.  H.  Mason,  the  Sur- 
veyor-General of  Montana,  estimates  that  the  acreage  under 
cultivation  this  year  is  twice  as  great  as  it  was  in  1878,  a  part  of 
the  increase  beinof  due  to  the  enlare^ement  of  the  older  farms,  and 
a  part  to  the  opening  of  new  farms. 

"  In  all  the  older  settled  portions  of  the  Territory  the  ranchmen 
are,  almost  without  exception,  remarkably  prosperous.  I  have 
not  visited  the  best  agricultural  sections  of  the  country,  nor  shall 
I  be  able  to  do  so.  The  area  of  the  Territory  of  Tvlontana  is 
three  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  there 
is  not  as  yet  (in  1879)  a  single  mile  of  railroad  within  its  limits. 
Travel  here  is  therefore  very  slow,  and  it  would  require  more 
than  one  whole  summer  to  see  even  the  most  important  points. 
I  did,  however,  ride  through  the  Jefferson,  Boulder  and  Deer 
Lodge  Valleys,  and  spent  an  entire  day  in  visiting  a  few  rcpre- 


Q76  <^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

sentative  farms  in   the  Prickly  Pear  Valley,  so  that  I  can  speak 
from  personal  knowledge  of  what  I  saw  in  those. 

"  The  average  yield  of  wheat  in  Montana  is  at  least  twenty-five 
bushels  to  an  acre.  Other  writers  have  placed  it  at  from  thirty 
to  forty  bushels,  and  fifty  bushels  is  by  no  means  an  uncommon 
crop;  but  taking  the  whole  country  together,  I  doubt  if  the  farmer 
can  depend  upon  much  more  than  twenty-five.  This  is  ten 
bushels  or  sixty-six  per  cent,  more  than  wdiat  is  considered  a 
good  crop  in  the  great  grain  States  -of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
The  wheat  of  Montana  is  also  of  a  very  excellent  quality.  An 
analysis  of  samples  of  Montana  wheat  made  at  the  Agricultural 
Department  in  Washington  shows  eighteen  per  cent,  more  nitro- 
genous or  flesh-producing  matter  than  Minnesota  wheat,  and  that 
bulk  for  bulk  it  weighed  about  six  per  cent,  more.  I  have  before 
me  a  sample  of  spring  wheat  of  the  crop  of  1S78,  raised  by  Mr. 
Reeves  in  the  Prickly  Pear  Valley,  that  averages  to  weigh  sixty- 
four  pounds  to  a  measured  bushel.  Some  of  the  crops  of  wheat 
that  have  been  raised  in  Montana  have  been  almost  fabulous. 
Forty,  fifty,  and  even  sixty  bushels  to  an  acre,  are  not  uncommon 
crops.  Several  years  ago  the  State  Fair  Association  offered  a 
premium  for  the  best  acre  of  wheat  raised  that  season,  and  the 
award  was  made  to  Mr.  Raymond,  of  the  Prickly  Pear  Valley, 
who  had  102  measured  bushels  on  a  single  acre.  The  committee 
who  made  the  award  were  prominent  citizens  of  Montana,  and 
one  of  them  has  told  me  that  the  same  year  a  farmer  in  the  Gal- 
latin Valley  raised  an  equally  large  average  crop  on  a  forty-acre 
lot,  but  as  he  could  not  show  that  he  had  more  than  102  bushels 
on  any  single  acre,  the  committee  decided  that  he  was  not  entided 
to  the  premium. 

.  "  I  have  seen,  in  August  this  year,  many  fields  of  wheat,  both 
standing  and  in  the  shock,  in  the  country  around  Helena,  and  I 
have  not  seen  one  that  appeared  to  have  less  than  thirty  bushels 
to  an  acre.  In  many  fields  the  shocks  of  grain  stood  almost  as 
thick  as  the  sheaves  in  the  fields  of  the  Mississippi  Valley." 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Strahorn,  in  his  "To  the  Rockies  and  Beyond," 
gives  the  following  statement  In  regard  to  crops  In  different  val- 
leys of  Montana  in  1878  : 


FARMING   IN  MONTANA. 


977 


"As  considerable  has  been  said  concerning  large  average 
yields  of  grain  fields  in  Montana,  the  reader  may  be  interested 
in  noting  a  few  names  of  farmers  whose  experiences  for  the  past 
year  or  two  have  come  under  the  observation  of  the  writer.  Fol- 
lowino-  are  the  names  of  several  prominent  farmers  of  different 
valleys,  with  size  of  fields,  amount  of  grain  threshed,  the  average 
yield  per  acre  for  one  season,  and  the  selling  price  of  the  crop : 


Name. 

• 

Location. 

Field 

in 
acres. 

Crop   anc 
bu>l 

1  Yield— 

lels. 

Av.  per 
acre — 

bushels. 

Value  of 
crop. 

A.  G.  Eiiglami 

Missoula  Valley 

i6o 

Wheat, 

7,000.  . 

'^?,H 

^8,400 

i« 

i(                         i4 

40 

Oats, 

2,000.  . 

50 

1,200 

Robert  Vaughn 

Sun  River  Vallev.  .  . 

4 

Oats, 

410.  . 

102^ 

246 

M.  Sione 

Rubv  Vallev 

100 

Wheat 

6,000.  . 

60 

7,200 

Brockway's  Ranch.  . 

Yellowstone  Vallev.. 

8 

Oats, 

600.  . 

75 

360 

Brigham  Reed 

Gallatin  Valley 

6 

Oats, 

620.  . 

103>^ 

362 

Marion  Leverich..  . . 

((          (( 

23 

Wheat, 

1,150.  . 

50 

1,380 

William  Reed 

Charles  Rowe 

Prickly  Pear  Valley.  . 
Missouri  Valley 

50 

23-3 

Oats, 
Wheat,  ■) 
Oats,      / 

3.500.. 
1,200. . 

70 

45 

2, 1 00 
1,250 

Con.  Kohrs   

Deer  Lodge  Valley .  . 

II 

Oats, 

1,200.  . 

100 

720 

John   Howe 

Gallatin  Valley 

8S 

Oats, 

4,982.. 

57 

2,989 

1    Robert   Barnett 

Reese  Creek  Valley.  . 

48 

Wheat, 

2,200.  . 

451 

2,640 

1     S.  Ilall 

Ruby  Valley 

400 

Wheat, 

10,000.  . 

50 

11,000 

Mr.  White  continues: 

"Oats  and  barley  grow  as  well  as  wheat.  The  average  yield 
of  oats  to  the  acre  is  considerably  greater  than  that  of  wheat,  and 
the  weight  per  bushel  is  much  above  the  standard.  Mr.  Reeves 
gave  me  a  sample  of  oats  from  his  farm  which  he  said  would 
average  to  weight  forty-six  pounds  to  a  bushel.  General  Brisbin 
says  that  Mr.  Burton  raised  a  field  of  oats  which  averaged  loi 
bushels  to  an  acre,  and  a  field  of  barley  on  which  there  were  1 13 
bushels  to  an  acre. 

"This  is  the  bright  side  of  the  picture.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  grain 
crop  in  certain  portions  of  Montana  is  frequently  destroyed  by 
grasshoppers,  and  that  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  for  some  years 
to  come,  and  until  the  agricultural  population  of  the  Territory 
becomes  much  greater  than  now,  these  insect  pests  will  make  the 
business  of  erain-raisine  here  somewhat  hazardous.  That  the 
scourge  of  locusts  has  not  been  as  serious  as  it  might  have  been, 

nor  as  destructive  as  it  would   naturally  have   been  expected  to 

62 


9-8 


OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 


be,  is  shown  by  the  prosperous  condition  of  all  the  farmers  who 
have  been  estabHshed  for  a  few  years.  Those  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  mihtary  posts,  especially,  have  grown  rich  with 
wonderful  rapidity.  General  Brisbin  told  me  that  the  govern- 
ment has  paid  as  much  as  ^4,000  to  one  farmer  in  a  single  year 
for  grain  and  hay  raised  by  himself,  and  that  the  income  of  a 
farmer  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Ellis  from  the  portion  of  his 
crops  sold  to  the  United  States  is  frequently  as  much  as  ^3,000. 
Corn  has  not  been  very  successfully  cultivated  in  Montana,  ex- 
cept in  the  warmer  regions  west  of  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  The  hay  cut  in  the  Territory  is  wild,  and  costs  the 
farmer  who  cuts  it  from  $1.50  to  ^2.00  a  ton. 

"  The  soil  of  Montana  seems  to  be  especially  fitted  for  the 
production  of  large  crops  of  garden  vegetables.  The  best  market 
garden  I  ever  saw,  if  abundant  yield  is  a  criterion,  is  that  of  Mr. 
Dorrington,  in  the  Prickly  Pear  Valley.  He  sold  ^2,000  worth 
of  strawberries,  and  his  root  crops,  such  as  turnips,  onions,  beets, 
parsnips,  etc.,  seemed  literally  to  fill  the  ground.  He  expected 
to  take  ten  tons  of  onions  from  a  small  patch  of  ground,  and 
would  receive  five  cents  a  pound  for  them  in  Helena.  The  fol- 
lowing table,  compiled  by  General  Brisbin,  shows  what  the  pro- 
duct of  the   gardens  cultivated  by  troops  at   F^ort  Ellis  w^as   in 

1877: 


Com.pany 

and 
Regiment. 

Number  of 
acres. 

Bushels 
Potatoes. 

Bushels 
Onions. 

Busliels    J 
Turnips. 

Bushels 
Carrots. 

Bushels 
Beets. 

Bushels 
Parsnips. 

Bushels 
Salsify. 

Heads  of 
Cabbage. 

F  2d  Cav. 
G      " 
H      " 
L       '* 

Gyth  Inf. 

5 

6 

5 
3 

1,100 

550 

1,200 

700 

3^3 

90 

60 

130 

SO 
6 

60 
60 

35 

150 

40 

60 

35 
40 

25 
12 

50 

15 
40 

10 

20 

25 

3,600 
2,500 
3.300 
2,300 
800 

20 

3 

Totals, 

26>^ 

3,865 

33<^ 

345 

172 

105 

75 

3 

12,500 

"  The  value  of  the  several  articles,  if  bought  at  the  fort,  would 
have  been  :  Potatoes,  $3,865  ;  onions,  $2,352  ;  turnips,  $85  ;  car- 
rots, $206.40  ;    beets,  $315;   parsnips,  $225  ;   salsify,  $9.40 ;  cab- 


FJi  UIT.  GR  O  WING.  gyg 

bage,  $125.  Total,  ^7,182.80.  The  garden  crops  at  Fort  Ellis 
in  other  years  have  been  fully  one-third  greater  for  the  same 
amount  of  g^round," 

The  best  farmers  are  turning  their  attention  largely  to  fruit 
culture.  This  for  many  years  to  come  will  be  the  most  profitable 
of  crops,  especially  when  it  is  not  too  far  from  a  local  market. 
Writing  in  1879,  Mr,  White  said:  "  V^ery  little  fruit  has  yet  been 
raised  (/.  c,  has  come  to  the  bearing  stage)  in  Montana. 

"It  has  always  been  supposed  that  the  part  of  the  Territory  east 
of  the  Divide  was  too  cold  in  winter  for  even  the  hardier  kinds 
of  fruit,  and  very  few  varieties  have  been  planted.  In  the  west, 
in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  orchards  planted  a  few  years  ago  are 
just  beginning  to  bear,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  the  trees 
have  grown  and  the  manner  in  which  they  have  wintered  have 
led  to  the  belief  that  fruit-raising  may  yet  become  one  of  the  im- 
portant industries  of  that  section.  The  fruit  crop  this  year  is  not 
sufficiently  large  to  affect  the  price,  but  the  rapid  extension  of  the 
Utah  and  Northern  Railroad  has  had  a  very  marked  effect  upon 
it.  I  bought  nice  grapes,  peaches  and  pears  in  Helena  for  fifty 
cents  a  pound,  which  two  years  ago  would  have  cost  ^i. 

"As  a  rule  the  farms  of  Montana  have  to  be  irrigated,  and  in 
most  of  the  valleys  there  is  an  abundance  of  water  for  this  pur- 
'pose.  The  cost  of  constructing  good  canals  for  the  irrigation  of 
160  acres  of  land  is,  of  course,  considerable,  but  when  once  com- 
pleted the  expense  of  keeping  them  in  order  is  very  small,  while 
the  ability  of  the  farmer  to  regulate  absolutely  the  amount  of 
moisture  which  his  crop  shall  have,  more  than  compensates 
for  all  the  extra  labor  and  expense  which  irrigation  makes 
necessary. 

"  While  some  of  the  valleys  near  the  mining  centres  of  the  Ter- 
ritory have  been  pretty  well  settled  up,  none  of  them  can  be  said 
to  be  full,  while  in  other  parts  of  the  Territory  the  land  is  almost 
untouclied.  Finely  improved  farms  near  markets  are  now  worth 
$20  or  ^25  an  acre;  others  a  little  more  remote  and  not  as  well 
improved, sell  for  from  ;p5  to  ^i  5  an  acre, and  there  are  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  acres  which  can  be  obtained  simply  by  settling  upon 


q8o  o^^^  western  empire. 

them  under  the  Homestead  law,  or  pre-empted  and  purchased  for 
^1.25  an  acre." 

Mr.  R.  E.  Strahorn  gives  the  following-  statement  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  Montana  in  1878.  The  crops  of  1879  were  of  nearly 
double  this  amount,  and  those  of  1S80  larger  yet.  In  1878  he 
says: 

"  The  different  valleys  of  Montana,  with  their  mere  sprinkling 
of  farmers,  produced  about  400,000  bushels  of  wheat,  600,000  of 
oats,  50,000  of  barley,  12,000  of  corn,  500,000  bushels  of  vege- 
tables, and  65,000  tons  of  hay,  the  total  value  of  agricultural  pro- 
ducts being  not  less  than  ^^3,000,000.  A  ready  market  has 
always  been  afforded  by  the  non-producing  population  in  the 
mines  and  cities,  and  by  the  numerous  military  posts.  The  con- 
stant increase  in  the  magnitude  of  mining  and  other  operations 
in  all  parts  of  the  Territory  justifies  the  belief  that  any  consider- 
able surplus  of  produce  cannot  be  raised  in  Montana  for  years  to 
come,  and  until  that  time  prices  must  remain  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  per  cent,  higher  than  in  the  'States.'  The  following 
were  ruling  prices  paid  farmers  for  produce  in  different  Montana 
cities  in  January,  1879:  flour,  $4.75  per  100  pounds;  oats,  two 
cents  per  pound;  wheat,  two  cents;  hay,  ;^I2  to  ^14  per  ten; 
potatoes,  one  and  a  half  cents  per  pound ;  onions,  six  cents ; 
butter,  forty-five  cents  ;  eggs,  sixty  to  seventy-five  cents  per 
dozen  ;  squash,  four  cents  per  pound  ;  cheese,  sixteen  to  twenty 
cents;  beets,  four  cents;  cabbage,  five  cents;  carrots,  three  and 
a  half  cents  ;  parsnips,  four  cents  ;  turkeys,  ^3  to  ^5  each  ;  spring 
chickens,  ^6  to  $7.50  per  dozen." 

Mr.  Strahorn  has  contrasted  in  the  following  table  the  prices  of 
farm  and  dairy  products  in  Montana  and.  in  Ohio,  and  the  yield 
in  the  East  with  the  yield  in  Montana.  The  contrast  is  very 
instructive : 


PRODUCTIONS   OF  MONTANA. 


981 


Kind  of  Produce. 

W 

u 

X. 

•4-* 

\n 

(LI 

P4 

rS 

C 
rt 
■*-< 
G 
0 

f^ 

r- 

<u 

0 

Yield  in  the  East 
per  acre. 

Yield  in   Montana 
per  acre. 

T^nrnn     i)c-r    tjouihI 

5c 
I><0 

i6c 

2C 

IC 
TC 

^C 

8c 

$2  00 

1 8c 

3  00 

5c 

8  00 

2  75 

IC 

IC 
1^0 

4c 
70 

I>2C 

15c 

20 

40c 

4C 
5c 
3c 
4c 
40 

5c 
170 

$6  00 
500 

4    GO 

250 

12     00 

10    00 

20 

6c 
4c 

20 
20 

4C 
20c 

20 

19  bu 

24  bu 

34    Iju 

1 14^  ton 

23  bu 
208  bu 

75  bu 

25  bu 
12  bu 

150  bu 
11  bu 

35  Iju 

37  1^1 
6,565  lbs 

37  bu 

^]i  ton 

45  bu 
385   bu 

200  bii 

40  bu 

35  bu 

i9,ooolb3 

225  bu 
30  bu 

Barley, 

Butter,          "         

Beets             **          

Bean  s            **          

Cabba"-e.      "         

Carrots,        *'          

Cauliflower.'*          

Corn              "         

Cheese.         "          

Chickens,  per  dozen 

Eo-gs              ''               

^&&^                             

Flour,  per  cwt 

Oreen  corn,  ner  dozen 

Hav.  Der  ton 

Hoe's,  per  cwt 

Oats,  per  pound  

Onions.        **        

Parsniijs.      "        

Potatoes,      "        

-Peas,            " 

Rve.             "■        

Squash,        "       

Turkeys,  live,  per  jjound 

Turnips,  per  pound 

Wheat,           "           

"I  firmly  believe,"  he  adds,  "that  no  land  under  the  sun  offers 
such  a  favorable  field  for  diversified  rural  industry  as  Montana. 
Take  here,  in  connection  with  grain-raising,  the  production  of 
poultry,  eggs,  butter,  pork,  vegetables,  and  similar  items  now 
almost  unnoticed  as  '  not  worth  bothering  about,'  and  the  indus- 
trious and  frugal  farmer  and  housewife,  managing  as  of  necessity 
do  those  in  the  thickly  settled  States,  should  soon  make  them- 
selves independent.  It  is  often  almost  impossible  in  winter  to 
secure  fresh  eggs  at  seventy-five  cents  per  dozen  in  Montana 
cities,  and  during  the  winter  of  1S7S-79,  I  have  seen  ninety  cents 
freely  offered  in  Helena.     Butter  ranges  from  forty  to  sixty  cents 


q82  our   western  empire. 

the  entire  winter,  antl  it  was  frequently  impossible  to  secure  a 
"•ood  article.  The  IMontanian  who  desires  to  celebrate  Christmas 
in  the  time-honored  way — iurkL\-aiul  all — will  make  a  sad  inroad 
in  his  bank  account;  as  lor  spring  chicken — at  from  fifty  cents  to 
^i  each — they  might  be  of  recent  origin,  but  unfortunately  that 
class  is  never  numerous  enough  to  go  round." 

Dairy- Farming  and  Stock- Raising. — Mr.  R.  E.  Strahorn,  after 
several  years'  residence  in  Montana,  says,  in  regard  to  dairy 
farms  :  "  Climate,  pasturage,  water  and  an  unequalled  market  for 
dairy  products,  all  combine  to  render  dairying  here  one  of  the 
most  lucrative  and  satisfactory  pursuits.  Cows  cost  nothing  for 
their  keep,  and  the  product  of  butter  or  cheese  is  clear  gain,  as 
the  increase  in  stock  will  pay  all  expenses.  I  am  personally 
acquainted  with  several  Montana  dairymen  who  commenced  four 
or  five  years  ago  with  rented  cows  and  not  a  dollar  of  capital. 
They  are  to-day  the  possessors  of  fine  herds,  good  ranches,  and 
worth  from  $5,000  to  si^  10,000  each — all  made  by  good  honest 
labor  in  the  corral  and  milk-house.  Dairy  cows  cost  about  $30 
per  head,  or  they  can  be  rented  by  giving  the  owner  the  increase 
and  one-fourth  of  the  butter  or  cheese  manufactured.  Of  course, 
dairying  is  generally  carried  on  only  during  the  seven  or  eight 
months  of  spring,  summer  and  early  autumn,  as  few  provide 
even  so  much  as  hay  for  cold  w^eather,  and  when  winter  comes 
the  cows  have  about  enough  to  do  to  keep  In  good  flesh.  The 
number  of  cows  milked  in  Montana  in  1878  was  placed  at  10,000, 
and  the  product  of  butter  and  cheese  in  that  year  at  1,000,000 
pounds.  Butter  sold  at  from  thirty-five  to  fifty  cents  per  pound, 
and  cheese  at  from  fourteen  to  twenty  cents." 

Mr.  Thomson  P.  McKlrath,  a  resident  of  theYellowstone  Valley, 
says  that  "in  the  winter  of  1879-80  butter  sold  throughout  the 
valley  at  from  forty  to  fifty  cents  a  pound,  and  home-made  was 
not  to  be  had  even  at  those  prices.  Fresh  milk  brought  ten 
cents  a  quart.  The  raising  of  poultry  will  also  for  a  long  time 
to  come  be  a  paying  field  for  enterj^rise.  Winter  eggs  are  scarce 
at  a  dollar  a  dozen.  Chickens  for  eating  are  correspondingly 
expensive,  and  the  thanksgiving  turkey,  brought  from  Minnesota 
in  a  frozen  state,  is  a  very  ineffective  and  costly  reminder  of  that 


STOCK-RAISING   IN  MONTANA. 


home    luxury    by    the    time    it    is    thawed    out    and    ready    for 


roasting." 


For  stock-raismg  Montana  has  unrivalled  facilities,  "  It  is," 
says  Mr.  Z.  L.  White,  "the  best  grazing  country  in  the  world.  I 
know^  that  this  is  a  bold  assertion  to  make,  but  after  seeing  some- 
thing, during  the  past  summer,  of  the  best  cattle-ranges  of  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  Dakota,  Wyoming  and  Utah,  which  States  and 
Territories  furnish  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  beef  consumed  in 
this  country,  and  talking  with  stockmen,  army  officers  and  others 
whose  acquaintance  with  the  West  is  far  more  extensive  than  my 
own,  and  whose  experience  gives  to  their  opinion  great  weight, 
I  am  certain  that  it  is  not  an  exaggeration.  There  may  be  por- 
tions of  South  America  where  cattle,  sheep  and  horses  can  be 
raised  at  less  expense  than  in  Montana,  but  there  certainly  is  no 
part  of  the  United  States  where  the  same  grade  of  animals,  ready 
for  market,  cost  the  ranchman  less  money,  while  the  price  which 
they  command  is  many  times  greater  than  in  any  of  the  Spanish 
American  Republics,  and  but  very  little  below  that  obtained  in 
the  less  remote  States  and  Territories  this  side  of  the  Missouri 
river." 

In  the  classification  of  the  area  of  93.000,000  acres  of  Montana 
to  the  different  purposes  for  which  it  could  be  utilized,  after  the 
assignment  of  15,000,000  or  16,000,000  of  acres  to  cultivation  for 
farm  purposes,  an  estimate,  as  we  have  already  said,  far  below 
the  fact,  it  has  been  customary  to  allot  38,000,000  acres  to 
grazing  lands,  14,000,000  acres  to  timber,  and  from  22,000,000  to 
25,000,000  of  acres  to  mountain,  inaccessible,  and  desert  or  bad 
lands.  Both  the  o-razlne  and  timber  lands  have  been  much 
underestimated.  There  are  "  bad  lands,"  that  Is,  lands  of  creta- 
ceous rocks  and  soil,  which,  when  eroded  by  the  mountain  torrents, 
have  been  cut  Into  all  sorts  of  fantastic  shapes,  and  the  clay  strata 
exposed  ;  but  a  large  part  of  these  "  bad  lands  "  furnish  some  of 
the  sweetest  and  best  pasturage  to  be  found  anywhere,  and  under 
the  influence  of  Irrigation,  for  which  there  are  ample  facilities, 
they  will  yield  enormous  crops.  There  are  volcanic  "bad  lands" 
in  the  southwest,  around  the  head  waters  of  the  Jefferson,  Madi- 
son  and  Gallatin  rivers,  and  the  Firehole  river  and  basin.    Part 


q34  our   western  empire. 

of  these  volcanic  lands  are  unfit  either  for  grazing  or  cultivation, 
but  10,000,000  acres  is  a  very  large  estimate  of  all  the  worthless 
land  in  the  Territory.  Mr.  Thomson  P.  McElrath,  to  whom  we 
have  already  referred,  and  whose  little  work  on  the  Yellowstone 
Valley,  just  published,  is  admirable  for  the  valuable  and  interest- 
ing information  it  imparts,  has  discussed  at  considerable  length 
in  his  book  the  fact  and  the  causes  of  the  superiority  of  Montana 
over  other  regions  of  the  West  in  stock-raising.  He  says  :  "  It 
is  universally  conceded  that  Montana  is  the  best  grazing  country 
in  the  world.  The  beef  raised  there  is  superior,  and  more  profit- 
able than  that  raised  in  the  best  cattle  ranges  of  Texas,  Kansas, 
Colorado,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Wyoming  or  Utah,  which  States 
and  Territories  furnish  a  large  proportion  of  the  beef  consumed 
in  this  country.  This  superiority  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  Montana  grasses  are  more  nutritious  than  any  of  the  culti- 
vated grasses  which  grow  elsewhere.  The  perennial  bunch-grass 
{Boiiieioiia  oligostacJiya),  superior  to  all  others,  shoots  from  the 
root  in  the  spring,  before  the  frost  disappears,  and  clothes  the 
whole  country,  except  the  mountains,  in  a  velvety  vesture  of 
emerald.  It  grows  in  small  bunches,  close  and  fine,  which  aver- 
age from  six  inches  to  one  foot  in  height.  The  stalk,  unlike  that 
of  tame  grass,  is  solid,  and  the  head  is  well  filled  with  small,  firm 
seeds,  full  of  nutriment.  Exposed  to  the  summer  sun,  and  unaf- 
fected by  frequent  rains  or  early  frosts,  it  begins  to  ripen  about 
midsummer,  and  in  the  early  fall  is  thoroughly  cured,  affording  a 
standing  hay  for  winter  use,  which  needs  no  harvesting,  and  which 
unites  with  all  the  desirable  qualities  of  good  hay  the  fattening 
principles  of  oats  and  corn.*  Professor  R.  W,  Raymond,  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Mining  Statistics,  says:  "To  pasture  a 
horse  on  bunch-grass  is  like  giving  him  plenty  of  good  hay,  with 
regular  and  liberal  feeds  of  grain."  From  August  until  the  fol- 
lowing spring  the  grass  has  a  color  somewhat  similar  to  that  of 

*  Mr.  McElrath  says,  in  describing  the  grazing  lands  of  the  Yellowstone  Valley :  "  Back  from 
the  rich  river  valleys,  and  walling  in  their  outer  edges,  rise  the  ranges  of  '  bad  lands,'  which  are 
bare  of  vegetation  and  very  forbidding  in  appearance,  but  which  extend  back  only  a  few  miles, 
usually  terniiiialing  in  rolling,  grassy  [plains.  These  fantastic  ranges  form  the  escarpments  of  a 
vast  expanse  of  tal)le-I.ind,  covered  wi*h  bunch  grass,  and  far  superior  for  stock-raising  to  any 
other  puUlic  lands  owned  by  the  United  States." 


THE   MONTANA    BUNCH-GRASS.  gjJc 

ripe  wheat,  though  not  quite  so  brilliantly  yellow,  and  the  coun- 
try looks  like  one  boundless  field  of  grain  nearly  ready  for  the 
reaper.  The  Eastern  visitor  ascending  the  Yellowstone  for  the 
first  time  finds  it  difticult  to  realize  that  the  vast  yellow  expanses 
which  wave  and  glisten  in  the  brilliant  sunshine  as  the  summer 
breezes  play  over  their  surfaces,  are  not  cultivated  fields,  and  as 
the  steamboat  approaches  a  bend  in  the  stream  the  eye  instinc- 
tively seeks  for  the  farm-houses  and  granaries  pertaining  to  these 
enormous  stretches  of  agriculture.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest  im- 
pressions experienced  after  entering  the  Yellowstone,  far  below 
the  mouth  of  Glendive  creek,  and  though  the  illusion  is  soon  dis- 
pelled, the  appearances  which  create  it  continue  through  the 
length  of  the  valley,  and  in  every  part  of  Eastern  Montana  not 
actually  given  up  to  "bad  lands."  This  bunch-grass,  moreover, 
so  prolific  in  growth,  is,  as  already  stated,  wonderfully  sweet  and 
nutritious.  Cattle  fatten  on  it  more  rapidly  and  keep  in  better 
condition  than  those  which  feed  on  the  blue  grass  in  Kentucky 
and  Southwestern  Virginia,  or  the  buffalo  grass  of  Nebraska  and 
Colorado.  The  beef  is  remarkably  sweet,  tender  and  juicy,  the 
chief  fault  to  be  urged  against  it  being  that  in  summer  it  is  some- 
times too  fat.  The  bunch-grass  grows  not  only  all  over  the  val- 
leys and  the  benches,  but  on  the  foot-hills,  and  even  on  many  of 
the  mountains.  The  supply  of  it  is  inexhaustible.  Even  in  the 
older  settled  portions  of  the  Territory,  where  improved  farms  are 
frequent,  often  adjoining  each  other  in  the  valleys,  the  cattle, 
sheep  and  horses  do  not  eat  down  the  grass,  and  although  the 
ranges  in  some  sections  on  each  side  of  the  valleys  may  be  nomi- 
nally taken  up,  they  are  still  capable  of  sustaining  many  times  as 
many  animals  as  now  graze  upon  them.  Of  course  no  person 
intending  to  raise  stock  on  a  large  scale,  or  to  make  that  his 
chief  business,  would  think  of  drivino-  his  bands  of  animals  to 
locations  near  the  settlements;  but  the  farmers  whose  fiocks  and 
herds  are  now  feeding  upon  them,  and  who  want  their  cattle  near 
home,  may  increase  the  size  of  their  bands  almost  indefinitely 
before  there  will  be  any  scarcity  of  pasturage. 

"  In  this  vast  free  pasturage,"  says  a  recent  writer  in  an  account 
of  Western  Montana,  and  the  description  applies  likewise  to  the 


Qg5  OCR     WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

Yellowstone  Valley,  "  no  one  need  really  own  an  acre  of  land, 
and  thus  far  few  have  cared  to.  But  all  stockmen  have  head- 
quarters as  near  their  range  as  is  practicable.  This  is  called  the 
ranch,  and  usually  consists  of  a  plain  log-cabin,  and  a  large  corral 
or  pen  in  which  stock  can  be  held  at  branding  time.  What  ex- 
tent of  the  boundless  grass  lands  surrounding  are  utilized  by  the 
owner  depends  entirely  upon  the  size  of  his  herd,  and  his  incli- 
nadon  to  let  cattle  roam  and  care  for  themselves.  It  is  true  that 
ranch  sites  are  sometimes  better  improved,  and  herders  em- 
ployed ;  but  to  feed,  water,  shelter  or  salt  the  steer  of  the  period 
would  be  a  sad  innovation  upon  the  all-prevailing  custom  of  let- 
ting said  steer  shift  for  himself.  The  improvements  need  not  cost 
more  than  $250 — not  that,  if  the  owner  will  rely  largely  on  his 
own  muscle.  Tiie  additional  expense  will  be  the  cost  of  living, 
if  the  owner  does  his  own  herding,  and  this  will  vary  from  $250 
to  $400  per  year;  if  herders  are  employed,  they  are  paid  about 
*^40  per  month  and  board.  One  man  can  easily  care  for  1,000 
cattle,  except  during  the  'round-up'  period,  which  here  occurs 
twice  per  year,  lasts  about  two  weeks  each  time,  and  will  require 
three  or  four  extra  men  during  that  time.  I  have  before  me  the 
statement  of  a  stockman  who  commenced  with  $3,500,  buying  100 
head  of  cows,  puttifig  up  a  neat  log-cabin,  and  reserving  enough 
of  the  capital  to  pay  his  expenses  for  one  year.  At  the  end  of 
the  fourth  year  the  increase  from  this  litde  herd,  at  a  low  valua- 
tion, was  worth  $8,000.  •  Another  statement  made  by  a  well- 
known  stockman  of  Helena,  shows  a  net  profit  of  $42,500  made 
in  six  years  from  an  investment  of  $13,500.  The  average  profit 
realized  can  without  any  doubt  be  placed  at  two  per  cent,  per 
month  on  all  capital  invested  in  cattle  in  Montana.  Men  who 
put  a  few  hundred  dollars  into  cattle  five  or  six  years  ago  have 
become  rich  almost  before  they  could  realize  how  wonderfully 
the  profits  multiply  in  a  region  where  food  and  shelter  for  their 
herds  cost  nothing. 

"  Very  few  Montana  stock-farmers  make  any  provision  for 
feeding  their  cattle  in  the  winter,  and  as  yet  there  is  no  summer 
herding  as  in  Nebraska,  Colorado  and  Wyoming.  In  the  winter 
season  the  animals  speedily  learn  to  '  rustle,'  as  it  is  called,  with 


FREE   PASTURAGE.  ggy 

their  hoofs  through  the  snow  to  the  bunches  of  sweet  hay  be- 
neath, and  in  ordinary  seasons  cattle  come  out  in  the  spring  in 
excellent  condition.  Old  cattle-owners  say  that  a  herd  which  is 
fed  occasionally,  on  the  occurrence  of  a  heavy  storm,  will  not 
winter  as  well  as  one  that  is  not  fed.  The  cattle  once  receivinp- 
hay  are  likely  to  remain  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  ranch  even 
after  the  feed  there  has  become  short,  and  if  driven  away  will 
return  thither.  As  it  is  impracticable  to  feed  them  all  the  time, 
they  become  lean,  while  if  they  remained  out  on  the  range  where 
they  could  'rustle'  and  graze  steadily,  they  would  keep  in  good 
condition.  The  grass  is  stiff  on  the  stalk,  and  on  the  hillsides  it 
is  rarely  entirely  covered  with  snow.  The  loss  from  exposure  is 
said  to  be  not  more  than  one  or  two  per  cent.  It  is  nevertheless 
worth  while  to  note  that  in  Western  Montana  several  of  the 
most  careful  and  most  successful  stcckmen  are  beginning  to  put 
up  hay  as  a  precaution  against  severe  cold  and  deep  snows.  They 
claim  that  the  cost  of  the  hay,  cut  with  machines  in  the  natural 
meadows  along  the  river  bottoms,  is  only  from  fifty  cents  to  %\ 
a  ton,  and  that  in  the  long  run,  by  being  prepared  to  feed  their 
cattle  a  little  in  the  winter  if  it  is  found  necessary,  they  can  save 
more  than  enough  animals  that  would  otherwise  perish,  to  pay 
for  the  trouble  and  expense.  Judging  from  the  unusually  severe 
winter  of  1879-80,  which  lasted  from  November  to  the  middle  of 
March,  during  which  time  much  of  the  central  Yellowstone  coun- 
try was  covered  with  snow,  while  the  mercury  ranged  from  a 
few  degrees  above  zero  to  fifty  odd  degrees  below  that  point,  it 
may  be  advisable  to  adopt  a  similar  course  in  Eastern  Montana. 
The  expense  would  not  be  greater  than  that  above  estimated.  It 
is  true,  that  notwithstanding  the  protracted  severity  of  the  season 
referred  to,  no  complaints  have  been  heard  on  the  part  of  the 
ranchmen  in  the  valley  in  regard  to  losing  catde  by  reason  of  the 
cold  and  exposure.  This,  however,  is  partially  attributable  to 
the  paucity  of  the  herds  in  the  valley.  Had  the  stock  been  as 
numerous  as  it  probably  will  be  two  or  three  years  hence,  the 
risk  would  have  been  very  gready  enhanced.  Sheep,  of  course, 
require  more  careful  handling  than  cattle,  and  must  be  pro- 
vided with  constant  means  for  shelter,  as  well  as  widi  feed  in 
winter. 


q88  our  western  empire. 

"  The  customary  way  of  managing  a  band  of  cattle  in  Montana 
is  simply  to  brand  them  and  turn  them  out  upon  the  prairie. 
Some  stock-owners  o-ive  no  more  attention  to  their  cattle  until 
the  next  spring,  when  they  *  round  them  up '  and  brand  the 
calves,  select  those  they  intend  to  sell,  and  turn  the  remainder 
out  again.  Under  this  careless  management,  which  no  prudent 
man  would  be  likely  to  willingly  imitate,  they  are  certain  to  lose 
some  steers,  which  stray  away  or  afe  stolen.  Others,  more  careful 
of  their  interests,  employ  herders,  one  man  for  every  1,500  or 
2,000  head  of  cattle,  whose  duty  it  is  to  ride  about  the  outskirts 
of  the  range,  follow  any  trails  leading  away,  and  drive  the  cattle 
back,  and  seek  through  neighboring  herds,  if  there  are  any,  for 
cattle  that  may  have  mistaken  their  companionship.  At  the 
spring  round  up,  a  few  extra  men  have  to  be  employed  for  sev- 
eral weeks.  In  starting  a  new  herd,  cows,  bulls  and  yearlings  are 
bought.  The  older  cattle  of  ordinary  grade  are  all  American, 
the  long-horned  Texan  stock  being  excluded,  and  cost  from  ^15 
to  $25  a  head.  Calves  under  one  year  old  running  with  the 
herd  are  not  counted.  Yearlings  may  be  obtained  for  from  ^5 
to  $j  each. 

"  The  average  cost  of  raising  a  steer,  not  counting  interest  or 
capital  invested,  is  from  sixty  cents  to  ^i  a  year,  so  that  a  four 
year  old  steer  raised  from  a  calf  and  ready  for  market  costs  about 
%i^.  He  is  worth  on  the  ranch  about  $20,  and  if  driven  to  the 
Missouri  river  at  Fort  Benton,  or  the  railroad  in  Wyoming,  fully 
^25.  A  herd  consisting  of  yearlings,  cows  and  bulls,  will  have 
no  steers  ready  for  the  market  in  less  than  two  or  three  years. 
Taking  into  account  the  loss  of  interest  on  capital  invested  before 
returns  are  received,  besides  all  expenses  and  ordinary  losses, 
the  average  profit  of  stock-raisincr  in  Montana  durino-  the 
last  few  years  has  been  at  least  thirty  per  cent,  per  annum. 
Some  well-informed  cattle-men  estimate  it  at  forty  or  forty-five 
per  cent.  Mr.  Z.  L.  White,  from  whose  correspondence  several 
of  the  above-mentioned  points  respecting  stock-raising  in  West- 
ern Montana  have  been  taken,  refers  in  the  following  passage  to 
the  profits  of  the  business :  '  No  one  can  spend  a  week  in  any 
part  of  Montana  without  hearing  some  of  the  most  marvellous 


CATTLE  RANCHES  IN  MONTANA.  ^89 

reports  about  the  profits  that  have  been  realized  during  the  last 
few  years  in  the  business  of  stock-raising-  In  this  Territory,  These 
stories,  many  of  which  have  reached  the  East  recently  In  enthu- 
siastic newspaper  letters  and  pamphlets,  are  true,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  verify  them ;  but  while,  as  a  rule,  they  relate  only 
to  the  exceptionally  successful  ventures — just  as  the  wonderful 
yield  of  a  bonanza  mine  in  a  camp  Is  heralded  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other,  whife  the  hundred  prospect  holes  which 
have  been  failures  are  never  heard  of — the  unvarnished  truth 
about  the  average  profits  of  the  business  will  seem  almost  incred- 
ible to  eastern  people.  It  Is  only  now  and  then  that  a  band  of 
cattle,  sheep  or  horses  yield  a  net  Income  of  from  forty  to  sixty 
or  even  one  hundred  per  cent,  per  annum  ;  but  I  doubt  If  there 
is  a  single  Instance  In  which,  taking  a  series  of  years  together, 
the  profits  on  stock-raising  have  not  been  from  twenty  to  thirty 
per  cent,  on  the  original  Investment,  and  that,  too,  in  cases  where 
the  animals  have  suffered  severely  from  unusual  cold  weather  and 
snow  In  the  winter,  or  from  disease.' 

"A  large  and  Increasing  percentage  of  the  Montana  cattle  and 
sheep  are  not  managed  by  the  owners  personally,  the  latter  In 
many  cases  not  being  even  residents  of  the  Territory.  Nearly 
all  the  leading  merchants  and  bankers  of  the  larger  towns  own 
Interests  In  bands  of  stock;  and  lawyers,  doctors  and  federal 
officers  are  following  their  example,  and  investing  their  own 
money  or  that  of  their  eastern  friends  In  cattle,  sheep  or  horses. 

•'A  man  who  desires  to  Invest  In  stock,  and  who  has  not  the 
time  or  Inclination  to  attend  to  the  business  himself,  takes  as  an 
associate  some  man  of  experience  and  known  honesty,  who  lacks 
the  means  for  going  singly  Into  the  enterprise,  and  gives  him 
entire  charo-e  of  the  herd.  This  man  selects  the  rancje,  cuts  the 
hay,  moves  the  animals  when  necessary — sheep  requiring  to  be 
changed  to  a  new  range  at  least  every  two  years — attends  to  the 
rounding  up,  and  drives  those  that  are  sold  to  the  place  of  de- 
livery, paying  all  expenses,  and  being  entirely  responsible  for 
the  management  of  the  business.  In  compensation  for  these  ser- 
vices he  receives  one-half  the  Increase  of  the  herd,  the  capitalist 
taking  the  other  half     The  returns  which  the  latter  class  obtain 


QQO  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

on  their  money  invested  on  this  plan  are  never  less  than  fifteen 
per  cent.,  in  a  tlock  of  sheep  twenty  per  cent,  and  upward,  and 
in  a  band  of  horses  much  greater  than  in  either  of  those  men- 
tioned.  A  new  plan  for  dividing  the  profits  of  this  business  be- 
tween capitalists  and  managers  has  lately  been  suggested,  and 
will  probably  be  experimented  upon  this  year.  The  manager  is 
to  take  the  herd  purchased  with  the  money  his  partner  furnishes, 
the  latter  retaininof  the  title  to  the  animals,  find  a  suitable  rancre 
and  defray  all  the  expenses  of  the  enterprise,  until  out  of  the  profits 
he  has  paid  back  to  the  investor  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  that 
which  he  at  first  put  in.  Tlien  the  manager  is  to  become  the  owner 
of  one-third  of  the  business,  and  to  receive  thereafter  one-third 
of  the  profits,  the  expenses  being  paid  out  of  the  receipts.  It  is 
proposed  by  responsible  men  in  Montana  to  organize  stock  com- 
panies in  the  East  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  cattle  and 
sheep-raising  business  on  this  plan,  and  with  adequate  precau- 
tion in  the  selection  of  proper  men  to  manage  such  enterprises 
there  are  few  openings  available  for  capital  in  which  the  security 
is  better,  or  the  certainty  of  large  profits  greater. 

"The  export  of  cattle  from  Montana  began  in  1874  with  about 
3,000,  Increasing  during  the  following  four  years  respectively  to 
5,000,  6,000,  10,000  and  22,coo.  In  1S79  it  is  estimated  to  have 
been  between  30,000  and  40,000.  The  principal  route  to  market 
heretofore  has  been  down  the  Yellowstone  to  Fort  Custer  ;  thence 
into  Wyoming,  via  Forts  McKinney,  Reno  and  Fetterman,  to 
Pine  Bluff,  a  railroad  station  fifty  miles  east  of  Cheyenne.  This 
route  furnishes  plenty  of  excellent  grass  and  water,  and  the 
cattle  reach  the  railroad  in  fine  condition  after  a  drive  averaging 
about  two  months  in  duration.  They  are  mostly  shipped  to 
Chicago.  The  completion  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  to 
the  western  extremity  of  the  Yellowstone  Valley  will  completely 
alter  this  feature  of  the  cattle  trade.  Instead  of  the  lono-  drive 
through  the  Wyoming  wilderness,  stock  from  all  parts  of  the 
territory  will  be  shipped  by  rail  direct  to  its  destination  in,  at  the 
most,  one-sixth  of  the  time  at  present  consumed  in  the  journey, 
and  by  the  shortest  possible  rail  r^Dute  that  can  ever  traverse 
•that  Territory.     For  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  for  foreign  export 


SHEEP  FARMING    IN  MONTANA.  go  I 

the  route  by  the  great  lakes,  via  DuUith,  the  eastern  terminus  of 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  will  be  availed  of,  the  cattle  traffic 
by  that  route  having"  already  assumed  considerable  dimensions, 
which  are  destined  to  a  great  expansion  in  the  near  future.  The 
great  market  at  Chicago  will  be  no  less  benefited  by  the  opening 
of  this  new  and  direct  line. 

'■'■Sheep- Raisino^. — As  already  stated,  the  management  of  sheep 
is  different  in  many  essential  respects  from  that  of  cattle.  A 
band  of  sheep  containing  i,ooo  head  and  upward,  in  good  con- 
dition and  free  from  disease,  are  procurable  in  Western  Montana 
for  from  ^^3  to  5^3.25  per  head.  They  must  be  herded  summer 
and  winter  in  separate  bands  of  not  more  than  2,000  or  3,000 
each,  must  be  corralled  every  night  and  guarded  against  the 
depredations  of  dogs  and  wild  animals.  Hay  must  be  provided 
to  feed  them  while  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow,  and  sheds 
must  be  erected  to  protect  them  from  severe  storms.  They 
must,  moreover,  be  raised  by  themselves.  Cattle  and  sheep 
cannot  live  together  on  the  same  range.  The  latter  not  only  eat 
down  the  grass  so  closely  that  nothing  is  left  for  the  cattle,  but 
they  also  leave  an  odor  which  is  very  offensive  to  the  others  for 
at  least  two  seasons  afterward.  But,  notwithstanding  that  the 
cost  of  managing  sheep  is  greater  than  that  of  handling  cattle, 
the  returns  from  sheep-raising  are  quicker  and  larger.  While  a 
herd  of  young  cattle  begin  to  yield  an  incom.e  only  at  the  expira- 
tion of  three  years,  sheep  yield  a  crop  of  wool  the  first  summer 
after  they  are  driven  upon  a  range,  and  the  increase  of  the  band 
is  much  greater  than  that  of  cattle,  being  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  per  cent,  each  year.  The  wool  is  of  good  quality,  free 
from  burrs,  and  brings  a  good  price  on  the  ranch,  agents  of 
Eastern  houses  being  always  on  hand  eager  to  buy  it.  Many 
thousand  sheep  vvere  driven  into  Montana  in  1S79  from  Cali- 
fornia, Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  and  every  band  that 
arrived  was  promptly  purchased  by  men  eager  to  increase  their 
flocks  or  to  start  new  ones.  These  data  relate,  of  course,  to  the 
western  portions  of  the  Territory,  only  one  experiment  in  sheep- 
raising  having  as  yet  been  undertaken  in  the  Yellowstone  \'alley. 
'  Its  results  show  conclusively  enough   that  at  least  equal  success 


Q02  OU^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

in  that  field  of  enterprise  is  attainable  in   Eastern  as  in  Western 
Montana. 

"In  the  fall  of  1876,  while  the  valley  was  still  occupied  by  the 
hostile  Sioux  under  Sitting  Bull,  a  man  named  Burgess  drove  a 
herd  of  1,400  sheep,  a  cross  of  the  Merino  and  Cotswold  breeds, 
from  California  into  Western  Montana.  He  arrived  at  Miles 
City  about  the  end  of  September,  having  consumed  two  seasons 
in  the  trip,  and  located  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Tongue  river,  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Miles  City.  In  the  following  fall  the  flock 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  George  M.  Miles,  the  present  owner,  who 
moved  it  to  a  new  ranee  on  the  Tongue  river  about  three  miles 
farther  up,  with  the  intention  of  entering  systematically  into 
sheep-raising,  the  purpose  of  the  original  owner  having  been  to 
take  the  flock  to  the  Black  Hills  to  be  sold  for  mutton.  After  a 
second  season  Mr.  Miles  removed  again  to  a  new  range  on  the 
Yellowstone  river,  about  fourteen  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Tongue,  near  which  the  flock  yet  remains.  At  the  time  of  his 
purchase  there  were  1,001  sheep  in  the  flock,  Mr.  Burgess  having 
killed  off  a  number  for  mutton.  None  died  that  season  from  dis- 
ease, and  very  few  were  killed  by  Indians.  During  their  first 
winter  in  the  valley  they  had  no  hay  fed  to  them.  A  litde  was 
fed  to  them  during  the  heavy  snows  of  1877,  and  in  the  winter 
of  1878  they  received  almost  none  at  all.  During  the  first  year 
there  was  litde  increase  in  the  flock,  and  the  second  was  not 
much  better,  the  range  being  a  poor  one,  and  the  lambs  coming 
too  late.  Since  then  they  have  increased  satisfactorily,  the  lambs 
being  healthy  and  strong.  The  increase  in  number  has  proven 
sufficient  to  pay  the  whole  cost  of  care,  leaving  the  crop  of  wool 
as  net  profit.  During  the  first  year  the  clipping  averaged  from 
seven  to  eight  pounds  per  head.  The  crop  was  sent  to  Phila- 
delphia, where  it  realized  good  prices.  In  the  second  year  the 
clip  averaged  seven  pounds.  The  clipping  of  1879  was  shipped 
in  July.  It  amounted  to  about  one  and  a  half  tons  in  weight, 
and  netted  thirty-two  cents  per  pound  at  the  Eastern  market. 
The  herd's  increase  during  the  year  was  about  eighty  per  cent. 
The  wool  is  now  consigned  regularly  to  the  Boston  market,  where 
it  ranks  with  the  best  Territorial  wool,  and  brings   the  highest 


SUCCESS  IN  SHEEP-FARMING.  qq^ 

prices.  The  cost  of  shipment  from  the  range  above  Miles  City 
to  Boston  is  $1.75  per  one  hundred  pounds.  It  should  be  added 
that  sheep  can  be  readily  purchased  in  California  for  from  $1.50 
to  $2.50  per  head.  It  costs  little  to  drive  them  into  the  valley  in 
two  seasons,  as  the  crop  of  wool  almost  defrays  the  expenses. 
The  range  on  which  they  are  placed  in  the  Yellowstone  Valley 
at  present  costs  literally  nothing,  and  the  sheep  are  in  steady 
demand  in  the  local  market  at  from  ^3  to  $5  per  head. 

"  The  profits  of  sheep-raising  are  generally  estimated  at  a 
higher  figure  than  those  of  cattle-raising.  The  lowest  calculation 
is  based  upon  a  net  profit  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per 
cent,  on  the  whole  investment.  Occasionally  larger  returns  re- 
ward the  fortunate  stockman,  which  are  sometimes  worthy  of 
noting,  although  they  must  be  regarded  In  the  light  of  exceptional 
occurrences,  the  same  as  the  wonderful  yields  of  gold  once  in  a 
while  recorded  respecting  bonanza  mines.  Every  miner,  how- 
ever, hopes  constantly  to  stumble  upon  a  bonanza,  and  in  similar 
manner  every  stock-raiser  is  entitled  to  hope  to  achieve  as  brilliant 
success  as  others  in  his  line,  even  though  he  will  be  contented  with 
much  less.  In  illustration  of  the  possibilities  connected  with 
sheep-raising  in  Montana,  Mr.  White  cites  the  experience  of  Judge 
Davenport,  of  the  Sun  River  Valley.  In  July,  1875,  he  purchased 
1,000  ewes,  which  cost  him  in  the  neighborhood  of  ^3,000.  'These 
he  put  in  charge  of  a  young  man,  who  was  to  take  them  on  a 
range,  care  for  them,  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  band,  and  to 
receive  as  his  share  one-half  of  the  wool  produced,  and  one-half 
of  the  increased  flock.  At  the  end  of  four  years  a  settlement  was 
to  be  made,  and  Judge  Davenport  was  then  to  receive  back  1,000 
of  the  best  ewes  which  the  band  contained.  The  settlement  was 
made  last  July.  In  the  meantime  Judge  Davenport  had  received 
for  his  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the  wool  ^6,500,  and  for  his  share 
of  the  increase  ^8,000.  The  profits  of  his  investment  of  $3,000 
for  four  years  were,  therefore,  $14,500,  or  $3,625  or  1215  per 
cent,  a  year.  During  the  same  year  other  men  made  only  fifty 
or  sixty  per  cent,  on  their  sheep,  and  some  who,  from  Inexperi- 
ence or  bad  fortune,  met  with  heavy  losses,  perhaps  not  more  than 
twenty-five  percent. ;  but  I  have  never  heard  of  a  single  instance 
63 


gg.  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

in  which  there  has  been  an  absolute  loss  in  a  period  of,  say,  three 
or  four  years.  One  man,  driving  a  large  band  of  sheep  from  the 
south  a  year  or  two  ago,  was  caught  by  the  winter  in  an  unfavor- 
able place,  and  lost  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  his  flock,  but  at  the 
end  of  three  years,  when  he  came  to  balance  his  books,  he  found 
that  the  remnant  of  his  flock  had  done  so  well  that  his  profits  had 
been  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  a  year  on  his  original  invest- 

.ment.      ' 

On  this  subject  of  sheep-farming,  Mr.  Strahorn  gives  the  follow- 
ino-  items  of  the  ei^rht  months'  experience  of  his  Excellency,  Hon. 
B.  F.  Potts.  Governor  of  Montana :  "  Some  time  ago  he  purchased 
a  ranch  on  the  Dearborn  river,  fifty  miles  north  of  Helena.  Last 
October  he  bought  and  placed  upon  it  4.000  sheep,  at  a  cost 
averaging  $3  per  head.  He  subsequently  sold  400.  Of  the  re- 
mainder 2,700  were  ewes.  During  the  months  of  April  and  May 
these  crave  birth  to  2,90a lambs.  Two  hundred  were  lost  by  ex- 
posure in  the  severe  snow-storm  that  visited  the  Territory  that 
spring,  to  compensate,  it  would  seem,  for  a  very  mild  winter, but  the 
number  of  twins  equalled  the  loss,  and  the  net  product,  as  appears 
from  the  above  statement,  was  100  per  cent,  of  the  ewes.  It  Ts 
estimated  that  when  a  lamb  is  dropped  it  is  worth  ;^2,  and  when 
three  months  old  it  is  worth  $3.  The  profit  on  the  increase  may, 
therefore,  be  put  in  round  numbers  at  ^5,000.  The  Governor 
has  just  completed  his  shearing.  He  sheared  3,600  sheep,  and 
the  average  clip  was  six  pounds  per  head.  The  wool  is  worth 
twenty-six  cents  in  the  Eastern  market,  and  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation will  scarcely  exceed  four  cents.     The  proceeds  of  this  clip 

*  The  increasing  significance  of  the  sheep  raising  industry  is  nltested  to  by  the  following  par- 
agraph in  the  Philadelphia  Nort/nccsl  of  February,  iSSo.  Tlie  concluding  sentence  of  the 
extract  must  be  re[^arded  as  prophetic  rather  than  sti icily  accurate  : 

»'  From  as  far  west  of  the  end  of  the  ironed  track  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  in  the  VcUowslonc 
Valley,  as  Bozeman,  which  is  in  the  RocUy  Mount.-iins,  and  from  the  Musselshell  Valley  ami 
the  Judith  Basin  to  the  north,  inquiries  are  already  addresse<l  to  the  CIcneral  Manager  of  the 
road  for  through  rates  to  New  York  on  live  sheejs  dressed  mutton,  canned  mutton  and  salted 
pelts.  These  rates  are  asked  for  on  refrigerator  cars,  single  and  double  deck  cars,  and  for  all 
rail  to  New  York  and  part  rail  and  part  lake  from  Dukuh.  There  i^  an  (.lenient  of  romance  in 
this  sudden  civilization  of  a  region  where,  three  years  ago.  Sitting  Bull's  voung  men  would  have 
ate  up  all  the  sheep  and  scaljied  .Jl  the  shepherds  that  ventured  on  their  hunting-grounds.  But 
the  change  is  made.     The  Yellowstone  Valley  is  possessed  by  shepherds  and  herdsmen,'* 


HORSE-FAKMING   IN  MONTANA.  gg^ 

will  therefore  be  about  $4,750.  A  return  of  nearly  $10,000  in 
less  than  one  year,  on  an  investment  of  $12,000,  is  certainly  a 
most  seductive  showino-." 

The  production  of  a  better  class  of  horses,  and  also  of  hogs,  is 
beginning  to  receive  some  attention.  Horses  are  even  more 
hardy  than  catde  or  sheep  ;  they  have  the  advantage  of  being 
able  to  paw  away  the  deepest  snows  that  may  cover  their  pas- 
turage, and  they  never  fail  to  take  good  care  of  themselves  in  the 
worst  storms.  The  correspondent  just  quoted  offers  these  prac- 
tical suggestions  on  this  business :  "  What  are  wanted  here  are 
good  draught  horses,  and  the  market  for  such  w^ould  be  limitless, 
at  paying  prices.  Suppose  a  man,  probably  in  connection  with 
some  other  business,  such  as  sheep-raising  or  raising  grain,  to  buy 
fifty  brood-mares  (half-breed),  which  he  can  procure  at  $30 
each,  and  one  draught  stallion,  costing  $1,000.  He  will  thus  have 
invested  $2,500.  He  need  be  at  no  expense  for  feeding  or 
stabling,  except  in  the  case  of  the  stallion,  and  at  very  little  ex- 
pense for  herding,  if  he  gives  the  business  his  personal  attention. 
The  average  of  colts  is  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  mares,  so  that  at 
tlie  end  of  the  first  year  he  would  have  forty  colts,  worth  $20 
each,  making  $800,  a  return  of  over  thirty  per  cent,  on  his  invest- 
ment. Carry  this  computation  forward,  supposing  him  to  sell 
off  his  geldings  when  they  were  four  years  old  to  pay  expenses 
and  to  buy  additional  stallions,  retaining  the  mare  colts  for 
breeders,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  in  five  years  he  will  have  a  band 
worth  at  least  $10,000.  Mr.  Storey  placed  200  mares  on  his 
ranch  in  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone  only  a  few  years  ago,  and 
now  has  a  herd  of  1,200,  worth  an  average  of  $75  each,  besides 
having  sold  more  than  enough  to  pay  all  expenses."  There  are 
about  50,000  horses  in  Montana,  a  large  proportion  of  which  are 
the  regular  "  broncho  "  or  mustang  stock.  However,  there  are 
several  large  bands  of  thoroughbreds,  and  fine  breeding  animals 
are  by  no  means  rare. 

In  the  absence  of  an  abundance  of  corn,  or  a  climate  suitable 
for  producing  it  extensively,  a  few  farmers  have  been  experiment- 
ing with  peas  as  a  substitute  upon  whicli  to  fatten  hogs.  Pork, 
by  the  way,  is  a  rare  commodity  in  all  the  northern  country,  and 


Qg5  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

commands  very  high  prices.  JNIr.  A.  F.  Nichols,  of  Gallatin 
county,  sells  from  12,000  to  20,000  pounds  of  pork  annually, 
which  has  been  produced  on  peas,  and  Bass  Brotliers,  of  Bitter 
Root  Valley,  market  of  bacon  alone  as  high  as  21,000  pounds  per 
year.  These  gendemen  are  of  the  opinion  that  peas  make  the 
best  food  for  hogs,  and  they  can  produce  more  pork  from  an  acre 
of  peas  than  can  be  made  from  the  same  area  in  corn  In  Illinois. 
Pork  in  different  forms  sells  at  from  twelve  to  twenty  cents  per 
pound  in  Montana  towns,  and  hundreds  of  tons  are  still  imported 
from  distant  States  to  supply  the  demand.  Hogs  for  breeding 
purposes  are  very  scarce  at  from  ^12  to  ^20  each. 

Maimfac hires. — Montana  is  too  new  a  Territory  and  has  too 
small  a  population  to  have  any  very  extensive  manufacturing  es- 
tablishments. There  are  stamping,  smelting  and  other  reduction 
mills  at  Helena,  Bozeman,  Wickes,  Butte  City,  Virginia  City  and 
other  points  in  the  Territory  ;  saw-mills  and  flou ring-mills  at  sev- 
eral of  the  lareer  towns,  and  the  usual  run  of  small  manufactories 
in  most  of  these  places.  Probably  twelve  or  fifteen  million  dollars 
would  cover  the  products  of  all  the  manufacturing  establishments 
yet  in  existence. 

Objects  of  Interest. — About  one-tenth  of  the  Yellowstone  Na- 
tional Park  is  within  the  bounds  of  Montana;  but  as  nearly 
seven-eighths  of  this  great  wonder  of  the  world  belongs  to  Wy- 
oming, we  reserve  our  description  of  it  for  that  Territory.  But 
it  is  not  the  Yellowstone  Park  alone  which  attracts  the  attention 
of  the  tourist.  The  whole  valley  of  the  Madison  river,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  Upper  Yellowstone,  is  full  of  wonders,  and  the  valley 
of  the  Upper  Missouri  and  the  northern  portion  of  the  valley  of 
Clarke's  fork  of  the  Columbia  river.  In  the  Madison  and  the 
Yellowstone,  canon  succeeds  canon,  and  wild,  rocky  waterfalls  are 
too  lofty  to  be  run  by  any  boat,  and  within  such  narrow  bounds 
that  there  is  no  passage  there  for  any  human  being,  and  they  can 
only  be  viewed  from  above.  One  of  these  canons  in  the  Madison 
is  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  its  walls  are  from  600  to  900  feet 
in  height,  while  the  water  leaps  over  a  succession  of  rapids  and 
falls.  No  human  being  has  ever  passed  through  it.  Not  far  off 
are  beautiful  crystal  lakes,  which  attract  great  numbers  in  the 


RAILROADS   IN  MONTANA.  ggy 

season^  The  geyser  formation  extends  over  all  this  region,  and 
among  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  it  arc  the  Deer  Lodge 
Mineral  Springs,  eighteen  miles  north  of  Deer  Lodge,  some  of 
which  are  really  geysers,  while  others  have  formed  cones  of  their 
deposits  thirty  feet  in  height  and  fifty  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base, 
from  the  apex  of  which  flows  a  large  warm  spring.  This  is  sur- 
rounded by  forty  other  springs,  ranging  in  temperature  from  1 1  5° 
to  150°.  The  canons  and  falls  on  the  Upper  Missouri  are  very 
beautiful  and  grand.  We  can  only  name  "The  Gate  of  the 
Mountains "  and  the  "Great  Falls,"  eij^hteen  miles  north  of 
Helena,  "Atlantic  Canon,"  "  This  Bear's  Tooth,"  "  The  Mysterious 
Thunder,"  supposed  to  be  caused  by  hidden  geysers  in  the  moun- 
tains, "  The  Devil's  Slide"  and  "The  Devil's  Watch-Tower;  " 
and  in  the  northwest,  the  Flathead  Lake  Region  with  its  Twin 
Cascades. 

Raili'oads. — Up  to  January,  1880,  there  were  no  railroads  In  op- 
eration in  Montana, but  since  that  time  the  Utahand  Northern  Rail- 
road has  been  opened  to  Helena,  with  the  Intention  of  an  extension 
westward  or  northwestward ;  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway 
has  entered  the  Territory  from  the  east,  and  will  reach  the  junction 
of  Powder  river  with  the  Yellowstone  by  January,  1881,  and  Miles 
City  and  Fort  Keogh  by  the  early  spring.  Tlie  western  or  Pend 
d'Oreille  Division  of  the  same  road  will  probably  also  enter  the 
Territory  by  next  spring,  and  make  some  progress  southward  In 
die  valley  of  Clarke's  fork  of  the  Columbia  river.  The  surveyed 
route  of  the  Northern  Pacific  will  traverse  Western,  Southwestern 
and  Southern  Central  Montana,  throwing  out  a  branch  to  the 
National  Yellowstone  Park,  followinQf  the  Clarke's  fork  of  Co- 
lumbia  and  the  Yellowstone  river  from  Its  source  nearly  to  its 
junction  widi  the  Missouri  river,  leaving  it  at  Glendive,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  Cabin  creek.  Both  these  roads  are  likely  to  do  a 
large  and  profitable  business  from  the  beginning,  and  one  which 
will  be  Increased  almost  indefinitely.  At  present  immigrants 
wishing  to  reach  Virginia  City,  Helena,  Butte  City,  or  any  of  the 
places  in  the  Clarke's  P'ork  Valley,  will  find  it  for  their  advantage 
to  take  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad  ;  and  those  who  would  pro- 
cure or  who  have  procured  homes  In  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone, 


QpS  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  Northern  Pacific,  which  will  soon  be  running  to  Miles  City.  The 
only  other  available  route  is  that  up  the  Missouri  river  by  steam- 
ers, and  for  several  hundred  miles  uj)  the  Yellowstone.  This 
journey  should  be  made  after  April  and  before  August.  Very 
soon  there  will  be  access  to  die  Territory  from  the  west  by  way 
of  the  Fend  d'Oreille  and  Clarke's  Fork  Divisions  of  the  Northern 
Pacihc. 

hidiaii  Reservations  and  Population. ^^The  Territory  was  re- 
garded as  the  best  place  to  which  to  banish  the  Blackfeet,  Crows, 
Assiniboines,  Gros  Ventres  and  Yankton nais,  after  the  terror  in- 
spired among  the  settlers  by  the  terrible  massacres  in  Minnesota 
in  1862-3,  had  made  their  longer  stay  in  a  new  and  rapidly  grow- 
ing State  intolerable  and  impossible,  and  so  they  were  removed 
to  immense  reservations  north  of  the  Missouri  river  and  south  of 
the  Yellowstone,  in  1867  and  1868,  in  the  expectation  that  there 
they  would  be  able  to  remain  without  molestation.  Little  did 
the  Indian  Office  then  dream  that  within  ten  or  twelve  years  this 
very  region  would  be  found  to  be  the  garden  spot  of  American 
agriculture,  and  that  mines  of  fabulous  wealth  would  be  discovered 
among  the  mountains  which  then  seemed  to  be  so  forbidding. 
But  so  it  was ;  and  when,  a  year  or  two  later,  the  Flatheads,  Fend 
d'Oreilles  and  Kootenais  were  in  need  of  a  home,  one  was  as- 
signed to  them  also  within  the  limits  of  Montana.  The  United 
States  government  was  lavish  in  its  gifts  of  land  to  these  tribes 
-7-34,156,800  acres,  or  -j^Jg  of  the  whole  area  of  the  Territory,  was 
made  over  to  them,  including  nearly  all  the  land  north  of,  and 
more  than  one-half  of  the  region  south  of  the  Yellowstone,  ex- 
tending to  the  Wyoming  border.  The  land  north  of  the  Mis- 
soui-i,  though  some  of  it  unfit  for  cultivation,  is  for  the  most  part 
eood  orrazin.r  land,  and  the  mountain  slopes  and  river  bottoms 
contain  gold  lodes  and  extensive  placers;  but  the  region  south 
of  the  Yellowstone  is  the  garden  of  the  Territory  for  productive- 
ness, and  contains  also  extensive  lodes  of  silver  and  gold,  espe- 
cially on  Clarke's  fork  of  the  Yellowstone,  Rosebud  creek,  and 
the  Upper  Yellowstone  itself  At  and  around  the  five  agen- 
cies on  these  reservations,  viz. :  the  Dlackfeet  Agency,  Crow 
Agency,  Flathead  Agency,  Fort  Peck  Agency,  and  Fort  Belknap 


INDIAN  RESERVATIONS.  q^q 

Agency,  there  are  congregated  21,670  Indians,  of  whom  3,470 
are  Crow  Indians,  occupying  the  reservation  south  of  the  Yellow- 
stone ;  16,842  Blackfeet,  Assinaboines  and  other  Sioux  bands,  and 
1,338  Flatheads  and  other  Pacific  tribes.  Of  the  whole  number 
only  1,531,  about  seven  per  cent.,  can  be  called  civilized,  so  far  as 
the  assumption  of  citizen's  dress  is  concerned,  and  but  475  male 
Indians  were  engaged  in  civilized  pursuits.  The  absurdity  of 
giving  such  a  vast  tract  to  these  vagrant  and  barbarous  tribes 
will  be  appreciated  if  we  notice  that  they  are  allowed  over  1.700 
acres  to  every  Indian,  man,  woman  or  child.  Now  that  the  buffalo 
is  so  rapidly  disappearing  that  it  has  already  ceased  in  nearly  all 
parts  of  the  continent  to  be  the  dependence  of  the  Indian  tribes 
for  game  and  for  its  peltries,  it  Is  well  worth  while  to  inquire 
whether  some  occupation  cannot  be  devised  for  the  Indian  which 
shall  enable  him  to  do  something  towards  earning  his  own  liveli- 
hood without  occupying,  or,  rather,  withholding  from  occupation 
by  others,  a  Territory  as  large  as  the  State  of  Illinois.  We 
would  not  have  the  Indian  wronged,  but  the  lands  of  the  earth 
are  too  precious  to  be  held  by  those  who  cannot  and  will  not 
cultivate  or  use  them  for  human  subsistence,  and  will  not  allow 
others  to  do  so. 

Population  of  Montana. — In  1S70  the  population  of  the  Terri- 
tory was  39,895,  of  whom  18,306  were  whites,  183  colored,  1,949 
Chinese,  and  19,457  Indians,  of  whom  all  but  157  were  members 
of  the  different  tribes.  Estimates  were  made  at  various  times 
between  1870  and  1880,  and  with  a  tolerably  near  approximation 
to  truth;  thus,  In  1876,  the  white  population  was  estimated  at 
23,000;  In  1877,  at  28,000;  and  In  1878,  at  35,000,  including  the 
Chinese  and  the  colored  people.  In  1880  the  supervisor  of  the 
census  reports  the  population  (except  Indians)  as  39,157,  and 
adding  the  number  of  Indians,  according  to  the  report  of  the  In- 
dian Office  for  1880 — 21,670 — we  have  a  total  of  60,827,  the 
white  population  having  more  than  doubled,  and  the  Indians 
having  increased  2,213.  The  corrected  census  returns  for  1880 
show  that  of  the  population  not  tribal  Indians  28,180  were  males, 
10,977  females,  27,642  natives,  11,515  foreigners,  35,648  whites, 
202  colored,  1,750  Indians  and  half-breeds,  and  1,737  Chinese. 

The  following;;  table  shows  the  assessment  of  Montana  Terri- 


lOOO 


OUR    WESIERN  EMPIRE. 


tory    by  counties    for  the  years   1S7S-79,  with  their  respective 
increase  of  taxable  property ; 


Population 

Coufities. 

1S80. 

1S79. 

1S7S. 

Tncrense. 

Beaverhead 

2,712 

$1,029,596  00 

?977.99o  00 

$51,606  00 

Choteau 

•      3.058 

i>i79.i^75  00 

596,722  00 

583,153  00 

Custer 

•      2,510 

350,000  00 

329,231  02 

20,768  98 

Dawson 

180 

Deer  Lodge 

.      8,876 

3,700,000  00 

2,341,268  00 

1.358,732  00 

Jefferson 

.      2,464 

843.683  95 

795.663  15 

48,020  80 

Gallatin 

3.643 

1,586,340  00 

1,386,340  00 

200,000  00 

Lewis  and  Clarke 

6,521 

3,028,320  00 

2,899,810  00 

128,510  00 

Madison 

•      3.916 

1,874,543  00 

1,790,462  00 

84,081   00 

Meagher      .     . 

.      2,744 

1,187,408  00 

867,999  00 

319,409  00 

Missoula     .     . 

•      2,533 

735,507  00 

647,189  00 

88,318  00 

Totals 


39.157         $15,515,27295     $12,632,67417    $2,882,59878 


The  county  of  Dawson,  org-anized  we  beUeve  in  1880,  is  re- 
ported in  the  above  table  with  Choteau  county,  of  which  it  has 
been  hitherto  the  eastern  part ;  but  the  coming  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  into  the  Territory  has  called  a  considerable  population  into 
this  region,  and  it  will  probably  next  year  report  an  increased 
population  and  assessment. 

The  principal  towns  of  Montana  are  :  Helena,  the  capital  of  the 
Territory,  and  of  Lewis  and  Clarke  county  also;  a  town  which 
originated  in  a  placer  mine,  and  was  at  first  known  by  the  not 
very  euphonious  name  of  "Last  Chance  Gulch."  The  town  is 
not  beautiful.  Its  location  forbids  that,  but  it  has  some  good 
buildings,  several  churches  and  a  population  of  more  than  5,000. 
Virginia  City  is  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Territory,  on  the  Yel- 
lowstone, a  little  north  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  It  is 
also  near  the  famous  Alder  Gulch,  It  has  a  population  of  nearly 
2,000.  Butte  City,  forty  or  fifty  miles  south  of  Helena,  is  a  pretty 
town,  with  some  smelting  works  and  a  population  of  about  3,000. 
Bozeman  is  a  flourishing  town  at  the  head  of  the  Gallatin  Valley, 
and  is  on  the  projected  route  of  the  Northern  Pacific.  It  has 
about  1,500  inhabitants.  Other  towns,  which  are  rapidly  grow- 
ing, are:  Bannock,  Phillipsburg,  Deer  Lodge,  Radersburg,  Vestel, 
Missoula,  Benton,  and  on  the  Yellowstone,  Miles  City  and  Glen- 
dive.  By  way  of  enlightening  our  readers  as  to  the  cost  of  living 
in  Montana,  we  give  the  following  price  current  of  ardcles  of 


PRICES  CURRENT— AVERAGE    WAGES.  lOOI 

g-eneral  use,  furnished  by  a  merchant  of  Miles  City  in  April,  1880. 
The  Yellowstone  Division  of  the  Northern  Pacific  will  probably 
reach  Miles  City' in  March  or  April,  1881,  and  a  few  articles  may 
then  be  lower.  The  Yellowstone  is,  however,  navigable  for 
steamboats  for  several  months  of  the  year. 

Flour,  per  cwt ;^4  25  to     $5  50 

Oats,  per  cwt 5  00 

Corn,  i)er  cwt 5  00 

Potatoes,  per  cwt 3  00 

Butter,   choice,  per  lb 50 

Eggs,  per  doz 75 

Corn  meal,  per  cwt 4  00 

Bacon,  per  cwt 10  00 

Breakfast  Bacon,  per  cwt 25  00 

Ham,  per  cwt 25  00 

Lard,  per  lb 20 

•  Beef,  per  lb 8 

Mutton,  per  lb 10 

Onions,  per  lb 8 

Sugar,  per  lb.     ...........  13  to           16 

Coffee,  per  lb 25  to          35 

Beans,  per  lb 8 

Salt,  per  lb 8 

Coal  Oil,  per  gal 60 

Whiskey,  ])er  gal 3  00  to       8  00 

Beer,  per  case 7  00 

Tobacco,  per  lb 90  to       i  25 

Lumber,  per  M 45  00  to  100  00 

Shingles,  per  M 11  00 

White  Lead,  per  cwt 5  50 

Nails,  per  cwt 12  50 

Iron,  per  lb 7  to          10 

AVERAGE  WAGES  IN  THE  EAST  AND  IN  MONTANA  IN  JANUARY,   1S79. 

Employment.  In  the  East.         In  Montana. 

Bakers,  per  month  and  board $25  oo  $65  00 

Blacksmiths,  per  day 2  50  4  50 

Bookkeepers,  per  month 7000  125  00 

Bricklayers,  per  day 3  50  6  50 

Butchers,  per  month  and  board 24  00  50  00 

Brickmakers,       '*                  "        20  00  50  00 

Carpenters,  per  day 2  50  4  50 


1002  OUR   WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

First  Cook,  per  month  and  board $Go  oo  $iio  oo 

Second  Cook,         "             "            30  oo  55  o^ 

Cooks  in  families,  "             "            1 1  00  35  o<3 

Chambermaids,       "             ''            10  00  30  00 

Clerks,  per  month 50  00  90  00 

Dressmakers,  per  month 25  00  70  00 

Dairymen,  per  montii  and  board 25  00  45  00 

Engineers  in  mills,  per  day 2  00  3  50 

Farm  hands,  per  month  and  board       ....  15  00  42  50 

Harness-makers,  per  day 2  00  4  50 

Hostlers,  per  month  and  board 15  00  45  00 

Laundresses,      "             "             12  00  35  00 

Laborers,           "             "             15  00  35  00 

Lumbermen,     "             "             28  00  55  00 

Machinists,  per  day •  2  75  450 

Miners,              "         2  25  3  50 

Millers,  per  month  and  board 25  00  65  00 

Millwrights,  per  day 2  50  450 

Painters,  per  day 2  25  4  00 

Printers,  i)er  week     .     . 15  00  25  00 

Plasterers,  per  day .  2  50  5  5° 

School  teachers,  per  month 3000  8000 

Servants,  per  month  and  board 1 1  00  35  00 

Shepherds,         "             " 40  00 

Stone  masons,  per  day 3  00  6  00 

Teamsters,  per  month  and  board 18  00  45  00 

Waiters                "             "               16  00  55  00 

Education. — Our  latest  statistics  of  education  are  from  Gover- 
nor Potts'  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  October,  1878. 
There  has  been  considerable  progress  since  that  time.  Graded 
schools  had  been  established  at  Helena,  Virginia  City,  Bozeman, 
Butte  and  Deer  Lodge,  and  large,  well-ventilated  brick  school- 
houses  had  been  erected  for  them.  The  other  educational  sta- 
tistics were  as  follows : 

Number  of  school-houses    .     . 80 

Value  of  school-houses   .     . ^67,700 

Whole  school  census  (between  ages  4  and  21  years)    .     .       4,705 

Number  of  scholars  enrolled  in  schools 2,927 

Number  of  teachers  euii)loyed 104 

Salaries  of  teachers  emi)loyed $36,200 

Salaries  of  superintendents $4,500 


REL IGIO  US  DE NOMINA  TIONS. 


1003 


Number  of  graded  and  high  schools 6 

Number  of  private  schools 10 

One  collegiate  institute  in  process  of  erection  at  Deer 

Lodge,  estimated  cost ^15,000 

Amount  of  county  tax  collected ^47j323 


Religiotcs  Denomi7iaiions. 


NuniUcr  ui  c.iurca  t-diliv-cb    

Prob  ible  value 

Oiher  church  property 

Membership   

Suiiday-sciiools.    

Offic  rs  and  teachers 

Scnolars  of  ull  ag-s 

Bcnevoicnt  co  Lciions   

For  ministerial  support  (annually). 
Number  of  m'nist' rs 


O 

J3 


7 

^40,000 
l^joo 

384 

12 

78 

598 

297 

j56,ioo 


3 

Ji  7,000 

j!8oo 

175 

5 

40 

325 

30J 

$5,300 

5 


a 


3 

glljOOO 

^2,147 

183 

3 

23 


54,400 
3 


5 
10,000 


125 
5 

120 


6 

o 

OS 


6 
$35,200 
^5,000 


-o  o 


5300 


50 
S 


150 


o 

(-1 


25 
i^,5co 

-8,347 

9'7 

35 

171 

1,373 

597 

15,800 

31 


The  above  table  also  dates  from  1878,  and  probably  most  of 
the  items  would  be  doubled  in  the  autumn  of  1880  by  the  influx 
of  population  and  the  efforts  of  home  missionaries.  We  know 
that  the  Congregationalists,  the  Lutherans  and  the  Baptists  have 
now  organizations,  and  we  think  church  edihces,  and  probably 
some  other  denominations  also.  The  state  of  morals  is  probably 
not  worse  than  in  other  new  territories,  and  perhaps  better  than 
some  ;  but  there  is  less  regard  for  the  Sabbath  than  there  should 
be,  and  infidel  clubs  abound,  while  the  usual  concomitants  of  new 
settlements,  gambling  and  drinking  saloons  and  brothels,  are  very 
numerous.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  most  of  the  new  set- 
tlements, the  mining  camp  at  Wickes  being,  however,  an  honor- 
able and  conspicuous  exception. 

After  a  time  these  mining  towns  acquire  a  better  and  more 
creditable  population,  and  the  rougher  class  go  on  to  newer  settle- 
ments, where  the  same  scenes  are  re-enacted.  The  only  remedy 
for  this  state  of  things  is  that  moral,  and  especially  Cliristian 
people,  who  settle  in  these  new  towns  and  camps,  should  maintain 
their  religious  character,  and  put  down,  by  vigorous  and  decided 
action,  Sabbath-breaking,  gambling  and  drinking,  and  thor.gh 
the  struggle  may  be  severe  at  first,  they  will  find  it  not  only 
pleasant  but  greatly  advantageous  to  the  permanent  prosperity 


J004  ^^'^     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  their  settlements,  Mr.  Wickes  has  been  successful  in  doing 
this  at  his  laro;e  camp,  and  is  now  reaping  the  reward  of  his  firm- 
ness for  the  right. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

liEBRASKA. 

Area  and  Extent — Boundaries — Comparative  Area — Its  Riverine  Bound- 
aries— Surface  of  the  Country — Sense  in  which  it  is  a  Prairie — Irs 
Gradual  Elevation  to  the  Base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — The  Ne- 
braska "Bad  Lands" — The  Rivers  of  Nebraska — The  Missouri  and 
Niobrara — The  North  and  South  Platte  and  their  Affluents — The 
Loup  and  its  Forks — The  Republican  River — General  Direction  of 
these  Rivers — Geology  and  Mineralogy — The  Loess  or  Drift — Allu- 
vial Deposits — The  Great  Pre-historic  Lake — Tertiary  Formation — 
Carboniferous  Strata — The  Coal  Measures — Lignite  in  the  Tertiary 
— Not  much  Economic  Value  to  the  Coals  of  Nebraska — The  Peat  Beds 
OF  THE  Si'ate — Soil  and  Vegetation — Fertility  of  the  Loess — Trees  of 
the  State — Zoology — Climate  and  Meteorology — Table — Agricul- 
tural Pkouuctioxs — Crops  OF  1877, 1878  and  1879 — Wild  and  Cultivated 
Fruits — Mr.  E.  A.  Curley  on  the  Wild  Fruits — Grazing — The  Live- 
stock OF  the  State — Manufacturing  Industry — Railroads — Population 
— Rapid  Growth  of  the  State — Indians — Financial  Condition — Educa- 
tion— Lands  for  Immigrants — Government,  School,  University  and 
Railroad  Lands — Advice  to  Immigrants — Prices — Counties,  Cities  and 
Towns — Religious  Denominations — Historical  Data — Nebraska  as  a 
Home  for  Immigrants. 

Nebraska,  one  of  the  States  of  the  central  belt  of  "Our  West- 
ern Empire,"  lying  between  the  parallels  of  40°  and  43°  north 
latitude,  and  between  95°  20' and  104°  of  west  longitude  from 
Greenwich.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Dakota;  on  the  east 
by  the  Missouri  river,  which  separates  it  from  Iowa  and  Mis- 
souri ;  on  the  south  by  Kansas  and  Colorado,  and  on  the  west  by 
Colorado  and  Wyoming.  Its  area,  according  to  thie  United 
States  Land  Office,  is  75,995  square  miles,  or  48,636,800  acres. 
Its  greatest  length  from  east  to  west  is  41  2  miles,  and  its  breadth 


SURFACE    OF   THE    COUNTRY.  IO05 

from  north  to  south  208  miles.  It  is  laro-er  than  all  New  Ens:- 
land  and  New  Jersey,  and  as  large  as  Ohio  and  Indiana  together. 
The  Missouri  river  not  only  forms  its  entire  eastern  boundary, 
but  in  conjunction  with  the  Niobrara,  one  of  its  larger  tributaries, 
and  the  Keya  Paha,  an  affluent  of  that  stream,  gives  a  riverine 
boundary  to  nearly  one-half  of  its  northern  border. 

Surface  of  the  Country — Grad2ial  Descent  from  West  to  East — 
Rivers,  Bluffs,  Hills,  Valleys. — The  State  is  called  prairie.  So  it 
is,  in  the  sense  of  the  word  which  means  meadow;  but  not  in 
that  secondary  sense  which  implies  a  land  of  uniform  flatness. 
In  real  truth,  Nebraska  is  a  part  of  the  lov/est  eastern  grass- 
clothed  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  eye  alone  will  make 
no  observer  aware  of  this  fact.  Nevertheless,  from  the  eastern 
to  the  western  boundary  of  Nebraska,  there  is  a  gradual  and  un- 
interrupted rise  of  the  land  of  about  seven  feet  to  the  mile  in 
Eastern  Nebraska,  and  from  that  to  ten  feet  in  the  west;  and  thus 
it  is  that  while  the  land  on  the  eastern  boundary  is  910  feet 
above  sea-level,  on  the  western  boundary  it  is  about  5,000.  The 
surface  form  of  the  State  is,  of  course,  made  by  the  rivers.  The 
eastern  front  of  the  country  shows  bold,  wooded  bluffs  to  the 
Missouri,  their  outlines  being  cut  and  scarped  into  fantastic  and 
picturesque  forms  by  the  washing  water.  West  of  the  Missouri 
bluffs,  except  on  the  table  lands,  there  is  no  flat,  but  a  land  of 
many  chauL^^ing  forms — now  broad  bottoms,  bounded  by  low 
hills  ;  now  picturesque  bluffs,  and,  especially  in  the  grazing  re- 
gion, ravines  sometimes  as  rugged  as  the  gulches  in  the  gold 
fields.  In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  in  the  region  lying 
between  the  sources  of  the  Middle  Loup  fork  and  the  Niobrara 
river,  there  are  extensive  sand  hills,  and  those  clay  deposits,  cut 
into  the  most  fantastic  forms  by  the  erosion  of  the  mountain 
streams.  These  are  the  "  Nebraska  Bad  Lands,"  and  are  con- 
nected, both  geologically  and  geographically,  with  the  Dakota 
"  Bad  Lands."  on  and  near  the  White  Earth  river,  and  between 
that  river  and  the  Big  Cheyenne, 

These  "Bad  Lands"  are  uninhabitable,  but  they  are  very  in- 
teresting for  their  fossils,  of  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say 
under  the  Geology  of  Nebraska. 


jQQ(5  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Now  and  aeain  a  river  flows  full  to  the  bank,  from  which  the 
bottom — from  a  mile  to  four  or  more  miles  wide — spreads  out 
on  either  hand  ;  but  generally  the  streams  run  in  deep  beds,  the 
high,  steep  banks  and  the  narrow  first  bench  being  thickly 
clothed  with  timber.  The  general  ascending  lay  of  the  land  is 
broken  from  west  to  east  by  three  main  drainage  channels.  On 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  State  are  the  Niobrara  and  the 
Missouri  rivers,  of  which  latter  the  Niobrara  is  an  affluent. 

The  Niobrara  has  many  tributaries,  some  of  them  of  consider- 
able size  ;  and  several  of  them,  as  their  names  imply,  have  many 
rapids  and  waterfalls.*  The  Platte,  a  winding,  shallow,  spreading 
stream,  has  the  sources  of  both  of  its  main  streams,  the  North 
and  South  forks  of  the  Platte,  far  up  the  main  range  or  Great 
Divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Central  Colorado;  the  North 
fork  also  traversing  a  great  extent  of  territory  in  Wyoming; 
both  forks  cross  Nebraska  from  west  to  east  to  their  point  of 
junction  at  North  Platte.  Before  the  division,  the  Platte  river 
receives  two  large  tributaries,  the  Loup  Fork  river,  which,  with 
its  three  branches,  North,  Middle  and  South,  traverses  a  large 
territory,  and  the  Elkhorn,  which  drains  Northeastern  Nebraska. 
On  the  south  bank,  neither  the  Platte  nor  the  North  Platte  re- 
ceive any  considerable  streams.  The  South  Platte  receives  on 
its  north  bank  Lodge  Pole  creek,  in  the  valley  of  which  the  Union 
Pacific  road  is  constructed  for  i  50  miles.  From  fifty  to  eighty  miles 
south  of  the  Platte,  the  Republican  river,  the  largest  tributary  of 
the  Kawor  Kansas  river,  having  its  sources  in  Eastern  Colorado, 
traverses  the  southern  and  southwestern  counties  of  the  State, 
receiving  three  large  affluents,  Medicine  Lake  creek.  White 
Man's  fork  and  Rock  creek,  on  its  northern  bank,  and  an  infini- 
tude of  small  streams  on  both  banks.  Other  smaller  but  consid- 
erable tributaries  of  the  Kansas  drain  the  southeast  of  the  State. 
The  general  direction  and  flow  of  all  these  rivers  is  to  the  south- 
east. In  their  gradual  descent  from  the  lofty  plateau  at  the  west 
of  the  State,  the  rivers  and  streams,  in  seeking  the  lowest  level, 


*  Ean  qui  Court — "the  waler  that  leaps" — Afiiti  C/iaJusa,  or  Rapid  creek,  Antelope  creek, 
the  Rapid  river,  are  ».  few  of  the  names  of  these  aflluenls. 


/ 


TOPOGRAPHY  AND    GEOLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA. 


1007 

have  cut  their  way  through  the  soft  and  easily  eroded  deposits, 
and  have  worn  away  their  banks  to  such  a  degree  as  to  give  the 
appearance  of  high. bluffs  along  their  banks,  when  in  reality  no 
such  bluffs  exist ;  but  the  stream  has  eroded  for  itself  a  channel 
at  a  lower  level  than  that  of  the  surrounding  country.  Such  is 
the  topography  of  Nebraska  in  barest  outline ;  and,  with  the  map 
before  him,  the  reader  can  fill  in  the  details.  He  can  imagine  the 
great  plain  ascending  to  higher  altitudes  as  the  mountains  are 
approached ;  the  rivers,  west  to  east,  making  three  great  valleys, 
and  two  elevated  divides  separating  the  valleys  ;  and,  finally,  the 
smaller  streams  exhibilinof  the  land  as  broken  into  an  almost 
infinite  number  of  gently  undulating  hills  and  valleys — with  great 
table  lands  on  the  summits — the  trend  of  which  is  southeast. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  geological  structure  of  the 
State  is  very  simple.  In  the  southeast  a  triangular  tract,  extend- 
ing west  as  far  as  where  the  Little  Blue  river  crosses,  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  State,  and  having  the  apex  of  the  triangle  at  the 
point  where  the  forty-second  parallel  of  latitude  intersects  the 
Missouri  river,  is  distinctly  identified  widi  the  upper  carboniferous 
formation.  It  is  covered  to  a  depth  of  from  thirty  to  ninety  feet 
by  a  yellowish  marl  (the  loess  or  surface  deposit  described  by 
Professor  Hayden),  but  the  rocks  below  belong  to  the  coal 
measures.  There  are  thin  strata  of  coal  of  good  quality,  but 
ranging  in  thickness  from  five  to  twenty-two  inches — not  suffi- 
ciently thick  to  pay  for  expensive  mining,  while  clays,  limestones 
and  sandstones  beloneinsf  to  the  carboniferous  era  make  up  the 
remaininof  thickness  of  the  coal  measures,  which  aijcrreorate  120 
feet  or  more.  The  eeoloeists  believe  this  deposit  to  be  the  west- 
ern  rim  or  margin  of  the  great  coal  basin  of  Missouri  and  Iowa, 
and  think  that  on  this  border  or  rim  the  coal  has  been  subjected 
to  such  pressure  that  it  will  be  found  too  thin  for  profitable 
mininor.  West  of  these  coal  measures  is  a  narrow  belt  of  Permian 
rocks,  and  to  this  succeed  the  cretaceous  deposits,  having  a 
breadth  of  seventy  or  eighty  miles.  West  of  this  the  whole  sur- 
face rocks  and  soil  of  the  State  belong  to  the  tertiary  period.  In 
the  southwest  the  tertiary  formation  has  large  deposits  of  lignite 
of  excellent  quality,  which  will  probably  supply  a  large   portion 


IOC3  (>UR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  the  demand  of  the  State  for  coal.  Of  the  loess  or  yellowish 
marl  which  forms  the  superficial  deposit  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  State,  we  may  remark,  that  this  deposit,  .which  is  quaternary 
rather  than  tertiary,  is  supposed  to  be  die  sediment  deposited 
by  the  great  lakes,  one  of  them  in  Nebraska  and  Iowa  being  esd- 
mated  as  500  miles  long,  and  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  miles  wide, 
which  covered  this  whole  region  after  the  close  of  the  last  glacial 
period.  Into  and  through  the  greatest  of  these  lakes  the  Mis- 
souri, then,  as  now,  the  muddiest  of  rivers,  poured  its  vast  flood 
of  yellow  waters.  As  the  land  gradually  rose,  this  immense 
lake  drained  off  its  surplus  water  through  the  Missouri  river, 
became  a  vast  marsh,  and  eventually,  as  the  rivers  cut  deeper 
and  deeper  through  this  loess  deposit,  the  land  became  dry  and 
solid.  Of  this  loess,  Professor  Aughey,  the  State  Geologist, 
says : 

"  The  loess  deposit  is  in  some  respects  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able in  the  vv'orld.  Its  value  for  agricultural  purposes  is  not  ex- 
ceeded anywhere.  It  prevails  over  at  least  three-fourths  of  the 
surface  of  Nebraska.  It  ranges  in  thickness  from  five  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Some  sections  of  it  in  Dakota  county 
measure  over  200  feet.  At  North  Platte,  300  miles  west  of 
Omaha,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  some  of  the  sections 
that  I  measured  ranged  in  thickness  from  i  25  to  150  feet.  From 
Crete,  on  the  Burlington  and  Missouri  River  Railroad,  west  to 
Kearney,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  its  thickness  for  ninety 
miles  ranges  from  fofty  to  ninety  feet.  South  of  Kearney,  and 
for  a  great  distance  west,  along  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  as  far 
as  to  the  Republican,  there  is  a  great  expanse  of  territory,  covered 
by  a  great  tliickness  of  this  deposit.  I  measured  many  sections 
in  wells  over  this  region,  and  seldom  found  it  less  than  forty,  and 
often  more  than  sixty  feet  in  thickness.  Along  the  Rc^publican, 
I  traced  the  formation  almost  to  the  western  line  of  the  State,  its 
thickness  ramrinof  from  thirtv  to  seventy  feet.  One  section  north 
of  Kearney,  on  Wood  river,  showed  a  thickness  of  fifty  leet.  The 
same  variation  in  thickness  is  found  in  the  counties  bordcrinor  on 
the  Missouri.  One  peculiarity  of  this  deposit  is  that  it  is  almost 
perfectly  homogeneous  throughout,  and  of  almost  uniform  color, 


THE  LOESS  DEPOSIT.  jOqq 

however  thick  the  deposit  or  far  apart  the  specimens  have  been 
tal<en.  I  have  compared  many  specimens  taken  300  miles  apart, 
and  from  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  deposits,  and  no  difference 
could  be  detected  by  the  eye  or  by  chemical  analysis, 

"  The  physical  properties  of  the  loess  deposits  are  also  remark- 
able. In  the  interior,  away  from  Missouri,  hundreds  of  miles  of 
these  loess  deposits  are  almost  level  or  gently  rolling.  Not  un- 
frequently  a  region  will  be  reached  where,  for  a  few  miles,  the 
country  is  bluffy  or  hilly,  and  then. as  much  almost  entirely  level, 
with  intermediate  forms.  The  bluffs  that  border  the  flood-plains 
of  the  Missouri,  the  Lower  Platte  and  some  other  streams,  are 
sometimes  gently  rounded  off  They  often  assume  fantastic 
forms,  as  if  carved  by  some  curious  generations  of  the  past.  But 
now  they  retain  their  forms  so  unchanged  from  year  to  year, 
affected  neither  by  rain  nor  frost,  that  they  must  have  been 
molded  into  their  present  outlines  under  circumstances  01  climate 
and  level  very  different  from  that  which  now  prevails.  For  all 
purposes  of  architecture  this  soil,  even  for  the  most  massive 
structures,  is  perfecdy  secure.  On  no  other  deposits,  except  the 
solid  rocks,  are  there  such  excellent  roads.  From  twelve  to 
twenty-four  hours  after  the  heaviest  rains,  the  roads  are  perfectly 
dry,  and  often  appear,  after  being  travelled  a  few  days,  like  a 
vast  floor  formed  from  cement,  and  by  the  highest  art  of  man. 
Yet  the  soil  is  very  easily  worked,  yielding  readily  to  the  spade  or 
the  plow.  Excavation  is  remarkably  easy,  and  no  pick  or  mat- 
tock is  thought  of  for  such  purposes.  It  might  be  expected  that 
such  a  soil  would  readily  yield  to  atmospheric  influences,  but  such 
is  not  the  case.  Wells  in  this  deposit  are  frequently  walled  up 
only  to  a  point  above  the  water-line ;  and  on  the  remainder  the 
spade-marks  will  be  visible  for  years.  These  peculiarities  of  the 
loess  deposits  are  chiefly  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  carbonate  of 
lime  has  entered  into  slight  chemical  combination  with  the  finely 
comminuted  silica.  There  is  always  more  or  less  carbonic  acid 
in  the  atmosphere  which  is  brought  down  by  the  rains,  and  this 
dissolves  the  carbonate  of  lime,  which  then  readily  unites  with 
the  silica,  but  only  to  a  slight  extent,  and  not  enough  to  destroy 

its  porosity.    Though  much  of  the  silica  is  microscopically  minute, 
64 


jOio  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

it  has  larg-cly  preserved  its  anorular  structure,  and  this  of  course 
aids  the  sHght  chemical  union  that  takes  place  between  it  and  the 
carbonate  of  lime.  Had  there  been  more  lime  and  iron  in  this 
deposit,  and  had  it  been  subjected  to  a  greater  and  longer 
pressure  from  superincumbent  waters,  instead  of  a  slightly  chem- 
ically compacted  soil,  it  would  have  resulted  in  a  sandstone 
formation  incapable  of  cultivation.  There  is  not  enough  clayey 
matter  present  to  prevent  the  water  from  percolating  through  it 
as  perfecdy  as  througli  sand,  though  a  great  deal  more  slowly. 
This  same  peculiarity  causes  ponds  and  stagnant  water  to  be  rare 
within  the  limits  of  tliis  deposit," 

In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  the  region  of  the  "  Bad 
Lands,"  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  the  loess  is  not  a  sur- 
face deposit.  The  hills,  "Great  Hills,"  as  they  are  called  on 
some  of  the  maps,  are  either  composed  of  loose-moving  sand 
which  is  blown  by  the  winds  into  round,  conical  hills  with  consid- 
erable regularity — hills  sometimes  covered  scantily  with  tufts  of 
frass,  but  oftener  with  the  yuccas  or  Spanish  needles  or  some  of 
the  custi ;  or  the  fantastic  forms  of  the  clay  and  soft  tertiary  lime- 
stones, cut  by  the  water-courses  into  the  semblance  of  ruined 
cities,  towers,  temples  and  columns,  and  often  covered  with  spark- 
ling alkaline  crystals.  This  region  of  "  Bad  Lands  "  occupies, 
according  to  Professor  Hayden,  an  area  of  about  20,000  square 
miles  on  both  sides  of  the  Niobrara  river.  There  are  many  little 
lakes  or  ponds  in  this  region,  some  salt,  some  alkaline,  and  some 
very  pure. and  fresh.  This  whole  tract  abounds  in  fossils  of  the 
most  remarkable  character.  While  these  lands  are  geologically 
connected  with  the  "  Bad  Lands  "  on  the  White  Earth  river  in 
Dakota,  it  is  a  very  interesting  fact  that  the  fossils  of  the  Dakota 
lands  belon<i"  to  an  earlier  period  than  those  of  the  Nebraska 
lands,  and  that  the  two  seem  to  have  had  hardly  any  animals 
common  to  both.  These  regions  have  been  the  favorite  hunting- 
ground  for  fossils  of  Professors  Leidy  and  O.  C.  Marsh.  Of  the 
Nebraska  fossils  Professor  F.  V.  Hayden  says  : 

"If  we  pass  for  a  moment  southward  into  the  valleys  of  the 
Niobrara  and  Loup  fork,  we  shall  find  a  fauna  closely  allied,  yet 
entirely  distinct  from   the  one  on  White   river,  and   plainly  inter- 


FOSS/LS    OF  NEBRASKA.  lOI  I 

mediate  between  that  of  the  latter  and  of  the  present  period  ;  one 
appears  to  have  Hved  during  the  middle  or  miocene  tertiary  pe- 
riod, and  the  other  at  a  later  time  in  what  is  called  the  pliocene 
In  the  later  fauna  were  the  remains  of  a  number  of  species  of 
extinct  camels,  one  of  whict  was  of  the  size  of  the  Arabian  camel, 
a  second  about  two-thirds  as  large,  also  a  smaller  one.  The  only 
animals  akin  to  the  camels,  at  the  present  time  in  the  western 
hemisphere,  are  the  llama  and  its  allies  in  vSouth  America.  Not 
less  interesting  are  the  remains  of  a  great  variety  of  forms  of  the 
horse  family,  one  of  which  was  about  as  large  as  the  ordinary 
domestic  animal,  and  the  smallest  not  more  than  two  or  two  and  a 
half  feet  in  height,  with  every  intermediate  grade  in  size.  There  was 
still  another  animal  allied  to  the  horse,  about  the  size  of  a  New- 
foundland dog,  which  was  provided  with  three  hoofs  to  each  foot, 
though  the  lateral  hoofs  were  rudimental.  Although  no  horses 
were  known  to  exist  on  this  continent  prior  to  its  discovery  by 
Europeans,  yet  Dr.  Leidy  has  shown  that  before  the  age  of  man 
this  was  emphatically  the  country  of  horses.  Dr.  Leidy  has  re- 
ported twenty-seven  species  of  the  horse  family  which  are 
known  to  have  lived  on  this  continent  prior  to  the  advent  of  man 
— about  three  times  as  many  as  are  now  found  living  throughout 
the  world, 

"Amongr  the  carnivorae  were  several  foxes  and  wolves,  one 
of  which  was  larger  than  any  now  living;  three  species  of  hyae- 
nodon — animals  whose  teeth  indicate  that  they  were  of  remark- 
ably rapacious  habits  ;  also  five  animals  of  the  cat  tribe  were 
found,  one  about  the  size  of  a  small  panther,  and  another  as 
laro^e  as  the  largest  wolf.  Several  of  the  skulls  of  the  tio-er-like 
animals  exhibited  the  marks  of  terrible  conflicts  with  the  cotem- 
porary  hya^nodons. 

"Among  the  rodents  were  a  porcupine,  small  beaver,  rabbit, 
mouse,  etc. 

"  The  pachyderms,  or  thick-skinned  animals,  were  quite  numer- 
ous and  of  great  interest,  from  the  fact  that  none  of  them  are 
living  on  this  continent  at  the  present  time,  and  yet  here,  we  find 
the  remains  of  several  animals  allied  to  the  domestic  hog,  one 
about  the  size  of  this  animal,  another  as  large  as  the  Alrican 


IQI2  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

hippopotamus,  and  a  third  not  much  larger  than  the  domestic 
cat. 

"Five  species  of  the  rhinoceros  roamed  through  these  marshes, 
ranging  from  a  small,  hornless  species,  about  the  size  of  our  black 
bear,  to  the  largest,  which  was  abou^  the  size  of  the  existing 
unicorn  of  India.  No  animals  of  the  kind  now  inhabit  the  western 
hemisphere, 

"Amone  the  thick-skinned  animals  were  the  remains  of  a  mas- 
todon  and  a  large  elephant,  distinct  from  any  others  heretofore 
discovered  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Dr.  Leidy  says  that  'it  is 
remarkable  thatamonof  the  remains  of  mammals  and  turtles  there 
are  none  of  crocodiles.  Where  were  these  creatures  when  the 
shores  of  the  ancient  Dakotan  and  Nebraskan  waters  teemed 
with  such  an  abundant  provision  of  savory  ruminating  hogs?' 
During  the  tertiary  period  Nebraska  and  Dakota  were  the  homes 
of  a  race  of  animals  more  closely  allied  to  those  inhabiting  Asia 
and  Africa  now,  and  from  their  character  we  may  suppose  that 
during  that  period  the  climate  was  considerably  warmer  than  it 
is  at  present.  The  inference  is  also  drawn  that  our  world,  which 
is  usually  called  the  new,  is  in  reality  the  old  world,  older  than 
the  eastern  hemisphere. 

"  Ever  since  the  commencement  of  creation,  constant  changes 
of  form  have  been  going  on  in  our  earth.  Oceans  and  moun- 
tains have  disappeared,  and  others  have  taken  their  place.  Entire 
groups  of  animal  and  vegetable  life  have  passed  away,  and  new 
forms  have  come  into  existence  through  a  series  of  years  which 
no  finite  mind  can  number.  To  enable  the  mind  to  realize  the 
physical  condition  of  our  planet  during  all  these  past  ages  is  the 
hio-hest  end  to  be  attained  by  the  study  of  geological  facts.  It 
has  been  well  said  by  an  eloquent  historian  that  he  who  calls  the 
past  back  again  into  being  enjoys  a  bliss  like  that  of  creating. 

"  We  may  attempt  to  form  some  idea  of  the  physical  geography 
of  this  region  at  the  time  when  these  animals  wandered  over  the 
country,  and  to  speculate  as  to  the  manner  in  which  their  remains 
have  been  so  beautifully  preserved  for  our  examination.  We 
may  suppose  that  here  was  a  large  fresh-water  lake  during  the 
middle  tertiary  period  ;  that  it  began  near  the  southeastern  side 


THE   FOSSIL    MAMMALS    OF  NEBRASKA.  \0\-X 

of  the  Black  Hills,  not  large  at  first  nor  deep,  but  as  a  marsh 
or  mud-wallow  for  the  gigantic  pachyderms  that  lived  at  the  time; 
that  as  time  passed  on  it  became  deeper  and  expanded  its  limits 
until  it  covered  the  vast  area  which  its  sediments  indicate.  We 
cannot  attempt  to  point  out  in  detail  all  the  changes  through 
which  we  may  suppose,  from  the  facts  given  us,  this  lake  has 
passed,  during  the  thousands  of  years  that  elapsed  from  its  be- 
ginning to  its  extinction,  time  long  enough  for  two  distinct  faunae 
to  have  commenced  their  existence  and  passed  away  in  succes- 
sion, not  a  single  species  passing  from  one  into  the  other.  Even 
that  small  fraction  of  geological  time  seems  infinite  to  a  finite 
mind.  We  believe  that  the  s^reat  ranofe  of  mountains  that  now 
lies  to  the  west  of  this  basin  was  not  as  lofty  as  now ;  that  doubt- 
less the  treeless  plains  were  covered  with  forests  or  grassy 
meadows,  upon  which  the  vast  herds  of  gregarious  ruminants 
cropped  their  food.  Into  this  great  lake  on  every  side  poured 
many  little  streams  from  broad  valleys,  fine  ranging  ground  for 
the  numerous  varieties  of  creatures  that  existed  at  that  time. 
Large  numbers  of  fierce  carnivorous  beasts  mingled  with  the 
multitudes  of  gregarious  rut^iinants,  constantly  devouring  them 
as  food.  As  many  of  the  bones,  either  through  death  by  vio- 
lence or  natural  causes,  were  left  in  the  valleys,  they  would  be 
swept  down  by  the  first  high  waters  into  the  lake,  and  enveloped 
In  the  sediments  at  the  bottom.  As  the  orreiiarious  ruminants 
came  down  to  the  little  streams,  or  by  the  shores  of  the  lake  to 
quench  their  thirst,  they  would  be  pounced  upon  by  the  fiesh- 
loving  hyaenodon,  drepanodon  or  dinichthys.  It  was  probably  near 
this  place  also  that  these  animals  would  meet  in  fierce  conflicts, 
the  evidences  of  which  remain  to  the  present  time  in  the  cavities 
which  the  skulls  reveal ;  one  of  these,  of  a  huge  cat,  shows  on 
either  side  the  holes  through  the  bony  covering  which  had  parti- 
ally healed  before  the  animal  perished  ;  and  the  cavities  seem  to 
correspond  in  form  and  posidon  with  the  teeth  of  the  largest 
hyaenodon. 

"The  remains  of  those  animals  which,  from  their  very  nature, 
could  not  have  existed  in  great  numbers,  are  not  abundant 
in  the  fossil   state,  while   those  of  the   ruminants  occur   in  the 


IOI4  O^'^    WESTERN    EMPIRE. 

greatest  abundance,  and  are  widely  diffused  In  the  sediments,  not 
only  geographical])-,  but  vertically.  The  chances  for  the  remains 
of  a  species  seem  to  depend  upon  the  number  of  individuals 
that  existed.  The  remains  of  ruminants  already  obtained  com- 
prise at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  entire  collection,  while  of  one 
species  portions  of  at  least  seven  hundred  individuals  have  been 
discovered.  There  is  another  Interestinsf  feature  in  re<jard  to 
these  remarkable  fossils,  and  that  is  the  beauty  and  perfection 
of  their  preservation  ;  the  bones  are  so  clean  and  white  and  the 
teeth  so  perfect,  that  when  exposed  upon  the  surface  they  pre- 
sent the  appearance  of  having  bleached  only  for  a  season.  They 
could  not  have  been  transported  from  a  great  distance,  neither 
could  the  waters  have  been  swift  and  turbulent,  for  the  bones 
seldom  show  any  signs  of  having  been  water-worn,  and  the  nice, 
sharp  points  and  angles  are  as  perfect  as  in  life," 

Minerals. — The  mineral  wealth  of  the  State  consists  largely  of 
the  two  coal  beds  which  we  have  described — the  true  coal  in  the 
southeast,  which  possesses  but  little  economic  value,  and  the  lig- 
nite, which  will  probably  be  found  profitable.  Peat  exists  in  Im- 
mense beds  in  Central  and  Western  Nebraska,  and  in  the  opinion 
of  Mr,  E,  A.  Curley,  a  competent  judge  in  these  matters,*  in  the 
best  form  and  condition  to  be  made  available  tor  fuel.  At  some 
time  in  the  not  distant  future,  these  peat  beds  may  prove  more 
valuable  than  the  thin  seams  of  coal  in  the  coal  measures.  Lime, 
sandstone,  limestone,  and  marble  for  ornamental  purposes,  gyp- 
sum, and  especially  salt,  are  the  other  principal  minerals.  There 
are  many  salt  basins  In  the  central  and  weistern  parts  of  the  State. 
The  most  extensive  is  In  Lancaster  county,  in  a  district  of  twelve 
by  twenty-five  miles,  surrounding  Lincoln,  the  Capital  of  the 
State.  The  spring  waters  contain  twenty-nine  per  cent,  of  salt, 
and  the  salt  is  manufactured  by  the  solar  evaporation  process. 
The  salt  Is  said  to  be  the  purest  in  the  world,  Jiaving  985^5  per 
cent,  of  pure  chloride  of  sodium.  The  sandstones,  limestones, 
and  marble  or  magnesian  limestone,  are  all  of  excellent  quality 
for  building  and  ornamental  purposes. 

*  "  Nebraska  and  its  Resources."     London,  1875. 


SOIL   AND    PRAIRIE    VEGETATION.  IO15 

Soil  and  Vegeiaiion. — The  soil  of  the  uplands  is  largely  com- 
posed of  loess,  and  that  of  the  river  valleys  of  alluvium.  The 
two  deposits  are  similar  in  chemical  elements,  and  they  form  a 
very  rich  and  durable  soil,  exceedingly  valuable  for  agricultural 
purposes,  ranging  in  thickness  from  five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
and  even  two  hundred  feet.  Careful,  analyses  of  the  soil  show 
that  in  the  loess  over  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  formation  is  finely 
comminuted  silica :  so  fine  that  its  true  character  can  only  be  de- 
tected under  a  microscope.  About  ten  per  cent,  of  its  substance 
is  made  up  of  carbonates  and  phosphates  of  lime.  There  are 
some  small  amounts  of  alkaline  matter,  iron  and  alumina  ;  the 
result  being  a  soil  that  can  never  be  exhausted  until  every  hill 
and  valley  which  composes  it  is  entirely  worn  away.  Its  finely 
comminuted  silica  gives  it  natural  drainage  in  the  highest  degree. 
When  torrents  of  rain  come,  the  water  soon  percolates  the  soil, 
which,  in  its  lowest  depths,  retains  it  like  a  huge  sponge.  When 
droughty  periods  intervene,  the  moisture  rises  from  below  by 
capillary  attraction,  supplying  nearly  all  the  needs  of  vegetation  in 
the  dryest  seasons.  The  richer  surface  soil  overlies  the  sub-soil, 
and  is  from  eighteen  inches  to  three  and  four,  and  even  six  feet 
thick.  It  is  organically  the  same  as  the  sub-soil,  but  enriched 
with  organic  matter,  the  growth  and  decay  of  innumerable  cen- 
turies— a  garden  soil,  easily  cultivated,  and  making  the  arable 
farm  as  a  garden. 

The  prairie,  clothed  only  by  natural  processes,  presents  its  own 
testimony  to  the  riches  of  the  State.  Its  whole  expanse  is  cov- 
ered with  grasses,  there  being  not  fewer  than  1 50  species,  and 
the  most  abundant,  making  the  best  pasture,  showing  green  at 
the  end  of  April,  and  affording  feed  until  November.  The  blue 
joint  grows  everywhere  except  on  low  bottoms.  Under  ordinary 
conditions  its  growth  is  two  and  a  half  to  four  feet ;  and  on  culti- 
vated (^rounds  it  is  found  from  seven  to  ten  feet  hioh.  Wild  oats 
grow  on  the  uplands,  mixed  with  blue-joint.  This  grass  is  relished 
by  cattle  and  is  abundant.  The  buffalo  grass,  low  in  habit,  is 
now  found  in  the  western  half  of  the  State.  It  disappears  before 
cultivation,  but  it  is  nature's  provision  of  food  for  grain-eating 
animals  during  winter,  on  the  prairie,  inasmuch  as  it  retains  its 


10 1 6  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

nutriment  all  the  year  round.  Among  other  feed  grasses  are 
several  varieties  of  bunch-grass;  and  in  the  low  lands  a  native 
blue-grass  and  the  spangle-top,  which  latter  makes  excellent  hay. 

The  Nebraska  prairie  is  not  bare  of  trees — in  fact,  the  native 
trees  furnish  a  large  list.  The  river  bluffs  arc  clothed  with 
them,  and  the  banks  of  the  streams.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
buckeye,  two  of  maple,  the  box-elder,  two  of  locust,  four  of  ash, 
four  of  elm,  four  of  hickory,  eleven  of  oak,  twelve  of  w-illow 
(eight  species  being  shrubs),  three  of  birch,  three  of  poplar,  hack- 
berry,  iron  wood,  one  sycamore,  black  walnut,  two  spruce  firs, 
yellow  pine,  white  cedar  and  red  cedar.  The  shrubs  include 
common  juniper,  linden,  pawpaw,  prickly  ash,  five  sumacs,  shrub 
trefoil,  two  species  of  red  root,  spindle-tree,  buckthorn,  six  spe- 
cies of  plum,  six  currants  and  gooseberries,  five  dogwoods,  butter 
bush,  buffalo  berry,  red  and  white  mulberry,  hazelnut  and  beaked 
hazelnut.  Cedars  are  found  on  the  islands  of  the  Platte,  and 
along  the  Loups  and  the  Niobrara  there  is  a  goodly  quantity  of 
pine.  But  the  point  is  here  :  this  list  of  trees  is  proof  that  trees 
flourish  on  the  prairie;  and  that  as  much  timber  as  is  needed  for 
all  uses  can  be  raised  on  the  farm. 

During  the  Indian  period,  when  prairie  fires  annually  swept 
over  the  country,  the  timber  was  confined  to  the  banks  of  the 
streams;  but  since  the  era  of  civilization  and  cultivation  has  com- 
menced, the  prairie  fires  are  checked,  and  groves  and  forests 
have  become  possible  on  the  prairie. 

Zoology. — Buffaloes  are  still  found,  though  not  plentiful,  in  the 
southwestern  and  northwestern  parts  of  the  State.  The  elk 
[Cervus  Canadensis)  is  the  noblest  game  animal  of  the  plains; 
it  sometimes  weighs  from  700  to  800  pounds,  and  its  anders  are 
magnificent.  Its  range  is  in  the  west  from  the  south  to  the  north, 
feeding  on  the  high  prairies,  and  frequenting  also  the  ravines. 
The  antelope  [Antilocapra  Americana) ,\r\  plentiful  herds  and  fleet 
as  the  winds,  is  found  everywhere  west  of  Plum  creek;  and  the 
white  or  long-tailed  deer  [Cervus  Le2icur7{s),  and  the  black-tailed 
[Cei'vus  Macrotis)  are  denizens  of  the  same  region — the  white- 
tailed  being  found  over  the  whole  State.  In  the  far  west  and 
among  the  ravines,  the  big-horn  sheep  [Ovis  Monfaua)  will  now 


ZOOLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA.  IO17 

and  again  fall  to  the  rifle.     The  time  for  hunting  is  from  the  first 
of  October  to  the  end  of  December,  the  law  protecting  the  ani- 
mals during  the.  remainder  of   the    year.     The   jack    rabbit  or 
prairie  hare  {^LcpGridce  Campestris)  is  common.      He  is  a  strong 
and  fleet  animal,  and  is  good  game  for  coursing,  and  only  to  be 
run  down   by  the  strongest  and  fleetest  greyhounds.     The  little 
gray  rabbit  is  also  common,  and  affords  excellent  shooting ;  and 
away  in  the'west,  the  sage  rabbit.     In  the  timber,  the  black  bear 
and  two  species  of  lynx  are  found — rarely  in  the  settled  parts  of 
the  State,  and  more  commonly  on  the  frontier;  and  also  in  the 
same  localities,  the  large  white   and  gray  wolf     The  coyote,  or 
prairie  wolf,  is  also  worth  hundng,  the  animal  having  all  the  cun- 
ning of  the  fox  and  more  than  the  wit  of  the  prairie  foxes,  of 
w^hich  there  are  three  species,  the  red  fox,  the  prairie  fox  and  the 
kit  fox.     Some  of  the  streams  are  still  populous  with  beavers, 
minks  and  muskrats.    The  game  birds  of  Nebraska  are  plentiful; 
and  in  the  season  afford  sport  in  abundance.     The  wild  turkey  is 
the  noblest  of  them  all.     Civilization  drives  it  away;   but  in  the 
wilder  parts  of  the  State,  the  bird  is-  common  enough,  and  where 
the  woods  are  thickening  in  the  river  counties,  its  reappearance 
is  beginning  to  be  noted.     The  prairie  chickens — the  grouse  of 
the  prairie — are  everywhere  ;  and  away  out  on  the  frontier,  the 
large  sage  hen.     Quail  are  plentiful  and  readily  shot;  and  there 
are  several  plovers  which  are  worth  the  powder  and  shot  of  the 
sportsman.     In   early  spring  and  late  fall,  large  flocks  of  wild 
geese  cross  the   State,  resting  during  the  journey  on  the  rivers, 
creeks  a'nd  ponds.     Mallards,  teal,  and  many  other  species  of  wild 
duck,  are  plentiful  during  the  same  seasons.     Of  cranes  there  are 
four  or  five  species — the  sand-hill  crane,  the  largest,  being  ac- 
counted an  excellent  table-bird.     There  are   nunierous   hawks, 
and  the  bald-headed  eagle  is  frequently  seen  in  the  sparsely  set- 
tled districts.     The  streams  are  well  stocked  with  the  common 
kinds  of  fish,  and  in  the  northwest  there  is  an  abundance  of  trout 
in  the  streams. 

Climate  and  Meteorology. — Nebraska  has  a  very  temperate  and 
healthful  climate.  The  gradually  increasing  elevation  from  >"ast 
to  west  secures  good  drainage  everywhere,  and  though  the  winds 


jQl3  '^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

which  sweep  across  its  prairies  are  strong,  they  are  healthful. 
The  climate  is  essentially  a  dry  one,  though  the  rainfall  is  suffi- 
cient and  well  distributed  to  secure  the  best  results  for  the  crops. 
The  winters  are  not  so  rigorous  as  in  the  States  and  Territories 
farther  north,  though  the  temperature  is  occasionally  low.  The 
summers  are  long  and  warm,  but  the  prairie  breezes  greatly 
modify  and  temper  the  extreme  heat.  The  mean  temperature 
during  the  winter  months  ranges  from  22°  to  30°;  that  of  the 
spring  from  48°  to  50°  ;  that  of  the  summer  from  71°  to  74"",  and 
that  of  the  autumn  from  48°  to  51°.  A  record  of  thirteen  years 
at  Plattsmouth  gives  the  mean  annual  rainfall  as  38.35  inches,  of 
which  28.82  inches  fell  between  April  ist  and  October  ist,  and 
only  9.53  inches  between  October  ist  and  April  1st.  Farther 
west  the  rainfall  is  somewhat  less,  but  with  very  rare  exceptions 
it  is  sufficient.  The  table  on  page  1019  gives  the  meteorology  of 
six  different  points  for  periods  of  from  two  to  five  years,  though 
none  of  them  indicate  either  tlie  temperature  or  rainfall  of  the 
extreme  west  or  northwest,  which  is  as  yet  not  inhabited,  and 
some  portions  of  it  hardly  habitable.  In  the  "  Bad  Lands,"  the 
summer's  sun  beats  down  with  terrible  intensity,  the  heat  reach- 
ing 1 12°  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade  ;  and  the  winter's  cold  is,  in  its 
way,  equally  intense. 

Agricultural  Productions. — Although  Nebraska  Is  essentially 
an  agricultural  State,  and  has  a  large  amount  of  good  and  fertile 
land,  a  larger  proportion,  perhaps,  than  most  of  the  States  adja- 
cent to  her,  we  have  to  complain  that  slie  has  not  made  the  most 
of  her  advantages,  and  in  her  accounts  of  her  soil  and-  produc- 
tions has  dealt  altOLjether  too  much  in  orlitterinof  creneralities,  to 
the  exclusion  of  those  statistics  of  actual  crops  which  alone  can 
determine  the  actual  capabilities  of  her  soil  and  lands  for  new 
comers  who  desire  to  cultivate  them. 

We  fear  that  there  has  been  niuch  slovenly  farming  on  her 
rich  and  fertile  lands  ;  for,  so  far  as  the  scanty  statistics  enable 
us  to  determine,  the  average  yield  of  the  cereals  has  been  much 
lower  tlian  it  should  have  been  on  lands  as  admirably  adapted 
to  cereal  culture  as  those  of  the  loess  beds,  and  that  that  yield 
per  acre  is  diminishing  instead  of  increasing.     The  numbers  and 


METEOROLOGY  OF  NEBRASKA. 


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I020  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

quality  of  the  live-stock  are  increasing-,  and  give  evidence  that 
the  grazing  lands  which  are  now  rapidly  filling  up,  will  prove 
profitable  to  the  stock-raiser.  With  greater  care  in  her  cultiva- 
tion, the  average  crop  of  wheat  on  her  excellent  wheat  lands 
should  be  not  less  than  twenty-five  bushels  to  the  acre  instead 
of  1 3.1  bushels,  as  it  was  in  1878,  or  fifteen  bushels,  as  it  was  in 
1877.  She  has  done  better  in  corn,  and  as  this  crop  is  likely  to 
be  in  demand  for  the  fattening  of  her  own  live-stock,  she  will 
have  strong  inducements  to  do  better  yet.  The  quantity  of  land 
taxed  or  reported  for  taxation  was,  in  1879,  a  little  more  than 
14,000,000  acres,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  entire  area  of 
the  State,  and  it  was  valued  for  the  purposes  of  assessment  at 
only  ^3  per  acre.  This  included,  of  course,  a  large  amount  of 
grazing  land,  and  the  assessment  was  high  enough  for  this  class 
of  land.  The  land  under  cultivation  in  1879  probably  exceeds 
slightly  4,000,000  acres,  or  about  one-twelfth  of  the  area  of  the 
State.  The  large  amount  taken  up  for  farms  in  the  last  two  or 
three  years  has  not  yet  become  subject  to  taxation.  The  tables 
on  page  1021  show  the  amount  of  the  principal  crops  and  their 
value  in  1877,  1878  and  1879,  so  far  as  these  can  be  ascertained, 
and  also  the  numbers  and  value  of  the  live-stock  in  the  State  for 
the  same  years. 

There  are,  of  course,  other  crops  which  are  of  considerable  im- 
portance besides  these,  of  which  we  regret  that  we  have  not  full 
statistics  ;  among  these  we  may  name  sorghum,  which  is  a  crop 
of  constantly  increasing  magnitude,  and  for  which  the  soil  and 
climate  is  peculiarly  adapted  ;  broom  corn,  which  is  largely  culti- 
vated in  some  sections;  flax,  cultivated  mainly  for  the  seed,  though 
the  lint,  even  without  bleaching,  makes  an  excellent  paper  stock. 
The  cultivation  of  the  llax  is  increasing  in  the  newer  sections,  as 
it  has  been  found  the  best  crop  to  put  in  after  the  new  breaking. 
Alfalfa,  the  millets  and  the  rice  corn,  or  dhourra,  are  coming  into 
favor,  while  the  castor  bean  and  other  oil-producing  plants  pay 
well. 

Nebraska  is  probably  destined  to  occupy  a  prominent  place 
among  the  Iruit-producing  States.  Its  wild  fruits  are  of  excep- 
tional excellence,  especially  its  plums,  strawberries,  blackberries, 


CROPS   OF  NEBRASKA. 


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1022 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


raspberries,  buffalo  berries,  etc.,  and  its  wild  grapes.*  For  a  new 
State  it  has  also  made  great  progress  in  the  cultivation  of  apples, 
pears,  peaches,  cherries,  plums,  quinces  and  the  other  fruits  of  a 
temperate  climate.  In  cultivated  grapes  it  has  not  yet  made 
great  progress.  At  the  Centennial  Exhibition  the  State  had  a 
collection  of  163  varieties  of  apples,  many  of  them  of  great  ex- 
cellence,and  a  considerable  number  of  pears.  Both  fruits  received 
the  first  premium. 

But  a  large  portion  of  Nebraska  is  and  must  continue  to 
be,  for  many  years  to  come,  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  to 
farming,  and  while  it  can  hardly  at  the  same  cost  maintain  as 
large  flocks  and  herds  as  Texas,  Colorado,  Wyoming  or 
Montana,  there  is  no  question  that  stock-raising  does  and  will 
prove  very  profitable,  if  rightly  managed,  in  Nebraska.  The 
amount  of  live-stock  in  these  orrazinof  States  and  Territories 
increases  so  rapidly  every  year  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep 
pace  with  them,  but  although  we  cannot  procure  the  statistics  of 
the  year  1880  as  yet,  a  comparison  of  the  live-stock  of  the  State 
for  1877,  1878  and  1879  may  give  some  idea  of  the  rapidity  of 
increase;  for  our  statistics  for  1877  and  1878  are  compiled  from 
the  State  Auditor's  reports,  and  those  of  1879  from  the  United 
States  Agricultural  report,  the  State  report  for  that  year  not 
being  yet  published. 


Animals. 

.877. 

1878. 

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112,715 

10,6  )2 
93,700 

238,200 
82,858 

318.764 

67.68 

92  73 
26.96 
21.30 
2.77 
5.80 

67  34 
87-15 
24.27 

'9-45 
2.30 

3°3 

510,614,063 
1.441,361 
3,096,852 
7.314,328 
272,287 
1,841,828 

180,537 

17,150 

145,280 

458,147 
162,520 
701,750 

63. 10 
91.00 
26.00 
25.10 

2.95 
3.88 

$12,296,570 

1,560,650 

3,777.280 

11,499.490 

479.434 

2,722,790 

Mules  and  asses 

983,123 
2,526,122 
5,073,663! 

229,517 

1,848,831! 

16,482 
127,6^0 
376,058 

■35,777 
6j7,6jo 

Oxen  and  other  cattle 

Swine 

18,289,804! 

24,580,719 

32,336,214 

*  Mr.  E.  A.  Curlcy,  the  accom]ilisbccl  correspondent  of  the  London  "/vV/^/,"  published,  in 
1875,  a  valuable  work,  largely  illustrated,  entitled,  "  Nelnaska,  its  Advantages,  Resources  and 
Drawbacks."  In  this  work  he  has  given  engravings  of  many  of  these  wild  fruits,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  plums,  strawberries,  grapes  and  buffalo  berries.  In  some  of  these  fruits  he  thinks 
Nebraska  surpasses  any  Western  State. 


MANUFACTURING   INDUSTRY.  JO23 

As  these  are  very  low  average  prices,  and  the  increase  in  the 
amount  of  stock  in  1880  has  been  great  beyond  all  former 
precedent,  it  is  probable  that  a  fair  and  just  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  live-stock  of  the  State  at  the  end  of  1880  would 
not  be  less  than  ^50,000,000. 

Manufacturing  Industry. — Nebraska  has  not  engaged  in 
manufacturing  so  largely  as  her  extraordinary  facilities  warrant 
her  in  doing.  With  abundant  water-power,  and  coal  sufficient 
to  produce  all  the  steam-power  she  needs,  and  abundant 
material  for  manufactures  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  the  best  possible 
facilities  of  transportation,  she  should  become  a  large  manufactur- 
ing State;  but  at  present  her  almost  sole  dependence  is  upon  her 
agriculture.  Omaha,  Lincoln,  Nebraska  City,  Plattsmouth, 
and  other  towns  have  some  manufacturing  establishments  of 
importance.  Omaha  in  particular  has  extensive  smelting  and 
refining  works,  and  receives  and  reduces  large  quantities  of  the 
refractory  ores  from  Montana,  Idaho,  Utah,  and  some  from 
Colorado.  Flour  and  feed,  iron  ware,  railroad  cars,  carriages 
and  wagons,  boots  and  shoes,  furniture,  ready-made  clothing, 
hats,  distilled  and  fermented  liquors  are  the  leading  articles  of 
manufacture.  In  1875,  the  annual  products  of  manufacture  in 
the  State  were  estimated  at  ^15,500,000.  They  now  probably 
exceed  ^30,000,000. 

Railroads. — The  railroad  system  of  Nebraska  traverses  all 
parts  of  the  State  where  there  are  inhabitants  or  products 
awaiting  a  market.  South  of  the  Platte  river  most  of  the  roads 
are  connected  with  the  Burlington  and  Missouri  Railroad  in 
Nebraska.  The  main  line  of  this  railroad  commences  at 
Plattsmouth,  on  the  Missouri  river  (where  at  this  time  a  bridge 
is  beinof  constructed  which  will  connect  the  Burlinoton  and  Mis- 
souri,  in  Nebraska,  with  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Ouincy  in 
Iowa),  with  a  branch  from  Omaha  which  joins  the  main  line  at 
Oreapolis,  four  miles  west  of  Plattsmouth.  The  line  then  follows 
the  course  of  the  Platte  river  to  the  mouth  of  Salt  creek,  whence 
it  proceeds  over  Salt  Creek  Valley  through  Lancaster  county  to 
Lincoln,  the  State  capital ;  and  thence  westward  over  the  prairie 
through  Lancaster,  Saline,  Fillmore,  Clay,  Adams  and  Kearney 


I024 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


counties  to  a  junction  with  the  Union  Pacific  road  at  Kearney,  In 
Buffalo  county.  I'he  Beatrice  branch  of  the  Burhngton  and 
Missouri  road  starts  from  Crete,  in  Saline  county,  and  runs  south 
along  the  valley  of  the  Big  Blue  to  Beatrice,  in  Gage  county; 
and  the  same  company,  under  the  name  of  the  Republican 
Valley  Company,  has  built  a  line  from  Hastings,  in  Adams 
county,  south  over  the  prairie  to  the  Republican  Valley,  and 
thence  west  along  the  valley  to  Naponee,  on  the  west  line  of 
Franklin  county,  which  road  is  nowbeingpushed  forward  as  rapidly 
as  possible  westward  to  Denver,  in  Colorado,  and  a  contract  for 
lOO  miles  west  of  Naponee  has  recently  been  made.  It  is  also 
proposed  to  continue  this  line  eastward  from  the  point  where  It 
strikes  the  Republican  Valley  south  of  Hastings,  to  Beatrice,  in 
Gage  county.  The  Nebraska  Railroad  has  at  present  its  initial 
point  in  Nemaha  City,  in  Nemaha  county,  and  runs  north  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Missouri  river  through  Brownville,  in  Nemaha 
county,  to  Nebraska  City,  in  Otoe  county;  thence  westward 
through  Otoe  and  Lancaster  counties  to  Lincoln;  and 
thence  through  Seward,  York,  Hamilton  and  Merrick  counties 
to  Central  City,  where  it  connects  with  the  Union  Pacific, 
and  the  track  is  now  surveyed  north  twenty  miles  to  Fullerton, 
the  centre  and  county-seat  of  Nance  county.  The  Atchison 
and  Nebraska  Railroad  starts  at  Atchison,  In  Kansas,  and  runs 
through  Richardson,  Pawnee,  Johnson,  Gage  and  Lancaster 
counties  to  Lincoln;  and  from  the  capital  city  this  company  is 
now  building  a  road,  under  the  name  of  the  Lincoln  and  North- 
western Railroad,  through  Lancaster,  Saline,  and  Butler  counties 
to  Columbus,  in  Platte  county,  where  it  connects  with  the  Union 
Pacific.  The  Omaha  and  Republican  Valley  Railroad,  a  branch 
from  the  Union  Pacific,  runs  through  Douglas,  Saunders,  Butler, 
and  Polk  counties  to  Osceola,  the  county-seat  of  the  last-named 
county,  and  a  branch  is  now  building  from  Valparaiso,  in 
Saunders  county,  to  Lincoln.  The  St,  Joseph  and  Denver  Rail- 
road, which  starts  at  St.  Joseph  in  Missouri,  runs  westward 
through  the  north  tier  of  counties  In  Kansas,  and  enters 
Nebraska  In  Jefferson  county,  passing  through  Thayer,  Nuckolls, 
Adams  and  Hall  counties  to  a  junction  with  the  Union  Pacific  at 


RAILROADS   IN  NEBRASKA.  1 02 5 

Grand  Island ;  and  the  company  is  now  building  a  branch  from 
Marysville,  in  Kansas,  along  the  valley  of  the  Big  Blue  river  to 
Beatrice,  in  Gage  county.  North  of  the  Platte  river  the  Union 
Pacific  is  the  main  line  of  railroad  ;  and,  starting  from  Omaha, 
Its  track  is  along  the  Platte  valley  to  the  western  line  of  the 
State,  a  distance  of  475  miles;  and  this  company  is  now  building 
a  branch  road  from  Jackson,  in  Platte  county,  northward  through 
Platte  and  Madison  counties,  to  Norfolk,  in  the  last-named 
county,  with  a  branch  running  to  Albion,  In  Boone  county.  The 
Union  Pacific  is  further  building  a  branch  from  Grand  Island 
to  St.  Paul,  the  county-seat  of  Howard  county.  The  Omaha 
and  Northwestern  Railroad  runs  northwest  throueh  Douglas, 
Washington  and  Burt  counties,  the  present  terminus  being  at 
Oakland,  In  Burt  county.  The  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  Railroad 
runs  from  Missouri  Valley  in  Iowa,  westward  across  the  Missouri 
river  through  Washington  county  to  Fremont,  in  Dodge  county, 
where  it  connects  with  the  Union  Pacific ;  and  the  Elkhorn 
Valley  Railroad  runs  from  Fremont  up  the  valley  of  the 
Elkhorn  river,  through  Dodge,  Cuming,  Stanton  and  Madison 
counties  to  Oakdale,  in  Antelope  county,  with  a  branch  running 
from  the  main  line  to  Norfolk,  in  Madison  county,  and  Pierce, 
the  county-seat  of  Pierce  county.  The  Covington,  Columbus 
and  Black  Hills  Railroad  runs  from  Covington,  which  is  im- 
mediately opposite  Sioux  City,  in  low^a,  through  Dakota  county, 
to  Ponca,  the  county-seat  of  Dixon  county;  and,  the  road  having 
been  sold  In  1879  to  the  Sioux  City  and  St.  Paul  Railroad,  it  is 
to  be  run  farther  west  through  the  northern  counties  of  Nebraska. 
At  the  beginning  of  1880  there  were  about  1,650  miles  of 
railroad  in  operation  In  Nebraska. 

Population. — The  growth  of  population  in  Nebraska  has  been 
very  rapid,  although  such  extraordinary  efforts  have  not  been  made 
to  attract  population  thither  as  in  some  of  the  new  States  adjacent. 
Having  no  mines  or  mineral  wealth  it  has  attracted  for  the  most 
part  the  farming  class,  and  its  advantages  have  not  been  made  as 
widely  known  as  those  of  States  havlnof  a  laroe  mlninof  or 
manufacturing  Interest.  The  following  table,  prepared  with  great 
care,  exhibits  a  steady  and  healthy  growth  which  will  compare 
6s 


1026 


OUR   WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


very   favorably    with    that   of  any  of  the  States  or  Territories 
beloneine  to  "Our  Western  Empire:" 


B 

c 

0 

o 

V 

0. 

p 

0 

3 

Pk 

C 

rt 

w. 

U) 

o 

QJ 

to 

tJO 

>• 

< 

i8^S 

4.494 

iKbj 

28,841 

1873 

129,322* 

i«74 

234.357* 

1876 

257.747* 

1878 

313. 7*8^' 

1879 

386,410* 

1880 

456,812* 

in 

"^ 

</i 

0 

00 

(N 

(A 

M 

E 

IS 

C 

M 

c 

>< 

c 

V 

0 

0 

f  School 
Both 

f  Militar 
M 

b/'c5 

0 
> 

irt 

U. 

IS 

U 

^ 

1 

Ui 

p 

Pi 

0 

0 

C 

3.c6i       1,433 

1 6, 76^1    12,081 

28,696 

82 

63+ 

22,490 

6,351 

0.38 

8,671 

9,023 

9.907 

70,425!   52,568 

122,117 

789 

6,416 

92,245' 

30,748 

1.62 

326.45 

41,325 

35,677 

39,080 

121,757  113,600 
135,125  122,622 
165,327  148,421 
201   ^^^   i8c  o^e; 

6,329 
5,273 
4,710 
4,350 
4,642 

3.c8 
3-39 
413 
5.08 
6.01 

72,99" 
92,161 

"'4,730 
123,411 

99-3 

1 

1 

1 

249i275 

203, '57 

449,80s 

2,394 

355,042 

1 

97,390 

77.26 

1  124,869 

i 

136,780 

I    u 


Indians. — There  are  in  the  State  four  Indian  Agencies,  viz. : 
I.  The  Great  Nemaha  Agency,  of  the  Iowa  and  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Indians  of  the  Missouri,  having  251  Indians  of  these  tribes,  with  a 
reservation  of  24,014  acres,  most  of  it  arable,  and  partly  situated 
in  Kansas.  These  Indians  are  about  to  be  removed  to  the  Indian 
Territory.  2.  The  Omaha  and  Winnebago  Agency,  including 
1,429  Winnebagoes,  1,120  Omahas,  and  36  Poncas — also  liable  to 
removal.  Their  reservation  comprises  253,069  acres,  of  which 
240,000  acres  are  arable  lands,  3.  The  Otoe  Agency,  including 
438  Otoes  and  Missouris,Jand  occupying  a  reservation  of  44,093 
acres,  a  part  of  it  in  Kansas,  of  which  40,000  acres  are  arable.  4. 
The  Santee  Agency,  including  764  Santee  Sioux  and  103  Poncas 
in  Nebraska,  and  304  Santee  Sioux  in  Flandreau,  Dakota.  The 
reservation,  which  is  partly  in  Dakota,  consists  of  115,076  acres, 
of  which  39,400  are  arable  lands.  There  are  in  all  4,350  tribal 
Indians,  and  their  reserved  lands  amount  to  436,252  acres,  of 
which  341,400  acres  are  arable  lands,  and  1 1,645  acres,  or  one- 
thirtieth  of  the  whole,  are  actually  cultivated  by  somebody, 
though  580  acres  are  occupied  by  intruders.  About  9,620  acres 
are  cultivated  by  Indians. 

The yf;m;/^M/ condition  of  Nebraska  is  good.  The  State  has 
no  debt  except  to  its  own  school  fund,  on  which  the  interest  is 


♦Including  Tribal  Indians.         t'l'ribal  Indians  not  included.         J  216  of  ihesc  now  in  Indian  Tcnilory. 


EDUCATIONAL    STATISTICS.  IQ27 

paid  promptly,  and  though  taxation  is  low  and  the  valuation 
(aside  from  many  exemptions)  is  only  about  ZZVi  P^^  cent,  on 
the  true  value,  yet  the  taxes  bring  in  sufficient  revenue  to  leave 
a  considerable  annual  surplus.  The  assessed  valuation  on  which 
taxes  are  paid  (aside  from  exemptions)  was,  in  1878,  the  last 
auditor's  report  published,  about  $83,000,000.  The  true  valua- 
tion, including  property  now  exempt,  is  not  less  than  $340,- 
000,000. 

Education. — Of  the  State  school  fund  about  $2,500,000  are 
now  available.  The  total  amount  of  this  fund  will  eventually  be 
about  $19,000,000  or  $20,000,000.  The  receipts  of  the  tempo- 
rary school  fund  for  the  two  years  ending  November  30,  1878, 
amounted  to  $529,176.  The  following  statistics  from  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  give  many  particulars  of  in- 
terest in  regard  to  the  public  schools  for  the  year  ending  April 
7,  1879: 

Number  of  districts 2,856 

Number  of  school-houses 2,489 

Children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  123,411 

Average  number  of  children  in  each  district  ...  30 

Average  number  of  days  taught  by  each  teacher    .  87 

Average  number  of  days  of  school  in  each  district  107 

Number  of  districts  in  which  schools  are  graded    .  62 

Number  of  teachers  employed  in  all  graded  schools  284 
Number  of  districts   having  six  months  or  more 

school 1,242 

Number  of  districts  that  had  no  school  ....  173 

Average  square  feet  of  blackboard  surface    ...  35 

Number  of  houses  with  no  blackboard  ....  269 
Number  of  houses  furnished  with  patent  desks  and 

seats 1,574 

Number  of  new  school-houses  built  during  year     ,  191 

Number  of  teachers' institutes  held d^ 

Aggregate  attendance  upon  institutes      ....  2,344 

Number  of  districts  furnishing  free  text-books  .     .  137 

STATISTICS    OF    PUPILS    AND    TEACHERS. 

Children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one, 

males 64,179 

Children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one, 

females 59,232 

Total 123,411 


JQ28  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Children  enrolled  in  the  schools 12»9S^ 

Number  of  qualified  teachers  employed,  males  .     .  1,607 

Number  of  qualified  teachers  employed,  females     .  2,221 
Aggregate  number  of  days  taught  by  males  .     .    125,332 
Aggregate  number  of  days  taught  by  females     .    173,669 

Total 299,001 

Average  wages  per  month,  males $33  25 

Average  wages  per  month,  females 29  55 

STATISTICS  OF   SCHOOL  PROPERTY. 

Value  of  school-houses $1,622,35518 

Value  of  school  sites ^     .     .  175,48360 

Value  of  books  and  apparatus 54,82649 

Total  value  of  all  school  property 1,852,665  27 

Average  number  of  mills  levied  for  school  purposes  13 

Amount  apportioned  by  county  superintendents     .  224,60565 

Money  in  hands  of  county  treasurers  April  7,  1879  160,201  24 

Aside  from  these  public  schools,  there  are  high  schools  of  ex- 
cellent character  at  Omaha  and  other  large  towns  in  the  State;  a 
normal  school  at  Peru  with  nearly  300  pupils;  a  prosperous  State 
university  at  Lincoln,  the  capital  of  the  State,  endowed  with 
130,000  acres  of  land;  and  to  which  the  State  makes  an  appro- 
priation of  about  ^25,000  annually  ;  an  institute  for  the  deaf  and 
dumb  at  Omalia,  and  for  the  blind  at  Nebraska  City. 

There  are  also  colleges  under  denominational  control  ;  Doane 
College  at  Crete,  Saline  county;  The  Bishop  Talbott  or  Nebraska 
College,  at  Nebraska  City ;  Creighton  College,  at  Omaha,  and  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  College  recently  opened  at  York,  in  York 
county. 

Lajids  for  Immigrants. — There  are  millions  of  acres  of  govern- 
ment lands  yet  unsold  in  Nebraska,  which  may  be  obtained  either 
by  purchase,  pre-emption  or  under  the  Homestead,  Timber-Cul- 
ture or  Desert  Land  Acts;  but  these  are  mostly  In  the  more 
western  portion  of  the  State,  and  largely  beyond  the  junction  of 
the  North  and  South  forks  of  the  Platte  river.  As  we  have  shown, 
the  rainfall  is  not  so  abundant  as  farther  east,  and  the  land  must 
be  thoroughly  broken  before  it  will  yield  good  crops,  but  eventu- 
ally, either  with  or  without  irrigation,  these  lands  will  be  some 
of  the  most  valuable  in   the   State.     It  is  best  for  the  immigrant 


LANDS  FOR   IMMIGRANTS.  1 029 

who  purposes  to  cultivate  his  lands,  and  not  to  devote  them  to 
grazing,  not  to  go  beyond  the  frontier  line  of  progress  in  the 
purchase  of  these  lands,  as  the  expense  of  irrigation  and  of  tree- 
planting  for  a  single  farm  is  very  heavy  ;  but  \vhere  a  town  or 
colony  engage  in  it  together,  the  expense  is  much  lighter.  This 
frontier  line  is  movin"-  west  at  the  rate  of  about  ten  or  fifteen 
miles  a  year.  There  are  very  desirable  lands,  to  the  amount  of 
about  2,500,000  acres,  held  by  the  State  for  school  and  university 
purposes.  They  are  situated  in  every  county  of  the  State,  and 
information  in  regard  to  them  may  be  obtained  by  writing  to 
F.  M.  Davis,  State  Commissioner  of  Public  Lands  and  Buildings, 
at  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  The  minimum  price  at  which  these  lands 
are  sold  is  ^7  per  acre,  on  twenty  years'  time,  at  six  per  cent, 
interest;  and  leases  are  on  appraised  values.  During  the  years 
1877  ^"^^  1878  the  lands  sold  were  26,819  acres,  and  leased  100,- 
918;  and  the  sales  and  leases  during  1879  and  1880  doubled 
upon  these  figures. 

For  detailed  information  about  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany's lands,  written  or  personal  application  should  be  made  to 
the  Land  Commissioner,  U.  P.  R.  R.,  Omaha,  Nebraska.  This 
company  owns  3,000,000  acres  of  fertile  lands  in  Central  and 
Western  Nebraska,  which  are  sold  for  cash,  or  on  a  credit  of  ten 
years,  at  six  per  cent,  interest,  with  gradual  payments  of  principal 
and  interest.  The  prices  range  from  ^2  to  ^10  per  acre,  on  ten 
years'  credit,  "according  to  quality,  location,  tiniber  and  nearness 
to  market;"  and  a  deduction  of  ten  per  cent,  from  credit  prices 
is  made  to  cash  purchasers. 

For  detailed  information  about  the  Burlington  and  Missouri 
River  Railroad  lands,  address  or  apply  to  the  Land  Commis- 
sioner, B.  &  M.  R.  R.,  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  This  company  has 
remaining  of  its  land  grant  of  more  than  2,000,000  acres,  about 
1,000,000  acres  south  of  the  Platte  river,  in  the  rich  southeastern 
section,  and  in  the  northeastern  section  north  of  the  Platte.  The 
northeastern  lands,  of  which  there  are  about  650,000  acres,  range 
from  5^1  to  ^6  per  acre,  on  ten  years'  time,  with  discount  from 
these  prices  on  six  years'  and  two  years'  credit,  and  for  cash.  The 
balance  of  the   Burlinirton  and    Missouri  lands  in  Southeastern 


J030  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Nebraska  are  sold  at  from  $3  to  ^10,  on  ten  years'  credit,  with  dis- 
counts off  for  cash  or  shorter  time  of  credit. 

The  following  instructions  and  advice  to  emigrants  to  Nebraska 
are  of  great  importance,  and  should  be  carefully  read  and  fol- 
lowed : 

Persons  with  families  should  not  come  West  entirely  destitute 
of  means  to  brave  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life.  Many  have  done 
so  and  have  succeeded,  and  in  a  few  years  have  been  numbered 
amone  the  most  influential  and  well-to-do  citizens  of  the  State ; 
but  it  more  frequently  leads  to  disappointment,  homesickness  and 
discontent.  A  capital  of  $200  or  $300,  after  the  land  is  secured, 
with  which  to  commence  operations,  would  be  of  very  great  ad- 
vantage. An  expenditure  of  $50  will  complete  a  cabin  in  which 
a  family  can  be  comfortably  sheltered.  A  neat  one-story  frame 
house,  with  from  two  to  four  rooms,  can  be  built  at  a  cost  of  from 
^200  to  ^600.  Good  stabling  for  stock  can  be  constructed  with 
but  little  expense,  by  the  use  of  a  few  posts  and  poles  covered 
with  straw  or  hay. 

Settlers  coming  West,  and  having  a  long  distance  to  travel, 
should  dispose  of  their  farming  implements  and  heavy  or  bulky 
furniture.  Bedsteads,  tables,  chairs,  mattresses,  crockery,  stoves, 
etc.,  etc.,  stock,  teams,  wagons,  tools  of  all  kinds,  and  farming 
implements,  batter  adapted  to  this  country  than  those  left  behind, 
can  be  purchased  here  at  reasonable  rates,  frequently  at  less  than 
would  be  the  cost  of  transportation.  Clothing,  bedding,  table 
linen,  books,  pictures,  and  other  small  articles,  may  be  brought 
with  advantage.  It  is  also  well  to  bring  choice,  graded  stock, 
such  as  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  poultry,  etc. 

Prices  at  the  West,  as  in  the  older  States,  are  regulated  by  the 
supply  and  demand.  As  a  general  rule,  groceries,  dry  goods 
and  articles  of  domestic  use  that  can  be  dispensed  with,  are 
dearer,  and  the  common  necessaries — meats,  flour,  grain,  pota- 
toes, etc. — are  cheaper  than  in  the  Eastern  States.  The  following 
may  be  taken  as  average  prices,  April  i,  1879,  and  there  has 
been  very  little  variation  since : 


PRICES   OF  NEEDFUL   ARTICLES. 


103  I 


Work  cattle,  per  yoke $75  00  to  $125  00 

Horses  and  mules,  per  pair  100  00  to     220  60 

Driving  horses,  each 75  00  to     200  00 

Farm  wagons 70  oo  to       90  00 

Spring  wagons 70  00  to      125  00 

Harness,  double  set 30  00  to       4000 

LIVESTOCK. 

Yearlings $10  00  to  $15  00 

Two-year-olds 20  00  to 

Three-year-olds 25  00  to 

Cows 20  00  to 

Calves 5  00  to 

Sheep 2  50  to 

Hogs,  per  pound 03  to 

Beef  cattle,  per  pound ....        03  to 

AGRICULTURAL   IMPLEMENTS. 

Threshing  machines $500  00  to 

Harvesters 150  00  to 

Mowers 75  00  to 

Drills  and  seeders 40  00  to 

Corn  planters 35  00  to 

Hand  planters i  00  to 

Corn  shellers S  00  to 

Corn  stock  cutters 40  00  to 

Cultivators 20  00  to 

Cane  mills. '■^' 

Feed  cutters 6  00  to 

Sulky  rakes 25  00  to 

Revolving  rakes 5  00  to 

Harrows 8  00  to 

Breaking  plows 20  00  to 

Stirring  plows 10  00  to 

Gang  plows 

Sulky  plows 45  00  to 

Headers 175  00  to 

Wind  Mills 90  00  to 

Pump  and  brass  cylinder. . 

One-inch  pij'e,  per  foot.. .  20  to 


30  00 

40  00 

50  00 

10  00 

4  00 

oi)i 

04 

^700  00 

200  00 

90  00 

80  00 

5500 

2  50 

85  00 

60  00 

25  00 

5500 

25  00 

3000 

8  00 

10  00 

25  00 

20  00 

7500 

5500 

2  So  00 

150  00 

15  00 

30 

LUMUER    AND    BUILDING   MATERIAL. 

Flooring, dres.^ed  and  matched, 

per  M ^20  00  to  530  00 

Siding,  per  M 14  00  to      18  00 

Ceiling,  ^-in.,  beaded,  per  M   18  00  to     25  00 

Common  boards,  per  M 16  oo  to      18  00 

Joists,  scantling,  etc.,  18  feet 

and  under,  per  M 

Fencing,  per  M 16  00  to 

Shingles,  A.,  sawed,  per  M.  .      i  25  to 

Shingles,  No.  i,  per  M 

Laths,  per  M 

4-panel  doors I  25  to 

Brick,  per  M 8  00  to 

Lime,  per  barrel 


17  00 

18  00 

275 
2  00 

2  75 

2  00 

10  00 

I  25 


HOUSEHOLD   FURNITURE. 


Bedsteads <52  00  to  $4  oo 

Mattresses 2  00  to  4  00 

Tables I  75  to  7  00 

Chairs,  per  dozen 4  75  to  10  co 

Rocking  chairs 75  to  4  00 

Looking  glasses 25  to  4  00 

Kitchen  safes 3  50  to  10  00 

Bureaus,  with  glass 9  50  to  16  00 

WAGES. 


Carpenters,  per  day $2  00  to 

Masons,  per  day 3  00  to 

Painters,  per  day 2  50  to 

Blacksmiths,  per  day 2  50  to 

Carriage-makers,  jier  day...  .        2  50  to 

Day-laborers,  per  day I  50  to 

Shoemakers,  per  w^eek 15  00  to 

Farmhands,  per  month,  in- 
cluding board 15  00  to 

Clerks,  per  annum 500  00  to   i 

Teachers,  per  annum 300  00  to  2 


%z 

00 

4 

CO 

3 

00 

3 

00 

0 

00 

2  00 

20  00 

20  00 

,50000 

,000 

00 

Counties  and  Towns. — There  were  in  1879  sixty-eig^ht  organ- 
ized and  four  unorganized  counties  in  die  State.  The  extraor- 
dinary influx  of  population  in  1879  and  1880  will  undoubtedly 
lead  to  the  organization  of  other  counties  by  the  legislature 
at  its  biennial  session  in  1881.  Of  the  cities  and  towns,  Omaha 
has  30,518  inhabitants,  and  is  an  important  railroad  cen- 
tre.     Lincoln,  the  capital,  has   13,004  inhabitants.      The  other 


1 032  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

important  towns  are  :  Nebraska  City,  with  nearly  10,000  inhab- 
itants, Plattsmouth,  Brownville,  Fremont  and  Peru,  which  range 
between  2,500  and  5,000  Inhabitants,  Kearney,  Crete,  Rule,  Be- 
atrice, Tecumseh,  Tekama,  Nordi  Platte,  West  Point,  Falls  City 
and  Grand  Island  are  <T;rowinof  towns. 

Religious  Dcno77tinations. — In  1874  Nebraska  had  514  organ- 
izations of  the  different  religious  denominations,  279  church 
edifices,  365  clergymen  or  preachers,  22,749  communicants,  and 
an  adherent  population  of  about  125,000,  or,  possibly,  140,000. 
Its  church  property  was  estimated  at  25^665,000.  In  the  six  years 
which  have  since  passed,  it  has  more  than  doubled  its  population, 
and  its  religious  growth  has  kept  pace  with  the  advance  In  popu- 
lation. The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  takes  the  lead  in  the 
number  of. churches,  ministers  and  communicants,  but  is  closely 
followed  by  the  Baptists,  the  United  Brethren  In  Christ,  the  Pres- 
byterians, the  Lutherans  and  the  Congregatlonalists.  After  these, 
though  in  smaller  numbers, come  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Disciples,  the  Evangelical  Association, 
and  several  smaller  denominations. 

Historical  Data. — Nebraska  was  originally  a  part  of  the  great 
Louisiana  Territory,  and  subsequently  of  Missouri  Territory.  As 
early  as  1844,  Senator  Douglas  introduced  a  bill  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Nebraska  Territory,  which  was  to  include  Kansas, 
Dakota,  Wyoming,  and  so  much  of  Colorado  and  Montana  as 
then  belonged  to  us,  but  the  bill  failed.  Ten  years  later  (in 
1854),  Nebraska  was  organized  as  a  Territory,  including  Dakota, 
Montana,  most  of  Wyoming  and  Northeastern  Colorado.  In 
1861  it  was  stripped  of  most  of  these,  and  in  1867  M'as  admitted 
as  a  State  with  a  population  considerably  under  100,000.  On 
the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  which  had  its  eastern 
terminus  at  Omaha,  its  population  began  to  Increase,  but  its  most 
rapid  growth  has  been  during  the  last  five  years.  From  its 
location  and  its  abundance  of  good  and  fertile  lands,  it  seems 
destined  to  become  a  favorite  resort  for  farming  immigrants,  and 
will  undoubtedly  attract  a  large  body  of  intelligent  agriculturists 
from  both  Europe  and  America.  Some  very  successful  experi- 
ments in  the  way  of  colonies  of  immigrants  have  been  made  here, 
and  more  are  likely  to  follow  in  the  near  future. 


BOUNDARIES  AND  TOPOGRAPHY.  1039 


CHAPTER   XV. 
mVADA. 

Its  Boundaries,  Extent  and  Area — Its  Topography  and  Surface — Moun- 
tains, Lakes  and  Rivers — Its  Climate  and  Meteorology — Geology  and 
Mineralogy — Minerals — Gold  and  Silver — Other  Metals  and  Miner- 
als— Permanency  of  its  Mines — Their  Great  Depth — Mining  Industry 
— The  Counties  containing. Mines  considered  in  Detail — The  Product 
of  the  Precious  Metals  in  Nevada  since  their  First  Discovery  there — 
The  Sutro  Tunnel — Its   Purpose  and  Object — Its   First  Success  less 

THAN  WAS  EXPECTED — ItS  PROBABLE  FUTURE  TRIUMPH — ZoOLOGY AGRICUL- 
TURAL Productions — Adaptation  of  considerable  Sections  to  Grazing — ■ 
Extent  of  Arable,  Grazing,  Timbered  and  Mineral  Lands — Tables  of 
Agricultural  Products  and  Live-stock. — Manufacturing  Industry — 
Railroads — Valuation — Population — Indian  Reservations  —  Counties 
AND  Cities — Religious  Denominations — Historical  Data — Conclusion. 

Nevada,  sometimes  called  the  Silver  State,  is  the  central  State 
of  the  seven  lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  may  be 
said  in  a  [general  way  to  be  bounded  by  Oregon  and  Idaho,  Utah 
and  Arizona,  and  California.  Its  shape  is  irregular,  and  can  per- 
haps be  best  defined  by  the  official  statement  of  its  boundary, 
made  in  the  act  of  Congress  setding  its  present  boundary.  This 
statement  is  as  follows :  "Commencing  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  Utah  Territory,  and  the  southern  line  of  Idaho,  at  the  37th 
degree  of  longitude  west  from  Washington  (and  114  degrees 
west  from  Greenwich),  and  in  latitude  forty-two  degrees  north, 
and  running  west  along  the  southern  line  of  Idaho  and  Oregon 
to  loni^itude  forty-three  degrees  west  from  Washington  (and  120 
degrees  west  from  Greenwich) ;  thence  south,  along  the  eastern 
line  of  California,  to  latitude  thirty-nine  degrees  north,  which 
falls  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Lake  Tahoe;  thence  southeasterly 
to  the  intersection  of  the  Colorado  river,  in  latitude  thirty-five 
degrees  north,  and  opposite  Fort  IMojave;  thence  north  and  east- 
erly up  the  centre  of  the  Colorado  river  to  the  intersection  of  the 
thirty-sevendi  degree  of  longitude  west  from  Washington  (and 


I034  ^^^     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

the  1 14th  degree  west  from  Greenwich),  and  the  prolongation  of 
the  western  line  of  Utah  Territory  ;  thence  north,  along  the  west- 
ern line  of  Arizona  and  Utah,  to  the  place  of  beginning  ;  contain- 
ing 71,737,741  acres,  or  112,090  square  miles." 

The  boundaries  of  the  State  have  been  changed  once  or  twice, 
but  the  actual  areaabove  given  is  that  of  the  United  States  Land 
Office,  and  that  laid  down  in  the  act  of  Conijress  enlaroinor  its 
boundaries.  The  area  as  given  in  the  almanacs  varies  from 
81,539  square  miles  (30,551  square  miles  below  the  fact)  to  104,- 
125  (7,965  square  miles  too  small)  ;  but  the  actual  area  is  that 
ofiven  above.  The  greatest  length  of  the  State  from  north  to  south 
is  about  490  miles;  its  greatest  breadth  about  300  miles, 

TopograpJiy  and  Surface. — Nevada  is  almost  wholly  within  the 
limits  of  the  great  interior  American  Basin,  which  includes  also 
nearly  three-fifths  of  Utah.  This  basin  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  the  Wahsatch  range,  a  continuation  of  the  Bitter  Root  and 
Wind  River  Mountains  of  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  extending  to  and 
aloncr  the  northwestern  bank  of  the  Colorado  river,  and  on  the 
west  by  the  Sierra  Nevada.  The  two  chains  meet  in  Southeastern 
California,  and  are  connected  at  the  north  by  spurs  running  from 
east  to  west.  Within  the  basin  all  streams  are  either  lost  in 
"sinks"  or  discharge  their  waters  into  fresh  or  salt  water  lakes 
within  the  basin.  A  small  tract  in  Northern  Nevada  is  outside 
of  the  basin,  and  is  drained  by  the  Owyhee  river,  an  affluent  of 
the  Lewis  fork  or  Snake  river,  one  of  the  constituent  streams  of 
the  Columbia  river.  In  the  extreme  south  two  or  three  small 
tributaries  of  the  Colorado,  as  the  Virgin  river,  Muddy  river  and 
Las  Vegas  creek,  have  cut  their  way  through  the  mountain  bar- 
riers of  the  basin,  and  discharge  their  waters  into  the  Colorado. 
The  Humboldt,  the  Little  Humboldt,  the  Reese,  the  Carson,  the 
Amargosa  and  many  smaller  streanis,  either  sink  through  the 
alkaline  sands  and  disappear  from  sight,  or  fall  into  deep  de- 
pressions apparently  made  by  the  giving  way  of  the  roof  of  some 
cavern,  or  fall  into  some  one  ot  the  marshes  or  the  numerous 
lakes,  salt  and  fresh,  which  are  found  all  over  the  State. 

The  area  of  the  Great  Basin  is  traversed  from  north  to  south 
by  numerous  parallel  ranges  of  mountains,  having  an  altitude  of 


LAKES  AND   RIVERS   OF  NEVADA.  lO^r 

about  9,000  feet.  These  are  separated  by  fertile  valleys,  which 
are  watered  by  streams  flowing  from  the  mountains  and  having 
their  supply  from  the  melting  snows.  These  streams  afford 
facilities  for  irrigation,  without  which,  in  most  cases,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil  is  impossible.  But  a  very  large  part  of  the  State 
consists  of  a  lofty  table-land,  with  mountain  summits  rising  to  an 
altitude  of  about  9,000  or  9,500  feet,  and  broken  mainly  by  the  deep 
ravines  or  canons,  caused  by  the  erosion  of  mountain  torrents. 
The  long  valleys  between  have  an  elevation  of  from  4,000  to 
6,000  feet. 

Lakes  and  Rivers. — The  principal  lakes  are  Tahoe,  Pyramid, 
Walker,  Carson,  Washoe  and  Humboldt.  Tahoe  has  an  eleva- 
tion above  the  sea-level  of  about  6,000  feet.  It  is  about  1,500 
feet  in  depth.  It  is  situated  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains, 
fourteen  miles  from  Carson  City.  The  western  line  of  the  State 
divides  it  about  the  centre.  The  water  is  very  clear  and  cool, 
and  remarkable  for  its  specific  lightness.  The  bodies  of  persons 
drowned  in  Lake  Tahoe  never  rise  to  the  surface.  It  is  twenty- 
two  miles  in  length  by  fourteen  in  width. 

Pyramid  lake  is  thirty-five  miles  long,  and  from  ten  to  fifteen 
in  width.  Its  elevation  above  sea-level  is  about  4,000  feet.  It  is 
situated  in  the  southwestern  portion  of  Humboldt  county.  It  is 
surrounded  by  mountains,  which  rise  to  the  height  of  about  3,000 
feet.  It  has  been  sounded,  and  found  in  places  3,600  feet  deep. 
It  gets  its  name  from  a  rock  which  rises  600  feet  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid.  There  is  an  island 
near  the  eastern  side  which  contains  about  600  acres  of  land,  upon 
which  rattlesnakes  and  wild  goats  abound.  It  has  no  outlet,  and 
is  fed  by  the  Truckee  river  and  other  mountain  streams. 

Washoe  lake  is  situated  in  Washoe  county.  Its  waters  are 
shallow  and  alkaline.  It  covers  about  six  square  miles.  It  is 
surrounded  by  mountains ;  on  the  west  arc  the  Sierras,  from 
which  it  is  chiefly  fed  by  numerous  small  streams  which  llow  out 
into  the  valley  sink,  and  then  rise  again  in  the  lake. 

Walker  lake  is  about  twenty-five  miles  long  and  ten  miles  in 
width.  Its  area  has  been  considerably  increased  of  late  years,  so 
that  the  old  stage  road,  formerly  about  five  miles  from  its  shores, 


3 0-^6  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

is  now  under  water.  It  is  situated  in  Mason  valley,  Esmeralda 
county.  Its  elevation  above  sea-level  is  about  4,000  feet,  and  its 
waters  are  fresh  and  clear. 

Humboldt  lake,  more  commonly  called  the  Sink  of  Humboldt, 
is  twenty  miles  in 'length  and  ten  miles  in  width.  Its  waters  are 
brackish  and  strongly  impregnated  with  salt  and  soda.  It  is  sit- 
uated near  the  line  between  Humboldt  and  Churchill  counties, 
and  has  an  altitude  above  sea-level  of  4,100  feet.  It  is  about  the 
lowest  point  in  the  Great  Basin.  The  waters  from  the  east  and 
west  meet  here. 

The  Carson  lakes  are  situated  near  the  centre  of  Churchill 
county.  They  are  about  twenty  miles  apart,  and  spread  out  over 
a  vast  area  of  low  ground,  so  that  their  dimensions  vary  greatly 
in  proportion  to  the  dryness  of  the  season,  and  the  amount  of  the 
snow-fall  on  the  Sierras,  In  wet  seasons  they  are  connected  by 
a  slough  with  Humboldt  lake  ;  and  the  waters,  like  that  of  the 
latter  lake,  are  impure,  and  contain  a  large  percent,  of  alkali  and 
salt. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Colorado,  noneof  the  rivers  of  Nevada 
are  navigable.  The  Colorado  forms  part  of  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  State.  Its  average  width  is  one-half  mile.  The  average 
current  at  ordinary  low  stages,  where  no  contraction  or  special 
obstruction  exists,  is  about  three  and  one-half  miles  per  hour. 
When  it  passes  over  rapids  and  through  narrow  canons,  the  cur- 
rent is  more  than  twice  as  rapid,  so  that  it  is  difficult  for  steam- 
boats to  stem  it. 

The  Truckee  river  forms  an  outlet  for  Lake  Tahoe  to  empty 
its  waters  into  Pyramid  lake.  Two-thirds  of  its  entire  course  is 
in  Washoe  county.  It  affords  many  excellent  sites  for  mills,  but 
its  waters  are  chiefly  used  in  irrigating  the  fertile  lands  of  Washoe 
county.  During  the  past  few  years  many  ditches  have  been  con- 
structed for  irrigating  purposes,  and  still  there  is  a  large  supply 
of  water  left. 

The  Carson  river  heads  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  and 
flows  through  Douglas,  Ormsby  and  Lyon  counties.  Although 
not  so  large  as  the  Walker,  its  waters  have  been  made  much 
more  useful.      Numerous  large  quartz  mills  have  been  erected 


LAKES  AXD  RIVERS   OF  NEVADA.  IO37 

on  its  banks,  which  are  run  by  water-power.  It  irrigates  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  fertile  lands,  and  also  furnishes  the  means  for 
the  transportation  of  thousands  of  cords  of  wood  from  the  moun- 
tains to  the  markets. 

The  Walker  river  also  has  its  source  in  the  Sierras;  it  flows 
through  Esmeralda  county,  and  empties  its  waters  into  Walker 
lake.  It  is  only  used  for  irrigation,  being  situated  too  far  away 
from  the  mines  to  be  made  available  for  milling  purposes. 

The  Humboldt  river  flows  from  the  east.  It  has  its  source  in 
Utah,  and,  after  windinor  throuo-h  a  succession  of  mountains  for 
a  distance  of  about  300  miles,  it  empties  its  waters  into  Hum- 
boldt lake. 

The  Owyhee  river  has  its  source  in  the  mountains  which  sur- 
round Independence  valley.  It  flows  north  into  the  Snake  and 
Columbia  rivers,  and  finally  empties  its  waters  into  the  Pacific. 
It  is  the  only  river  which  rises  within  the  borders  of  the  State 
that  has  an  outlet  to  the  ocean.  Reese  river  heads  in  the  moun- 
tains to  the  southeast  of  lone.  It  flows  north,  and  sinks  before 
reachincj  the  Humboldt. 

In  all  of  these  lakes  and  streams  are  found  several  varieties  of 
food  fish,  chiefly  different  species  of  trout.  In  all  of  the  mountain 
streams  and  in  the  head  waters  of  the  rivers  already  described 
brook  trout  abound,  while  in  the  lakes  and  those  streams  which 
empty  into  them  are  found  silver  trout.  In  Lake  Tahoe  a  very 
large  variety  of  trout  is  found,  some  of  which  have  been  caught 
which  weighed  thirty  pounds  each.  In  the  Owyhee  river  are 
found  salmon  and  salmon  trout.  ThrouQfh  the  efforts  of  the  Fish 
Commissioner  appointed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature, 
Carson,  Walker  and  Humboldt  lakes  and  theTruckee  river  have 
been  stocked  with  Schuylkill  catfish  and  Sacramento  perch.  A 
fish  hatchery  has  been  established  in  Carson,  and  200,000  Mc- 
Cloud  river  salmon  are  ready  for  distribution  in  tlie  different 
lakes  and  streams  in  the  State. 

In  the  eastern  counties  considerable  game  is  found,  as  prairie 
chickens, grouse  and  quail.  In  the  mountiiins  and  upland  valleys 
are  often  seen  mountain  sheep  and  antelope.  The  otter  and 
beaver  are  sometimes  found.     The  grizzly  bear,  cougar,  wild  cat, 


1038  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

lynx,  wolf,  cinnamon  and  black  bears,  coyotes,  and  g-enerally  the 
beasts  of  prey  found  In  California,  are  also  inhabitants  of  Ne- 
vada, though  not  as  abundant  as  in  some  other  States. 

Clwiate. — The  climate  of  Nevada,  owinof  to  the  diversities  of 
surface,  variations  of  altitude  and  other  causes,  irrespective  of 
the  differences  of  latitude,  varies  greatly  in  different  localities. 
The  changes  of  the  season  are  very  irregular,  and  pass  into  each 
other  without  notice.  Generally  the  extremes  of  temperature 
are  not  great.  Within  the  Great  Basin,  during  the  summer 
months,  the  thermometer  seldom  rises  above  95°  Fahrenheit; 
nor  does  it  often  fall  below  zero  in  winter,  except  upon  the  moun- 
tains and  in  the  most  elevated  and  exposed  valleys.  At  Carson 
City,  where  the  elevation  above  sea-level  is  4,630  feet,  the  annual 
mean  temperature  is  about  52°,  the  annual  maximum  68°,  and 
the  annual  minimum  34°.  At  this  point  heavy  winds  from  the 
southwest  prevail.  During  the  year  1876  there  were  316  windy 
days,  2 1 7  cloudy,  and  49  rainy.  The  fall  of  rain  and  snow  for 
the  same  year  was  17.73  inches.  The  nights  are  always  cool  in 
summer  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  This  marked  ^peculiarity  of 
climate  is  due  to  the  cooling  effects  of  the  many  ranges  of  snow- 
covered  mountains.  The  atmosphere  is  exceedingly  dry.  There 
are  never  any  fogs.  The  moisture  of  the  clouds  is  condensed 
on  the  mountain-tops,  so  that  the  fall  of  rain  in  the  valleys  is  very 
limited.  The  carcasses  of  dead  animals  dry  up  with  but  little 
offensive  putrefaction,  leaving  the  bones  and  hides  mummified. 
In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State  cloud-bursts  are  of  frequent 
occurrence  from  about  the  first  of  July  to  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber. The  climate  is  healthful.  No  country  in  the  world  is  more 
free  from  infectious  diseases.  Epidemics  are  never  known. 
Earthquake  shocks  are  sometimes  felt,  but  rarely  severe  enough 
to  do  any  damage. 

The  Signal  Service  Bureau  has  but  two  stations  in  Nevada, 
and  those  have  been  maintained  less  than  three  years.  They  are 
Piochc,  in  Lincoln  county,  in  Southeastern  Nevada,  and  Winne- 
mucca,  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  in  Humboldt  county, 
Northwestern  Nevada.  We  give  the  report  of  these  for  the 
year   1878,  which,  as  supplementary  to  the   above  notes  of  the 


MINERALS  AND   METALS   OF  NEVADA.  IO39 

climate  of  Carson  City,  give  a  tolerable  idea  of  the  climate  of  the 
State.     (See  page  1040.) 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — It  has  been  demonstrated  by  the 
geological  explorations  on  the  fortieth  parallel,  that  the  Nevada 
ranges  of  mountains  belong  to  the  same  system  of  upheavals 
which  took  place  during  the  Jurassic  period.  These  immense 
mountain  masses  are  composed  of  sedimentary  strata,  granite  and 
kindred  formations  and  volcanic  rocks.  The  stratified  beds  com- 
prise the  largest  portion,  and  extend  from  the  Azoic  age  up  to 
the  time  of  upheaval.  The  rock  formations  embrace  nearly  every 
species  of  sedimentary  or  eruptive  products  existing,  from  the 
earliest  to  the  most  recent  period.  In  the  mountains  which  skirt 
upon  the  Sierras,  the  eruptive  rocks  prevail;  while  farther  east 
are  found  the  metamorphic  and  sedimentary  formations.  MetaU 
llferous  deposits  and  veins  exist  in  all  the  mountain  ranges,  the 
most  productive  of  which  still  continues  to  be  the  Comstock  lode. 

The  valleys,  in  general,  correspond  with  the  mountain  ranges. 
They  are  sometimes  short,  being  intersected  by  the  low  moun- 
tains, which  In  many  places  link  together  the  parallel  ranges, 
running  north  and  south,  but  usually  they  are  long  and  narrow. 
With  but  slight  elevations,  several  openings  are  found,  extending 
from  the  Humboldt  river  to  the  Colorado,  the  southern  limit  of 
the  State.  Many  of  the  valleys  are  dry  and  unfit  for  cultivation; 
some  are  covered  with  alkali  and  sand,  while  others  are  scarcely 
less  productive  than  the  most  fertile  valleys  of  California,  All 
have  been  mainly  filled  by  the  products  of  erosion. 

I\Iinerals. — Of  the  productions  of  Nevada,  silver  and  gold  are 
beyond  comparison  the  most  important.  Scarcely  twenty  years 
have  elapsed  since  this  State  was  Inhabited  only  by  the  red  man, 
and  a  few  Mormon  settlers  in  Carson  Valley;  and  yet  during  this 
time  the  enormous  sum  of  ^400,000,000  in  silver  and  gold  have 
been  produced  from  the  Nevada  mines.  More  than  two-thirds 
of  this  yield  has  been  since  the  year  1871.  The  most  productive 
year  was  1877,  the  bullion  shipments  amounting  to  f5 1.368,91  7. 
The  yield  for  1878  was  $35,181,949,"  a  falling  off  from  the  year 
previous  of  $16,398,341.  From  these  figures  it  maybe  seen  that 
these  two  years  have  been  a  period  of  unexampled  prosperity 


1040 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


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MINERALS  AKD   METALS   OF  NEVADA.  IO41 

in  the  history  of  the  State,  and  that  the  labor  of  the  miner  has 
met  with  merited  reward.  From  the  experience  of  the  past, 
coupled  with  the  condition  and  indications  of  the  various  mining 
districts  at  present,  it  may  readily  be  inferred  that  Nevada's  re- 
sources in  silver  and  gold  are  practically  without  limit;  and  that 
the  supply  is  still  so  great  that  a  long  time  must  elapse  before  it 
can  be  exhausted.  So  fruitful,  indeed,  has  been  the  yield  that 
the  last  decade  forms  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  precious 
metals  in  America ;  and  the  new  discoveries  being  made  in  every 
direction  promise  excellent  results  in  the  near  future. 

Although  silver  and  gold  are  the  chief  products  of  the  State, 
there  are  other  mineral  resources  which  are  of  no  mean  impor- 
tance. The  lead  product  of  Eastern  Nevada  has  increased  so 
rapidly  during  the  past  two  years,  that  Eureka  now  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  lead-producing  districts  in  the  United  States.  Tybo, 
too,  is  making  rapid  strides  in  the  w^ay  of  advancement.  The 
product  of  these  two  districts  falls  but  little  short  of  that  of  Mis- 
souri, Iowa  and  Illinois  combined. 

The  deposits  of  borax  in  Churchill  and  Esmeralda  counties  are 
sufficient  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  world,  but  being  situated 
so  far  away  from  the  markets,  the  expense  of  transportation  and 
the  reduced  price  of  the  article  have  placed  a  limit  upon  its  pro- 
duction. Fish  lake,  Columbus  and  Teal's  Marsh  have  an  almost 
inexhaustible  supply,  and  their  thousands  of  acres  must  some  day 
be  profitable  to  the  owners. 

The  salt  deposits  are  beyond  computation.  In  Humboldt, 
Churchill,  Esmeralda,  Lander,  White  Pine  and  Lincoln  counties- 
there  are  beds  of  salt  covering  thousands  of  acres  and  of  un- 
known  depths.  The  w^aters  of  North  Soda  lake,  in  Churchill 
county,  270  feet  in  depth,  and  covering  an  area  of  400  acres,  con- 
tain about  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  soda.  Sulphur  is  found  in 
immense  deposits  in  Humboldt  county,  and  In  a  comparatively 
pure  state.  Antimony  In  paying  quantities  Is  found  In  a  dozen 
districts,  and  mines  rich  In  copper  are  being  worked  in  Lander 
and  White  Pine  counties.  Cinnabar,  occurring  in  brilliant  red 
crystals,  and  also  In  amorphous  masses,  Is  found  in  W^ashoe  and 
Nye  counties.     Gypsum,  plumbago,  manganese,  cobalt,  arsenic, 

66 


IQ,2  Oi'K    IVESlEK.y   EMriRE. 

magnesia,  alum,  nickel,  iiitrc,  iron  of  L,^ood  quality,  coal  in  small 
quantities,  isinglass — such  are  some  of  the  mineral  products  of 
Nevada,  which  will,  in  the  future,  produce  some  revenue  to  the 
people  and  State. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  great  falling  off  in  the  yield  of  the 
mines  in  the  years  1879  and  1880  has  raised  the  question  whether 
they  are  approaching  exhaustion,  or  whether  there  is  to  be  a  still 
more  prosperous  future  for  them.  All  past  analogies  in  silver 
mining,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  forbid  the  idea  of  their  ex- 
haustion ;  the  only  real  question  is  whether  means  can  be  devised 
to  make  the  mining  of  low  grade  ores  profitable  when  they  are 
brought  from  a  depth  of  3,000  or  3,200  feet  below  the  surface, 
where  constant  pumping  of  the  very  hot  water  from  these  great 
depths  is  required,  and  the  temperature  of  the  lower  levels  is 
156"^  Fahrenheit,  and  the  men  can  only  work  twenty  minutes  and 
rest  twenty  in  four-hour  shifts.  If  these  lower  levels  yield  silver 
ores  assaying  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  ounces  to  the  ton,  the 
working,  even  under  these  disadvantageous  conditions,  may  be 
fairly  profitable  ;  but  where  the  yieki  is  only  from  fourteen  to 
twenty-two  ounces,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  the  margin  is  clearly 
too  narrow  to  permit  any  considerable  profit,  and  must  in  most 
cases  result  in  an  eventual  loss. 

On  this  question  of  the  permanency  of  the  mineral  production 
from  the  mines  now  opened,  the  able  and  accomplished  State 
Mineralogist,  after  a  historical  review  of  all  the  Q-reat  silver  mines 
of  Europe  and  America,  exhibiting  their  periods  of  decadence 
and  revival,  concludes  his  essay  as  follow\s: 

"The  history  of  all  these  European  and  American  mines  has 
been  the  same.  They  were  discovered  early  ;  they  have  had 
their  times  of  depression  and  times  of  extraordinary  production  ; 
they  have  had  their  bonanzas  and  their  barren  levels ;  they  have 
been  abandoned  at  one  time  and  energetically  worked  at  another, 
but  throughout  all  the  ages  they  have  continued  to  be  productive 
to  the  present  time,  and  without  doubt  will  still  continue  to  play 
an  important  part  in  the  mining  industries  of  the  world  in  the 
future.  One  thousand  years  ago  the  Austrian  miner  descended 
the  same  shaft  which  the  living  descend  to-dav ;  for  centuries  to 


MIXING  PRODUCTION  OF  COUNTIES.  IO43' 

come,  the  huge  piles  of  waste  rock  will  grow  higher  and  more 
rugged  on  the  Saxon  plains.  Empires  have  risen  and  fallen  ; 
rulers  have  passed  from  history  since  the  mines  of  Mexico  and 
South  America  began  to  be  worked;  twenty  centuries  have  not 
exhausted  the  mineral  wealth  of  Spain.  Reasoning  from  these 
facts,  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the  mines  of  Nevada  are  far  from 
beincr  worked  out.  When  the  character  of  our  mines  is  com- 
pared  with  those  of  other  countries,  the  product  is  found  to  be 
small,  and  considering  the  extent  of  territory  as  yet  undeveloped, 
the  amount  of  prospecting  done  has  not  been  great.  But  when 
a  larger  population  shall  have  permanently  settled  here  ;  when 
men  shall  be  satisfied  with  smaller  gains,  and  capital  shall  be 
more  interested  in  the  work,  then  grander  and  more  remunera- 
tive results  may  be  expected  than  any  which  have  yet  been  ob- 
tained. The  new  level  opened  by  the  Sutro  Tunnel  insures  the 
working  of  the  Comstock  lode  for  an  indefinite  period  in  the 
future,  and  although  the  results  have  not  thus  far  equalled  expec- 
tations, yet  there  is  sufficient  encouragement  to  continued  perse- 
verance in  this  greatest  enterprise  of  modern  mining,  and  that 
perseverance  cannot  long  fail  to  reap  an  ample  reward." 

Mining  Industry. — Twelve  of  the  fourteen  counties  of  Nevada 
have  or  have  had  mines  of  considerable  importance.  We  will 
review  them  briefly  in  alphabetical  order,  showing  the  number  of 
the  mines  and  the  product  from  them  in  1877  and  1878,  the  latest 
detailed  report  we  have  been  able  to  obtain : 

Elko  county  had,  in  1877,  seven  mines,  and  in  addition  an  estab- 
lishment where  the  tailings  of  the  Leopard  mine  were  worked 
over,  yielding  in  that  year  ^24,799.  The  entire  yield  of  these 
mines  in  1877  was  5^1,075,968.86.  In  1878  but  two  mines  of  the 
seven  were  worked,  but  three  new  ones  had  been  opened,  and 
the  yield  for  three-quarters  of  the  year  was  ^941,918.94,  indicating 
for  the  entire  year  a  considerably  larger  yield  from  the  five  mines 
than  from  the  whole  seven  the  previous  year,  although  four  of 
the  five  had  only  been  worked  for  six  months.  The  total  yield 
of  Elko  county  from  1871  to  1878,  inclusive,  was  about  ;>,5,- 
000,000. 

Esmeralda  county  had,  in  1877,  twenty-four  mines  and  mining 


I044  ^^'•^     WESTERX  EMPIRE. 

establishments,  a  part  of  which  were  merely  from  the  sale  or 
transfer  of  mines.  These  yielded  that  year  ^1,508,491.69,  more 
than  four-fifths  being  the  production  of  a  single  mine — the  North- 
ern Belle.  In  1878  the  number  of  mines  in  operation  had  been 
reduced  to  sixteen.  The  Northern  Belle  was  still  the  leading 
mine,  but  its  production  had  fallen  off  largely,  being  only  $236,- 
373  for  three  quarters  of  the  year  against  ^1,250,757  the  previous 
year.  The  total  production  of  all  the  mines  for  three  quarters 
of  1878  was  ^^469, 775.  The  total  production  of  Esmeralda  county 
from  1 87 1  to  October  ist,  1878,  was  about  55^5,400,000. 

Eureka  county  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  mining  counties 
of  the  State,  It  had  in  1877  between  seventy-five  and  eighty 
mines,  some  of  them  of  great  extent  and  productiveness,  among 
them  the  Eureka  Consolidated,  the  K,  K.  Consolidated,  the 
Richmond  and  the  Richmond  Consolidated.  These  four  mines 
yielded,  in  1877,  somewhat  more  than  ^3,500,000  out  of  a  total 
of  $3,898,878.65  for  the  whole  county.  Of  this  large  amount 
the  Eureka  Consolidated  produced  about  one-half.  In  1878  the 
number  of  mines  had  been  reduced  to  fifty-two,  though  including 
eleven  or  twelve  new  mines.  The  Richmond  was  merged  in 
the  Richmond  Consolidated,  and  this  and  the  Eureka  Consolidated 
produced  eight-ninths  of  the  whole  amount  raised  in  the  county. 
This  amount  for  the  three  quarters  to  October  i,  1878,  was 
$4,503,2  68,  of  which  Eureka  Consolidated  produced  $2,295,344  and 
Richmond  Consolidated  $1,722,689.  The  only  other  mine  which 
reported  a  moderately  large  yield  was  the  K.  K.  Consolidated, 
which  produced  $165,532.  No  mines  reported  from  Eureka 
county  till  1873,  but  between  that  year  and  October,  1878,  the 
total  product  was,  in  round  numbers,  $18,700,000. 

Humboldt  county  has  never  been  extensively  eng-aeed  in  minino-. 
In  1877  it  reported  but  three  mines,  and  in  1878  but  two.  The 
Rye  Patch  is  the  largest.  The  production  of  1877  ^^'^^  $307,224, 
and  for  the  three  quarters  of  1878,  $176,403.  The  total  pro- 
duction of  this  county  from  1871  till  October,  1878,  was  about 
^2,600,000. 

Lander  county  \\^<\,\n  1877,  eighteen  or  twenty  mines,  only 
one  of  which — the  Manhattan  mine — produced  largely.    The  total 


MINING   PRODUCTION  OF  COUNTIES.  IO45 

production  of  the  county  was  $595,829,  of  which  the  Manhattan 
mine  yielded  $411,066.  In  1878  there  were  nineteen  mines,  of 
which  nine  or  ten  were  new.  The  production  for  three  quarters  of 
the  year  was  $500,782,  of  which  $372,085  was  from  the  Manhattan. 
The  entire  production  of  Lander  county  from  1871  to  October, 
1878,  was  $9,380,000,  the  product  of  the  earHer  years  being  much 
orreater  than  of  the  later  ones. 

Lincoln  county  had,  in  1877,  twenty-six  mines,  yielding  $556,- 
095 ;  the  largest  being  the  Raymond  and  Ely,  which  with  its  tail- 
ings produced  $329,816,  or  nearly  three-fifths  of  the  whole; 
the  Meadow  Valley  and  the  Alps,  which  together  yielded 
$159,162.  In  1878  there  were  but  nineteen  mines  in  operation, 
of  which  eight  were  new ;  these  yielded  in  the  three  quarters  of 
1878  reported.  $460,5  24, of  which  $120,605  were  produced  by  the 
Raymond  and  Ely,  and  $79,000  by  the  Meadow  Valley,  while  the 
Day,  Techatticup  and  Alps  showed  much  promise  for  the  future. 
The  total  amount  of  bullion  produced  by  Lincoln  county  from 
1 87 1  to  October,  1878,  was  about  $18,250,000,  the  earlier  years 
having  been  much  more  productive  than  the  later  ones. 

Lyon  county  had,  in  1877,  ^^^  or  a  dozen  mines  and  mills,  none 
of  them  yielding  a  very  large  amount.  The  total  for  the  year 
was  $406,017.  In  1878  there  were  nine  mills  and  mines,  most 
of  them  mills,  much  of  the  ore  from  the  Comstock  lodes  being  re- 
duced in  this  county.  The  Sutro  Tunnel  has  its  entrance  in  this 
county.  The  production  for  the  three  quarters  of  1878  was 
$471,643,  of  which  $269,394  was  reported  by  the  Lyon  Mill  and 
Mining  Company  and  the  Wood  worth  Mill.  The  total  produc- 
tion of  Lyon  county  from  1871  to  October,  1878,  was  about  $4,- 
255,000. 

Nye  county  had,  in  1S77,  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  mines, 
yielding  in  all  $842,584,  of  which  two  mines,  the  O.  G.  and 
Bunker  Hill  and  the  Tybo  Consolidated,  yielded  $642,504.  or 
more  than  three-fourths.  In  1878  there  were  but  seven  mines 
in  operation,  producing  for  the  three  quarters  $770,088,  of  which 
the  Tybo  Consolidated  yielded  $447,780,  and  the  Alexander 
iMining  Company  $1 14,100.  The  Illinois  produced  $80,345.  The 
total  product  of  the  mines  of  X\e  county  from  1871  to  October, 
1878,  was  $5,527,000. 


J0J.6  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Onjisby  cotmty  had  no  record  as  a  mining  county  until  1S78, 
and  then  rather  for  its  mills,  which  reduced  ores  from  other  coun- 
ties, than  for  any  mines  of  its  own.  Its  product  in  the  three 
quarters  of  1878  reported  was  5^53,666,  all  gleaned  from  the 
tailincTS  of  one  mill. 

Storey  county  is  the  great  mining  county  of  Nevada,  the  mines 
of  the  Comstock  lode  being  wholly  within  its  bounds.  Twelve 
of  these  were  in  operation  in  1877,  the  largest  being  the  Cali- 
fornia, Consolidated  Virginia,  Justice,  Chollar-Potosi,  Belcher 
and  Ophir.  The  product  of  the  twelve  mines  in  1877  was  %2il^' 
062,252,  of  which  the  California  yielded  ^18,913,843,  a  little 
more  than  one-half;  the  Consolidated  Virginia,  $13,725,751,  or 
more  than  one-third,  and  the  Justice,  $2,339,057,  The  tailings 
from  these  mines  yielded  $770,716  in  that  year.  In  1878  only 
nine  of  the  mines  were  operated,  and  for  the  three  quarters  of 
that  year  the  production  had  fallen  off  to  $17,989,636,  of  which 
$7,590,658  was  from  the  Consolidated  Virginia,  and  $8,242,177 
from  the  California,  or  $15,832,835  from  the  two — fifteen-seven- 
teenths of  the  whole.  The  tailings  amounted  to  $576, 109.  The 
total  producdon  for  the  year  was  $21,295,030,  and  that  of  1879 
only  $8,830,562,  a  material  falling  off  The  total  production  of 
Storey  county  in  seven  and  three-quarter  years,  1871  to  October, 
1878,  was  $186,853,849,  and  the  total  product  since  the  discovery 
of  the  Comstock  lode  about  $310,000,000. 

WasJioe  county,  once  the  seat  of  a  large  number  of  valuable 
silver  mines,  has  reported  no  mining  products  since  1874,  and 
only  $148,464  in  the  three  years,  1872,  1873  and  1874.  There 
is,  however,  a  prospect  that  its  mines  may  again  be  put  in  opera- 
tion, and  that  with  new  processes  and  prudent  and  successful 
management,  it  will  again  yield  liberal  returns. 

White  Pine  county. — This  was  one  of  the  counties  which  was 
regarded  as  containing  some  remarkable  bonanzas,  and  in  1869 
and  1870  was  spoken  of  as  likely  to  rival  Storey  county.  Its 
yield  of  the  precious  metals  at  first  was  very  fair,  but  for  some 
years  past  has  been  steadily  declining.  From  the  first  discovery 
of  silver  there,  early  in  1868,  to  1S80,  the  entire  production  has 
been,  in  round  numbers,  $9,700,000,  but  it  was  nearly  double  in 


MINING   PRODUCTION   OF  COUNTIES.  IO47 

1868,  1869,  1870  and  1871  what  it  has  been  in  any  year  since. 
In  1877,  with  seventeen  mines  in  operation,  it  produced  only 
^408,492.  In  1878,  in  the  first  three  quarters  of  the  year,  eleven 
mines  produced  ^^446,454,  of  which  $375,699  came  from  two 
mines,  the  Star  and  the  Paymaster.  There  were  in  Nevada  at 
the  close  of  1878,  153  mines  in  operation,  and  probably  more 
than  twice  that  number  on  which  work  was  suspended  tempo- 
rarily and  possibly  permanently.  The  production  of  gold  and 
silver  in  the  State  for  that  year  was  $35,181,949.  For  the  year 
1879  it  had  fallen  off  to  $21,997,714,  and  the  indications  are  that 
in  1880  there  has  not  been  any  material  recovery.  The  produc- 
tion of  gold  and  silver  in  the  State  since  1852  considerably  ex- 
ceeds $430,000,000 — a  vast  result  to  be  accomplished  by  so  small 
a  population. 

The  Sutro  Tunnel,  though  its  entrance  is  in  Lyon  county,  was 
constructed  to  drain  the  mines  on  the  Comstock  lode.  It  is  over 
four  miles  in  length,  and  follows  the  ramifications  of  the  principal 
mines,  which  it  will  drain  to  the  depth  of  about  2,000  feet,  and 
the  deepest  mines  will  only  have  to  pump  their  surplus  water 
from  1,000  to  1,200  feet  to  have  it  drawn  off  by  this  channel. 
The  tunnel  also  contains  railroad  tracks  to  facilitate  the  removal 
of  ores  from  the  mines.  Its  cost  was  about  $6,000,000.  The 
Tunnel  Company  own  some  mines  on  this  lode.  While  its  suc- 
cess has  not  thus  far  been  so  great  as  was  hoped,  it  must  event- 
ually greatly  enhance  the  value  of  the  mining  property  connected 
with  the  Comstock  lode. 

Zoology. — The  wild  animals  of  Nevada  are  those  of  California, 
except  those  which  find  their  homes  in  the  sea  or  along  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  The  grizzly  bear  is  the  monarch  of  the  forest,  and 
the  black  and  the  Mexican  bear  are  sufficiently  numerous  ;  the 
cougar  or  panther,  the  wild  cat,  the  gray  wolf  and  the  whole 
marten  tribe,  the  lynx,  skunk  and  raccoon  are  abundant.  Of 
game  animals,  the  elk,  two  species  of  deer,  and  possibly  the 
moose,  though  that  animal  is  very  rare,  Rocky  Mountain  sheep 
or  big  horn  ;  rabbits,  squirrels,  the  sewellel,  the  gopher  and  other 
rodents  are  so  numerous  as  to  give  annoyance.  Birds  of  prey, 
song  birds  and  game  birds  are  plentiful.     Reptiles  are  of  the 


1048  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

same  genera  and  species  as  in  California.  Trout  and  salmon 
trout  are  found  in  the  larger  lakes,  but  the  smaller  lakes  are  too 
alkaline  for  fish.     Southern  Nevada  has  few  animals. 

Agricultural  Productioris. — W^hile  Nevada  is  essentially  a 
mining  State,  and  contains  but  a  comparatively  small  proportion 
of  arable  land,  she  can,  by  the  aid  of  irrigation,  raise  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  cereals,  root  crops,  etc.,  to  supply  her  small  popula- 
tion, and  by  turning  attention  to  stock-raising  soon  export  many 
thousand  head  of  cattle. 

The  soil  of  the  State  is  generally  a  loam,  most  fertile  where 
the  underlying  rock  is  limestone,  but  nearly  everywhere  suffi- 
ciendy  so  to  reward  the  labors  of  the  husbandman,  where  water 
can  be  obtained  for  the  purposes  of  irrigation.  The  immense 
stretches  of  barren  wastes  so  often  seen  are  only  so  because  of 
the  want  of  moistening  showers  of  rain,  and  streams  sufficiently 
numerous  to  supply  the  demands  for  agriculture.  As  a  large 
proportion  of  the  land  is  much  better  adapted  to  grazing  than  to 
tillage,  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  raising  of  live-stock, 
and  the  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  goats  bred  here  are  of  excellent 
quality.  The  winter  feed,  consisting  of  bunch-grass  and  white 
sage,  furnishes  the  best  of  sustenance  for  stock,  so  that,  with  rare 
exceptions,  is  any  provision  made  or  stores  of  fodder  laid  up  for 
winter  use.  During  the  summer  months  the  pasturage  in  the 
vicinity  of  springs,  brooks  and  creeks  on  mountain  sides  and  in 
the  canons  supplies  the  feed,  but  when  winter  comes,  the  herds 
and  flocks  feed  miles  away  from  water  in  the  valleys.  The  north- 
ern and  eastern  sections  of  the  State  are  the  best  adapted  for 
grazing.  Many  of  the  loftiest  mountains  are  covered  witli  a  spe- 
cies of  bunch-grass  peculiar  to  those  localities.  The  table-lands 
and  dry  valleys  in  many  places  are  covered  with  the  white  sage, 
which  makes  the  best  of  winter  feed  for  stock.  When  Qfrowinof  in 
the  spring  and  summer,  this  sage  is  bitter  and  not  eaten,  but 
wh(Mi  the  frosts  of  fall  and  winter  come  it  is  tender,  sw^eet  and 
nutritious,  and  better  liked  bv  stock  than  other  kinds  of  feed.  So 
extensive  has  the  business  of  stock-raisino-  become  that  now  the 
supply  far  exceeds  the  wants  of  the  population,  and  thousands  of 
steers  and  beef  cattle  are  yearl)-  shipped  by  railroad  to  the  markets 


VARIED   PRODUCTS   OF  SOUTHERN   VALLEYS.  1049 

of  California.     The  agricultural  lands  of  the  State  are  small  in 
proportion   to  the  area,  though   in  all  of  the  valleys  where  are 
found  streams  of  water  larofe  tracts  of  land  are  brought  under 
cultivation,  and  the  crops  produced  are  very  superior  in  character. 
The  best  of  these  arable  lands  are  found  in  Carson,  Eagle,  Mason, 
Washoe,  Truckee,   Humboldt,   Reese   River,  Owyhee,  Lamoille, 
Ruby,  Steptoe,  Spring,  White  River,  Snake,  Panaca,  Pahranagat, 
Paradise,  Muddy  and  Los  Vegas  Valleys.     There  are  hundreds 
of  other  smaller  valleys,  and  in  many  of  them  the  soil  is  quite  as 
productive,  though  less  water  is  found;   and  there  is  no  land  in 
the  State  but  what  is  benefited,  for  agriculture,  by  irrigation.     In 
the  northern  and  central  valleys  all  the  grains,  vegetables,  and 
fruits  of  a  temperate  climate  are  cultivated  with  success.     In  the 
southern  valleys  the  proportion  of  fertile  land  is  much  less  than 
in  other  sections  of  the  State,  except  about  springs  and  streams 
of  water.    The  country  is  chiefly  a  desert.    The  scarcity  of  water 
is  a  noticeable  feature,  but  where  there  is  sufficient  for  irrigation, 
as  in  the  Muddy  and  Las  Vegas  Valleys,  the  farmer  is  abundantly 
rewarded  for  his  labor.     Fruit  trees,  embracing  nearly  every  va- 
riety known  in  both  temperate   and   tropical  climates,  are  culti- 
vated.    Grovving  here  side  by  side  are  seen   the  olive  and  the 
plum,  orange  and  apple,  lemon  and  peach,  fig  and  apricot,  pome- 
granate and  pear,  and  the  walnut  and  pepper.    Grapes  also  grow 
to  perfection.     The  vineyards  produce  as  perfectly  ripened  and 
delicious  grapes  as  the  most  favored  localities  in  California  and 
France.      Cotton  and   sorghum  have  been  cultivated  quite   ex- 
tensively;   one  acre  of   land    yielding  as  much    as  a   thousand 
pounds  of  the   former.      Melons,  squashes  and  beans  also  grow 
abundantly,  as  well  as  corn  and  all  the  smaller  grains.     Some  of 
the  hardier  vegetables,  as  potatoes,  do  not  thrive  so  well.     Two 
crops  are  raised  yearly  on  the  same  land.     It  is  first  sown  in 
small  grains,  as  wheat,  barley,  rye  and  oats,  which  are  harvested 
about  the  first  of  June.     It  is  then  planted  in  corn,  beans,  pota- 
toes, beets,  cabbage,  onions,  squashes,  melons  and  all  other  vari- 
eties of  garden  vegetables.     The  mezquit  bushes,  which  grow  In 
some  of  these  southern  valleys,  furnish  a  very  nutritious  bean, 
which  all  aninials  feed  upon  as  soon  as  the  grasses  die  in  the  fall. 


1 050  OUR     WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

Stock  keep  as  fat  upon  this  feed  during-  the  winter  months  as 
though  fed  upon  hay  and  grain. 

The  tables  on  page  105 1  give  the  latest  reports  yet  published  of 
the  crops  and  live-stock  of  Nevada — the  returns  of  1877  and  1878. 
The  Legislature  has  only  biennial  sessions,  and  the  reports  of  the 
assessors  and  auditor  are  only  made  biennially.  The  amount  of 
arable  land  enclosed  or  reported  as  in  farms,  was,  in  1877,  152,- 
810  acres,  and  in  1S78,  158,097  acres;  only  one  four-hundred-and- 
fifty-fourth  part  of  the  area  of  the  State  ;  and  of  this  small  terri- 
tory— less  than  seven  townships — only  75,743  acres  in  1877,  and 
76,358,  or  not  quite  one-half,  was  under  cultivation.  It  should  be 
said,  however,  that  there  is  no  official  record  of  the  lands  used 
for  grazing  purposes,  and  that  a  moderate  portion  of  these  is 
also  under  cultivation.* 

Manufacturing  Industry. — The  fluctuations  in  the  population 
and  the  mining  industry  of  Nevada  make  it  exceedingly  difficult 
to  determine  the  amount  of  manufacturing  in  the  State  at  any 
given  period.  The  annual  product  of  its  manufacturing  establish- 
ments in  1870  was  reported  at  $15,870,839.  We  doubt  whether  it 
is  as  much  as  that  now,  though  at  some  periods  during  the 
decade  the  amount  may  have  been  twice  as  much. 

There  were  in  1878  fifteen  grist  or  flouring  mills  reported  in 
the  State,  which  were  said  to  have  produced  5,000  barrels  of 
flour  (all  from  Washoe  county,  though  only  one  mill  v/as  reported 
from  that  county,  the  other  fourteen  being  situated  in  other 
counties,  and  the  same  mill  ground   1,500  bushels   of  corn,  all 

*  The  State  Surveyor-General  in  1S79  makes  the  following  approximate  estimate  of  the  area 
of  availaljje  lands  in  Nevada.  It  is,  of  course,  only  an  approximation,  and  may  eventually 
prove  to  be  some  millions  of  acres  out  of  the  way: 

Approximate  area  of  agricultural  land 1,067,653  acres. 

"          "          "          grazing  land 9,708,060  acres. 

"          "         "         timbered  land 1,901,410  acres. 

Mineral  lands i  ,261 ,600  acres. 

Total  of  available  lands  now  known 13,938,723  acres. 

This  is  a  little  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  entire  area  of  the  State  ;  but  it  must  not  be  hnstiiy 
concluded  that  four-fifths  of  Nevada  is  a  desert.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  larger  amount  of  una- 
vailable land  in  the  State  than  in  any  other  State  of  "  Our  Western  Empire ;  "  but  there  will 
eventually  be  found  to  I)e  thirty  or  forty  million  acres  which  can  be  made  valuable. 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTIONS  AND   LIVE-STOCK. 
Agricultur.^l   Productions. 


105 1 


Kind  of  crop. 


Wheat,  bushels. 
Barley,  "     . 

Oats,  "     . 

Rye,  -     , 

Corn,  "     . 

Buckwheat, "  , 
Peas,  "     . 

Beans,  ''     . 

Potatoes,  "  , 
Cabbage,  tons.. 
Hay,  "     . 

Hops,  "     . 

Beets,  "     . 

Turnips,       " 
Butter,   pounds. 
Cheese, 
Wool, 
Grape  vines,  number. 

Wine,  gallons 

Honey,  pounds 


1877. 


Acres. 


8,444 
23,421 

7.233 
109 

449 
II 

24 

46 

4,602 

114 

90.915 

272 


1/ 


1878. 


Acres. 


1877. 


Bushels, 
tons  or 
pounds. 


8,268 
24,267 

6-739 
166 

4,235 

13 
18 

43 

3.575 
117 

91.344 


2/2 


( i 
1 1 


104,603 

546,774 
181,288 

3.035 
10,696 

157 

505 
1,052 

345.900 

459 

105,727 

150 

206 

212 

326,015 

33.900 

577,216 

82,959 
2,010 

15.875 


1878. 


Bushels, 
tons  or 
pounds. 


130,999 
544,059 
98,300* 
3,060* 

11,945 

165 

445 
1,035 

382,397 

421.5 
107,698 

150 
196 

206 

337.925 
36,900 

626,807 

102,450 

2,115 
i6,6So 


Live-Stock. 


1877. 

1878. 

1877- 

1878. 

Animals. 

Number. 

Number. 

Value. 

Value. 

Horses 

29,562 
3.782 

173 

46,879 

98,849 

1,068 

198,911 

4,246 

5.537 

54.170 

5.127 

1,522 

3.997 
1.053 

31.496 
7.646 

175 

50,951 
173,840 

1,032 
211,173 
6,698 
6,080 
56,820 
5.040 
1,510 
4,483 
1,190 

$1,478,000.00 

247,154.00 

1 2, 1 10.00 

1,078,21  7.00 

1,878,131.00 

64,080.00 

397,822.00 

42,460.00 

16,61 1. 00 

21,668.00 

7,690.00 

1,369.80 

2,998.00 

10,530.00 

$1,572,480.00 

499.666.00 

12,250.00 

1,171,873.00 

3,476,800.00 

61,920.00 

443,463.00 

73,678.00 

19,760.00 

28,410.00 

Mules 

Asses 

Milch  cows 

Oxen  and  other  cattle 

Bulls 

Sheep  and  lambs 

Angora  and  Cashmere  goats 
Hogs 

Chickens 

Turkeys 

7,560.00 

1.359-00 

3.362.25 

11,900.00 

Geese 

Ducks 

Hives  of  bees 

Total  values 

$5,307,970.80 

$7,394,491-25 

*  Assessor's  report,  evidently  incomplete. 


1052  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

that  was  reported,  and  5o,ck)0  bushels  of  barley) ;  55,000  bushebs 
of  barley  were  ground  in  other  counties.  This  was  a  falling  off 
from  the  production  of  the  previous  year,  but  this  may  be  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  assessors  in  most  of  the  counties  neglected  to 
report.  There  were  twenty-seven  saw  mills  reported  ;  a  part  of 
these  sawed  27,490,000  feet  of  lumber,  and  made  loo.coo 
shingles.  There  were  eight  planing  and  framing  mills.  There 
were  119  quartz  stamp  mills  in  operation,  six  less  than  the 
previous  year,  and  they  crushed  659,534  tons  of  quartz,  almost 
300,000  tons  less  than  the  year  before  ;  there  were  thirty- four 
smelting  furnaces,  which  smelted  154,651  tons  of  ore,  about 
70,000  tons  more  than  the  previous  year.  Seven  pan  mills  worked 
over  83,563  tons  of  tailings.  Six  borax  mills  were  operated,  but 
how  much  they  produced  is  not  told.  The  other  manufactures 
are  not  reported,  and  we  have  no  key  to  the  value  of  the 
production  of  these.  There  were  seventeen  mining  ditches  in 
operation,  having  a  total  length  of  fifty-seven  miles,  and  eight  of 
them-  used  484  miner's  inches  of  water  daily.  There  were  407 
irrigating  ditches,  having  a  total  length  of  1,491  miles,  and 
irrigating  1 28,004  ^.cres  of  land.  There  were  also  six  wood 
flumes,  fifty-three  miles  in  length,  and  75,000  cords  of  wood  were 
flumed  through  them. 

Railroads. — The  entire  number  of  railroads  in  the  State  was 
fifteen  in  1878.  The  total  length  at  the  close  of  1879  was  about 
685  miles. 

Valuation. — The  assessed  valuation  of  real  and  personal 
estate  in  1878  in  the  State,  with  one  county  (Elko)  missing,  were 
^^26,018,392,  about  ^1,400,000  less  than  that  of  the  previous  year. 
These  amounts  were  absurdly  below  the  real  valuation.  Either 
one  of  the  four  or  five  bonanza  kings  of  the  State  could 
probably  show  an  inventory  exceeding  this  amount,  and  the 
property  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  in  the  State  alone  is 
probably  worth  considerably  more  than  the  entire  assessed 
valuation  of  all  real  property  in  tlie  State. 

Population. — Nevada  is  not  a  State  of  large  population,  and 
since  1870,  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  has  fluctuated  remark- 
ably.    When  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  its  population 


POPULATION  OF  NEVADA. 


1053 


was  far  below  the  usual  requirement,  and  Indeed  has  never  yet 
attained  to  it.  The  almost  exclusive  devotion  of  the  inhabitants 
to  mining  enterprises,  and  the  lact  that  many  of  these  were 
managed  by  foreign  companies,  and  the  employes  were  very 
few  of  them  citizens,  has  aided  in  keeping  the  population  at  a 
low  figure.  The  following  table  gives  the  particulars  of  the 
population  so  far  as  they  are  attainable  : 


1S60 
1870 
1875 

1877 
1878 

iSSo 


o  c 


6,857 
58,734* 
60,543* 
64,164* 
64,334* 
69,065* 


6,137 
32,359t 
37,54it 


42,013 


fa 


720 

IO,II2t 

14.999! 


O 


r:  If] 

o 


6,812     45 
38,959   3,5o9t 
48,127   4,413? 


53,5741     5,988 


«j 

tr. 

n 

u 

c 

»i 

>» 

0 

c 

rt 

.> 

_o 

a 

0 

(U 

rt 

1— < 

^ 

p 

rt 

4,793 

2,064 

0.06 

16,243 

23,690 

18,801 

0.41 

51967 

8,000 
7,000 

6,750 
6,800 



0.66 
0.51 

17.11 
10.03 



0.52 

0.44 

00.06 
7-35 

36,623 

25,642 

o 


m 


<;^  , 

■ex  I 

JS  i 

■gca  ! 

w  1 


500 

6,950 

8,785 

9,465 


5,149 
24,762 


bo's 


1   5.699 

26,920 

29,780 
-   ,  1  3^,8i3f 

9,521 ;  3i,494l[ 

8,274  I 


Indian  Reservations. — The  Indian  reservations  amount  to 
897,815  acres,  but  only  a  very  small  part  of  this  consists  of 
arable  lands. 

Connties  and  Cities. — There  are  fourteen  organized  counties  in 
Nevada,  viz.:  Churchill,  Douglas,  Elko,  Esmeralda,  Eureka, 
Humboldt,  Lander,  Lincoln,  Lyon,  Nye,  Ormsby,  Storey,  Washoe 
and  White  Pine;  of  these  Storey  county,  in  which  is  situated  the 
Comstock  lode,  is  much  the  largest;  of  the  others  only  Eureka 
and  Ormsby  exceed  5,000  inhabitants.  The  principal  cities 
and  towns  are  Virginia  City,  which  has  13,705  inhabitants; 
Gold  Hill  and  Hamilton,  mining  towns,  with  4,000  or  5,000  each; 
Carson  City,  the  capital,  with  about  4,000;  Treasure  City,  Elko, 
Reno  and  Pioche,  with  from  1,500  to  2,000  each. 

Education. — The  State  has  a  moderate  school  fund  from  the 
sale  of  school  lands,  and  the  provision  for  public  school  education 
is  very  good.      Her  fund  will    increase  with  the  growth  of  the 


*  Including  tribal  Indians,  f  E.xcluding  trib.il  Indians.  \  Includes  3,152  Chinese.  \  Includes  3.919  Chinese. 
II  The  number  of  registered  voters  in  1S77  was  17,761,  .nnd  in  1878  17,166,  showing  that  a  large  number  of  those 
of  voting  age  were  aliens. 


1054 


OUR    IVE STERN  EMPIRE. 


State.  In  the  cities  and  towns,  the  schools  are  well  maintained. 
Among  the  scattered  population  of  the  newer  mining  districts 
and  the  grazing  lands  there  is  more  difficulty.  The  only 
institution  for  higher  education  is  the  State  University,  which  has 
not  yet  organized  anything  beyond  its  preparatory  department.  ' 
Rciigioiis  Denominations. — In  1874  there  were  in  Nevada,  as 
reported,  forty-four  church  organizations  of  all  denominations, 
thirty-two  church  edifices,  thirty-seven  clergymen,  priests  or 
ministers,  1,132  communicants,  10,300  adherent  population,  and 
$301,450  of  church  property.  Of  these  the  Roman  Catholics 
claimed  thirteen  church  oro-anizations,  thoucrh  but  seven  church 
edifices  and  six  priests.  They  numbered  all  the  adherents  of 
their  church  as  Catholic  population,  and  reported  them  as  5,000. 
Their  church  edifices  were  the  best  buildines  of  the  kind 
in  the  State,  and  were  valued  at  $134,000,  probably  considerably 
less  than  their  actual  worth.  The  Methodists  came  next  with 
eleven  church  organizadons,  ten  church  edifices,  hwelve  ministers, 
496  communicants,  2,500  adherent  population,  and  church, 
property  reported  at  $76,250.  There  were  nine  Protestant 
Episcopal  Churches,  six  church  edifices,  nine  clergymen,  and  269 
communicants,  with  $48,000  of  church  property.  Next  in  order 
came  Presbyterians,  with  five  churches,  three  church  edifices, 
three  ministers,  169  members,  and  $21,200  of  church  property. 
The  only  other  denominations  reported  were  the  Baptists,  with 
three  churches,  three  church  edifices,  three  ministers,  and 
$16,000  of  church  property  ;  and  the  Congregationalists,  with  one 
churcli,  one  church  edifice,  and  one  minister,  with  twelve 
members,  and  $6,000  of  church  property.  Nevada  could  hardly 
be  called  a  very  religious  commonwealth,  when  less  than  one- 
fifth  of  its  population  were  even  adherents  to  any  form  of 
religion,  and  only  one-fiftieth  were  actual  communicants.  The 
condition  of  things  is  not  much  better  now.  At  that  date  the 
Mormons  had  begun  to  plant  their  communities,  and  teach  their 
doctrines  in  the  mining  districts,  and  now,  six  years  later,  they 
claim  to  have  the  control  there,  and  we  fear  their  claim  is 
just.  This  faith,  which  is  also  an  authority  or  empire,  is  the  sum 
of  all  al^ominations,  and  we  cannot  look  at  its  spread  without 


HISTORICAL   DATA    AND    CONCLUSION.  J05 


•> 


horror  and  disgust.  The  prevalence  of  polygamy,  blasphemy, 
lust  and  murder  in  a  State  like  Nevada,  would  portend  its 
ruin  were  its  mines  a  thousand-fold  richer  than  they  are. 

Historical  Data. — Nevada  is  a  part  of  the  region  acquired 
from  Mexico  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  in  February, 
184S.  It  was  at  first  a  part  of  California  Territory,  and  on  the 
admission  of  that  State  into  the  Union,  was  made  a  part  of  Utah 
Territory.  It  was  set  off  as  the  Territory  of  Nevada,  in  March, 
1 861,  but  had  not  then  so  large  an  area  as  it  has  now.  A  part 
of  its  present  boundaries  on  the  east  were  fixed  in  1862  ;  it  was 
admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State  in  1864,  and  received  some 
further  accessions  of  territory  in  1866.  It  furnished  its  quota  of 
soldiers  to  the  civil  war,  and  sent  material  aid  to  the  Sanitary 
Commission  to  the  extent  of  $51,000. 

Conclusion. — Nevada  does  not  offer  a  very  promising  field  for 
immigration.  Its  great  mining  operations  are  in  the  hands  of 
wealthy  capitalists,  and  are  not  at  the  present  time  very  promis- 
ing; there  are  probably  new  lodes  and  new  placers  which  may 
prove  very  rich ;  but  only  capitalists  will  be  able  to  hold  or  work 
them.  Grazing,  especially  with  herds  of  cattle,  miglit  prove 
better,  but  it  requires  a  large  capital,  and  Wyoming,  Montana, 
Oregon,  Washington  Territory,  and  perhaps  California,  are  so 
much  better  adapted  to  grazing  as  to  leave  but  small  induce- 
ments to  the  stock-o-rower  to  start  here.  Farmincr  in  some  of 
the  fertile  valleys,  or  market  gardening,  would  be  more  feasible, 
for,  with  irrigation,  crops  can  be  raised,  which  will  find  a  good  and 
ready  market  at  home.  But  the  lack  of  any  patriotic  State 
feeling,  and  the  prevalence  of  Mormonism  throughout  the  State, 
make  it  a  State  to  which  immiq^ration  Is  not  desirable. 


1056 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

J^EW  MEXICO. 

Topography — Boundaries  (enlarged  by  the  Gadsden  Treaty) — Extent 
AND  Area — Mountains — Rivers  and  Lakes — Climate — Variety  in  Tem- 
perature— Mr.  Z.  L.  White  on  the  Summer  Climate  of  the  Territory — 
New  Mexico  as  a  Health  Resort — Meteorology  and  Rainfall  of  vari- 
ous Points  in  the  Territory — Geology  and  Mineralogy — Mineral 
Wealth  of  the  Territory — Gold  and  Silver — Other  Metals  and  Min- 
erals— Turquoise — Hot  Springs — Coal — Bituminous,  Lignite  and  True 
Anthracite — Coal  found  in  New  Mexico  of  the  best  Quality  and  in 
Inexhaustible  Quantities — Arable  Lands — Their  Quantity  and  Quality 
— Native  Agriculture — Grazing  Lands — New  Mexico  best  Adapted  to 
Sheep-farming — Number  of  Sheep — Crops  of  1879 — Mining  Industry — 
Governor  Wa'llace  on  the  Mining  Districts — The  Gold  and  Silver 
Production — Objects  of  Interest — The  Canons  and  Terrible  Dark 
Valleys  and  Caves  of  the  Territory — The  Seven  Cities  of  Cibola — 
Evidences  of  Volcanic  Action — Buried  Cities — Abo  and  its  Ruins — 
The  Indian  Skeleton  overwhelmed  by  Volcanic  Ashes — The  Vast 
Crater — Rock  Cities — The  Pueblo  Pottery — How  it  was  and  is  Made 
— The  Zuni  Blankets — Manufactures — Railroads — Great  Development 
OF  Railways — Population — Table — Chief-Justice  Prince  on  the  Three 
Civilizations  Found  There — The  Indian  Tribes — The  Pueblos — The 
Apaches — The  Navajoes — Counties  and  Principal  Towns — Education — • 
Religion  and  Morals — Historical  Data — Conclusion. 

New  Mexico  is  a  central  Territory  of  the  southern  tier  of 
States  and  Territories  of  "Our  Western  Empire."  It  is  a  portion 
of  the  territory  ceded  by  Mexico  by  the  treaty  of  Guadahipe- 
Hidalgo,  in  February,  1848,  and,  previous  to  the  cession,  had 
been  a  State  of  that  republic.  It  was  created  a  Territory  by  Act 
of  Congress,  September  9th,  1S50,  but  the  Territorial  government 
was  not  organized  till  March  i,  1851. 

The  Territory  extends  from  103°  to  109°  of  west .  longitude 
from  Greenwich,  and  from  31°  20'  to  ^'/°  north  latitude.  It  is 
bounded  by  Colorado  on  the  north,  by  Texas  and  the  Indian 
Territory  on  the  east,  Texas  and  Old  Mexico  on  the  south,  and 
Arizona  on  the  west.  It  is  almost  a  perfect  square,  a  small  tract 
projecting  into    Mexico,  which  was  acquired    by  the    Gadsden 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  NEW  MEXICO.  IO57 

treaty,  in  the  southwest,  being  the  only  departure  from  complete- 
ness in  its  proportions.  This  tract  contains  some  noted  mineral 
springs,  but  otherwise  is  not  at  present  known  to  be  of  much 
value.  The  greatest  length  of  the  Territory  from  north  to  south 
is  390  miles,  and  its  greatest  breadth  from  east  to  west  341  miles. 
Its  area  is  121,201  square  miles,  or  77,568,640  acres. 

Moimtain  Chains. — The  mountains  enter  the  Territory  from 
Colorado  in  two  ranges,  the  eastern,  lying  wholly  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  being  a  continuation  of  the  Sangre  de  Cristo,  or  Park 
range,  of  Colorado,  and  continuing  below  the  37th  parallel  under 
the  name  of  the  Raton  Mountains.  The  whole  range  is  high,  and 
numerous  elevated  summits  and  lofty  peaks,  as  well  as  continuous 
ridees  of  oreat  heiirht,  are  found  in  its  course;  but  these  termi- 
nate -abruptly  a  short  distance  below  Santa  Fe,  and  only  an  ele- 
vated and  somewhat  broken  plateau  remains  of  this  range  from 
that  point  to  the  Texan  boundary.  The  other  range,  which 
seems  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  San  Juan  and  Uncompahgre. 
Mountains  of  Colorado,  consists  of  many  detached  mountains  of 
lower  altitude,  with  passes  between  them  of  only  5,000  or  6,00a 
feet  in  height.  They  are  known  in  New  Mexico  as  the  Sierra 
Madre,  and  form  the  connecting  link  between  the  lofty  and  rugged 
mountains  of  Western  Colorado  and  the  equally  lofty  Sierra 
Madre  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  The  various  groups  of  these 
detached  mountains  with  the  valleys  between  them  fill  up  almost 
the  entire  rec^ion  west  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Thouo^h  the  eastern 
mountains  are  much  the  highest,  yet  here,  as  in  Southern  Colo- 
rado, the  western  and  lower  mountains  form  the  water-shed  be- 
tween the  waters  flowing  to  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 
There  are  a  chain  of  hills  of  moderate  elevation  along  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  Rio  Pecos,  which  form  the  boundary  on  the  west  side 
of  the  vast  Llano  Estacado,  or  Staked  Plain. 

Topography. — The  face  of  the  country  is  diversified  by  moun- 
tains, valleys,  plains,  and  high  level  plateaux  or  mesas  ;  similarity 
of  climate,  character  and  resources,  pertaining  to  a  large  portion 
of  the  country,  excepting  in  the  highest  ranges  and  lowest  valleys. 
In  portions  of  the  Territory  the  surface  is  much  broken  and  dis- 
rupted by  chains  of  mountains,  preserving  a  general  direction  of 
67 


1058 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


north  and  south.  Intervening,  there  are  large  areas  of  table 
lands,  bisected  by  many  large  and  small  valleys  of  unsurpassed 
fertility,  and  susceptible  of  the  highest  state  of  cultivation.  The 
valleys  have  a  mean  altitude  above  the  sea  of  4,500  feet,  and  the 
mountains  on  either  side  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  and  Rio 
Pecos  of  6,000  to  8,000  feet.  In  the  more  northerly  j^ortions  of 
the  Territory  they  rise  to  10,000  and  12,000  feet. 

Rivers  and  Lakes. — The  rivers  of  New  Mexico  contribute  to 
both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  slopes.  The  eastern  is  watered  and 
drained  by  the  Canadian  and  its  tributaries  into  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  and  its  tributaries  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  The  western  slope  is  watered  and  drained  by  the 
Colorado  of  the  West  and  Rio  Gila,  and  their  tributaries,  into  the 
Gulf  of  California.  The  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  takes  its  rise  in 
the  high  mountains,  nortli  of  the  boundary  line  of  New  Mexico, 
where  it  is  fed  by  numerous  springs  and  the  meltings  of  the  an- 
nual snows,  and  augmented  by  tributaries,  watering  and  draining 
a  vast  area  of  some  of  the  finest  farmino;  and  o-fazincr  lands  on 
the  continent.  It  flows  south  through  the  western  division  of  the 
Territory,  a  broad,  beautiful  river,  enriching  with  its  turbid  water 
a  valley  more  than  400  miles  long  and  many  miles  in  breadth — 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  for  fertility  and  beauty  in  the  world. 
The  Rio  Pecos,  on^he  eastern  slope  of  the  principal  mountains, 
has  its  source  in  the  mountains  near  Santa  Fe,  watering  and 
draining,  through  its  numerous  tributaries,  an  immense  district 
of  country,  and  flowing  through  its  eastern  division  into  Texas, 
through  a  valley  only  second  in  importance  to  that  of  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte,  with  which  it  forms  a  junction  below  the 
southern  boundary.  The  Canadian  river  flows  to  the  east,  and 
through  its  affluents  waters  and  drains  the  entire  northeastern 
part  of  the  country.  The  Rio  San  Juan,  formed  by  the  Rio  Pie- 
dra,  Rio  Los  Pinos,  Rio  Florida,  Rio  de  Los  Animas,  Rio  Navajo, 
Rio  de  La  Plata  and  other  smaller  streams,  constitutes  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  rivers  in  the  West,  watering  and  draining  all  the 
southwestern  slope  of  the  San  Juan  Mountains.  In  the  south- 
west the  Rio  Mimbres,  Agate  creek.  Bear  creek,  and  the  San 
Francisco  river,  together  with  the  head  waters  of  the  Rio  Gila, 
water  and  drain  the  region. 


THE   NEW  MEXICAN   CLIMATE.  IO59 

East  of  these,  and  flowing-  from  either  side  of  a  system  of 
detaclied  mountains,  occupying  nearly  the  longitudinal  centre 
of  the  Territory,  and  extending  through  its  entire  length  from 
north  to  south,  terminating  in  the  Guadalupe  Mountains  on 
the  borders  of  Texas,  are  a  large  number  of  small  rivers  and 
creeks,  supplying  a  large  area  of  table  lands  and  valleys,  as  well 
as  a  portion  of  the  Terraces  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  Rio  Pecos 
with  pure  living  water.  Besides  these,  almost  every  mountain 
and  hill  is  supplied  with  numerous  springs  of  sparkling  cold 
water ;  also,  there  are  many  good  springs  found  in  the  low  de- 
pressions and  valleys  many  miles  distant  from  the  mountains. 
Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  water  supply  is  far  more  ample 
than  the  casual  observer  or  stranirer  would  infer  from  an  exami- 
nation  of  maps  drafted  years  ago,  or  a  supposidon  derived  from 
vague  reports  of  the  arid  clim.ate  and  light  rainfalls. 

Climate. — There  is  great  diversity  of  climate,  owing  to  differ- 
ences in  latitude  and  altitude  between  different  portions  of  the 
country.  Almost  any  degree  of  temperature  may  be  attained  by 
change  of  locality,  there  being  a  wide  range  of  extremes  in  tem- 
perature. In  the  lower  plateaux,  the  summer  days  are  warm,  but 
not  debilitating,  because  the  atmosphere  is  so  dry  that  perspira- 
tion is  rapidly  absorbed.  The  nights  are  always  cool  and 
bracing.  The  climate  throughout  the  Territory  is  so  mild  and 
equable,  combining  dryness  and  purity,  particularly  so  on  the 
plateaux  of  mean  elevation,  that  many  persons  afflicted  with  pul- 
monary and  other  diseases  of  a  like  character,  have  tested  its 
salubrity  with  marked  benefit,  and  in  many  cases  permanent 
cure.  Those  who  have  lived  in  this  delightful  climate  for  a  few 
years  believe  it  to  be  the  healthiest  location  in  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Zimri  L.  White,  the  able  correspondent  of  the  Nciu  York 
Tribune,  writing  from  the  Territory  in  September,  1880,  says  : 

"  The  summer  climate  of  the  northern  part  of  the  Territory  is 
delightful.  At  Santa  Fe,  which  has  an  altitude  of  about  7,000 
feet,  the  nights  are  always  so  cool  that  heavy  blankets  upon  the 
beds  are  comfortable,  and  the  heat  at  midday,  although  somedmes 
great,  is  never  oppressive.  Americans  here  dress  in  heavy 
woollen  fabrics,  both  for  outside  and  underwear,  at  all  seasons 


Io6o  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  the  year.  I  am  told  that  the  winters  are  mild  and  sunny,  with 
comparatively  little  snow.  The  low  altitudes  in  the  central  and 
southern  portions  of  the  Territory  are  very  hot  and  dry,  but  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere  and  the  ex- 
ceedingly rapid  evaporation,  the  apparent  intensity  of  the  heat  is 
much  reduced.  The  temperature  in  the  mountains  is  always  and 
everywhere  delightful. 

New  Mexico  as  a  Health  Resort. — New  Mexico  has  a  deservedly 
high  reputation  as  a  sanitary  resort  in  pulmonary  diseases,  and 
that  its  real  character  and  the  diseases  which  are  benefited  by  a 
residence  there  may  be  better  understood,  we  present  the  fol- 
lowing testimony  from  eminent  physicians  and  others  long  resi- 
dent in  the  Territory. 

Lewis  Kennan,  M.  D.,  an  eminent  physician  of  Silver  City,  New 
Mexico,  twenty-seven  years  resident  in  the  Territory,  says:  "It 
is  certain  that  even  when  the  lungs  were  irreparably  diseased, 
very  much  benefit  has  resulted.  Invalids  have  come  here  with 
the  system  falling  into  tubercular  ruin,  and  their  lives  have  been  as- 
tonishingly prolonged  by  the  dry,  bracing  atmosphere.  The  most 
amazing  results,  however,  are  produced  in  warding  off  the  ap- 
proaches of  phthisis,  and  I  am  sure  there  are  but  few  cases  which, 
if  sent  here  before  the  malady  is  well  advanced,  would  fail  to  be 
arrested.  Where  hardening  has  occurred  or  even  considerable 
cavities  have  been  detected  in  the  lungs,  relief  altogether  sur- 
prising has  taken  place.  The  lowest  death  rate  from  tubercular 
disease  in  America  is  found  in  New  Mexico,  notwithstanding  the 
large  number  of  cases  of  that  disease  who  resort  thither  for  heal- 
ing. The  census  of  1870  gives  twenty-five  per  cent,  as  the  death 
rate  from  this  disease  in  New  England,  fourteen  in  Minnesota, 
from  five  to  six  in  the  different  Southern  States,  and  three  per 
cent,  in  New  Mexico.  I  have  never  knovv'n  a  case  of  bronchitis 
or  asthma  in  the  Territory  that  was  not  greatly  improved  or 
altoo-ether  cured.  For  rheumatism  and  diseases  of  the  heart 
with  or  without  a  rheumatic  origin,  I  would  not  recommend  this 
climate.  Valvular  difficulty  in  that  organ  is  invariably  made 
worse." 

"The  most  wonderful  effect  of  this  climate,"  says  an  eminent 


A'EW  MEXICO  AS  A   HEALTH  RESORT. 


IO61 


physician,  "  is  seen  in  those  cases  of  general  debility  of  all  the 
functions  of  body  and  mind,  the  used-up  condition.  People  come 
here  in  a  state  of  languor,  having  litde  hope  of  life  and  often  little 
desire  to  live,  and  the  relief  is  so  speedy  as  to  seem  miraculous. 
For  weak  and  broken-down  children  there  is  nothing  like  it  on 
the  face  of  the  earth ;  with  them  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the 
strongest  seems  not  to  prevail  here.  I  have  no  doubt  that  when 
the  means  of  access  to  this  country  are  more  easy,  and  it  is  in 
consequence  better  known,  it  will  rival  or  supersede  Florida, 
Madeira,  Nice,  or  the  much  vaunted  paradise  of  JMentone  as  a 
sanitarium.  The  country  is  far  distant  from  either  ocean  ;  it  is 
absolutely  free  from  all  causes  of  disease."  Distinguished  trav- 
ellers who  have  visited  the  health  resorts  of  all  other  countries 
say :  "The  climate  of  New  Mexico  is  very  salubrious  and  bracino-; 
in  fact  it  is  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  other  Territory  or  State." 
The  following  tables  prepared  from  the  Signal  Service  Reports, 
give  the  particulars  of  the  rainfall  and  temperature  at  different 
towns  in  the  Territory,  and  also  at  El  Paso,  Texas,  which  is  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  just  at  the  southeastern  point  of  the  Gadsden 
Purchase. 

Rainfall  in  New  Mexico  in  1878  and  1S79. 


Year  and  Months. 


Tlu  Year. 


January  . , 
Fcl;iuary  , 
March  . . 
April ..  .  . 
May  .  .  .  . , 
June 


1879. 


J"iy 

August.  .  .  . 
September. 
October..  . 
November. 
December 


1878. 


1) 

o 

T3 
3 


P5    «    O 

<: 


■!< 


inches. 


0.47 
0.26 
0.02 
0.02 
0.03 


0.00 
1.83 

0.07 


/       W    O  4_, 


inches. 
2.96 

0.65 
0.30 
0.00 
0.12 
0.00 
0.08 

o.oi 

1.41 
0.08 

0.00 

0.18 
0.13 


o 

» •  o 

CO  CO 

<:  ""o  3 

I— ]    N  o 

►-!  '^Ji  n 

■— Ji  -  u 

"*  "a  5  — 


inches. 
6.52 

1.20 
0.62 
0.31 
0.03 
0.00 
0.03 

2.06 
0.61 
0.21 
0.09 
1.29 
0.07 


rt  o  — 


•__  coo 

•^  -^00  O 
Ho  O  ON 
,_    C,,    w  C0__ 


-3 

0  ~. 


v8 


vo  O     .^ 
O     2   O 

.5-5i2 

n  5  — 


inches. 
15-79 

0.77 
0.23 
0.15 
0.48 

0.37 
0.51 

3.20 
512 
I  03 
0.00 

315 
0.78 


inches. 
20.77 

2.78 
1. 12 
0.32 

O.OI 

0.00 
o.oS 

3-92 
7.70 
0.27 
0.00 
3.80 
0.77 


inches. 
8.99 

1-57 


o.S 

0.18 

0.07 

0.00 

O.oS 

125 

2-5.=; 
0.66 
1.02 
0.67 
0.1 1 


I062 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


1^    >    2 

tT    "^     ft) 


re  w 

=^  2 

-t  c 

=  ft) 


3 


o 

< 

3 


o 

a- 


3 


> 

c 

c 


i= 


2 

5"  >  •< 

■-«  ^.  5 

z  ^  t 


CO        00        (7t      ^ 
vb       (^       <-n       (>J 


b3        OJ        tn        t/» 


Mean 
Temperature. 


NO 

oo 

CO 

OO 

-^ 

■^ 

o 

•^-J 

CO 

oo 

^0 

O 

\o 

0 

W 

*• 

4^ 

M 

Ul 

o\ 

VI 

^ 

lyi 

CO 

*»4 

Ln 

»^ 

cn 

IMavimiim 
Temperature. 


Cu 

Oi 

N 

N 

1 

i 

M 

OJ 

tn 

tn 

1 

o 

Minimum 

CD 

-t^ 

U 

u» 

Ul 

0 

M 

03 

M 

0 

Temperature. 

Cn 

a^ 

Ol 

o- 

0^ 

OS 

tn 

J>' 

-U 

M 

0 

Range  of 

OJ 

O 

^ 

CO 

03 

ui 

W» 

•^ 

0 

wi 

u» 

0 

Temperature. 

<-n 

Mean 
Humidity. 


Me.Tn 
Barometer. 


> 

H 


> 

r 

r 

o 

—  • 

3 

c 

« 

c 

CI. 

c 

c 

Q. 

Os 

n 

U) 

OO 

0 

o 

"-■ 

Ov 

.». 

s 

O 

to 
o 

o 


Mean 
Temperature. 


Ma.ximum 
Temperature. 


Minimum 
Temperature. 


Range  of 

Temperature. 


O 

H 
O 

> 

O 


"      3      i-t 


i7>        


-^        vO        ui 


g- 


I      Mean 
Temperature. 


Maximum 
Temperature. 


Minimum 
Temperature. 


Range  of 
Temperature. 


r 
<: 
w 

n 

H 

o 


c 


^ 


Mean 
I  Temperature. 


I 

M 

0 

NO 

CO 
00 

00 

"S 

^g- 

o 

NO 

NO 

00 

0 

% 

0 

Maximum 
Temperature. 

s^ 

>** 

Ul 

<>> 

•8 

^ 

t 

t/1 

0 

0\ 

M 

«g> 

^ 

4^. 

0 

Minimum 
Temperature. 

Range  of 
Temperature. 


W 
> 


w 

> 


cn    c/i 

•      p 

>    r 

—     o 


ft) 


c 


a-  2 

U)  O 

■«•  On 

tn  o 


?»> 


MINERAL    WEALTH  OF  NEW  MEXICO.  I063 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  surface  rocks  of  the  great  pla- 
teau, which  comprises  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Territory,  belong 
to  the  cretaceous  period,  except  those  in  the  southwest  and  west, 
which  are  a  part  of  the  plateau  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  and  are  en- 
tirely of  the  eozoic  period.  The  summits  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain system,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  are  also  eozoic, 
but  the  peaks  are  capped  with  metamorphic  rocks,  chiefly  porphy- 
ry, trap  and  basalt.  Besides  these  exceptions,  there  are  three  con- 
siderable tracts  which  are  volcanic,  and  covered  with  lava,  which 
is,  apparently,  only  a  few  centuries  old  ;  the  first  of  these  tracts  is 
in  the  Zuni  Mountains,  between  the  Rio  Puerco  and  the  Rio 
San  Jose,  including  Mount  Taylor ;  the  second  is  east  of  and 
parallel  to  the  Rio  Grande;  it  is  nearly  140  miles  in  length;  the 
third  is  near  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Territory,  along  the 
west  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  extending-  to  the  Rio  Chama. 
The  tract  east  of  the  Rio  Grande  is  called  Alal  Pais  ("  bad  coun- 
try "),  and  besides  the  lava,  has  a  broad  expanse  of  volcanic  sand, 
alternating  with  salt  marshes. 

The  valleys  of  the  Rio  Pecos  and  of  the  Canadian  river  and  its 
branches  are  triassic  or  Jurassic,  and  at  some  points  are  under- 
laid with  coal  at  such  depths  as  to  be  accessible.  The  valley  of 
the  Rio  Grande  above  the  thirty-fifth  parallel  is  tertiary:  below 
that  parallel  it  partakes  of  the  general  character  of  the  plateau, 
and  is  cretaceous.  The  foot-hills  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Qua- 
dalupe  Mountains  are  triassic.  There  are  two  considerable  tracts 
of  tertiary  in  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  Territory,  the  larger 
of  the  two  lying  between  the  head-waters  of  the  Cimmaron  and 
the  north  fork  of  the  Canadian  rivers,  and  the  smaller  between 
two  of  the  affluents  of  the  Canadian. 

Mineral  Wealth. — The  creolocrical  formations  of  New  Mexico 
form  an  extremely  interesting  study,  as  well  on  account  of 
their  peculiarities  as  of  the  vast  quantities  of  minerals,  especially 
the  precious  metals,  which  are  contained  in  some  of  them.  The 
syenitic  rocks  of  the  mountains  which  traverse  the  central  plat- 
eau between  the  Pecos  and  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  carbonifer- 
ous limestones  found  on  the  flanks  and  sometimes  on  the  ridees 
of  these  mountains,  are  both  traversed  by  mineral-bearing  lodes. 


1064  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

In  the  sandstone  formation  beds  of  lignite  and  bituminous  coal 
from  three  to  five  feet  in  thickness  are  found,  alternatinof  with 
layers  of  iron  ore  of  good  quality  and  fire-clay.  In  the  Old  Pla- 
cer Mountains  and  elsewhere,  mines  of  anthracite  of  a  superior 
quality  have  been  opened.  Marls,  gypsum,  and  other  valuable 
earths  are  abundant  and  easy  of  access,  but  little  has  been  done 
to  develop  the  deposits.  Zinc,  manganese,  quicksilver  and  some 
minor  minerals  occur.  In  the  Placer  mountains,  and  at  several 
other  points,  especially  near  Pinos  Altos  and  Embudo,  iron  is 
worked.  Lead  is  found  in  the  Pinos  Altos  mines,  in  the  Organ 
mountains,  and  at  other  points.  Copper  is  even  more  abundant, 
and  some  of  the  mines  yield  large  results.  The  chief  deposits 
worked  are  those  of  the  Manzano,  Magollon,  and  Magdalena 
mountains. 

Turquoise  of  rare  beauty  has  been  found  in  the  Cerillos  Moun- 
tains, about  twenty  miles  southwest  of  Santa  Fe,  and  mines  of  it 
were  worked  with  great  profit  before  the  Indian  revolt  in  1680. 
The  finest  turquoise  in  Europe,  one  of  the  jewels  of  the  Spanish 
crown,  was  obtained  in  these  mountains  more  than  two  centuries 


ac^o. 


Hot  springs  and  other  mineral  springs  of  great  medicinal  virtue, 
abound  in  New  Mexico.  Governor  Wallace  says  that  excellent 
hot  springs  have  been  discovered  at  Fernandez,  in  Taos  county  ; 
at  Las  Vegas,  San  Miguel  county;  at  Ojo  Caliente,  in  Rio  Arriba 
county;  near  Jemez,  in  Bernalillo  county;  near  Fort  McRae,  So- 
corro county  ;  Fort  Selden,  Dona  Ana  county  ;  and  at  Mimbres, 
In  Grant  county.  Those  at  Jemez  arc  probably  unexcelled  in 
the  world.  At  Las  Vegas  elaborate  preparations  are  in  progress 
for  the  care  and  entertainment  of  guests  and  invalids.  Any  and 
all  these  springs  are  equal  in  curative  qualities,  if  not  superior,  to 
those  in  Arkansas.  They  have  certainly  the  attraction  of  an 
unsurpassed  climate. 

In  this  connection  mention  may  be  made  of  the  soda  springs, 
of  which  there  are  several.  One,  east  of  Islcta  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles,  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice  as  yielding  seltzer  quite 
equal  to  the  best  imported  article. 

But  the  chief  mineral  v.-ealth  of  this  rich  Territory  Is  contained 


THE  ANTHRACITE    COAL    OF  NEW  MEXICO.  £065 

In  its  gold  and  silver  mines,  some  of  which  have  been  worked 
since  remote  times.  The  earliest  Spanish  discoverers  found  such 
convincing  proofs  of  the  richness  of  the  gold  and  silver  deposits 
that  they  gave  to  the  country  its  present  name  from  the  resem- 
blance to  the  mineral  res^ions  of  old  Mexico.  Throuijhout  the 
periods  of  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  occupancy  the  precious 
metals  were  worked,  and  even  with  the  rude  appliances  and  de- 
sultory methods  of  those  peoples,  wonderful  results  were  obtained. 
Capital,  abundant  water  power  and  railroad  communication,  are 
the  three  desiderata  for  the  successful  development  of  the  rich 
mines  of  this  country,  which  are  believed  to  rival  the  most  pro- 
ductive deposits  known.  The  chief  gold  fields  now  operated  are 
those  of  Colfax,  Grant,  Santa  Fe  and  Bernalillo  counties,  and  of 
the  Carrizo,  Sierra  Blanca,  Patos,  Jicarilla  and  Magdalena  Moun- 
tains, but  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  regions  in  which  gold 
is  known  to  exist.  So  far  little  more  than  the  placers  have  been 
touched,  while  the  great  resources  of  the  quartz  lodes  still  await 
the  advent  of  machinery,  capital,  and,  above  all,  well-directed 
labor.  The  silver  mines  of  Pinos  Altos,  the  Cerillos,  Sandia  and 
Magdalena  Mountains,  formerly  so  productive,  have  been  worked 
in  a  perfunctory  way,  but  without  any  organized  system  of  pro- 
cedure, and  the  production  is  now  small.  A  few  words  should 
be  said  in  regard  to  the  coal  deposits  of  New  Mexico.  The 
greater  part  of  the  coal  deposits  throughout  "Our  Western  Em- 
pire" are  bituminous,  and  even  where  theyare  called  anthracites, 
they  are  generally  only  a  little  harder  or  denser  veins  of  the  bitu- 
minous coal,  and  at  most  can  be  regarded  as  only  semi-anthracites. 
Some  geologists  have  boldly  declared  that  there  was  no  anthracite 
west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  have  predicted  that  nothing  of 
the  kind  would  ever  be  discovered  there ;  but  they  are  certainly 
in  error.  Whether  the  so-called  antliracites  of  Southwestern 
Colorado,  of  Texas,  of  Arizona  and  of  Utah,  will  prove  to  be 
true  anthracites,  may  be  a  question  until  we  have  more  and  more 
careful  and  thorough  analyses  of  them  ;  but  that  there  is  anthracite 
coal  in  Northwest  Washington  Territory,  and  that  it  is  abundant 
in  New  Mexico,  seems  to  be  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt.     The  only  locality  where  it  has  thus  far  been  found  is 


I066  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

among  the  foot-hills  of  the  Placer  Mountains,  about  thirty  miles 
south-southwest  of  vSanta  Fe.  The  formation  is  tertiary,  but  it 
has  been  subjected  at  various  times  to  volcanic  action,  as  the 
lava  and  metamorphic  rocks  plainly  indicate.  Mr.  Z,  L.  White 
examined  these  coal  deposits  very  carefully  in  August,  1880,  and 
though  previously  faithless  in  regard  to  the  existence  of  anthra- 
cite anywhere  in  this  region,  became  fully  satisfied  that  it  was 
anthracite,  and  of  the  very  best  quality.  The  mines  already 
opened  are  on  the  "Ortiz  Grant,"  and  the  coals  in  this,  of  which 
there  are  twenty-seven  veins,  ranging  from  a  few  inches  to  more 
than  six  feet  in  thickness,  are  easily  accessible.  The  coal  was 
probably  originally  a  lignite  of  excellent  quality  of  the  tertiary, 
but  by  volcanic  action  was  changed  into  anthracite.  Mr.  White 
fortifies  his  opinion  by  the  definition  of  true  anthracite  given  in 
the  best  treatises  on  coal,  and  by  three  analyses  made  by  the  geol- 
ogists of  Lieutenant  Wheeler's  expedition  in  1875,  by  R-  D.  Owen 
and  E.  T.  Cox  in  1865,  and  by  Professor  J,  L.  Leconte  in  1868, 
and  in  a  fourth  column  gives  the  analysis  of  the  Pennsylvania 
anthracites  from  "  Dana's  Mineralogy."  The  economic  impor- 
tance of  this  anthracite  coal  to  the  whole  West,  it  being  very  near 
the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railroad,  must  be  our  apology 
for  devoting  so  much  space  to  it. 

ANALYSES. 

Constituents.                                        W.               O.  &  C.  Lee.  Penna.  Coal. 

Water 2.10             3.50  2.90 

<^as 6.63             4.50  3.18             3.84 

Fixed  Carbon    ....  86,22           87.00  8S.91           87-45 

Ash 5.05             5.00  5.21              7.37 

Totals     .     .     .     100.00         100.00         100.00  98.66 

"True  anthracite  has  a  specific  gravity  of  1.4  to  1.7  ;  its  hard- 
ness is  2  to  2.5  ;  and  it  contains  85  to  93  per  cent,  of  fixed  carbon ; 
and  volatile  matter,  after  drying,  3  to  6  per  cent.  It  is  amorphous, 
of  conchoidal  fracture,  brittle,  has  a  sub-metallic  lustre,  iron  black 
to  grayish  and  brownish  black  color,  and  when  pulverized  forms 
a  black  powder.  It  ignites  with  difficulty  and  at  a  high  tempera- 
ture, but  when  ignited  produces  an  intense  heat.  This  is  an  exact 
description  of  the  coal  in  the  Ortiz  mines." 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTIONS.  1 067 

Agricultural  Productions. — There  are  in    New   Mexico   from 

c_> 

18,000,000  to  20,000,000  acres  of  arable  lands,  or  at  least  that 
much  can  be  brought  under  successful  cultivation,  when  a  judi- 
cious system  of  irrigating  canals  and  reservoirs  shall  have  been 
constructed.  More  than  three-fourths  of  all  the  waters  of  the 
Territory  run  to  waste  at  present.  The  country  is  admirably 
supplied  with  hundreds  of  natural  basins  on  the  elevated  plateaux, 
where  the  water  of  all  or  nearly  all  the  streams  could  be  stored 
by  means  of  canals  and  ditches.  The  water  supplies  would  com- 
mence accumulating  during  the  early  fall,  and  continue  through 
the  winter,  spring  and  early  summer  rises  or  freshets,  from  the 
melting  snow  in  the  high  mountains.  In  this  way  immense  reser- 
voirs could  be  accumulated,  ample  for  all  purposes. 

The  soil  of  the  valleys  throughout  the  Territory  is  a  rich  sandy 
loam,  composed  of  the  disintegrated  matter  of  the  older  rocks 
and  volcanic  ashes.  It  is  light  and  porous  and  of  surprising  fer- 
tility. Corn,  wheat,  oats  and  barley  grow  well  in  all  parts  of  the 
Territory  ;  corn  is  a  staple  product.  The  cereals  do  best  in  the 
northern  districts  and  elevated  plateaux  ;  corn,  vegetables  and  all 
kinds  of  fruit  do  best  in  the  valleys  ;  corn,  in  the  rich  bottoms, 
along  the  principal  streams,  if  well  cultivated,  may  be  made  to 
yield  over  eighty  bushels  per  acre ;  wheat  on  the  uplands  often 
yields  over  fifty  bushels  per  acre,  and  in  portions  of  the  Rio 
Grande  Valley  averages  twenty-five  bushels  under  the  rudest  and 
most  imperfect  culture.'-"^     Farm   lands   in   the  Taos  Valley  and 

*  Mr.  While  says  of  the  native  agriculture  : 

"  The  Mexican  and  Indian  methods  of  harvesting  their  grain  are  very  primitive,  similar,  in- 
deed, to  those  of  Eastern  cou»tries  in  Bible  times.  The  wheat  is  cut  by  hand  with  a  sickle,  and 
taken,  unbound,  in  carts  to  the  threshing-floor.  This  consists  of  a  round  plat  of  level  ground  in 
an  elevated  place,  fifty,  one  hundred,  or  two  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  as  the  farm  is  a  large  or 
small  one,  the  surface  of  which  is  pounded  or  trodden  as  hard  as  a  cement  floor.  Around  the 
edges  of  this,  tall  poles  are  set  in  the  ground  five  or  six  feet  apart,  forming  a  circle.  The  un- 
threshed  grain  is  piled  up  loosely  in  the  centre,  and,  when  everything  is  ready,  a  thin  layer  is 
raked  down  between  the  central  pile  of  grain  and  the  circle  of  poles,  and  then  a  flock  of  goats 
or  sheep,  or  sometimes  of  burros,  or  ponies,  is  driven  around  over  the  grain  until  it  has  all  been 
beaten  out  of  the  heads  by  their  feet.  The  straw  is  then  thrown  outside  of  the  circle  of  poles, 
and  the  wheat  pushed  up  toward  the  centre.  Another  lot  of  the  unthreshed  grain  is  then  raked 
down,  and  the  operation  repeated  until  the  whole  is  threshed.  I  was  forcibly  reminded  of  the 
Scriptural  injunction  which  forbade  the  Hebrews  to  muzzle  the  ox  that  trod  out  the  grain.  The 
winnowing  is  also  done  in  the  Biblical  way.  After  the  wheat  has  been  separated  from  the 
straw,  it  is  gathered  up  into  a  heap,  and  when  a  biisk  breeze  arises  it  is  thrown  into  the  air  in 


iq58  our  western  empire. 

in  the  vicinity  of  Santa  Fe  have  been  under  cultivation  over  200 
years,  and  in  all  that  time  not  one  ounce  of  fertilizing  material 
has  been  used  to  enrich  them;  yet  there  is  no  perceptible  dimi- 
nution in  crops.  The  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  for 
400  miles  in  length,  averaging  five  miles  in  breadth,  can  all  be 
irri(Tated  with  the  turbid  water  of  the  stream  from  which  its 
name  is  derived.  This  stream,  like  the  Nile,  is  the  sole  reliance 
of  the  farmer;  the  water  is  turbid  with  sediment,  one-fifth  of  its 
weight  at  high  water.  At  such  times,  each  irrigation  is  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  a  coat  of  the  richest  fertilizer.  El-Paso  Valley 
has  been  cultivated  in  this  w-ay  over  265  years. 

The  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  is  admirably  adapted 
to  grape  culture :  there  is  probably  no  part  of  the  world  where 
all  the  conditions  of  soil,  humidity  and  temperature  are  united  to 
produce  this  delicious  fruit  In  greater  perfection.  The  frosts  of 
winter  are  just  severe  enough  to  destroy  insects  without  injuring 
the  vines,  and  the  rains  seldom  fall  at  the  season  when  the  plant  is 
flowering,  or  when  the  fruit  is  coming  into  maturity,  and  liable  to 
rot  from  exposure  to  moisture  ;  as  a  result,  the  fruit,  when  ripe, 
has  a  thin  skin,  scarcely  any  pulp,  and  is  devoid  of  the  musky 
taste  usual  with  American  grapes.  Grapes  do  well  also  on  the 
lower  valley  of  the  Pecos,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
Territory. 

Mr.  White  says  of  the  grape  culture;  "Grapes  constitute  one 
of  the  principal  crops  of  the  Rio  Grande  Valley.  The  commonest 
variety  is  the  Muscat,  from  which  a  very  good  wine  is  made. 
The  vineyards  look  like  plantations  of  currant  bushes,  the  vines 

the  teeth  of  the  wind,  which  blows  away  the  chaff  while  the  wheat  fails  by  itself  on  the  clean 
floor.  At  a  distance  the  flying  chaff  looks  like  steam  escaping  by  successive  puffs  from  the  ex- 
haust pipe  of  an  engine. 

"  The  Mexicans  and  some  of  the  Indians  are  beginning  to  adopt  modern  farming  implements, 
and  in  a  few  years  iron  ploughs  will  probably  have  replaced  the  wooden  ones  that  have  been  in 
use  here  for  centuries,  and  which  are  exactly  like  those  with  which  the  Egyptians  cultivated 
the  valley  of  the  Nile  in  the  time  of  Moses.  I  saw  one  of  these  ploughs,  but  as  this  is  not  the 
season  when  the  ground  is  broken  up,  I  have  had  no  ojiporlunity  to  observe  its  use.  It  consisted 
simply  of  a  crooked  stick,  upon  the  point  of  which  an  iron  point  was  fastened  by  means  of  raw- 
hide thongs.  The  Pueblo  Indian  carts  are  also  curiosities.  Not  a  scrap  of  iron  is  used  in  their 
manufacture.  The  wheels  are  discs  made  of  boards,  with  a  clumsy  wooden  hub  on  the  outside. 
The  tire  is  of  raw-hide,  and  the  body  of  the  cart  is  constructed  of  poles  rudely  framed 
Icgctliei  " 


VEGETABLES  IN  NEW  MEXICO.  I06g 

being-  planted  In  rectang-ular  order,  and  trained  in  the  form  of 
shrubs.  The  fruit  is  delicious,  like  that  of  California,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  wine  crop  of  the  valley  will,  before  many 
years,  become  one  of  the  largest  and  most  profitable  in  the 
Territory.  Archbishop  Lamy,  who  is  a  native  of  France,  and 
who,  during  the  almost  third  of  a  century  of  his  residence  here, 
has  travelled  thousands  of  miles  every  year  among  the  Mexican 
and  Indian  population  of  New  Mexico,  told  me  that  no  part  of 
California  is  better  adapted  for  the  culture  of  grapes  and  the 
manufacture  of  wine  than  the  Rio  Grande  V'alley.  The  natives 
tread  out  the  juice  of  the  g-rapes  with  their  feet,  as  did  the 
slaves  in  the  great  vineyards  of  classic  times. 

"The  orchards  of  the  valley  are  remarkably  thrifty  and  prolific, 
and  the  fruit  is  large  and  fair.  I  never  saw  apple  trees  that 
were  apparently  so  free  from  disease.  The  bark  was  as  bright 
as  though  the  trunks  of  the  trees  had  been  washed  in  lye.  The 
peach  and  plum  trees  are  large  and  full  of  fruit.  The  orchards 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  planted  with  much  regularity,  but 
the  trees  seem  to  have  been  stuck  down  by  the  side  of  the 
acequias,  wherever  they  were  certain  to  have  plenty  of  water." 

Cabbages  grow  finely,  often  weighing  from  thirty  to  sixty 
pounds  each.  Onions  also  grow  very  large,  weighing  from  one 
to  two  pounds  each;  those  raised  in  the  Raton  Mountains  are 
said  to  possess  the  finest  flavor.  Irish  potatoes  are  grown  in 
the  northern  districts,  where  they  yield  enormously.  Sweet 
potatoes  are  raised  In  the  Mesilla  Valley,  and  at  Fort  Stanton,  on 
the  Rio  Bonito  and  Ruidoso,  in  Lincoln  county. 

Beets,  radishes,  turnips,  parsnips  and  carrots  grow  well  every- 
where. Beans,  peas  and  tobacco  are  also  grown  successfully ; 
beans  to  the  native  population  arc  what  the  potato  is  to  the  Irish. 
Apples  do  well  In  almost  all  parts  of  the  country.  Peaches,  pears 
and  apricots  do  well  from  Bernalillo  down  ;  also  on  the  Pecos 
from  Anton  Chico  down  ;  melons  of  all  kinds  ei'ow  to  laree 
proportions,  and  of  the  most  delicious  flavor. 

Not  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  valleys  of  the  Rio  Grande  or 
Pecos  are  occupied  or  cultivated.  The  same  may  be  said  of  an 
hundred  other  valleys  and  terraces  along  the  large  streams,  and 


lO^O  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

especially  so  of  the  hig-her  plateaux.  The  most  extensive  settle- 
ments are  conhned  to  the  valleys  of  the  principal  streams. 
Those  of  the  Rio  Grande,  Pecos,  and  Mora  contain  the  majority, 
the  balance  being  located  in  the  small  valleys  and  isolated 
districts,  in  and  near  the  mountains,  where  their  pursuits  are 
divided  between  acrriculture  and  stock-raisinor. 

o  o 

The  only  forage  crop  of  the  grasses  that  has  been  attempted 
here  is  "Alfalfa,"  the  Chilian  or  California  clover ;  when 
cultivated  it  yields  an  enormous  crop.  It  grows  well  throughout 
the  Territory,  and  in  the  southern  districts  often  yields  three 
crops  per  annum.  In  a  country  where  there  is  such  a  profusion 
of  nutritious  grasses,  as  are  indigenous  to  the  mesas  and 
mountain  slopes,  it  is  not  necessary  to  cultivate  forage  crops, 
except  for  the  sustenance  of  farm  animals,  and  those  in  use 
in  the  towns.  Thousands  of  tons  of  erama  erass  are  cut 
annually  to  supply  the  demands  of  military  posts  and  stage 
stations. 

As  a  sample  of  what  can  be  done  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  beautiful  Mesilla 
Valley ;  it  is  seventy  miles  long,  and  embraces  280  square 
miles,  or  179,200  acres,  or  560  farms  of  320  acres  each.  It  is 
one  of  the  richest  and  most  delightful  valleys  in  the  world. 
There  are  farmers  who  settled  in  this  valley  only  fifteen  years 
ago,  widiout  one  dollar  to  start  with,  who  to-day  are  worth  from 
^50,000  to  ^60,000,  and  every  dollar  of  it  made  from  the 
products  of  the  soil.  It  is  the  rival  of  any  portion  of  California 
in  the  raising  of  all  kinds  of  fruit,  and  as  to  grapes  it  is  not  sur- 
passed by  any  district  in  the  world.  In  the  coldest  season  the 
thermometer  never  falls  lower  than  15°  above  zero.  Snow  is 
scarcely  ever  seen.  It  is  a  district  that  needs  only  to  be  seen  to 
be  appreciated. 

The  most  valuable  timber  In  New  Mexico  Is  the  pine, — Its 
growth  principally  confined  to  the  mountain  districts  and  high 
rolling  lands.  Pitch,  yellow  and  spruce  varieties  grow  to  a  large 
size,  and  make  excellent  lumber.  Cottonwood,  walnut,  locust, 
box-alder  and  sugar  tree  fringe  the  streams  and  canons  of  the 
mountains.     Also  live  oak  of  small  size,  and  a  peculiar  species 


SHEEP-FARMING   IN  NEW  MEXICO. 


107 1 


of  cedar,  called  here  "juniper."  It  grows  on  the  upland,  and  to 
large  size,  throughout  the  southern  half  of  the  Territory.  The 
nut-pine,  or  pinon,  is  abundant,  and  makes  good  charcoal  and 
fire-wood.     The  timber  supply  is  ample  for  all  purposes. 

Stock- Raising. — Though  not  as  arid  as  Arizona,  good  water, 
even  in  the  mountains,  is  very  scarce.  On  the  plains  and  mesas 
and  in  the  valleys,  running  water  is  seldom  seen,  and  when  it  is 
found,  it  is  so  strongly  charged  with  alkali  as  not  to  be  drinkable. 
It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  travel  thirty  or  forty  miles  with- 
out seeing  a  spring  or  a  drop  of  water  in  the  river  courses 
Cattle,  horses  and  sheep  on  the  ranges  often  habitually  go  twc 
or  three  days  without  water.  About  twice  a  week  they  get 
around  to  some  spot  where  the  bed-rock  of  a  stream  rises  to  the 
surface  bringing  the  water  with  it,  remain  in  the  vicinity  over 
night,  and  then  wander  off  perhaps  twenty-five  miles,  returning 
again  about  the  third  day. 

Cattle  and  sheep-raising  is  carried  on  very  successfully  over 
large  areas  in  New  Mexico,  and  although  the  grama  grass  is  so 
thin  that  it  will  not  support  as  many  animals  to  a  thousand  acres 
as  the  bunch  grass  of  the  more  northern  Territories,  it  furnishes 
a  wonderfully  nutritious  food,  and  the  country  is  by  no  means 
fully  stocked.  There  is  great  room  for  improvement  in  the 
grade  of  all  kinds  of  stock,  but  even  now  the  business  of 
grazing  is  a  remarkably  profitable  one.  The  markets  of  Kansas 
and  Colorado  are  easily  accessible  to  New  Mexican  stock-men, 
and  this  has  given  a  great  impetus  to  the  business. 

While  there  are  considerable  tracts  in  which  cattle  will  do  well, 
and  the  raising  of  beeves  for  the  market  may  yet  become  a  very 
profitable  industry  in  New  Mexico,  yet  for  the  present  and 
probably  for  many  years  to  come  it  will  be  pre-eminently  the 
country  for  sheep-farming.  The  number  of  sheep  in  the 
Territory  is  probably  not  less  than  two  millions,  of  which  half  a 
million  or  more  are  owned  by  the  Navajoes,  an  Indian  tribe 
occupying  its  western  and  northwestern  portions. 

The  Hon.  J.  Francisco  Chaves,  late  a  delegate  In  Congress 
from  New   Mexico,  in  a  letter  to  General   Brisbin,  the  author  ot 
"The   Beef  Bonanza,"  written  the  past  summer,  says  of  sheep- 
farming  in  New  Mexico; 


J 07 2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"Without  having  the  data  before  me,  and  only  judging  from 
what  I  know  of  the  Territory  and  of  the  large  sheep-owners  in  it, 
I  am  satisfied  that  I  do  not  overestimate  the  number  in  stating 
them  at  1,500,000  head  of  ewes.  The  climate  is  exceedingly 
temperate  and  salubrious ;  no  diseases,  much  less  those 
affecting  the  skin  or  hoofs,  being  known.  Sheep  in  our  Territory 
are  herded  and  grazed  from  one  portion  of  the  Territory  to 
another  during  the  same  year,  thus  adopting  what  maybe  termed 
the  mio'ratory  plan.  The  climate  is  dry  and  the  soil  is  gravelly, 
producing  the  most  nutritious  grasses  and  shrubs.  Of  the 
former  the  grama  and  bunch  grass,  of  which  there  are  two 
or  three  different  varieties,  and  the  latter  the  various  kinds  of 
sa(~^e,  which  make  the  best  and  most  nutritious  of  browsinq-,  and 
a  laroe  amount  of  underbrush  and  seed  qrass  in  the  mountains. 
Were  it  net  for  the  insecurity  of  life  and  property  caused  by  the 
wild,  marauding  tribes  of  Indians,  especially  the  Navajoes,  but  a 
few  years  would  elapse  before  New  Mexico's  hills  and  plains 
would  be  literally  covered  with  fleecy  flocks.  It  is  but  a  few  years 
back,  andactually  within  my  own  personal  recollection,  when  nearly 
1,000,000  sheep  were  actually  driven  to  market  to  southern 
Mexico  from  our  Territory.  At  that  time  sheep  were  worth 
but  twenty-five  cents  per  head,  and  all  those  engaged  in  the 
business  made  money.  That  prosperity  in  the  history  of  New 
Mexico  was  superinduced  by  twelve  years  of  unintermitted 
peace  with  the  Navajoes.  A  sheep-raiser  in  New  Mexico  can 
safely  calculate  on  an  increase  of  eighty  per  cent,  at  least.  A 
sheep-raiser  in  New  Mexico,  notwithstanding  the  coarse  quality 
of  wool  of  the  present  flock,  can  herd  his  sheep  and  make  a 
profit  from  the  product  of  his  wool,  and  have  all  the  increase  of 
his  stock  in  addition  thereto.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
New  Mexico  can  fairly  compete  with  Australia,  South  Africa 
and  South  America,  in  the  production  of  cheap  wool.  These 
statements  may  appear  to  you  somewhat  exaggerated,  but  I 
assure  you,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  are  within  the  limits  of 
reasonable  bounds.  I  was  born  and  raised  in  New  Mexico,  my 
friends  and  relations  have  always  owned  sheep,  and  I  myself 
have  to  a  large  extent  been  an  owner  of  that  kind  of  property, 
and  therefore  speak  from  personal  experience." 


SHEEP-FARMING   IN  NEW  MEXICO.  1073 

Sheep,  and  especially  ewes,  are  largely  sold  from  New  Mexico 
to  other  States  and  Territories  to  form  the  basis  of  flocks  there. 
They  are  sold  at  a  low  price,  from  $1.50  to  ^2  each.  They 
are  small,  and  yield  only  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  pounds  of 
a  coarse  wool,  which  will  bring  usually  only  from  eighteen  to 
twenty-two  cents  a  pound.  By  breeding  them  with  pure  Merino, 
Cotswold,  Leicester  or  Lincoln  bucks,  the  size  is  soon  increased, 
and  the  quality  of  the  wool  is  greatly  improved.  As  yet  but  little 
attention  is  paid  in  New  Mexico  to  improving  the  breeds,  and 
hence  the  wool  crop  there  is  not  nearly  as  valuable  as  it  might 
easily  be  made.  The  immia-rants  who  are  comino-  into  the  coun- 
try  in  such  numbers  are  giving  more  attention  to  improving  their 
stock.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  sheep-farming  will  soon 
become  a  profitable  and  extensive  industry  in  the  Territory;  but, 
like  everything  else  which  is  to  be  made  profitable,  the  sheep- 
farmer  must  give  it  his  close  personal  attention.  Beginning  with 
a  capital  of  about  ;^5,ooo,  and  giving  strict  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness, improving  his  flocks  as  rapidly  as  possible,  the  wool-grower 
may  in  ten  years  find  himself  worth  from  ^60,000  to  ^75,000,  and 
with  constantly  increasing  profits  from  that  time  forward.  Hon. 
Henry  M.  Atkinson,  Surveyor-General  of  New  Mexico,  in  his  re- 
port dated  August  27,  1879,  gives  the  following  summary  of  the 
agricultural  and  pastoral  condition  of  the  Territory.  We  think 
his  estimate  of  the  number  of  sheep  must  be  exaggerated,  or  it 
is  possibly  a  misprint ;  but  we  give  it  as  stated.  The  number  is 
undoubtedly  larger  than  has  been  supposed,  but  this  estimate 
makes  New  Mexico  exceed  both  California  and  Texas  in  the 
number  of  its  flocks  : 

"  The  crops  of  last  year  were  good  throughout  the  Territory, 
and  a  largely  increased  acreage  was  sown  over  that  of  any  previ- 
ous year  in  its  history;  and  widi  the  rapid  influx  of  population, 
new  and  previously  unexplored  and  uninhabited  sections  are 
being  settled  and  subjected  to  cultivation. 

"The  native  wine  product  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  in 
this  Territory  alone,  is  reliably  estimated  at  240,000  gallons  the 
past  year,  and  in  a  few  years  that  stream  will  be  properly  desig- 
nated as  the  Rhine  of  America.     Large   crops  of  corn,  wheat, 

68 


I074  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

apples,  peaches,  apricots,  pears  and  other  fruits  were  raised  during 
the  year. 

"The  business  of  stock-raising  is  most  successfully  and  profit- 
ably engaged  in,  as  no  feeding  is  required  during  the  winter 
season,  the  stock  subsisting  entirely  upon  the  rich  and  nutritious 
grasses  so  abundant  in  the  Territory.  It  is  estimated  that  there 
are  500,000  head  of  cattle  and  10,000,000  sheep  in  New 
Mexico." 

Alining  Industry. — We  have  given  under  the  head  oi  nmieral 
wealth  full  particulars,  so  far  as  known,  concerning  the  presence 
of  the  precious  and  other  metals  in  the  Territory;  but  we  add, 
on  the  authority  of  Governor  Wallace  and  Z.  L.  White,  Esq.,  a 
few  particulars  in  regard  to  the  mining  districts  and  mines  in 
actual  operation.  Governor  Wallace  says  of  the  silver  mining 
districts:  "The  best  known  districts  at  this  time  are  the  Bremen 
mines,  near  Silver  City;  the  Shakspeare  mines,  in  Grant  county; 
the  Sandia  district,  in  Bernalillo  county ;  the  Socorro  district,  in 
Socorro  county ;  the  Cerillos,  twenty-two  miles  southwest  of 
Santa  Fe.  The  San  Juan  country,  in  the  north  part  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, and  the  Nogal,  Capitan,  Sierras  Blancas,  and  Iccarilla 
Mountains,  in  Lincoln  county,  are  all  attracting  a  great  deal  of 
attention." 

The  gold  districts  are :  The  Moreno  mines,  on  Ute  creek, 
Colfax  county.  One  mine  proprietor  carries  water  to  his  claims 
near  Elizabethtown,  by  ditch  and  flumes  forty-two  miles.  At 
Pinos  Altos  extensive  work  (quartz  mining)  is  going  on  with 
good  returns.  In  this  district,  gold,  silver,  copper,  zinc,  lead  and 
plumbago  are  all  obtainable. 

The  old  placers  (Spanish  placeres)  are  situated  twenty-six  miles 
southwest,  or,  rather,  south-southwest,  from  Santa  Fe.  In  these 
placers  there  are  also  quartz  lodes  which  are  believed  to  be  very 
valuable.  The  Ortiz  mine  grant,  described  by  Mr.  Z.  L.  White, 
occupies  a  portion  of  this  district,  and  is  now  preparing  to  work 
some  of  these  placers,  and  bringing  water  from  the  Galisteo  river 
by  extensive  hydraulic  structures,  to  work  them  successfully. 

The  new  placers  are  ten  miles  south  of  the  old  placers.  The 
San    Pedro  mine  and  the  Canon  del  Agua  property,  with  which 


GOLD  AND   SILVER   MINES  IN  NEIV  MEXICO.  1075 

General  Grant's  name  has  been  connected,  and  in  which  we  be- 
lieve one  of  his  sons  is  a  director,  is  in  this  region,  and  covers 
40,000  acres,  including  2,600  acres  of  the  new  placers,  and  nu- 
merous veins  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead  and  zinc  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  warrant  extensive  mining  operations.  For  these 
mines  and  placers  there  are  now  building  extensive  dams  and 
reservoirs,  guaranteed  to  deliver  at  least  6,336,000  gallons  of 
w-ater  daily.  Both  these  districts  are  easily  accessible  by  way  of 
the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway,  and  their  products 
can  be  sent  to  market  at  small  cost. 

Silver  City,  in  the  Mesilla  Valley,  in  Grant  county,  is  one  of 
the  best  mining  districts  in  New  Mexico.  The  Sierra  Diablo 
range  at  the  northeast,  and  the  Burro  Mountains,  southwest  of 
the  town,  have  many  leads  of  gold,  silver  and  copper.  These 
mines  produce  largely  every  year.  The  Animas  Peak  district,  in 
Dona  Ana  county,  is  one  recently  discovered  and  of  great  pro- 
mise. Hillsborough,  on  the  line  of  Dona  Ana  and  Grant  coun- 
ties, is  another  new  discovery.  The  Jicarilla  gulches,  between 
the  mountains  of  the  same  name,  in  Lincoln  county,  are  very  rich, 
and  need  only  an  abundance  of  water  to  take  rank  with  the  best 
producing  placers  of  California  and  Montana.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  gold  gulches  in  the  Nogal  Mountains,  and  of  the 
placers  near  Fort  Stanton,  in  the  same  county.  The  new  placers, 
already  mentioned,  are  in  Bernalillo  county ;  but  aside  from  these 
rich  veins  of  gold  and  silver  have  been  discovered  in  the  Sandia 
and  Manzana  Mountains  (the  latter  partly  In  Valencia  county). 
and  in  or  near  Albuquerque,  all  in  Bernalillo  county ;  in  the  Zuni 
Mountains,  in  the  western  part  of  Valencia  county;  in  the  Mada- 
lena  Mountains,  in  Socorro  county,  where  some  rich  silver  lodes 
have  been  traced ;  in  the  western  part  of  Rio  Arriba  county,  in 
the  valleys  and  gulches  of  the  Chusca  Mountains;  in  Taos  county, 
both  around  the  head  waters  of  the  affluents  of  the  San  Juan  in 
the  west,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Taos,  on  the  main  Rocky  Moun- 
tain range;  and  In  Colfax  county,  in  the  Moreno  district,  and  else- 
where. There  can  be  litde  doubt  that  crold  or  silver,  or  both, 
will  be  found  In  Mora  and  San  Miguel  counties,  on  the  eastern 
slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  if  not  elsewhere.     If  tliese  dis- 


,0^6  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

coveries  are  made,  every  county  of  New  Mexico  will  have  its 
minino-  districts  of  the  precious  metals.  The  gold  and  silver  pro- 
duction of  the  Territory  is  much  less  than  it  should  be,  and  far 
below  what  it  will  be,  now  that  capital,  railroads  and  water  con- 
tribute to  its  rapid  development.  From  ^3,000,000  to  ^5,000,000 
has  been  the  maximum  yield  for  the  past  twenty  or  twenty-five 
years. 

Objects  of  Interest  in  the  Territory. — These  are  of  various 
kinds,  archaeological,  ethnological,  fossil,  volcanic,  and  the  re- 
sults of  glacial  and  erosive  action  of  water.  All  that  portion  of 
New  Mexico  lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  belongs  to  the 
great  valley  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada, which  extends  from  Idaho  and  the  eastern  part  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  Territory  through  Utah  and  Nevada,  Western 
Colorado,  Western  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  into  Mexico,  and 
terminates  alone  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  It 
is  a  land  of  lofty  mesas,  deep  and  rugged  canons,  precipitous 
mountains,  and  hot,  dry  plateaux;  a  land  of  frequent  drought, 
and  of  terrible  volcanic  action  in  the  past,  and  perhaps  the  not 
distant  past.  There  are  deep  valleys,  where  no  water  capable  of 
sustaining  life  is  to  be  had,  but  where  alkaline  and  sulphurous 
vapors  rise  continually,  and  lofty,  perpendicular  walls  of  por- 
phyry and  trachyte  forbid  escape,  yet  to  remain  there  for  any 
considerable  time  is  certain  death.  Of  such  as  these  are  the  Death 
Valley,  in  Southeastern  California,  the  Jornada  del  Muerto  of 
New  Mexico,  and  the  Mai  Pais  of  the  same  Territory  ;  while  evi- 
dences of  the  destruction  of  former  inhabitants  by  sudden  volcanic 
eruptions,  more  fatal  and  extensive  than  that  of  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii,  is  not  wanting.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
these  overwhelmed  cities  is  that  of  Abo,  in  the  Manzana  Moun- 
tains, about  a  hundred  miles  south  of  Santa  Fe,  in  Valencia 
county,  eighteen  miles  east  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  Railway,  and  perhaps  twenty  miles  from  the  Rio  Grande.  It 
was  discovered  by  Messrs.  H.  J.  Patterson  and  J.  H.  Mackley 
during  the  summer  of  1S80.  Messrs.  Patterson  and  Mackley 
are  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  who  have  been  exploring  New  Mexico 
for  mining  properties  for  some  months  past.  The  following  are 
the  principal  points  in  their  narrative: 


ABO,    THE    LAVA-BURNED    CITY.  JO77 

Manzana  Mountains  mean  Apple  Mountains.  There  is  a 
noble  spring-  of  water  called  the  Abo  spring-,  which  is  shaded  by 
two  immense  cottonwood  trees  on  each  side.  There  are  no  in- 
habitants in  the  vicinity,  but  everywhere  there  are  evidences  of 
the  former  existence  of  a  dense  population.  There  are  seen  the 
ruins  of  a  large  church  or  temple,  covering  one  acre  of  ground. 
Mr.  Patterson  paced  it  off,  and  found  it  to  be  seventy  paces 
square.  The  walls  that  remain  are  sixty  feet  high.  The  roof  has 
long-  since  caved  in,  and  the  interior  of  the  enclosure  is  filled  with 
debris.  The  thickness  of  the  wall  at  the  base  is  about  ten  feet. 
Mr.  Patterson  brought  away  a  piece  of  one  of  the  timbers  that 
protruded  from  the  walls.  It  is  of  what  is  called  in  that  country 
the  pinon  tree,  a  sf)ecies  of  pine,  and  is  as  sound  as  when  taken 
from  the  tree.  There  are  on  one  side  of  the  piece  of  timber  some 
rude  figures,  one  of  the  All-Seeing  eye,  representing  probably 
the  sun.  Other  figures  are  deeply  indented  in  the  wood,  as  if 
made  by  anything  but  a  sharp-edged  tool.  Mr.  Patterson  says 
that  he  found  stone  hammers,  but  nothing  in  the  shape  of  sharp- 
edored  or  steel  tools.  There  are  small  furrows  seen  in  the  wood, 
as  if  plowed  out  with  a  stone  gouge.  The  building  evidently 
belonged  to  a  style  of  architecture  anterior  to  the  adobe  and 
dried  brick  period.  Mr.  Patterson  inclines  to  the  opinion  that 
the  locality  was  the  site  of  one  of  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola,  men- 
tioned by  the  Spanish  chroniclers,  the  author  of  which  traversed 
the  country  after  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  among  which  were  the 
cities  of  Camelone,  Grand  Cavra,  Santa  Cruz,  Puerto  de  Abo,  the 
Abo  and  the  old  Pecos,  and  another  situated  a  few  miles  west  of 
Abo  in  the  lava  beds.  Mr.  Patterson  asserts  that  the  old  city  in 
question  was  never  until  quite  recently  explored  by  white  men. 

Another  specimen  brought  by  these  gentlemen  Is  a  human 
skull,  evidently  that  of  a  young  female,  as  shown  by  the  teeth, 
which  was  exhumed  about  lialf  a  mile  from  the  church.  Skulls 
are  quite  plentiful  among  the  old  ruins  in  the  vicinity.  About 
five  miles  from  the  Abo  Springs  they  have  discovered  some 
ancient  silver  diggings.  They  were  brought  to  light  in  this 
wise :  some  three  months  ago  a  gentleman  named  Livingston, 
who  was  engaged  in  mining  operations  at  the  White  Oaks,  lost 


jQ-8  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

some  stock  and  went  in  search  of  it  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Manzana  Mountains.  While  here  a  Mexican  handed  him  a 
piece  of  ore  for  examination,  which  he  stated  he  had  found  in 
the  hills  of  the  vicinity,  but  the  exact  locality  he  declined  to 
indicate.  Mr.  Livingston,  on  his  return  to  White  Oaks, 
showed  the  specimen  to  some  friends  in  camp,  among  whom 
were  Messrs.  Patterson  and  Davidson.  They  left  White  Oaks 
with  a  complete  outfit  to  explore  the  Manzana  range,  and  were 
amply  rewarded  in  the  discoveries  made.  Right  below  the  old 
mines  they  found  twenty-two  old  smelters,  and  there  were  acres 
covered  with  the  slag,  some  specimens  of  which  Mr.  Patterson 
brincjs  with  him.  The  smelters  were  built  of  adobe,  or  sun-dried 
bricks,  and  were  elevated  some  twenty  or  thirty  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  ground. 

In  dit'-<^nn""  down  thev  found  the  remains  of  charcoal,  which 
was  used  for  fuel  by  the  old  smelters.  There  were  also  seen 
the  remains  of  an  aqueduct,  in  which  water  was  conveyed  from 
a  spring  three-fourths  of  a  mile  distant  to  a  dam  which  diverted 
the  water  into  the  smelting  works. 

About  five  acres  were  found  covered  with  slag,  which  Mr. 
Patterson  has  taken  up  for  a  mill  site.  From  the  old  furnaces  a 
trail  was  found,  after  considerable  exploration,  leading  directly 
from  the  smeltincr  works  to  the  mine  in  the  mountains,  which 
here  rise  in  peaks  to  a  height  of  10,000  feet.  The  ancient  trail 
pursues  a  zigzag  course,  having  a  length  of  some  five  miles, 
while,  in  an  air  line,  the  distance  is  not  much  exceeding  one 
mile.  Everything  was  transported  in  those  old  mining  days  on 
men's  shoulders  to  and  from  the  mountains.  There  are  now 
trees  of  the  "  pinon  "  growing  on  the  trail  larger  than  a  man's 
body,  showing  the  antiquity  of  the  path.  Mr.  Patterson  said  he 
was  two  weeks  in  discovering  the  mines  after  finding  the  smelt- 
\i\<y  works.  The  trail  was  five  feet  wide  and  protected  by  rocks 
on  one  side  near  precipitous  places.  Limbs  were  seen  some 
thirty  feet  high  on  trees  that  had  been  cut  when  the  trees  were 
small  and  the  limbs  near  the  ground.  The  cutting  was  haggled, 
and  evidently  not  made  with  sharp  tools. 

The  mines  were  found  filled  with  old  timber.     The  explorers 


CONCEALED   MINES  AND    THE  SKELETON  CHAMBER.         1079 

could  not  imagine  for  what  purpose  the  timber  was  used,  because 
the  walls  of  the  mine  are  quartzite,  and,  therefore,  it  was  unneces- 
sary to  protect  the  sides  from  tumbling  in  by  timber  supports. 
They,  therefore,  made  up  their  minds  that  the  mine  was  covered 
up  with  timber  to  conceal  it.  The  timber  had  rotted  and  fallen 
in  from  the  top,  choking  up  the  passage.  Thirteen  of  the  party 
worked  nearly  two  weeks  in  clearing  out  the  mine,  removing 
the  timber,  stagnant  water  and  old  leaves.  They  found  the  mine 
seventy  feet  deep,  with  several  horizontal  drifts  from  the  main 
shaft.  The  rock  is  found  to  be  very  rich,  as  appears  from  the 
specimens  brought  here. 

An  old  miner  named  Baxter  found,  in  digging  down,  a  chamber 
about  ten  feet  square,  having  on  one  side  a  fireplace,  across 
which  hung  a  crane  having  a  clay  hook,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
hook  was  a  bone.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  fireplace  was 
found  the  skeleton  of  a  man  in  a  sitting  position,  who  was 
evidently  watching  the  bone  roasting  for  his  meal,  when  he  and 
his  habitation  were  overwhelmed  in  ruin  by  a  sudden  discharge 
of  lava  from  the  mountain.  There  are  lava  beds  near  there 
extending  about  fifty  miles,  and  Mr.  Patterson  is  of  the  belief 
that  the  entire  population  in  some  former  period  must  have 
been  suddenly  extirpated  by  a  great  volcanic  eruption.  He 
thinks  at  one  time  the  crater  of  these  mountains  was  sixty  miles 
long  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  across,  an  eruption  from 
which  would  destroy  every  living  thing  within  a  hundred  miles. 
The  only  idea  we  can  form  of  its  destructive  influence  is  by  the 
ruins  seen  on  every  hand.  In  that  dry  atmosphere,  where  it 
rains  only  between  the  months  of  June  and  July,  wood  and 
animal  remains  are  long  preserved,  and  that  so  little  is  pre- 
served of  this  ancient  people  gives  us  a  good  idea  of  the  ruin 
that  ensued. 

All  over  Western  New  Mexico  are  ruins  of  former  cities, 
inhabited  once  perhaps  by  the  same  races  who  reared  similar 
cities  in  Arizona  and  Southwest  Colorado,  and  closely  resembling 
them  in  structure  and  plan.  Some  of  these  are  massive  stone 
fortresses  of  great  extent,  and  would  now  be  impregnable  against 
everything    except    modern    artillery.     Among   these,    two    are 


jqSo  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

especially  worthy  of  notice  as  being  well  known  to  travellers. 
One  is  the  extensive  stone  fortifications  at  the  eastern  base  of 
the  Sierra  Pajarito,  on  the  southern  border  of  Lincoln  county; 
the  other  the  large  and  massive  ruins  in  Socorro  county,  east  of 
the  Mesa  Jumanes,  known  as  ''La  Graii  Quiviray  These  ruins 
are  large  enough  for  a  large  city,  and  Mr.  S.  \V.  Cozzens,  who 
visited  them  in  1859,  says  that  the  city  must  have  had  not  less 
than  60,000  inhabitants.  The  ruins  extended  for  miles,  and 
showed  that  while  it  had'  undoubtedly  been  a  large  city  before 
the  advent  of  the  Spaniards  in  1540,  it  had  been  captured  by 
them,  as  the  ruins  of  two  large  stone  churches,  over  which  the 
arms  of  Spain  were  carved,  fully  demonstrated.  There  were 
also  extensive  ruins  of  an  ancient  temple  like  the  Casas  Grandcs 
on  the  Gila,  which  we  have  noticed  under  Arizona.  The  Accqiiia 
or  aqueduct,  wdiich  had  brought  water  for  this  city,  was  traced 
fourteen  miles  into  the  mountains  to  a  very  large  spring.  It  was 
built  of  stone  and  laid  in  cement,  and  was  an  admirable  piece  of 
en-nrineerine  work.  There  were  traces  also  of  silver  mines  which 
had  been  worked  for  a  long  time,  but  with  very  imperfect  tools. 
The  city  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  "  seven  great  cides  of  Cibola." 
About  eighty  or  ninety  miles  south  of  La  Gran  Qidvira,  on  the 
plain  east  of  the  Organ  Mountains,  in  Doiia  Ana  county,  is  one 
of  those  rock  cities,  carved  by  the  winds  and  waters  into  the 
semblance  of  a  city  with  its  massive  wall,  its  churches,  cathedrals, 
castles  and  towers,  its  broad  streets  and  its  numerous  dwellings, 
all  carved  out  of  a  soft  white  sandstone,  and  so  perfect  an  imita- 
tion as  to  deceive  any  one  at  a  little  distance.  Near  this  are 
salt  lakes,  the  salt  of  which  is  very  pure,  and  extensive  fields  of 
gypsum,  some  of  it  in  the  crystallized  form  of  selenite,  which 
was  used  instead  of  elass  for  lio^htinor  the  best  dvvellino^s  of  these 
ancient  cities.  In  the  ''Mai  Pais''  or  Bad  country,  in  Socorro 
county,  east  of  the  Rio  Grande,  are  vast  deposits  of  fossils  as 
remarkable  as  those  of  Colorado,  Nebraska  or  Montana. 

In  1879  the  Smithsonian  Institution  sent  a  small  party  of 
ethnologists  into  New  Mexico  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the 
ancient  Pueblo  ruins  of  the  valleys  of  the  Rio  San  Juan  and  the 
Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  and   of  making  extensive   collections  of 


THE   POTTERY  OF   THE   PUEBLOS.  IO81 

antiquities  and  objects  of  aboriginal  interest  for  the  National 
Museum  at  Washington,  The  party,  while  in  the  vicinity,  visited 
the  ancient  town  of  Zufii,  where  they  have  succeeded  in  gather- 
ing together  upward  of  two  thousand  specimens  of  modern 
pottery,  stone  implements,  images,  costumes,  etc.  Scattered 
through  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  are  nineteen 
Pueblo  villages,  which  were  in  existence  long  before  the  dis- 
covery of  America ;  and  the  inhabitants  to  this  day  preserve 
their  old  traditions  and  arts  comparatively  uninfluenced  by  the 
innovations  of  civilization. 

The  pottery  manufactured  in  the  town  of  Zuni  is  exceedingly 
interesting,  and  is  almost  identical  w^ith  the  very  ancient  w^are 
which  is  found  amonof  the  stone  ruins  which  abound  throughout 
that  section.  Attention  has  been  called  to  this  ware  by  Lieu- 
tenant A.  W.  Whipple,  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 
Reports,  and  more  recently  by  Professor  F.  V.  Hayden,  in  his 
last  annual  report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  the 
Territories  (1876).  In  the  latter  are  figured  several  fine  water 
vessels  in  the  forms  of  owls,  hawks,  ducks  and  domesticated 
fowls.  The  collection  made  by  the  Smithsonian  party  includes 
many  animal  forms  and  hundreds  of  specimens  of  almost  every 
conceivable  shape,  scarcely  any  two  of  them  being  similar.  It 
is,  without  exception,  the  finest  and  most  complete  collection  of 
modern  Pueblo  w-are  in  existence.  The  methods  of  manufactur- 
ing this  pottery  are  exceedingly  interesting,  and  a  study  of  them 
throws  much  light  on  the  ancient  Pueblo  art,  which  produced  the 
most  superior  aboriginal  ware  yet  discovered  within  the  limits 
of  the  United  States,  The  clay  is  procured  froni  the  neighbor- 
ing mesas,  and  the  vessels  are  moulded  entirely  by  hand. 
When  an  unusually  fine  piece  is  being  made,  the  clay  is  wet  and 
smoothed  by  the  lips  of  the  potter,  who  then  sets  the  vessel  aside 
to  dr)-.  The  paint  is  put  on  by  a  brush,  and  then  burned  in  an 
oven  surrounded  with  dry  manure. 

In  the  Pueblo  of  Laguna  pottery  is  made  in  a  similar  manner. 
A  private  collection,  just  received  in  Philadelphia  from  there, 
contains  a  number  of  vessels  in  imitation  of  ducks,  setting  hens, 
etc.     Such  objects,  while  ornamental,  are  designed  for  use  also, 


I082  ^^'^    VVESTERX  EMPIRE. 

and  arc  employed  !n  carrying  water  on  journeys.  A  common 
ornament  on  this  ware  is  a  painted  representation  of  the  elk  or 
deer,  in  which  a  passage  invariably  extends  from  the  mouth  to 
the  heart,  which  latter  is  of  triangular  form.  The  tenahas,  or 
earthen  basins,  are  used  as  receptacles  for  meal,  corn,  water,  or 
other  substances  which  constitute  the  food  of  the  natives.  One 
very  old  vessel  is  covered  with  representations  of  snakes,  a  rare 
figure  in  the  ornamentation  of  Pueblo  ware,  since  the  priests  or 
medicine  men  no  longer  permit  the  people  to  employ  the  sun  or 
serpent  symbols,  but  monopolize  them  in  their  incantations  and 
stately  ceremonies.  Tenahas  are  made  of  all  sizes,  from  an 
inch  in  diameter  to  those  that  will  hold  from  twenty  to  thirty 
gallons.  Each  large  vessel  has  a  concave  bottom,  like  a  cham- 
pagne-botde,  for  steadying  it  on  the  head  in  carrying  water  from 
the  well. 

The  clay  used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  Laguna  pottery  is  of 
a  dark  slate  color  and  exceedingly  compact,  oftentimes  approach- 
ino-  soft  rock  in  texture.  This  is  taken  from  seams  or  veins  in 
the  mesa  walls.  The  Indians  soak  this  clay  in  water  for  two  or 
'three  days,  when  it  becomes  perfectly  plastic.  It  is  then  kneaded 
with  the  feet  of  the  vvorkmen  on  a  large  flat  stone,  and  all  the 
hard  lumps  are  taken  out  carefully.  After  the  vessels  are 
moulded  into  form  they  are  left  to  dry,  and  then  covered  with  a 
ground  work  of  white  paint.  Over  this  are  painted  fanciful 
devices  in  red,  orange  and  black.  The  lustre  of  the  ware  is  im- 
parted by  polishing  the  paint,  before  baking,  with  an  exceedingly 
smooth  stone  like  an  ordinary  seashore  pebble.  The  brown  or 
black  pignient  is  made  from  a  black  stone  somewhat  resembling 
hematite.  This  is  ground  fine,  mixed  with  water,  and  violently 
agitated  for  some  time.  It  is  then  poured  from  one  vessel  to 
another  to  remove  all  grit,  and  is  applied  to  the  surface  of  the 
vessel  to  be  ornamented,  as  common  paint,  with  a  stick.  This 
paint  alone  would  rub  off,  but  to  prevent  this  it  is  mixed  with  the 
residue  of  two  plants  or  weeds  boiled  together  for  a  long  time 
until  it  becomes  of  the  required  consistency,  after  which  it  is  al- 
lowed to  cool ;  it  then  becomes  perfectly  hard.  The  clay 
employed  for  the  red  color  is  oi  a-  yellowish  tint,  but  on  being 


MANUFACTURES   OF  NEW  MEXICO.  I083 

baked  changes  to  a  brilliant  red.  The  process  of  burning  or 
baking  consists  in  first  placing  the  vessels  on  stones,  around  which 
is  packed  a  quantity  of  dry  barnyard  manure,  which  is  considered 
the  best  fuel.  The  vessel  is  covered  completely  with  this  sub- 
stance, so  as  to  exclude  the  air,  and  a  very  hot  fire  of  two  or 
three  hours'  duration  is  produced.  During  the  process  of  burn- 
ing the  vessels  are  closely  watched,  and  no  portion  of  them  is 
permitted  to  become  exposed  to  the  atmosphere. 

The  pottery  of  Laguna,  and  in  fact  of  most  of  the  other  Pueblo 
villages,  is  almost  entirely  made  by  the  women,  who  expend 
much  of  their  leisure  time  in  moulding  and  decorating-  the  ware. 
The  particular  interest  which  attaches  to  the  Pueblo  pottery  is  in 
the  fact  that  these  people  of  New  Mexico  and  the  IMoquis  of 
Arizona  are  the  only  aboriginal  tribes  in  the  United  States  that 
still  practise  their  old  arts,  unchanged  by  the  influences  of  civili- 
zation. 

Mamifacfures. — Very  little  is  done  in  the  way  of  manufactures, 
thou<Th  the  Pueblo  Indians  and  the  Mexicans  are  both  incjenious; 
and  with  very  imperfect  and  rude  tools  will  produce  remarkable 
results.  The  jewelry  produced  from  native  gold  and  silver  is  of 
remarkably  artistic  designs,  as  is  the  native  pottery.  The  scrapes 
and  blankets  made  from  the  coarse  wool  of  the  Mexican  sheep 
or  the  hair  of  the  goat  are  of  excellent  quality,  and  so  dense  that 
water  cannot  percolate  through  them.  The  saddles,  stirrups  and 
horse  fixtures  generally  are  of  excellent  quality,  and  the  better 
sorts  have  a  good  deal  of  bullion,  and  a  rude,  barbaric  splendor 
about  them.  Beyond  these  articles  there  is  very  little  which  can 
be  called  manufactures.  The  rude  batcas,  or  wooden  bowls, 
which  were  their  substitute  for  the  pan  and  the  rocker  of  the 
placer  miner,  and  the  arastras,  great  boulders,  bound  to  the  arms 
of  the  central  capstan,  with  which  they  ground  their  quartz  rock 
to  powder,  constituted  their  sole  mining  apparatus  ;  they  had 
even  forgotten  how  to  construct  the  rude  adobe  smelters,  which 
the  Indians  used  three  centuries  ago.  But  with  railroads  ami 
railroad  towns  all  over  the  Territory,  there  will  come  in  manu- 
factures, and  builders,  architects,  machinists  and  engineers  will  be 
found  in  great  numbers  through  the  Territory. 


iq8^  our  western  empire. 

Raih'oads. — The  Territory,  so  long  completely  isolated,  and 
which  one  year  ago  had  not  a  mile  of  railroad  within  its  borders, 
is  now  in  a  fair  way  to  have  its  full  share  of  railroad  communica- 
tion, not  throueh  the  enterprise  of  its  citizens,  but  because  it  is 
on  the  highway  to  Mexico  and  Southern  California.  The  Atchi- 
son, Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway,  which  entered  the  Territory 
from  Colorado  by  way  of  the  Raton  Pass  about  the  beginning  of 
1880,  ran  its  lines  southwest  to  Las  Vegas,  and  thence  nearly  due 
west  to  the  Rio  Grande,  throwing  out  a  branch  to  Santa  Fe,  and 
extending  its  line  down  the  Rio  Grande,  expected  to  reach  Me- 
silla  by  January,  1881,  and  El  Paso,  Texas,  by  the  spring  of  that 
year.  The  Southern  Pacific,  controlled  by  the  Central  Pacific 
Railway,  which  had  crossed  Southern  California  and  bridged  the 
Rio  Colorado  of  the  West  at  Yuma  in  1879,  traversed  Arizona, 
reaching  Tucson  in  the  spring  of  18S0,  and  crossing  Western 
New  Mexico  in  the  summer,  will  unite  with  the  Atchison  road  at 
Fort  Thorne,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  by  January,  1S81,  and  thence 
proceeding  down  the  Rio  Grande  to  El  Paso  will  probably  make 
its  terminus  at  Galveston  a  year  later.  Meanwhile  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  having  purchased  the  charter  of  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific,  and  controlling  the  vSt.  Louis  and  San  Fran- 
cisco Railway,  have  commenced  and  are  actively  pushing  a  rail- 
way west  from  Albuquerque  through  the  Zuni  country,  across 
Arizona,  on  or  near  the  thirty-fifth  parallel,  and  crossing  the  Rio 
Colorado  at  "  the  Needles"  by  a  bridge  400  feet  above  the  river, 
will  reach  the  Pacific  at  San  Diego  and  Santa  Barbara  by  the 
end  of  1 88 1.  Another  branch,  following  substantially  the  line 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  to  Tucson,  Arizona,  will  turn  southward 
at  that  point,  and  reach  Guaymas,  Mexico,  on  the  California  gulf, 
probal^ly  before  1882. 

Still  another  line  is  projected,  and  from  its  connection  \vith  the 
Mexican  lines  recently  authorized,  may  very  soon  be  built,  viz.  : 
the  line  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  which,  starting  either 
froni  Alamosa  or  Animas  City,  Colorado,  will  proceed  nearly  due 
south  to  the  Mexican  line,  to  connect  there  with  a  road  from  the 
City  of  Mexico.  There  may  eventually  be  a  railway  down  the 
valley  of  the  Pecos,  connecting  with  some  of  the  Texas  railroads  ; 


POPULATION  OF  NFAV  MEXICO.  IO85 

but  at  present  there  are  no  railways  projected  through  Eastern 
or  Southeastern  New  Mexico,  Those  already  completed  or  in 
course  of  construction  give  ready  access  to  the  great  mining  and 
stock-raising  districts,  and  ensure  the  rapid  development  of  the 
Territory. 

Population. — The  Territory  has  a  larger  native  population  than 
any  other  of  the  Territories  of  "  Our  Western  Empire."  This 
native  population  at  the  time  the  United  States  government  ac- 
quired the  country  consisted  of  about  three-fourths  Mexicans,  or 
Hispano-Americans,  and  one-fourth  Pueblo  and  other  Indians, 
with  a  very  few  Germans,  French  and  Americans.  Its  population 
has  doubled  in  thirty  years,  and  to  this  original  element  have 
been  added  a  considerable  number  of  Irish,  Germans,  Belgians, 
French,  Spanish  and  Americans.  The  following  table  shows  the 
population,  so  far  as  it  has  been  ascertained,  and  such  other  par- 
ticulars as  are  attainable  by  the  census  enumerators  : 


Census  Year. 


1850.. 
i860.. 

1870.. 

1879^ 
1880*. 


c 
o 


rt 


O    3 

o 


85,547 
107,516 

I  ",303 

148,750 

141,882 


3i'742t 
49-09 't 
47.13^1 
53.155 


E 


29,805! 
44.425! 

44.739t 
48,595 


B 
O  u 


a. 
p 

5 

W 


61,525 
82,924 

90.393 
124,920 

118,430 


o 
"o 


85 

172 

330 
417 


24,000 

24,507 
20,738 
23,500 
23>452t 


> 


J^ 


59.261 

86.793? 
86,254 

94,370 


Census  Year. 

• 

«j 

c 

'5 

i_ 

.? 

1— t 

Density  of 
Population. 

aj 
tfi 
rt 
(U 

c 

H-l 
0 

.2 

rt 

Of  School  Age, 
5-20.    Both  Sexes. 

0^ 

Of  Voting  Age, 

21  years  and 

upwards.     Males. 

U 
N 

u 

1850 

i860 

1870 

2,286 

6,723? 
5,620 

30,550 

0.30 
0.36 
0.76 
1  23 

1-35 

5 '94 
19.02 

27.47 

25.089 

32.785? 

52,220 

67.233 
69,487 

22.774 
32,796 

29-3' 2 
31,270 

39,J'7 

12,698 
21,371 

20,070 

13.920 
25.483 
23.332 

10,87111 

23.781 

22,442 

1879^ 

1880* 

♦Inchi'iing  irib.al  Ind  ans.  fScx  of  Indi.-ins  not  given.  J  Indian  office  report.  ^  E.vcliisive  of  irilial  Indians. 
I  Pueblo  Indians,  not  ullawed  to  vole,  though  rcckoiKd  as  citizens.  ^  Governor  Wallace's  cstimaic,  evidently  ex- 
cessive. 


1086  O^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  previous  enumerations  have 
been  very  imperfect,  because  the  canvassers  were  supposed  to  be 
unfriendly  conspirators  against  the  inhabitants,  Indian  and  Mex- 
ican, and  were  purposely  avoided  or  misinformed.  We  have  in- 
cluded in  these  enumerations  the  Indian  population,  both  Pueblos 
and  tribal  Indians,  so  far  as  it  could  be  ascertained,  though  in  1850 
and  1S60  the  number  of  the  latter  could  only  be  conjectured. 

Chief-Justice  Prince,  in  an  address  delivered  in  Brooklyn  in  the 
winter  of  1880,  said  of  this  population: 

•'  There  is  great  interest  as  to  this  population,  there  being 
three  entirely  distinct  civilizations  and  three  distinct  epochs  of 
history  represented.  In  New  Mexico  are  found  the  only  remains 
of  the  aborigines  of  the  people  of  America.  They  are  living  in 
the  same  kind  of  houses,  and  to  all  intents  and  purposes  existing 
as  they  did  300  years  ago.  Such  are  the  Pueblo  Indians.  Side 
by  side  witli  these  are  the  Spaniards  and  American  civilization  in 
its  broader  type  especially.  The  aborigines  or  Pueblo  Indians 
numbered  in  1879  9,013  souls,  all  told,  and  occupied  nineteen  vil- 
lages. There  are  evidences  of  large  Indian  cities,  not  a  single 
inhabitant  of  wliich  remains,  and  villages  have  been  deserted  in 
the  life  of  the  present  generation.  These  aborigines  call  them- 
selves the  children  of  Montezuma,  who  has  eone  from  them,  but 
promised  to  return,  and  left  the  sacred  fire,  which  is  still  kept 
burnino^  until  he  returns.  Their  relio-ion  is  indistinct,  but  seems 
to  be  mainly  a  worship  of  the  powers  of  nature,  the  sun,  the 
clouds,  the  wind  and  the  rain.  Their  sacrifices  are  of  fruits  and 
flowers,  and  resinous  gums  only.  They  have  been  throughout 
New  Mexico  nominally  converted  to  Catholicism,  but  maintain 
their  old  worship  in  secret.  The  men  and  women  of  this  singular 
people  are  orderly,  peaceable  and  industrious,  and  they  make 
good  citizens  of  the  Territory.  They  are  the  best  cultivators  of 
the  soil  on  the  Rio  Grande.  The  women  ijrind  the  corn  or 
wheat,  and  make  pottery,  very  astonishing  in  Its  symmetrical  pro- 
portions. The  customs  of  these  people  have  never  changed,  and 
they  are  extremely  neat  and  cleanly.  The  Spanish-speaking 
people  are  generous  and  hospitable  and  most  agreeable  in  their 
manners.     They  are  a  contented  people,  perhaps  too  contented. 


THREE  DIS7VNCT  CIVILIZATIONS  IN  NEW  MEXICO.  1087 

They  have  no  ambition  to  rise,  and  their  wants  are  so  few  that 
they  even  don't  want  money.  You  cannot  buy  land  from  a  Mex- 
ican, even  if  he  is  not  using  it  himself,  because  it  belonged  to 
liis  father.  Instead  of  being  murderous  or  dangerous  in  their 
tendencies,  they  have  a  positive  dislike  for  murder  and  bloodshed, 
except  in  the  case  of  those  who  are  located  on  the  border.  It  is 
a  remarkable  fact  that  they  have  five  distinct  languages.  In  their 
methods  of  courtship  and  marriage  the  Spanish  differ  very  much 
from  them.  The  third  type  in  Mexico  is  the  American.  The 
typical  American  life  is  found  in  the  Texas  frontier  or  the  frontier 
of  the  Indian  Territory.  Among  these  are  many  wild  and  lawless 
men,  away  from  the  restraints  of  civilized  life,  some  of  them  being 
practically  outlaws.  The  railroads  have  just  penetrated  New 
Mexico,  and  emigrants  of  a  better  class  are  Hocking  there  from 
all  parts  of  the  country." 

To  the  Chief-Justice's  list  of  civilizations  sliould  be  added  two 
more — the  tribal  Indians,  of  whom  there  are  two  distinct  races — 
the  Apaches,  of  three  or  four  distinct  bands,  the  Jicarillas,  Mes- 
caleros  and  Hot  Spring  Apaches,  who  occupy  Southern  and 
Southeastern  New  Mexico,  and  are,  without  exception,  the 
meanest,  filthiest,  most  treacherous,  murderous  and  degraded  of 
all  the  Indian  tribes ;  and  the  Navajoes,  in  the  northwest  of  the 
Territory,  a  tribe  of  much  higher  character,  largely  engaged  in 
pastoral  pursuits,  owning  nearly  or  quite  a  million  sheep  and 
large  herds  of  catde.  This  tribe,  whose  reservation  is  pardy  in 
New  Mexico  and  pardy  in  Arizona,  are  possibly  of  kindred  race 
with  the  Pueblo  Indians  ;  they  have  been  badly  treated  by  the 
whites,  but  are  greatly  superior  to  any  of  the  other  nomadic  tribes 
of  the  West,  and  give  good  ground  to  hope  that  they  may  yet  be 
civilized.  There  were,  in  1879,  11,850  Navajoes,  and  1,977 
Apaches  in  the  Territory. 

Counties  and  Principal  Towns. — There  are  twelve  counties  in 
the  Territory,  viz.:  Taos,  having  in  1879  13.025  inhabitants; 
Colfax,  4,290;  Mora,  11,475;  Rio  Arriba,  12,000;  Bernalillo,  19,- 
595;  Santa  Fe,  13.355;  San  Miguel,  16,175;  Valencia,  10,035; 
Lincoln,  4,450;  Socorro,  6,220;  Grant,  7,200;  Dona  Ana,  7,430. 
The  population  in  all   these  cases  is  exclusive  of  Indians.     Of 


JQ88  <^^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

these  counties  Bernalillo,  Valencia,  Santa  Fe  and  San  Miguel  are 
of  the  most  irregular  and  peculiar  shape,  Bernalillo  and  Valencia 
having  portions  entirely  detached  and  separated  by  other  coun- 
ties from  their  larger  sections.  The  other  counties  are  of  com- 
paratively regular  form. 

Of  the  towns  Santa  Fe,  the  capital  and  oldest  city,  has  about 
6,500  inhabitants  ;  Albuquerque,  about  5,000 ;  Las  Vegas,  Me- 
silla  and  Silver  City,  from  3,000  to  4.000  each ;  Cimarron,  Las 
Cruces,  Mora,  Placita,  Fernando  de  Taos,  Ocate,  Tome  and  San 
Marcial,  growing  towns,  each  of  1,000  or  more  inhabitants. 

Education  is  at  a  low  ebb  in  New  Mexico.  The  Territory 
beincr  under  the  control  of  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy,  which 
largely  outnumbers  all  other  denominations  in  its  adherent  popu- 
lation, the  public  school  education  has  been  wholly  usurped  by 
them,  and  the  public  funds  for  school  purposes  are  entirely  ex- 
pended by  them  upon  their  own  schools.  Governor  Lew  Wal- 
lace, in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  September, 
1879,  gives  the  following  as  the  latest  report  concerning  education 
in  the  Territory : 

•'  The  lands  set  apart  for  public  schools  in  New  Mexico  are  in 
very  liberal  quantity;  nothing,  however,  has  been  done  to  make 
them  available. 

"In  1871  the  legislature  passed  an  act  establishing  a  common 
school  system,  for  the  support  of  which  there  were  set  apart  not 
only  the  poll-tax  and  a  quarter  of  all  other  taxes,  but  a  certain 
surplus  in  the  various  county  treasuries.  F^our  years  afterwards 
eight  of  the  twelve  counties  reported: 

Schools 138 

Pupils  in  attendance         S'^S^ 

Teachers  (male  and  female) 47 

Wages  of  teachers  per  month,  ^16  to  $40. 

"The  amount  of  school  moneys  raised  by  tax  in  1874  was 
$28,523.34. 

"  Education  is  chiefly  in  the  Spanish  language.  In  Grant  and 
Colfax  counties  the  English  is  the  prevailing  tongue. 

"In  addition  to  the  above   there  are  twenty-six  private  and 


RELIGION  AND   MORALS.  '  iqSq 

parochial  schools,  in  the  greater  portion  of  which  the  common 
and  higher  branches  are  taiio^ht.  In  some  instances  German  and 
French,  and  the  classics  and  music,  have  place  in  the  course  of 
instruction." 

Religion  arid  JMorals. — As  we  have  already  said,  Roman 
Catholicism  is  supreme  in  New  Mexico.  In  1874  there  were 
198  church  organizations  and  170  church  edifices,  belonging  to 
the  Roman  Catholics,  many  of  the  latter  being  costly  buildings, 
aofainst  ten  organizations  and  nine  church  edifices  of  all  other 
denominations,  and  the  proportion  is  about  the  same  to-day. 
The  Territory,  while  a  Mexican  State,  was,  of  course,  under  exclu- 
sively Roman  Catholic  jurisdiction,  and  so  far  as  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  are  concerned,  especially  the  Mexicans  and  Pueblo 
Indians,  it  is  so  to-day.  Unfortunately  the  Catholicism^  of  the 
Territory  is  the  Catholicism  of  the  middle  ages,  and  not  that  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  aggressive,  imperious,  arrogant  and 
exclusive,  while  it  is  also  illiterate  and  with  few  excepdons 
grossly  immoral.  Its  priests  are  to  a  lamentable  extent  literally 
the  fathers  of  their  flocks ;  and  illegitimacy  is  as  common  and  as 
little  regarded  as  it  was  on  the  continent  of  Europe  three  hun- 
dred or  four  hundred  years  ago.  This  scandal  became  so  gross 
a  few  years  since  that  the  archbishop  banished  all  the  priests 
(who  were  of  Spanish  or  Hispano- American  birth)  from  the 
Territory,  and  supplied  their  places  with  priests  from  France  and 
Belofium  ;  but  it  is  said  that  the  time  has  come  for  another 
expatriation.  There  is  some  reason  to  hope  that  a  portion  of 
the  large  immigration  now  flowing  into  the  Territory  may  be  of 
a  better  class,  and  that  purer  morals  and  better  educational 
facilities  may  soon  prevail. 

Historical  Data. — New  Mexico  was  first  heard  of  in  Europe 

in   1530  as  the   Kingdom  of  Cibola,  from  whence   the   Mexican 

rulers  obtained  their  gold  and  precious  gems.     It  was  reached 

in    1540  by  Coronado,  but   did  not   come   fully  under  Spanish 

domination  until  near  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century.     The 

foreigners  were  well    received   at   first,   but  they  soon   became 

obnoxious   to   the  people.      The   religious   and   ci\il   authorities 

were  alike  greedy  for  gold,  and   the  gold   mints  were  made  to 
69 


1 090  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

yield  immense  sums  to  the  church  and  the  rulers,  by  the  enslav- 
ing- of  the  natives,  and  the  practice  of  the  most  atrocious  cruelties 
upon  them.  The  cathedral  of  Santa  F"e  alone  received  from  one 
mine  $10,000,000.  At  last,  exasperated  beyond  endurance,  the 
long-suffering  natives  rose  in  rebellion  in  1 680  and  expelled  the 
Spaniards,  but  only  succeeded  in  keeping  them  out  for  thirteen 
years.  During  this  time  every  mine  in  the  country  was  filled 
up.  Peace  was  made  on  condition  that  there  should  be  no  more 
slavery  and  no  more  mining.  From  that  time  until  1846,  when 
the  American  army  took  possession  of  the  Territory,  the  history 
of  New  Mexico  is  almost  a  blank;  things  went  on  the  same  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  ofovernors  of  New  Mexico  were 
practically  independent  by  their  isolation  ;  and  the  revolution 
-jvhich  threw  off  the  Spanish  yoke  from  Mexico  made  very  little 
difference  with  this  remote  State.  In  1846  General  Kearney  cap- 
tured Santa  Fe,  and  overran  the  entire  Territory,  which  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States  two  years  later  under  the  treaty  of 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo.  The  land  south  of  the  Gila  was  obtained 
in  1853  by  purchase  from  Mexico,  and  in  1854  New  Mexico  con- 
tained, besides  the  region  within  its  present  limits,  the  whole  of 
Arizona  and  portions  of  Nevada  and  Colorado.  So  much  of  the 
country  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  as  lies  between  the  thirty- 
seventh  and  thirty-eighth  parallels  was  annexed  to  Colorado  in 
February,  1861,  and,  twp  years  later,  Arizona  was  set  off.  Sev- 
eral attempts  have  been  made  to  secure  the  admission  of  New 
Mexico  to  the  Federal  Union,  but  so  far  without  success.  A  bill 
for  that  purpose  was  presented  to  the  Forty-third  Congress  in 
March,  1875,  but  failed  to  become  a  law.  Until  it  can  come  in 
as  a  State  having  a  republican  form  of  government  and  not 
under  the  control  of  a  religious  hierarchy  and  an  established 
church,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  all  future  applications  will  prove 
equally  unsuccessful.  But  the  vast  tide  of  immigration  now 
flowing  into  the  Territory,  and  which  is  likely  to  be  still  larger, 
will  soon  effect  such  changes  that  its  reception  into  the  Union 
will  be  both  proper  and  desirable. 

Conclusion. — There  is  no  use  in  counselling  immigrants  to  avoid 
a  re<y.ian  so  rich  in  mineral  wealth,  or  so  well  adapted  to  pastoral 


OREGON— BOUNDARIES.  lOgl 

pursuits,  as  New  Mexico;  but  there  is  a  sufficiency  of  these 
advantages  to  last  for  several  years  to  come ;  and  the  immigrant 
who  delays  until  the  Indian  troubles  are  fully  settled,  and  the 
country,  and  its  railways  and  highways,  its  government,  schools 
and  religious  advantages  are  more  fully  developed,  will  be  wiser 
than  those  who,  in  their  haste  to  be  rich,  rush  in  now,  and  find, 
as  they  will,  that  wealth  is  only  to  be  purchased  by  great  trials, 
privations  and  sacrifices. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

OREGON. 

EouNDARiES,  Area  and  Extent — Face  of  the  Country— Mountains,  Rivers, 
Lakes — The  Valleys  of  Oregon — The  Willamette  Valley — Umpqua 
Valley — Rogue  River  Valley — The  Numerous  Valleys  of  Eastern 
Oregon — The  Elevated  Plains  of  Middle  and  Central  Oregon — Mr. 
Tolman's  Description  of  Eastern  Oregon — Soil  and  Vegetation — Fer- 
tility OF  THE  Soil — The  Great  Wheat  Valleys  of  Eastern  Oregon — 
Forest  Growths — Great  Size  of  Forest  Trees — Water  Supply — Climate 
and  Rainfall  of  different  Sections — Meteorological  Table  of  Fort- 
land,  Roseburg,  Umatilla,  Astoria,  and  Corvallis — Geology  and  Min- 
eral Wealth — Fossils — Gold  and  Silver — Lead  and  Copper — Iron  and 
Coal — Excellence  of  the  Coal — Zoology — Oregon  Fishes — Agricul- 
tural AND  Pastoral  Products — Table  of  Crops  and  Live-Stock — Fish- 
eries— The  Salmon  Trade — Timber  and  Lumber  Production  and  Exports 
— Wheat  and  Flour  Exports — Wool — Total  Exports — Manufactures 
— Labor — Wages — Price  of  Land  and  Facilities  for  Obtaining  it — 
Railroads  and  River  Navigation — Finances — Educational  Facilities — 
Higher  and  Special  Education — Population — Table — Characteristics 
OF  the  Population — Indian  Reservations  and  Tribal  Indians — Counties 
and  Principal  Cities  and  Towns — Religious  Denominations — Historical 
Data — The  Title  of  the  United  States  to  Oregon. 

Oregon  is  one  of  the  States  of  "Our  Western  Empire,"  situ- 
ated on  the  Pacific  slope,  and,  except  Washington  Territory,  is  the 
most  northwesterly  of  the  States  and  Territories  comprised  within 
the  limits  assigned  to  that  "  Empire."  It  is  between  the  parallels 
of  42°  and  46°  iS'  north  latitude,  and  between  the  meridians  of 


jQg2  O^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

1 1 6°  3S'  and  124°  25'  west  loncritude  from  Greenwich.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Washing-ton  Territory,  the  Columbia 
river  forming  the  boundary  to  the  point  where  that  river  crosses 
the  parallel  of  46°  and  the  boundary  running  thence  eastward, 
along  that  parallel,  to  the  Snake  river;  on  the  east  it  is  bounded 
by  Idaho  Territory,  the  Snake  river  forming  the  boundary  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Owyhee,  and  thence  a  line  drawn  due  south  along 
the  meridian  of  116°  50'  west  longitude  to  the  Nevada  line;  on 
the  south  it  is  bounded  by  Nevada  and  California,  the  parallel 
of  42°  forming  the  boundary  line;  on  the  west  its  shores  are 
washed  by  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Its  greatest  width  from  east  to 
west  is  360  miles,  and  from  north  to  south^2  75  miles;  while  its 
coast  line  is  about  300  miles.  Its  area  is  95,274  square  miles,  or 
60,975,360  acres.  It  is  a  little  larger  than  the  two  States  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania. 

Face  of  the  Country. — The  principal  mountains  of  Oregon, 
those  having  the  highest  summits,  are  the  Cascade  Mountains,  a 
continuation  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  of  California,  which  stretch 
across  the  State  from  north  to  south,  at  an  average  distance  of 
about  1 10  miles  from  the  coast  of  the  Pacific.  Numerous  barren 
snow-capped  peaks  of  volcanic  origin  rise  from  them  to  great 
heiMits  within  the  limits  of  Ore^^on,  of  which  the  most  elevated 
are  Mount  Hood  (i  1,025  feet).  Mounts  Jefferson,  Thielsen,  Scott, 
Pitt  and  the  Three  Sisters.  The  Cascade  Range  divides  Oregon 
into  two  distinct  sections,  known  as  Eastern  and  Western  Ore- 
cTon.  Of  these  the  former  contains  by  far  the  most  territorv,  but 
the  latter  is  far  more  advanced  in  settlement ;  and  within  its 
natural  boundaries,  that  is,  between  the  Cascade  Mountains  and 
the  Pacific  coast,  more  than  seven-tenths  of  the  present  population 
of  the  State  are  living. 

Another  chain  of  mountains,  the  so-called  Coast  Range,  ex- 
tends also  north  and  south,  over  Western  Oregon,  at  a  distance 
varying  from  forty  to  seventy  miles  from  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
and  proportionately  nearer  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Its  elevation  is, 
however,  much  lower  than  that  of  the  latter,  its  highest  points 
beino-  only  a  fi^w  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Eastern  Oregon  is  subdivided,  so  to  speak,  into  Middle  Oregon 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  OREGON.  jqq^ 

and  Eastern  Oregon  proper,  by  the  Blue  Mountains;  a  range 
with  a  general  northeast  and  southwest  direction,  at  a  distance 
of  about  150  miles  east  of  the  Cascade  Mountains.  A  chain 
known  as  the  "Western  Spur"  of  the  Blue  Mountains  extends 
at  right  angles  with  the  main  chain  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  in  a 
direction  from  northwest  to  southeast,  from  the  mouth  of  Trout 
creek,  on  the  Des  Chutes  river,  to  the  Malheur  river,  and  a  par- 
allel but  shorter  chain  extends  from  Camp  Curry  to  Crooked 
lake. 

The  Cascade  Mountains,  in  conjunction  with  the  Coast  Ran^^e 
and  the  numerous  chains  of  hills  Hankincr  and  skirtino-  and  run- 
ninor  out  from  them,  divide  the  surface  of  Western  Oreeon  into 
numerous  valleys  of  varying  extent,  traversed  by  more  or  less 
important  water-courses. 

The  largest  rivers  of  Western  Oregon  are  the  Columbia,  which 
separates  it  on  the  north  from  Washington  Territory ;  the  Wil- 
lamette, the  largest  tributary  of  the  Columbia  ;  Young,  and  Lewis 
and  Clarke  rivers,  also  flowing  into  the  Columbia;  the  Umpqua 
and  Rogue,  Tillamook,  Yaquina,  Alseya,  Siuslaw  and  Coquille, 
emptying  into  the  Pacific ;  and  the  Tualatin,  Clackamas,  Yamhill, 
Santiam,  Luckiamute,  Mary  and  Long  Tom  rivers,  all  tributaries 
of  the  W^illamette,  which  itself  is  formed  by  three  separate 
streams,  known  as  McKenzie's,  Middle  and  Coast  forks. 

The  principal  water-courses  of  Middle  Oregon  are  the  Des 
Chutes,  John  Day's  and  Umatilla  rivers,  and  their  numerous  trib- 
utaries, the  waters  of  which  unite  with  the  Columbia. 

The  principal  river  of  Eastern  Oregon  proper  is  the  Snake 
river,  which  separates  Oregon  from  Idaho,  and  its  main  tribu- 
taries, the  Grande  Ronde,  Powder,  Burnt,  Malheur  and  Owyhee 
rivers. 

There  are  numerous  lakes  in  Southeastern  Oregon,  the  prin- 
cipal ot  which  are  the  Klamath,  Goose,  Malheur  and  W^arner's 
lakes,  Lake  Harney,  Silver,  Summer,  Albert,  Christmas  and 
Guano  lakes. 

Among  the  distinctive  features  of  Oregon  are  the  numerous 
valleys  formed,  as  already  stated,  by  the  several  mountain  chains 
and  the  minor  rancres  issuinir  from  them. 


jQQ.  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  principal  valleys  of  Western  Oregon  are  those  of  the  Wil- 
lamette, Umpqua  and  Rogue  rivers,  each  of  which  deserves  par- 
ticular mention. 

The  Willamette  valley  is  by  far  the  largest,  and  in  every  re- 
spect the  most  attractive.  It  has  been  appropriately  named  "the 
p-arden  of  the  Northwest."  None  of  the  famous  valleys  of  the 
Old  or  New  World,  not  even  that  of  the  Nile,  or  the  Sacramento, 
San  Joaquin  or  Santa  Clara  valleys  of  California,  surpass  it  in 
fertility  or  salubrity.  In  beauty  of  scenery  its  equal  is  not  to 
be  found  anywhere.  The  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  late  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  who  visited  it  some  years  since,  enthu- 
siasdcally  pronounced  it  "as  charming  a  landscape  as  ever 
painter's  hand  placed  upon  canvas."  It  is  about  150  miles  in 
length,  from  tliirty  to  sixty  miles  in  width,  and  contains  within  its 
natural  boundaries — viz. :  the  Columbia  river  on  the  north,  the 
Cascade  Mountains  on  the  east,  the  Coast  Range  on  the  west, 
and  the  Callapoia  Mountains  on  the  south — about  5,000,000  acres 
of  unusual  productiveness,  of  which  only  a  part  is  as  yet  under 
cultivation.  It  is  well  watered  throughout  by  the  Willamette 
river  and  its  tributaries.  This  valley  was  the  first  portion  of 
Oreoon  to  be  setded,  and  will  always  be  the  Eden  of  the  Pacific. 
A  few  years  ago  it  contained  two-thirds  of  the  population  of  Or- 
ecron,  but  within  the  past  decade  other  portions  of  the  State  have 
been  rapidly  settling  up,  and  its  population,  though  large  and 
permanent,  does  not  bear  as  large  a  proportion  to  the  whole  as 
formerly. 

The  Umpqua  valley  lies  to  the  south  of  the  Callapoia  Moun- 
tains, and  is  watered  by  the  Umpqua  river  and  its  tributaries. 
Its  eastern  boundary  is  formed  by  the  Cascade  Mountains,  its 
western  by  the  Coast  Range,  and  its  southern  by  the  Grave 
Creek  Range.     It  contains  about  2,500,000  acres. 

To  the  south  of  the  chain  of  mountains  last  named  lies  the 
Valley  of  Rogue  River,  which  has  the  same  boundaries  to  the 
east  and  west  as  the  two  other  valleys  described,  and  is  bounded 
on  the  south  by  the  Siskiyou  Mountain,  which  separates  it  from 
California.  Its  area  is  about  2,400,000  acres.  There  are  sev- 
eral other  smaller  but  fertile  valleys,  the  bottom  lands  of  the 
numerous  small  streams  which  fall  into  the  Pacific. 


MR.    TOLMAN  ON  NORTHEASTERN  OREGON.  jogtj 

Middle  Oregon  has  no  great  agricultural  valleys,  the  region 
between  the  Cascade  Range  and  the  western  spur  of  the  Blue 
Mountains  being  almost  wholly  composed  of  high  rolling  pla- 
teaux, and  the  Des  Chutes  river,  as  its  name  impliv"s,  ilows 
through  deep  and  narrow  canons,  with  numerous  rapids  and 
cataracts.  At  the  sources  of  the  Des  Chutes  there  is  an  exten- 
sive sacT-e  desert,  but  the  saoe  after  beintr  touched  with  the  irost 
is  very  much  liked  by  cattle,  and  forms  an  excellent  forage  for 
them,  so  that  the  "Sage  Desert"  proves  to  be  excellent  grazing 
ground.  This  whole  region  of  the  plains  has  been  found  to  be 
admirably  adapted  to  grazing,  and  portions  of  it  are  among  the 
most  productive  wheat  farms  in  the  State. 

Eastern  Oregon  abounds  In  fertile  valleys,  which  yield  immense 
crops.  The  Conimci'cial  Reporter  gives  a  list  of  twenty-two 
(not  one-half  of  those  which  are  known  there),  which  have  an 
area  of  5,891,200  acres,  every  foot  of  which  is  very  fertile.  These 
valleys  will  soon  have  good  access  to  markets  over  narrow-gauge 
roads,  now  in  course  of  construction  by  the  Oregon  Railway  and 
Navigation  Company  to  La  Grande,  Baker  City  and  Sparta, 
which  will  connect  them  with  Portland,  Oregon,  by  rail  or 
steamer,  and  very  soon  also  by  the  w^ay  of*the  Northern  Pacific 
with  the  East. 

The  Surveyor-General  of  Oregon,  Hon.  James  C.  Tolman, 
speaks  as  follows  of  those  sections  of  the  State  wh.ich  have 
hitherto  been  least  known,  in  his  report  to  the  Land  Office,  Au- 
gust 15,  1879: 

"A  small  portion  of  Southwestern  Oregon  is  quite  mountain- 
ous, and  is  mostly  adapted  to  mining  and  grazing.  The  area  of 
this  class,  however,  is  comparatively  small,  and  generally  contains 
sufficient  arable  tracts  to  furnish  supplies  of  garden  products  for 
local  use. 

"  That  portion  of  the  district  cast  of  the  Cascade  Range  and 
north  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  generally  known  as  Northeastern 
Oregon,  consists  principally  of  high,  rolling  table-lands,  with 
occasional  river  and  creek  bottoms,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
eastern  and  northern  slopes  of  the  mountain  ranges  mentioned,  is 
scarce  of  timber.     It  comprises  an  area  of  generally  arable  land, 


ICo6  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

of  about  forty  by  eighty  miles  in  extent,  is  rapidly  settling  up  in 
the  more  eligible  locations,  and  is  certain,  in  the  near  future,  to 
become  a  vast  wheat-growing  region.  W' here,  but  a  few  years 
ago,  only  the  Indian  or  the  trapper  found  inducement  to  remain, 
is  now  the  scene  of  busy  activity  and  great  attraction.  It  is  in 
this  region  that  timber  is  now  in  most  demand,  and  dependence 
is  upon  the  adjacent  mountains.  There  they  can  cut  and  saw 
timber  for  rails  and  lumber  and  draw  or  raft  it  to  the  farms 
below,  and  it  is  here  that  timber  depredations  have  been  most 
frequent.  The  land  has  mostly  remained  unsurveyed  where  the 
timber  grows,  and  the  citizens  could  not  purchase  it,  or  procure 
the  use  of  it,  even   by  the  payment  of  '  stumpage  ; '  but  they  felt 

that  they  must   have   timber The  central  portion  of 

Eastern  Oregon  is  mainly  mountainous,  with  occasional  valleys 
and  water-courses  adapted  to  settlement  and  utility.  This  tract 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Blue  Mountains,  on  the  west  by 
the  Cascade  Range  (the  latter  extending  entirely  through  the 
State  from  north  to  south),  on  the  east  by  Snake  river,  and  on 
the  south  by  the  spurs  and  buttes  of  the  Cascade  and  other 
ranges  of  mountains,  embracing  a  tract  of  country  near  150 
miles  square.  Although  mainly  devoted  to  mining  at  this  time 
there  are  yet  large  tracts  of  this  district  that  are  good  arable 
land,  and  which  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  be  surveyed  and  taken 
up  by  settlers.  At  this  time  it  is  so  far  removed  from  market 
that  it  affords  little  attraction  to  other  than  stock-raisers  and 
miners,  excepting  a  narrow  strip  along  the  one  overland 
thoroughfare. 

"Southeastern  Oregon  comprises  about  one-fourth  the  entire 
area  of  the  State,  and  is  mainly  adapted  for  grazing.  It  is  here 
that  are  annually  reared  and  fattened  the  beeves  which  furnish 
the  markets  of  California,  Utah,  Nevada  and  most  of  Southern 
Oregon.  There  are  numerous  small  valleys,  however,  which  are 
of  most  excellent  agricultural  quality,  and  will  be  more  than  suffi- 
cient for  all  time  to  furnish  the  local  demand  for  produce.  This 
portion  of  the  country  is  composed  principally  of  vast  grassy 
plains,  interspersed  with  low  wooded  hills,  and  thickly  set  with 
beautiful  lakes.     Scattered  over  it  are  some  marshes  and  swamps, 


SOIL   AND    VEGETATION— WESTERN  OREGON.  1007 

many  of  which  are  susceptible  of  easy  reclamation,  and  when 
once  redeemed  will  add  that  much  to  the  already  abundant 
meadow  land.  There  are  no  extensive  belts  of  arid  land  in  Or- 
egon, only  at  long  intervals  small  tracts  of  desert,  and  these  gen- 
erally reclaimable.  Such  tracts  as  could  be  thought  worthy  of 
the  name  exist  only  in  the  imagination  of  those  really  unac- 
quainted with  the  country." 

Soil  and  Veoctation. — In  Western  Oreofon,  both  mountain  and 
valley  have  good  and  productive  soils,  the  valleys  being  very 
rich,  the  mountain  slopes  hardly  less  so;  while  the  mountains  are 
rich  enough  to  be  covered  with  gigantic  growths  of  timber  to 
their  summits,  or  where  this  has  been  burned,  with  a  dense 
undergrowth,  indicating  its  productiveness.  The  general  char- 
acter of  the  soil  in  the  valleys  is  a  dark  loam  and  vegetable 
mould  with  a  clay  subsoil.  The  soil  of  the  bottom  lands,  con- 
tiguous to  the  water-courses,  is  generally  composed  of  rich 
alluvial  deposits  of  decomposed  earth  and  vegetable  mould. 
The  so-called  beaver-dam  lands  have  deep  accumulations  of 
humus  or  earthy  deposits,  decayed  vegetable  matter  and  decom- 
posed trees,  the  work  of  beavers  during  centuries,  and  are  of 
extraordinary  fertility,  but  are  of  limited  extent.  Most  of  the 
lands  in  the  larger  valleys  have  a  rich,  very  deep  soil.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  level  and  rolling  prairies  between  the  river 
bottoms  and  foot-hills.  Besides  the  large  valleys  of  the  Willa- 
mette, Umpqua  and  Rogue  rivers,  and  their  tributaries,  those  of 
the  Young,  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Nehalem  and  Coquille  rivers,  and 
of  Skippanon  creek,  the  basins  of  Tillamook  and  Yaquina  bay, 
and  the  so-called  Clatsop  plain,  offer  fine  fields  for  agricultural 
pursuits  in  W^estern  Oregon.  The  action  of  the  clay  subsoil  in 
retaining  moisture  accounts  for  the  exceeding  productiveness  of 
the  soil.  The  land,  too,  retains  its  productive  capacity  for 
unusually  long  periods  of  time,  and  seems,  indeed,  all  but  inex- 
haustible. Even  after  having  produced  crops  of  wheat,  oats  and 
barley,  for  from  fifteen  to  thirty  years,  without  any  manure,  and 
with  indifferent  ploughing,  it  remains  as  fertile  as  ever. 

The  soil  of  the  foot-hills  and  tillable  mountain  surfaces  con- 
sists of  red,  brown,  or  black  loam  ;  the  black  j)redominating  near 


ioq8  our  western  empire. 

the  mountain  ranges.  The  elevated  lands  not  only  afford  the 
best  natural  pasturage,  but  produce  good  crops  of  hay,  cereals, 
vefretables  and  fruit. 

In  Middle  Oregon  soil  for  agricultural  purposes  is  not  so  gen- 
erally good  on  the  elevated  plateaux  as  west  of  the  Cascade 
Mountains  ;  the  best  openings  are  in  the  valleys  along  water- 
courses. In  some  parts  of  these  districts,  artificial  irrigation  has 
to  be  employed  to  make  the  soil  productive,  and  with  this 
stimulus,  they  yield  enormous  crops. 

In  Eastern  Oregon,  the  river  valleys  are  rich,  and  most  of  the 
land,  even  in  the  uplands,  is  a  strong  alluvium,  producing  from 
thirty  to  sixty  bushels  of  wheat,  a  like  proportion  of  other  grains, 
and  immense  root  crops.  These  lands  are  new,  and  their  pro- 
ductiveness has  not  been  known  until  within  the  past  five  years. 
The  Cascade  Mountains,  the  Coast  Range,  and  the  Callapoia 
Mountains,  as  well  as  a  large  part  of  the  valleys  of  Western 
Oregon,  are  covered  with  mighty  forests,  affording  an  inex- 
haustible supply  of  hard  and  soft  timber.  In  the  valleys  different 
kinds  of  ash,  oak,  maple,  balm  and  alder,  as  well  as  fir,  cedar, 
spruce,  pine  and  yew,  grow  in  great  abundance.  In  the  foot- 
hills scattering  oaks  and  firs,  with  a  thick  second  growth  in  many 
places,  are  found.  The  mountains  are  mostly  covered  with  thick 
growths  of  tall  fir,  pine,  spruce,  hemlock,  cedar,  larch  and  laurel, 
without  much  undergrowth.  Two  kinds  of  cedar,  two  of  fir,  and 
three  of  pine,  are  indigenous  to  Oregon.  Trees  attain  an  unusu- 
ally fine  development,  both  as  regards  height  and  symmetrical 
form.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  State  the  red  fir  abounds,  and 
often  measures  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
height,  with  trunks  nine  feet  in  diameter,  clear  of  branches  up 
for  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Out  of  such 
trees  eighteen  rail-cuts  have  been  made,  and  five  thousand  to  ten 
thousand  feet  of  lumber.  Elder  stalks  from  eighteen  to  thirty 
inches  in  circumference,  hazel  bushes  from  one  to  five  inches  in 
diameter,  are  of  common  occurrence.  Lumber  is  cut  from  elder 
saw-logs  measuring  twenty  to  thirty  inches  in  diameter.  In  the 
forests  south  of  the  Umpqua  the  yellow  pine  is  found,  as  also  an 
abundance  of  sugar  pine,  the  wood  of  which  is  in  great  demand. 


OREGON  PASTURE-LANDS.  Iqqq 

For  commercial  and  industrial  purposes,  the  red  cedar,  red  fir, 
hemlock,  sugar  pine,  maple  and  ash,  are  the  most  valuable.  The 
natural  grasses  of  Western  Oregon  are  of  fine  quality  and  retain 
their  nutritious  and  fattening  character  till  late  in  the  autumn. 
The  rains  which  fall  regularly  in  May  and  June  keep  the  pasture 
in  a  succulent  condition  through  the  later  summer  and  autumn. 
One  acre  of  this  natural  pasture  will  feed  a  sheep  through  the 
year,  and  two  acres  an  ox.  But  the  best  grazing  lands  are  found 
in  Middle  and  Eastern  and  especially  Southeastern  Oregon. 
There  are  a  great  variety  of  native  grasses  of  the  most  nutritious 
character  in  this  vast  pasture-ground,  which  comprises  about 
thirty-three  million  acres.  The  cattle  and  sheep  pastured  on 
these  orrasses  thrive  better  than 'those  fed  on  erain  in  the  east. 
The  only  difficulty  is  that  they  become  too  fat.  These  lands, 
where  they  are  moderately  accessible  to  a  market,  are  being 
taken  up  extensively  for  dairy  farms,  and  the  golden  Oregon 
butter  has  already  a  high  reputation  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Water  Supply. — Western  Oregon,  with  its  immense  annual 
rainfall,  its  streams  fed  from  the  snow  on  the  Cascade  Moun- 
tains, and  the  moist  breezes  swept  in  from  the  Pacific,  is  in  no 
want  of  water.  Lakes,  ponds,  and  fine  springs  abound.  In 
Middle  Oregon,  on  the  elevated  plains,  there  is  sometimes  a 
scarcity,  and  occasionally  irrigation  is  necessary,  but  the  facilities 
for  this  are  so  ample,  the  cost  of  irrigation  is  so  moderate,  and 
the  results  produced  by  it  so  vast  and  profitable,  that  irrigation 
is  not  a  drawback  to  the  cultivation  of  these  lands.  In  Eastern 
Oregon  the  rainfall,  though  less  copious  than  in  the  western 
portion  of  the  State,  is  sufticicntly  so  for  all  practical  purposes, 
and  the  beautiful  valleys  there  do  not  suffer  from  drought. 

Cliiuatc. — The  climate  of  Western  Oregon  is  mild  and  equable, 
diftering  in  this  from  that  of  the  Eastern  States,  that  it  is  neither 
too  hot  in  summer  nor  too  cold  in  winter,  Owine  to  the 
proximity  of  the  Pacific  and  the  Gulf  stream  of  that  ocean,  snow 
or  frost  never  prevails  to  any  considerable  degree.  The  average 
temperature  explains  this  fact.  The  average  for  spring  is  52°; 
for  SLUTimer,  67°;  for  autumn,  53°;  and  for  winter,  39°  Fahren- 
heit, showing  a  mean  deviation  of  only  28°  during  the  year,    llie 


IIOO  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

average  yearly  rainfall  is  forty-four  inches,  about  the  same  as  at 
Davenport  (la.),  Memphis  and  Philadelphia.  Thunder-storms 
are  almost  unknown  in  Western  Oregon,  and  the  disastrous 
hurricanes  and  whirlwinds  of  the  Atlantic  States  entirely  so. 

Eastern  Oregon  has  a  dryer  climate,  a  considerably  smaller 
rainfall,  a  somewhat  (greater  heat  in  summer  and  a  lower  tem- 
perature  in  winter,  assimilating  very  closely  in  these  respects  to 
the  Red  River  valley  of  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  though  in  gen- 
eral with  less  depth  of  snow  in  winter.  But  this  climate  is 
eminently  healthful,  and  the  smaller  rainfall  does  not  interfere 
with  the  production  of  the  largest  and  finest  crops  of  wheat 
grown  anywhere. 

Middle  Oregon  has  a  more  equable  climate  and  a  moderate 
rainfall,  but  on  its  elevated  plateaux  both  the  cold  and  the  heat 
are  felt  all  the  more  keenly,  that  there  is  no  kindly  forest  to 
shelter  and  protect  the  traveller  from  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun,  or 
the  bitinof  cold  of  the  winter  winds. 

Rheumatic  and  pulmonary  diseases  are  excessively  rare  in  all 
parts  of  Oregon.  There  are  in  some  of  the  lowlands  near  rivers 
and  lakes  in  Southern  Oregon  occasional  sporadic  cases  of  a  mild 
intermittent  fever,  but  they  are  never  severe  enough  to  be  serious, 
and  they  yield  rapidly  to  treatment.  Some  of  the  small  towns 
on  the  Pacific,  like  Astoria,  Port  Orford  and  Umpqua  City,  have  a 
much  greater  rainfall  than  the  towns  of  the  Willamette  valley. 
In  these  towns,  in  the  past,  the  annual  rainfall  has  reached  sixty- 
four,  sixty-six,  or  sixty-seven  inches,  but  the  Coast  Range  robs 
the  weeping  clouds  of  the  skies  of  the  coast  of  a  part  of  their 
superabundant  moisture. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870,  the  death-rate  in  Oregon  is 
lower  than  in  any  otlier  State  or  Territory  in  the  Union,  except- 
ing Idaho,  being  only  .69  per  cent,  of  the  population  :  while  in 
California  it  is  1.16;  in  Vermont,  1.07;  Massachusetts,  1.77; 
Indiana,   1.05;   Illinois,  1.33;   Kansas,  1.25;  and  Missouri,  1.63. 

The  equable  temperature,  the  absence  of  high,  cold  winds  and 
sudden  atmospheric  changes,  render  people  less  subject  to 
bronchial,  rheumatic  and  inflammatory  complaints  than  in  other 
parts  of  the  country,  where  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  are 


CLIMATES    OF   OREGON.  HOI 

greater,  and    the    changes   of   temperature   more   sudden   and 
violent. 

We  give  on  page  1102  the  meteorology  of  Portland,  Oregon, 
representing  the  northwest  region  of  the  State  ;  of  Roseburg,  rep- 
resenting the  southwest,  and  of  Umatilla,  on  the  Columbia,  in  the 
northeast.  We  have  no  reports  from  the  southeast,  but  only 
know  from  the  correspondence  of  those  who  have  lived  there, 
that  the  climate  has  very  much  the  same  characteristics  as  that 
of  Eastern  Oregon  generally.  We  give  also  the  average  tem- 
perature and  rainfall  of  Astoria  and  Corvallis,  representing  the 
extreme  northwest,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  Western 
Central  Oregon  in  the  Willamette  valley. 

Portland,  2iV&T3.gG.  temperature  of  five  years:  Spring,  51°  9'; 
summer,  65'^  3';  autumn,  52°  8';  winter,  40°  i'.  Annual  rainfall 
for  five  years  :   43.41;   53.12;   43.69;  41.45;  47-70. 

Astoria,  latitude,  46°  17';  longitude,  123°  50'.  Mean  tempera- 
ture for  ten  years:  Spring,  51°  16';  summer,  61°  36';  autumn, 
53°  55''  winter,  42°  43';  year,  52°  13'.  Annual  rainfall,  60  to  6^ 
inches. 

Corvallis,  latitude,  44°  35';  longitude,  123°  08'.  Mean  temper- 
ature for  ten  years:  Spring,  55°  17';  summer,  67°  13';  autumn, 
53°  41';  winter,  39°  27';  year,  53°.  Annual  rainfall,  38.47  to 
42.08  inches. 

Geology  and  Minei-alogy. — Much  of  the  area  of  Oregon  has 
been  subjected  to  volcanic  action  on  a  gj-and  scale,  and  in  Eastern 
Oregon  this  has  been  comparatively  recent  (though  probably 
not  within  the  historic  period),  and  on  the  most  stupendous  scale. 
The  Coast  Range  and  th^  Blue  Mountains  and  their  spurs  are 
both  eozoic;  the  intermediate  Cascade  Range  is  volcanic  in  its 
surface  rocks,  with  indications  that  these  metamorphic  rocks  were 
originally  limestones  and  sandstones.  The  volcanic  action  in 
Eastern  Oregon  was  so  violent  as  to  leave  deep  fissures  or 
canons  where  the  rocks  were  rent.  Some  of  tliese  canons  are 
1,500  feet  deep,  and  on  their  perpendicular  walls  there  is  a  record 
of  the  order  of  the  eeoloiric  strata  rarely  accessible  elsewhere. 
Near  the  bottom  of  the  fissure  are  the  cretaceous  beds,  abound- 
ing in  marine   shells,  preserved  in  perfect  form,  but  often   filled 


1I02 


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GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY  OF  OREGON.  j  103 

with  chalcedony  or  calcareous  spar ;  next  above,  the  lower  ter- 
tiary strata,  with  leaf  impressions  of  great  trees — of  palms,  yews 
and  eiant  ferns,  as  well  as  of  the  oak  leaf  and  acorn  ;  with  these 
are  associated  fossils  of  two  species  of  rhinoceros,  four  of  the 
oredon,  a  connecting  link  between  the  camel  and  tapir,  and  sev- 
eral genera  of  the  tapir  and  peccary  families  ;  and  with  them  the 
orohippus.  Upon  these  lower  tertiary  strata  supervenes  the 
period  of  volcanic  action,  with  a  vast  overflow  of  lava,  mud  and 
ashes.  The  recrion  thus  rent  is  heaved  elsewhere  into  isolated 
cone-like  hills,  or  ridged  with  secondary  rocks,  thrown  up  dike- 
fashion,  their  strata  contorted  into  sharp  angles  or  broken  into 
chasms  filled  with  earth  or  lava.  Here  are  mountains  of  amyg- 
daloid, heaps  of  volcanic  conglomerate,  and  cliffs  of  columnar 
basalt  walling  in  the  water-courses.  In  the  region  of  the  upper 
Des  Chutes  and  John  Day  rivers,  the  volcanic  action  is  less 
marked,  and  here  the  cretaceous  formation  approaches  the  sur- 
face. The  whole  of  the  Cascade  Ranofe  in  the  State  eives  evi- 
dence  of  volcanic  action,  and  this  extends  westward  into  the  Wil- 
lamette valley.  The  bed  of  the  Willamette  river  near  its  mouth 
is  partially  basaltic,  with  perpendicular  walls ;  south  of  Oregon 
City  it  traverses  a  district  of  volcanic  debris,  and  black  trap  is 
frequently  exposed  on  its  banks.  Southward  of  this  occur  thin 
strata  of  limestone,  wath  fossil  bivalvular  shells,  granite  in  situ, 
and  again  basalt.  The  prevalent  rock  of  the  Willamette  valley 
is  trap,  while  at  the  head  of  the  valley  a  light-colored  clayey  sand- 
stone, possibly  tertiary,  is  found.  The  fossil  teeth  and  tusks  of 
elephants  have  been  found  at  great  depths  in  the  same  valley. 
At  the  Dalles,  on  the  hillsides,  are  boulders  of  gray  and  of  a  red 
granite. 

Minerals. — The  mineral  wealth  of  Oregon  is  very  great,  but 
as  yet  very  imperfectly  developed,  mainly  owing  to  the  want  of 
capital.  Gold  was  first  discovered  in  1 851,  in  the  counties  of 
Jackson  and  Josephine,  in  the  extreme  south  of  the  State  ;  and 
mines  have  been  worked  in  them  ever  since.  Their  total  product 
up  to  the  present  time  is  estimated  at  5^27,000,000;  but  of  late 
years  the  yield  has  declined  in  consequence  of  the  want  of  water. 
Baker  and  Grant  counties,  in  Eastern  Oregon,  have  also  yielded 


JI04  O^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

many  millions  of  the  precious  metal.  In  Baker  county,  espe- 
cially in  the  vicinity  of  Baker  City,  gold  mining  is  carried  on  very 
actively  at  this  time,  and  with  good  results.  On  the  ocean  beach, 
near  Coos  bay,  placer  mines  are  worked  to  a  considerable  extent. 
Rich  gold  quartz  lodes  have  been  discovered  and  partially  worked 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  Cascade  Mountains ;  but  their  dis- 
tance from  railroads,  and  the  want  of  machinery  for  working 
them,  has,  until  now,  prevented  their  development  on  a  scale 
commensurate  with  their  richness.  Were  the  same  amount  of 
capital,  enterprise  and  trained  skill  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
gold  mines  of  Oregon,  that  is  now  again  increasing  the  gold 
product  of  California  at  a  rapid  rate,  after  years  of  decline,  the 
former  State  would  not  be  far  behind  the  latter  in  the  production 
of  precious  metals.  The  yearly  gold  product  of  Oregon  repre- 
sents now  a  value  of  nearly  ^1,500,000. 

Lead  and  copper  have  been  found  in  large  quantities  in  Jack- 
son, Josephine  and  Douglas  counties,  on  Cow  creek,  a  tributary 
of  the  Urnpqua,  and  also  on  the  Santiam  river.  The  mines  on 
the  latter  river  are  successfully  worked. 

Large  deposits  of  rich  iron  ore  exist  in  nearly  every  part  of 
the  State.  The  most  important  of  these  is  situated  near  Oswego, 
on  the  Willamette,  about  six  miles  south  of  Pordand.  The  ore 
from  it  yields  about  fifty-four  per  cent,  of  pure  iron.  Other  ex- 
tensive deposits  exist  in  the.  counties  of  Columbia,  Tillamook, 
Marion,  Clackamas,  Jackson  and  Coos.  A  large  bed  of  ore  has 
been  found  at  St.  Helen's,  on  the  Columbia. 

That  essential  element  in  die  development  of  mineral  resources, 
coal,  abounds  in  Oregon  no  less  than  iron.  Beds  of  great  thick- 
ness exist  on  Coos  bay,  in  Coos  county,  on  the  northern  Umpqua, 
and  in  Douglas  county.  Beds,  as  yet  but  partially  explored,  have 
been  found  on  Yaquina  bay,  at  Port  Orford,  near  St.  Helen's,  on 
Pass  cre(;k,  and  on  the  line  of  the  Oregon  and  California  Rail- 
road, and  at  different  other  points  in  Clackamas,  Clatsop  and 
Tillamook  counties.  But  only  a  few  of  these  coal  mines  are 
reoularly  worked.  The  Coos  bay  mines  keep  a  fleet  of  schooners 
busy  carrying  coal  to  San  Francisco,  where  it  is  highly  esteemed, 
and  brings  about  ;^i  i  a  ton.     With  the  exception  of  that  obtained 


MINERAL    WEALTH  OF  OREGON.  Uqc 

from  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  it  is  the  best  coal  produced 
on  the  Pacific  coast. 

What,  with  the  abundance  of  coal  and  the  immense  beds  of 
iron  ore,  the  day  cannot  be  far  distant  when  Oregon  will  have  a 
well-developed  iron  industry. 

There  are  also  quarries  of  limestone,  brown  stone  and  marble 
in  the  State. 

Of  the  present  outlook  for  gold  and  silver  mining  in  the  State, 
the  Surveyor-General,  Hon.  James  C.  Tolman,  says  in  his  report 
of  August,  1879: 

"The  mining  interests  of  Oregon  are  assuming  an  importance 
and  permanent  assurance  of  profit  not  heretofore  exhibited. 
Gravel  mining  is  being  extensively  prosecuted  in  some  districts 
with  the  aid  of  the  most  approved  and  extensive  machinery, 
although  the  past  year  only  has  been  witness  to  their  general  in- 
troduction. A  new  era  has  undoubtedly  dawned  upon  that  in- 
dustry in  this  State.  The  existence  in  Southern  and  Middle 
Eastern  Oregon  of  immense  deposits  of  auriferous  gravel  has 
long  been  known;  but  prospectors  and  men  seeking  only  shallow 
surface  diggings  in  connection  with  water  do  not  generally  have 
the  capital  and  enterprise  necessary  to  prosecute  hydraulic  mining 
of  the  modern  kinds.  Within  the  past  two  or  three  years  capital 
has  been  attracted  to  these  deposits,  wherein  in  two  counties  of 
Southern  Oregon  alone  I  am  credibly  informed  that  many  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  expended  in  opening  up 
claims — in  the  constructing  of  ditches  and  arrangement  of  ma- 
chinery principally.  Much  labor  and  time,  as  well  as  money,  is 
required  to  develop  and  put  in  paying  order  any  of  these  claims, 
and  although  numbers  of  them  are  now  in  working  order,  few  or 
none  of  them  have  yet  been  sufficiently  tested  to  develop  their 
real  worth.  A  full  'clean  up '  is  the  only  fair  test  of  value,  even 
after  months  of  labor  and  many  thousands  of  dollars  of  expen- 
diture. 

"This  must  be  ranked  mainly  as  an  agricultural  State,  though 

mining  is,  and  will  indefinitely  continue  to  be,  a  large  factor  in 

the   sum  of  our  productions,  both  in  gravel  and  quartz  mining. 

Our  people  have  never  been  subjected  to  the  emotional  risks 
70 


TIo6  OUR    WESTERN  EMriRE. 

occasioned  by  stock  boards  and  wild  cat  speculations  which  have 
swept  other  mining  regions,  and  are  thus  more  disposed  to  weigh 
the  chances  of  profit  in  any  enterprise  offering  inducements. 
Hence  our  mining  interests  have  lagged,  only  to  be  placed  upon 
a  profitable  basis  when  undertaken  at  all. 

"The  quartz  mining  of  this  district  has  also  attracted  a  re- 
newed share  of  attention.  Heretofore,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
this  class  of  mining  has  been  lightly  employed,  and  has  yielded 
but  small  returns,  for  precisely  the  reasons  which  have  been 
offered  in  regard  to  the  small  effort  expended  in  placers.  Some 
wonderfully  rich  deposits  were  discovered  many  years  ago,  and 
were  worked  with  immense  profit.  Notable  am.ong  them  were 
the  Gold  Hill  and  Steamboat  or  Fowler  lands,  in  Jackson  and 
Josephine  counties  respectively.  From  these,  by  the  ordinary 
processes  then  in  use,  several  hundred  thousands  of  dollars  were 
taken  from  the  surface  rock  alone  in  the  space  of  a  few  months. 
In  one  instance,  from  the  Gold  Hill  ledo-e,  one  <jentleman  secured 
a  trifle  over  i,6oo  pounds  of  surface  rock,  from  which  he  took 
^30,000.  When  these  surface  deposits  were  exhausted  (nearl)' 
twenty  years  ago)  by  crushing  in  '  arastras '  and  other  almost 
equally  primitive  methods,  and  the  serious  and  expensive  work 
of  sinking  shafts,  driving  tunnels,  etc.,  began,  those  mines  were 
abandoned  and  have  lain  idle  till  this  day,  w^ith  the  exception 
of  an  effort  now  being  made  to  resume  work  on  the  Steamboat. 

"In  Eastern  Oregon  quartz  mining  has  been  steadily  followed, 
in  a  small  w^ay,  by  gentlemen  of  limited  means,  for  a  number  of 
years,  yielding  fair  returns  where  effort  merited  reward.  Several 
small  mills  are  now  in  operation  there,  and  prospecting  is  pushed 
with  considerable  vigor.  I  have  no  data  as  to  average  yield,  but 
am  assured  that  it  has  been  uniformly  satisfactory.  The  general 
outlook,  however,  is  better  now  in  regard  to  mining  than  it  has 
been  before  for  many  years.  In  the  course  of  time  I  believe  this 
State,  to  the  extent  of  its  mining  area,  will  rank  with  the  most 
favored  mining  localities  of  the  coast.  Given  the  mines,  and  we 
certainly  possess  facilities  unsurpassed  by  any  region — cheap  fuel 
and  labor,  abundance  of  water  and  plenty  of  all  kinds  of  pro- 
visions, all  easily  obtained." 


ZOOLOGY  AND   LIVE  STOCK. 


1 107 


Zoology. — The  beasts  of  prey  are  identical  with  those  of  CaH- 
fornia  ;  the  grizzly  bear,  black  and  cinnamon  bears,  the  cougar. 
or  panther,  and  several  of  the  smaller  y^Z/rt'^,  the  catamount,  lynx 
and  ocelot,  the  fisher,  otter,  marten,  mink  and  beaver,  several 
species  of  fox,  the  gray  wolf,  possibly  the  raccoon  ;  and  of  game 
animals,  elk,  deer  of  two  species,  antelope,  bighorn,  or  Rocky 
Mountain  sheep,  rabbits  and  hares,  including  the  jackass  rabbit, 
and  two  or  three  hares  found  only  on  the  Pacific  coast ;  all  the 
rodents  of  the  coast ;  and  of  game  birds,  wild  swans,  wild  geese 
and  ducks  of  many  species,  pheasants,  sage  hens  and  other 
grouse,  quail  and  snipe  of  extraordinary  size,  and  a  great  variety 
of  song  birds  and  birds  of  prey.  The  waters  of  Oregon  abound 
in  fish  of  great  delicacy  and  economic  value.  There  are  six  or 
seven  species  of  salmon  native  to  the  coast ;  and  the  Eastern 
salmon  and  lake  salmon  have  been  introduced.  The  salmon 
forms  an  important  item  in  the  products  of  the  State.  Trout  of 
great  size  and  excellence  are  found  in  the  streams  ;  sturgeon, 
tom  cod,  flounders  and  other  edible  fish  are  abundant.  The 
shad  and  black  and  sea  bass  have  been  introduced.  Most  of 
the  edible  shell  fish  are  found  in  great  abundance  on  the  coast. 


The  following  table  shows  the  estimated  tiumber  and  value  of  live-stock  in 
January,  1879,  Ofid  January,  1880  .• 


1879. 

Annuls. 

1              1 

1     .         1 

Number. '  ^^^  j       Value. 

i 
1 

1880. 
Animals. 

Number. 

Av. 
Price. 

Value. 

109,700'    50.05;    $5,490,485 
3,500    5091.          178,185 
112,400     18.561      2,086,144 
188,300     12.15'      2,287,845 
i,i5o,6x)       1.57!      1,822,142 
221,900      3.19;         707, &61 

117,400 
3,600 

121,392 
201,500* 
1,265,054 
220,557 

S61.43 

51-3-3 

19.10 

14.60 

.65 

345 

$7,211,882  ; 

184,680 

2,318.587 

2,941,900 

2,087,339 

788,521 

Mules  and  asses 

Mules  and  asses 

M.lch  cows 

O.xen  and  other  cattle. 
Sheep 

Oxen  and  other  cattle 
Sheep 

Totals 

Tdtals    

$I5,53'.342 

i             i 

The  real  increase  in  the  grain  crops  and  in  cattle  and  sheep  is 
considerably  greater  than  our  tables  would  indicate. 

F'lsJicrics. — The  canning  and  pickling  of  .salmon  mainly  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  river  is  becoming  an  immense  industry. 
It  had  not  attained  any  great  proportions  until  1872,  in  which  year 


*  Probably  much  below  the  actual  number. 


iio8 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


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S 

TIMBER  AND    OTHER  PRODUCTIONS.  IIO9 

170,000  salmon,  weighing  2,700,000  pounds,  and  when  canned 
valued  at  ^432,000,  were  canned  and  exported, and  162,500  pickled 
fish  valued  at  %\  17,000.  In  1873  the  export  value  of  the  canned 
salmon  was  $949,000;  in  1874,  $1,500,000;  in  1875  it  was 
nearly  $2,000,000 ;  in  1876,  $2,215,000  ;  in  1877,  $2,300,000 ;  in 
1878,  $2,920,000 ;  in  1879  over  $3,200,000;  and  it  is  believed 
that  it  will  reach  $4,000,000  in  1880.  But  for  the  large  salmon 
trade  in  Puget  sound,  and  in  Alaska,  it  would  have  attained  even 
larger  proportions. 

The  Timber  and  Lumber  Trade. — The  macrnificent  forests  of 
Oregon  supply  an  immense  amount  of  timber  and  lumber  for 
San  Francisco  and  other  California  ports,  and  also  for  the  Mexi- 
can and  South  American  markets.  For  ship-building,  mine- 
timbering  and  house-building,  as  well  as  for  the  choicest  furni- 
ture, the  Oregon  woods  are  the  best  in  the  world.  Over  100.- 
000,000  feet  of  lumber  and  timber  were  exported  in  1875,  and 
the  amount  has  greatly  increased  since  that  time.  In  1877  the 
value  of  the  exported  lumber  was  set  down  as  $510,000.  It  has 
gready  increased  since,  and  the  home  demand,  with  the  rapid 
increase  of  immigration,  is  larger  than  of  the  foreign. 

Wheat  and  Flour. — The  exports  of  wheat  in  1880  will  probably 
exceed  $9,000,000,  the  larger  part  being  from  the  Upper 
Columbia  and  the  rich  valleys  of  Eastern  Oregon.  In  1877-78, 
seventy-six  large  vessels  were  loaded  with  wheat  from  Portland, 
of  which  seventy-four  sailed  direct  for  Great  Britain.  Oregon 
flour  has  a  very  high  reputation,  and  was  exported  in  1877  to 
the  amount  of  $2,500,000. 

Wool  is  also  largely  exported,  and  about  1,500,000  pounds 
manufactured  in  the  State.  The  wool  clip  of  1S78  was  over 
6,000,000  pounds,  and  that  of  1879  nearly  7,500,000  pounds. 

The  total  exports  of  the  State  in  1877  were  $16,086,897, 
and  were  increasinor  at  the  rate  of  four  or  five  million  dollars  a 
year, 

Alanufaciures. — The  leading  manufactures  of  the  State  are 
lumber,  flour,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken  ;  woollen  goods, 
especially  fancy  cassimeres  and  blankets,  which  bear  the  highest 
reputation,  and  bring  the  best  prices  of  any  in  the  market;  dressed 


jjjQ  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

flax  linen  goods,  and  linseed  oil,  leather,  and  especially  harness 
leadier  of  excellent  quality,  iron  furnaces  and  foundries,  and 
manufactories  of  iron  and  tinned  goods,  woodt^n  ware,  agricul- 
tural implements,  butter,  dried  and  canned  fruit,  and  fruit  juices 
of  remarkable  excellence,  furniture  and  paper.  In  1870  the 
manufactured  products  of  the  year  were  valued  at  $6,877,387. 
In  1880  they  will  exceed  $20,cmdo,ooo. 

Labor,  Wages. — Common  laborers  earn  $2;  mechanics,  $3  to 
5^5  ;  farm-hands,  from  $25  to  $30  a  month,  and  found.  Farm- 
laborers,  and  especially  female  servants,  are  in  good  demand. 
The  latter  earn  as  high  wages  as  in  California.  Persons  with 
some  means  and  a  knowledge  of  farming  or  a  mechanical  trade 
can  easily  establish  themselves,  and,  with  frugality  and  industry, 
acquire  a  competency  in  a  few  years. 

Ruling  Prices. — For  the  past  three  years  wheat  in  bulk  in 
Portland  has  ranged  from  80  cents  to  $1.25  per  bushel ;  oats,  50 
cents;  potatoes,  50  cents  to  75  cents;  apples,  50  cents;  corn, 
;j^i  ;  flax,  %2\  onions,  $1.50;  good  average  farm-horses,  $100 
each  ;  oxen,  $125  per  yoke  ;  good  average  milch-cows,  $25  ;  sheep, 
$3  per  head;  wool,  common-graded,  35  cents  per  pound;  beef 
on  foot,  5  to  6  cents;  fresh  pork,  7  cents. 

Price  of  Land. — In  the  valley  of  the  Willamette  good  brush 
and  timber  lands  can  be  purchased  for  $2.50  per  acre  and  up- 
wards, according  to  soil  and  locality.  All  the  prairie  lands  are, 
however,  taken  up,  but  can  be  bought  at  from  $8  to  ;^50  an  acre. 
Alono-  the  foot-hills,  and  near  them,  small  tracts  or  farms  can  be 
purchased,  with  ample  outside  pasturage  for  extensive  stock- 
farms.  The  Oregon  and  California  Railroad  Company,  and  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  have  large  grants  of  land  from  the 
United  States  Government,  which  they  sell  on  very  liberal  condi- 
tions at  the  low  prices  of  $1.25  to  $7  per  acre.  The  purchaser 
can  pay  cash,  in  which  case  he  will  be  allowed  a  discount  of  ten 
per  cent,  on  the  purchase  price,  or  can  have  ten  years'  tiine  in 
which  to  make  up  the  same  by  small  annual  payments,  with 
interest  at  seven  per  cent,  per  annum.  In  this  case  the  pur- 
chaser pays  down  one-tenth  of  the  price.  One  year  from  the 
sale  he  pays  seven  per  cent,  interest  on   the   remaining  nine- 


RAILROADS  AND   RIVER  NAVIGATION.  UU 

tenths  of  the  principal.  At  the  end  of  the  second  year  he  pays 
one-tenth  of  tlie  principal  and  one  year's  interest  on  the  re- 
mainder;  and  the  same  at  the  end  of  each  successive  year  until 
all  has  been  paid  at  the  end  of  ten  years.  There  is  an  abundance 
of  government  land  surveyed  and  in  the  market,  subject  to  the 
Homestead  and  Pre-emption  laws. 

In  Eastern  and  Middle  Oregon  the  government  lands  are  the 
best,  though  partially  improved  farms  may  sometimes  be  had. 
Government  lands  may  be  bought  there  under  the  Pre-emption, 
Homestead,  or  Timber-Culture  laws,  and  in  Middle  Oregon  under 
the  Desert  Land  Act,  for  grazing  purposes.  The  immigrant  re- 
quires a  little  more  capital  to  land  him  in  Oregon,  than  would  be 
necessary  for  some  of  the  States  and  Territories  farther  east; 
but  once  there,  and  a  small  capital  will  go  as  far  and  can  be  as 
readily  supplemented  by  labor  for  others,  as  anywhere  else  in  the 
country. 

Railroads  and  River  Navigatioji. — The  Columbia  river,  which 
forms  the  northern  boundary  of  Oregon  as  far  as  nearly  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Snake  river,  is  navigable  from  its  mouth  to  this 
point,  and  above,  except  at  two  points:  the  Cascades,  where  there 
is  a  portage  railroad  of  five  or  six  miles,  and  the  Dalles,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Des  Chutes,  where  there  is  another  portage  railway 
fourteen  miles  long.  These  obstructions,  requiring  two  railway 
and  three  steamer  transshipments,  have  greatly  enhanced  the  cost 
of  transportation  by  it,  but  are  now  in  a  fair  way  to  be  removed. 
The  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  whose  Pend  d'Oreille  division 
starts  from  Ainsworth,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Snake  river,  has  built 
a  branch  to  Wallula,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Columbia,  connect- 
ing there  with  the  Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation  line  to  Walla- 
Walla,  thirty  miles  east ;  and  the  Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation 
Company  have  undertaken  the  construction  of  a  railway  along 
the  south  side  of  the  Columbia  river  to  Pordand,  where  the 
steamships  of  this  company  to  San  Francisco  can  receive  the 
freight.  This  road  is  now  completed  to  the  Dalles,  and  will  reach 
Portland  next  season.  The  United  States  government  are  con- 
structing canals  and  locks  around  the  Cascades  and  Dalies,  but 
so  leisurely  that  it  will  require  twelve  or  fifteen  years  to  complete 


II  12  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

them ;  so  that  the  railway  is  the  only  hope  for  cheap  transporta- 
tion from  the  Upper  Columbia.  The  Northern  Pacific  will 
eventually  construct  a  railway  down  the  north  bank  of  the 
Columbia,  and  extend  it  to  Portland,  which  is  not  on  the 
Columbia,  but  on  the  Willamette,  one  of  its  largest  tributaries. 
The  Willamette  is  navigable  partly  by  slackwater  navigation  for 
138  miles  from  its  mouth.  But  the  W^illamette  valley  is  already 
traversed  by  two  railroads,  and  is  likely  ere  long  to  be  gridironed 
by  one  and  possibly  two  more.  The  Oregon  and  California 
Railroad,  starting  from  Plast  Portland,  extends  southward  through 
the  W^illamette  and  Umpqua  valleys  to  Roseburg,  a  distance  of 
200  miles.  Its  eventual  terminus  is  to  be  Redding,  in  California, 
where  it  will  connect  with  the  Northern  California  Railway.  The 
Oregon  Central,  starting  from  Portland,  extends  in  a  horseshoe 
curve  to  Millsboro,  and  thence  south  to  Junction  City,  whence  one 
branch  goes  to  Ellendale,  across  the  Coast  Range,  and  another 
to  Luckiamute,  with  a  probable  future  terminus  at  Harrisburg,  on 
the  Oregon  and  California  road.  The  Oregonian  Railway  Com- 
pany (limited),  a  Scottish  company,  has  undertaken  to  construct 
two  narrow  gauge  railways,  close  to  the  mountains  on  either  side 
of  the  W^illamette  valley,  one  to  cross  the  Coast  Range  and  reach 
Yaquima  Bay,  and  the  other  crossing  the  Cascade  Range  to  con- 
nect with  a  road  from  the  Central  Pacific  in  Nevada,  They  also 
propose  to  build  from  Portland  to  Astoria,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia.  The  Oregon  Railway  and  Navigadon  Company  have 
also  commenced  several  narrow-gfausfe  railroads  from  Wallula 
and  Milton  southward  and  southeastward  in  Eastern  Oregon,  to 
points  where  the  great  live-stock  and  wheat  crop  can  be  most 
easily  conducted  to  their  main  line  on  the  Columbia  river.  Some 
of  these  will  eventually  extend  into  Idaho. 

The  Northern  Pacific,  though  having  an  extensive  land  grant 
in  Northern  Oregon,  from  Walla-Walla  to  the  Willamette,  has 
not,  and  does  not  intend  to  have,  any  portion  of  its  line  in 
Oregon,  except,  perhaps,  a  branch  of  some  twelve  miles,  ex- 
tending across  the  Columbia  to  Portland.  Its  present  terminus 
on  the  Columbia  is  at  Kalama,  in  Washington  Territory,  forty-five 
miles  north  of  Portland.     We  have  already  spoken  of  the  short 


EDUCATIONAL   FACILITIES.  ^WX 

railway  portages  (six  and  fourteen  miles)  at  the  Cascades  and 
the  Dalles.  With  the  completion  of  the  railways  now  under  con- 
tract or  in  course  of  construction,  Oregon  will  have  nearly  i,ooo 
miles  of  railroad  in  operation. 

Finances. — The  government  of  the  State  has  been  economi- 
cally administered  and  taxes  are  light.  The  entire  indebtedness 
of  the  State,  January  i,  1881,  will  not  probably  exceed  <!;3o8,ooo, 
and  there  is  sufficient  money  accruing  from  the  sale  of  swamp 
lands,  etc.,  to  meet  it  when  it  becomes  due. 

.  Educational  Facilities. — The  school  fund  of  the  State  (derived 
from  the  sale  of  school  lands)  amounted  in  1878  to  ^609,000;  it 
has  since  materially  increased.  In  1878  the  number  of  youth  of 
school  age  (four  to  twenty)  was  53,462,  of  whom  26,992  were 
enrolled  in  the  public  schools,  and  the  average  daily  attendance 
was  21,464.  There  were  904  organized  districts,  of  which  865 
reported ;  there  were  768  public  schools  of  ordinary  grade,  and 
twenty-two  of  advanced  grade.  The  average  time  school  was 
maintained  was  four  and  a  half  months.  The  value  of  public 
school  property  was  ^483,058.  The  total  number  of  teachers  was 
1,068,  of  whom  569  were  males,  and  499  females.  The  average 
monthly  pay  of  the  men  was  ^45.25;  of  the  women,  ^34.33,  The 
total  receipts  for  public  schools  were  $258,786;  the  total  expen- 
ditures, $275,107.  There  were  105  private  and  collegiate  schools. 
The  schools  of  Portland  and  Salem  are  of  very  high  character. 
There  is  a  normal  school  at  Monmouth,  and  a  normal  depart- 
ment of  the  State  University  at  Eugene  City.  There  are 
Teachers'  Institutes  held  annually  in  each  judicial  district.  In 
the  way  of  higher  instruction  there  are  four  (so-called)  universi- 
ties, which  are  really  only  colleges,  viz.:  the  University  of  Oregon, 
at  Eugene  City,  with  a  normal  department  attached ;  this  had 
a  land  grant  of  66,080  acres,  and  has  received  $100,000  from 
it,  20,000  acres  being  yet  unsold ;  the  Blue  Mountain  Uni- 
versity, at  La  Grande,  Eastern  Oregon,  with  a  very  thorough 
course  ;  the  Willamette  University,  at  Salem,  a  Methodist  col- 
lege with  a  medical  school  attached;  and  Pacific  University  and 
Tualatin  Academy,  at  Forest  Grove,  a  non-sectarian  institu- 
tion.    There   are   also  four  colleges,  viz. :    Corvallis  College,  at 


1 114 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


Corvallis,  under  the  control  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South,  of  which  the  State  Agricultural  College,  endowed  with  the 
Congressional  land-grant  of  90,000  acres,  is  a  department;  Mc- 
Minnville  College,  a  Baptist  institution  at  McMinnville;  Philomath 
College,  at  Philomath,  under  the  control  of  the  United  Brethren 
in  Christ  (German  Methodists)  ;  and  Christian  College,  at  Mon- 
mouth, under  the  control  of  the  Christian  connection.  These 
institutions  had  1,025  students  in  1878,  675  of  them  in  the  pre- 
paratory departments.  All  of  them  admit  women  to  their  classes, 
and  there  is  also  at  Portland  a  college  for  women,  St.  Helen's 
Hall,  under  the  care  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

There  are  also  institutions  at  Salem  for  the  education  of  deaf 
mutes  and  of  the  blind. 

Population. — In  1843  there  were  not  more  than  400  white  in- 
habitants in  Oregon  Territory,  which  then  included  Washington 
Territory  also.     The  following  table  shows  the  growth  since  that 

time: 

Population  of  Oregon. 


^ 

, 

,    .   — 

3 

ji 

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■2.^ 

M  u 

j^'y 

_o 

CJ 

£i^ 

0  D.  . 

u 

u 

<^,'i 

1) 

3 

1850 
i860 

0. 
0 

0 

H 

(A 
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6 

IS 

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> 

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c 

0 

c 

0 

0 

a. 

>. 

0 

_^ 

162 

0  F,  «3 
%%"■ 

'■^  0 

0 

4,522 
i6,9b8 

,2  2  E 
^  c 

0 

Of  Voting  J 

ly-one  anc 

ma! 

13,29  J 
52,465 

8  266 

5,036 
20,847 

13,087 
52,170 

207 
128 

4,9 '3 
'5,7"7 

5,617 
18,806 

3>,527 

'", 

47»342 

5,123 

294.6 

1. 511 

1870 

ioi,88j* 

49,777 

37,49«* 

86,929 

346 

ii,278t 

3.330 

79.323 

11,600 

73-3 

4.427 

29.4  « 

23.959 

28,616 

1875 
1880 

122,960* 
180,022* 

108,324 
163.087 

10,960! 
6,934t 

3.410 
9,508 

2^6 

44.66' 
61,122 

'03,388 

71,379 

493? 

144,327 

30,440 

78.ot 

Oreofon  has  been  called  the  "  New  Enoland  of  the  Pacific 
Coast,"  and  has  probably  a  larger  proportion  of  New  England 
people  in  its  population  than  any  other  of  the  Western  vStates. 
Its  people  are  thrifty,  intelligent  and  moral.  They  have  reared 
the  church  and  the  school-house  in  their  villages,  even  while  their 
own  dwellings  were  of  logs  or  sods,  and  have  shown  their  New 
England  origin  by  their  early  attention  to  higher  institutions  of 
learning.  No  one  of  the  States  of  the  far  West  has,  in  propor- 
tion to  its   population,  so  many  colleges  and  collegiate  schools 


•Tribal  Indians  add--d.     \  \  part  of  these  Indians  are  In  Washington  Territory.     \  F"or  decade. 


INDIAN  RESERVATIONS  AND    TRIBAL    INDIANS. 


WW 


of    high    character,    or  imparts    to   the    students    so    thorouc^h 


traininp- 


Eastern  Oregon,  which  is  now  receiving  avast  number  of  emi- 
grants in  its  rich  and  fertile  valleys,  will  have  a  larger  proportion 
of  people  of  foreign  birth,  as  well  as  a  greater  number  from  the 
Mississippi  valley  and  the  Middle  States  ;  but  the  State  is  a  de- 
sirable one  for  the  better  class  of  emigrants,  not  only  from  its 
advantages  of  soil  and  climate,  and  its  mining  and  pastoral  facili- 
ties, but  for  its  educational  and  religious  advantages,  and  the  high 
character  of  its  inhabitants, 

Indian  Reservations  and  Tribal  Indians. — The  5,818  tribal 
Indians  credited  by  the  Indian  Commissioner  to  Oregon,  though 
some  of  them  more  properly  belong  to  Washington  Territory, 
are  of  twenty  different  bands.  Those  belonging  to  the  Grande 
Ronde,  Klamath,  Malheur  and  Siletz  Agencies,  and  most  of  those 
connected  with  the  Warm  Springs  Agency,  about  three-fourths 
of  tlie  whole,  have  adopted  citizens'  dress,  and  are  becoming  quite 
civilized.  They  till  about  8,000  acres  of  land  of  their  reserva- 
tions, and  a  few  have  had  lands  allotted  to  them  in  severalty. 
Their  reservations  include  3,853,800  acres,  but  less  than  200,000 
acres  of  this  is  tillable. 

Cotuities  and  Principal  Cities  and  Towns. — There  are  twenty- 
three  counties  in  the  State,  whose  population  in  1S80,  and 
assessed  valuation  in  1879,  was  as  follows: 


Counties. 

Baker 

Benton 

Clackamas 

Clatsop 

Columbia 

Coos 

Curry 

Douglas 

Grant 

Jackson 

Josephine 

Lake 

Lane 


Population, 
1S80. 

4,615 

6,403 
9,260 

7,222 

2,042 

4,834 

1,208 

9,596 

4,303 
8,154 

2,485 
2,804 
9,411 


Ass'd  Valuation, 
1879. 

^874,516   00 

1,722,115    00 

1,908,580   00 

1,159,361  00 
287,837  00 
894,113  00 

243,733  00 
2,133,118  00 
1,102,327  00 
1,466,992  00 
278,290  00 
830,591  00 
3,301,368  00 


iii6 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


Counties. 

Population, 
1880. 

Ass'd  Valuation, 

1879. 

Linn            .....          12,675 

^4,490,^54   00 

Marion 

14,516 

3,922,258   00 

Multnomah 

25,204 

10,633,190   00 

Polk 

6,601 

1,599,423   00 

Tillamook 

970 

83,902    00 

Umatilla    . 

9,607 

1,523,988   00 

Union 

6,650 

1,117,099   00 

Wasco 

11,120 

2,262,570   00 

Washington 

7,082 

2,069,190  00 

Yam  Hill   . 

7,945 

2,465,258   00 

Total     . 

174,767 

$46,370,673   00 

For  1878    . 

46,240,324  00 

This  valuation  was  about  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar  of  the  true 
valuation.  In  1880  the  true  valuation,  including  property  not 
taxed,  is  not  less  than  ^100,000,000. 

The  largest  city  in  the  State  is  Portland,  on  the  Willamette, 
1 12  miles  by  river  from  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  a  place  of  con- 
siderable and  increasing  business  and  of  great  wealth.  Its  popu- 
lation in  1880  was  20,549.  Salem,  the  capital,  is  also  on  the 
Willamette,  and  on  the  Oregon  and  California  Railroad.  It  is  a 
pretty  town  of  about  5,000  inhabitants,  Oregon  City,  Albany, 
Harrisburg  and  Eugene  City,  all  on  the  Willamette,  have  over 
3,000  inhabitants  each.  Astoria,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia; 
Roseburg,  the  present  terminus  of  the  Oregon  and  California 
Railroad  ;  Jacksonville,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State  ; 
Corvallis,  Junction  City,  both  in  the  Willamette  valley;  Dallas,  at 
the  second  rapids  of  the  Columbia ;  East  Portland,  Port  Orford 
and  Empire  City,  on  the  coast;  and  St.  Helen's,  in  the  northwest, 
on  the  Columbia  river,  are  towns  of  2,000  or  more  inhabitants. 
These  are  all  in  Western  Oregon.  In  Eastern  Oregon,  La 
Grande,  Baker  City,  Umatilla,  Sparta,  Pendleton  and  Milton  are 
the  principal  towns. 

Religious  Denominations. — In  1875  there  were  in  Oregon  351 
church  organizations  and  242  church  edifices  of  all  denominations  ; 
320  clergymen,  priests  or  ministers;  14,324  members  or  com- 
municants; 71,630  adherent  population,  and  church  property 
valued  at  $652,950.    This  with  a  population  estimated  at  1 1  2,000, 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS.  ^WJ 

exclusive  of  Indians,  is  certainly  a  very  creditable  showing.  The 
Methodists  were  considerably  the  most  numerous  denomination, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  having  i  21  church  organizations, 
63  church  edifices,  140  ministers,  5,871  members,  20,1  70  adherent 
population,  and  ^139,500  of  church  property,  while  the  minor 
Methodist  denominations  (Evangelical  Association  and  United 
Brethren  in  Christ)  had  42  churches,  23  church  edifices,  19  minis- 
ters, 1,028  members,  4,200  adherent  population,  and  ^22,000  of 
church  property.  The  Baptists  came  next,  the  regular  Baptists 
having  59  churches,  54  church  edifices,  47  ministers,  2,052  mem- 
bers, 8,000  adherent  population,  and  ^51,300  of  church  property, 
and  the  Christian  Connection,  Baptists  in  their  practice,  had  43 
churches,  29  church  edifices,  36  ministers,  1,867  members,  7,900 
adherent  population,  and  ^42,500  of  church  property;  the  Pres- 
byterians had  28  churches,  26  church  edifices,  25  ministers, 
1 ,599  members,  7,000  adherent  population,  and  ^64,  i  50  of  church 
property.  Next  in  order  came  the  Catholics  with  17  churches, 
15  church  edifices,  18  priests,  15,000  adherent  population,  and 
^124,500  of  church  property.  Then  followed  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  with  16  parishes,  14  church  edifices,  15  priests, 
607  communicants,  2,800  adherents,  and  ^74,300  of  church  prop- 
erty, while  the  Congregationalists  were  nearly  equal  to  them  in 
numbers.  There  were  five  minor  sects  represented,  of  whom 
only  the  Lutherans  have  increased  very  much  within  the  past  five 
years.  Of  the  leading  denominations  there  has  been  a  very 
decided  increase,  most  marked  among  the  Baptists,  Presbyterians, 
Episcopalians  and  Congregationalists. 

Historical  Data. — Spain  seems  to  have  had  the  first  title — that 
of  maritime  discovery — to  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory, 
having  visited  and  mapped  the  coast  nearly  to  the  fifty-fifth 
degree  of  north  latitude,  in  1592  by  the  Greek  pilot,  De  Euca, 
in  1640  by  Admiral  Fonte,  and  subsequently  by  other  explorers. 
This  title,  with  whatever  validity  it  possessed,  was  expressly  con- 
veyed to  the  United  States  by  Spain  by  the  treaty  of  Florida, 
concluded  in  181 9.  The  tide  of  the  United  States  to  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory  by  no  means,  however,  rested  on  this  alone. 
Other  valid  claims  were  the  following:  the  discovery  and  explo- 


J,,  3  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

ration  of  Columbia  river  by  Captain  Robert  Gray,  commanding 
the  ship  "  Cokmibia,"  in  i  792,  who  g-ave  the  name  of  his  ship  to 
the  river;  his  previous  exploration  of  the  coast  in  connection  with 
Captain  Kendrick,  in  the  "Washington  "  and  the  "Columbia," 
and  his  discovery  and  naming  of  Gray's  Harbor,  and  exploration 
of  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca  and  Puget  Sound,  more 
fully  detailed  in  the  chapter  on  Washington  Territory ;  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana  and  all  that  belonged  to  it  from  the 
French  in  1803,  this  including  the  Spanish  title  so  far  as  they  had 
received  it  from  the  French  in  i  762  y^  the  exploration  of  Columbia 
river  from  its  sources  to  its  mouth  by  Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke, 
by  order  of  our  government  in  1804,  1805,  and  its  continued 
occupation  by  American  citizens  from  18 10,  as  a  result  of  the 
knowledge  of  its  resources  gained  from  the  report  of  Lewis  and 
Clarke. 

In  1 8 10  the  first  house  was  built  in  Oregon  by  Captain  Winship, 
a  New  Englander,  but  the  house  was  carried  away  by  a  flood  the 
following  year.  In  181 1,  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  New  York,  estab- 
lished a  trading-post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river,  which  was 
named  "Astoria"  in  his  honor.  The  venture  proved  disastrous, 
mainly  in  consequence  of  the  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  in  181  2.  The  British  took  possession  of  the  post 
in  181 3  and  called  it  Fort  George.  Subsequently  it  became  the 
property  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and  remained  in  its  pos- 
session until  1848.  The  Northwest  Fur  Company  disputed  for 
a  time  the  rule  of  the  latter  company  on  the  Pacific  coast,  but 
had  to  succumb  in  a  few  years,  and  was  absorbed  by  its  rival  in 
1824,  from  which  time,  till  1848,  the  latter  ruled  supreme  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Columbia  and  Willamette. 

In  1824  the  first  fruit  trees  were  planted  in  Oregon,  and  in 

*  This  claim  to  Oregon  in  consequence  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  was  a  very  weak  one,  and 
has  been  abandoned  by  Greenhow  and  some  other  American  authorities.  The  great  name  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  who  was  President  when  the  l^ouisiana  treaty  was  negotiated,  has  also  been 
cited  against  it;  but  the  other  claims  were  sufficient,  and  their  justness  and  completeness  cannot 
lie  denie  1.  See  en  this  subject  two  very  able  and  conclusive  papers  by  John  J.  Anderson, 
Ph.  D.,  author  of  several  works  on  the  history  of  the  United  States,  entitled  "  Did  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  extend  to  the  Pacific  Ocean?"  and  "  Our  Title  to  Oregon  " — San  Francisco  and  New 
York,  1880. 


INSTORICAL   DATA.  lUg 

1 83 1  the  first  regular  attempts  at  farming-  were  made  by  some 
of  the  retired  servants  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  In  1832 
the  first  school  was  opened.  Between  1834  and  1837  rnissionaries 
of  various  denominations  arrived,  bringing  the  first  cattle  with 
them.  In  1838  the  first  printing  press  arrived  in  Oregon.  In 
1 841  Commodore  Wilkes  visited  the  Columbia  on  an  exploring 
expedition  at  the  instance  of  the  United  States  government. 

From  1 81 6  till  1846  the  American  and  British  governments 
had  held  Oregon  "by  joint  occupancy"  under  a  formal  treaty, 
but  neither  nation  had  organized  any  form  of  civil  government 
there.  In  1843  the  inhabitants  organized  a  provisional  govern- 
ment, wliich  continued  in  force  till  1848.  In  1846,  after  a  long 
discussion,  a  treaty  was  made  with  Great  Britain  by  which  the 
whole  territory  south  of  49°  was  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

In  1848  Oregon  Territory  was  organized,  and  in  1849  received 
its  first  territorial  o-overnor. 

In  1859  it  was  received  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  Since  that 
time  it  has  had  some  Indian  troubles,  but  these  are  now  all 
quieted,  by  the  banishment  of  the  Indian  offenders,  and  the 
location  of  the  Indians  on  reservations  where  they  are  cared  for 
and  educated. 


I  120  OUR    WESTERN  EMPJRE. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

TEXAS. 

Situation  and  Boundaries  of  Texas — Irs  Area  and  Extent — Vastness  of 
ITS  Area — Comparisons  with  other  States  and  Countries — Face  of  the 
Country — Mountains  in  the  Northwest — Isolated  Summits  and  Ridges 
Elsewhere — Elevations  of  Various  Points — Rivers,  Bays  and  Estuaries 
IN  their  Order  from  East  to  West — Texas  Rivers  not  Navigable — Ge- 
ographical Divisions  of  the  State  and  their  Characteristics — Geology 
AND  Mineralogy — Minerals — Forests  and  Vegetation — Zoology — Cli- 
mate— Meteorological  Table  giving  the  Temperature,  Rainfall,  etc., 
AT  Eight  Points  in  the  State — Mining  and  Manufacturing  Industries 
— Agricultural  Productions — Tables  of  Agricultural  Products  and 
Live-stock — Not  all  the  Arable  Lands  of  Texas  of  the  First  Quality — 
The  I,ive-stock  of  the  State  Commands  Lower  Prices  than  that  of 
States  and  Territories  farther  North — Why  ? — Railroads  and  Navi- 
gable Waters — Population — Table  of  Population — Statistics — Nativi- 
ties of  the  Population — From  Whence  the  Emigration — Counties  and 
THEIR  Finances  AND  Valuation — Principal  Cities  and  Towns — Education 
-Public  Schools — Contradictory  Statistics — Lack  of  Interest  in  them 
— Universities,  Colleges  and  Professional  Schools — Institutions  for 
Blind  and  Deaf  Mutes — Lands  for  Immigrants — Religious  Denomina- 
tions— Historical  Data — Early  Settlements  in  Texas — Its  Revolt  and 
Independence  of  Mexico — The  Republic — Annexation  to  United  States 
— Progress — Secession — Reconstruction — Present  Constitution — Con- 
clusion. 

Texas  is  the  southernmost  State  of  "Our  Western  Emoire," 
and  joins  on  its  western  border  the  RepubHc  of  Mexico,  of  which 
it  was  once  an  integral  part.  It  is  a  vast  domain,  extending  from 
the  parallel  of  25°  51'  to  that  of  36°  ^d  north  latitude,  and  from 
the  meridian  of  93°  27'  to  that  of  106°  43'  west  longitude  from 
Greenwich.  It  is  of  very  irregular  shape,  a  part  of  its  boundaries 
being  of  inathematico-geographical  lines  of  latitude  and  longitude, 
and  a  much  greater  portion  following  the  natural  lines  of  gulf 
coast,  bay  and  river.  Its  northern  boundaries  are  New  Mexico 
from  the  Rio  Grande  eastward,  to  the  103d  meridian,  the  Indian 
Territory  (the  narrow  strip  in  the  northwest  of  that  Territory) 
from  the  103d  to  the  looth  meridian,  and  the  Red  river  from  the 


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TOPOGRAPHY  OF   TEXAS.  II2i 

looth  meridian  to  the  94th,  where  it  crosses  the  Arkansas  bound- 
ary. This  river  separates  it  from  the  Indian  Territory.  Its  eastern 
limits  are  the  meridian  of  94°  10',  as  far  south  as  the  thirty-second 
parallel,  Arkansas  and  Louisiana  being  its  actual  bounds,  and 
from  the  thirty-second  parallel  the  Sabine  river  and  lake  or  estuary 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  gulf  itself  thence  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte.  The  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  forms  its 
southwestern  border,  separating  it  from  the  Republic  of  Mexico, 
as  far  as  to  El  Paso,  where  it  passes  into  New  Mexico.  The  103d 
meridian,  passing  through  the  Llano  Estacado,  forms  its  western 
boundary.  Its  extreme  length  froni  southeast  to  northwest  is 
somewhat  more  than  800  miles,  and  its  extreme  breadth  about 
750  miles.  Its  area  is  274,365  square  miles,  or  i  75,587,840  acres. 
This  area  is  equal  to  that  of  the  German  Empire,  with  Holland, 
Belgium,  Switzerland  and  Denmark  added  to  it.  It  is  one-third 
larger  than  the  Republic  of  France.  It  is  four  times  larger  than 
all  New  England,  and  nearly  equal  to  the  combined  area  of  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois. 

Face  of  the  Country. — It  is  a  vast  inclined  plane,  with  a  gradual 
descent  from  the  northern  and  northwestern  boundary  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  coast  counties  are  nearly  level  for  sixty  or 
eighty  miles  inland ;  the  surface  then  becomes  undulating,  with 
alternate  gradual  elevations  and  depressions,  and  this  feature  in- 
creases as  we  proceed  toward  the  northwest,  until  it  becomes 
hilly  and  finally  mountainous  in  some  of  the  far  western  counties; 
the  Sierra  Charrotte  are  the  most  eastern  of  these  mountain 
ranges,  and  between  these  and  the  Rio  Grande,  in  Pecos,  P^l  Paso 
and  Presidio  counties,  are  the  Guadalupe,  the  Pah-cut,  the  Apache, 
the  Sierra  Hueco,  the  Sierra  del  Diablo,  the  Sierra  del  Muerio, 
the  Chanatte  Mountains,  the  Sierra  Merino,  the  Sierra  Cariso, 
Eagle  Mountain,  the  Sierra  Blanca,  and  stretching  along  the  Rio 
Grande  for  many  miles  the  Sierra  Blancha.  Most  of  these  moun- 
tains carry  leads  of  silver,  lead  and  copper.  The  highest  of  them 
do  not  attain  an  elevation  of  more  than  5,000  feet.  In  other  por- 
tions of  Texas  there  are  hills,  and  occasionally  a  summit  towering 
above  the  plain,  but  no  mountains  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 
The  gradual  character  of  the  ascending  slope  of  tlie  country  is 
71 


I  122  OUR    WESTERN  EMrrRF.. 

indicated  by  die  following  elevations  ascertained  by  the  coast 
survey  and  railway  surveys:  Goliad,  50  feet;  Houston,  65  ;  Gon- 
zales, 150;  Jefferson,  226;  Silver  Lake,  350;  Marshall,  '■)']']', 
Webberville,  394;  Brenham,  435  ;  Dallas,  481  ;  San  Antonio,  575  ; 
Fort  Worth,  629  ;  Austin,  650 ;  Sherman,  734 ;  P^ort  Inge,  Uralde 
county,  845  ;  Weatherford,  1,000;  Sisterdale,  in  Kendall  county, 
1,000;  Fort  Clark,  Kenney  county,  1,000;  Fredericksburg,  1,614; 
Mason,  1.800;  Fort  Concho,  1,750;  Fort  McKavitt,  2,050;  Fort 
Bliss,  El  Paso  county,  3,830;  Fort  Davis,  Presidio  county,  4,700 
feet. 

Rivers,  Bays,  EstuaHes  and  Lakes. — The  State,  except  in  the 
region  of  the  Llano  Estacado,  or  Staked  Plain,  in  the  northwest, 
is  well  watered.  The  Canadian  river,  the  largest  tributary  of  the 
Arkansas,  and  the  Red  river,  which  forms  a  part  of  its  northern 
boundary,  both  have  their  head-waters  in  Northwestern  Texas 
and  New  Mexico,  but  neither  of  them  receive  any  very  large 
affluents  in  Texas,  though  the  North,  Salt,  Middle  and  South 
forks  of  the*  Red  river  are  considerable  streams,  Be^inninor  now 
at  the  east,  the  Sabine  river,  which  for  nearly  200  miles  forms  the 
eastern  boundary  of  the  State,  is  a  large  and  for  much  of  Its  route 
a  sluggish  stream,  with  several  considerable  affluents  ;  and  the 
Neches,  or  Naches,  a  river  of  about  the  same  size,  runs  nearly 
parallel  with  it,  both  discharging  their  waters  into  the  Sabine 
lake.  The  affluents  of  these  streams  and  of  those  to  be  men- 
tioned interlock  with  each  other,  and  though  not  of  large  size 
water  the  country  well.  All  the  rivers  of  Texas  except  the  Can- 
adian and  Red  river  have  a  general  direction  toward  the  south- 
east; at  first  perhaps  rather  to  the  south-southeast,  but  each 
successive  river  makes  a  laroer  anp-le  with  the  meridian.  After 
the  Naches  come  successively  the  Trinity,  the  Brazos,  with  sev- 
eral large  affluents,  the  Colorado,  the  largest  river  of  Central 
Texas,  havine  its  sources  on  the  borders  of  the  Staked  Plain,  and 
fed  by  a  hundred  or  more  tributaries,  the  (iuadalupe  and  its  large 
affluent  the  San  Antonio,  Mission  river,  Aransas  river,  the 
Nueces,  with  its  tributary,  the  Rio  Frio,  the  Aqua  Dulce,  and  a 
dozen  smaller  streams ;  and  on  its  southwest  border  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte  and  its  great  tributary,  the  Rio  Pecos. 


POPULAR   DIVISIONS   OF   TEXAS.  \\2\ 

None  of  the  Texas  rivers  are  navigable  for  any  considerable 
distance  except  at  high  water,  but  by  dredging  and  the  construc- 
tion of  a  short  canal,  Galveston  bay  and  Buffalo  bayou  have 
been  rendered  navigable  as  far  as  Houston,  fifty  miles  from 
Galveston. 

Most  of  the  so-called  lakes  in  Texas  are  really  estuaries  and 
bays,  and  when  somewhat  narrower  and  without  much  current, 
they  are  called  bayous.  Of  these  bays  and  estuaries  the  prin- 
cipal are  Sabine  lake,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine  river,  Galveston 
bay  and  its  two  arms,  East  and  West  bay,  Matagorda  bay  and 
Lavaca  bay,  connected  with  it,  Espiritu  Santo  and  San  Antonio 
bays,  one  opening  into  the  other,  with  several  small  bays  con- 
nected with  them,  Aransas  and  Copano  bays,  Corpus  Christi  and 
Nueces  bays,  and  the  Long  Lagoon,  or  sound,  Lagiina  de  la 
Madrc.  The  only  considerable  lakes  not  estuaries  are  Caddo 
lake,  in  the  east,  Forked  lake,  in  2.2M7A2i  county,  Espantosa,  in 
Dimmitt  county,  and  three  large  salt  lakes  in  Presidio  county,  in 
the  northwest. 

Divisions  of  the  State. — The  State  is  divided  for  civil  and  de- 
scriptive purposes  into — i.  The  coast  counties;  2.  Eastern 
Texas;  3.  Central  Texas;  4.  Northern  Texas;  5.  Western  and 
Southwestern  Texas;   6.   Northwestern  Texas. 

In  the  coast  counties  the  soil  and  climate  are  especially  adapted 
to  the  culture  of  the  sugar-cane,  sea  island  cotton,  rice  and  many 
semi-tropical  fruits  and  vegetables. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  State,  including  some  eighteen 
counties,  is  heavily  timbered,  and  from  here  are  drawn  nearly  all 
the  immense  supplies  of  pine  lumber  required  in  the  prairie  por- 
tions of  the  State.  The  natural  resources  of  this  section  are 
varied.  In  it  are  vast  deposits  of  iron  ore  of  excellent  quality 
and  extensive  beds  of  lignite.  Large  crops  of  cotton,  corn  and 
other  grains  are  grown  in  its  valleys,  and  its  uplands  ai^  noted 
for  the  production  of  fruits  and  vegetables.  It  is  generally  well 
watered  by  streams  and  springs. 

Central  and  Northern  Texas,  though  generally  a  rich  prairie 
country,  is  by  no  means  devoid  of  a  sufficiency  of  timber  for  ordi- 
nary purposes,  its  numerous  streams  being  fringed  with  a  large 


J  J  24  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

growth  of  forest  trees.  It  is  also  traversed  by  what  is  known  as 
the  upper  and  lower  Cross  Timbers — a  belt  of  oak,  elm  and  other 
timber,  from  one  to  six  miles  wide. 

Western  and  Southwestern  Texas  are  the  great  pastoral  re- 
gions of  the  State.  The  surface  is  generally  a  high,  rolling  table- 
land, watered  by  creeks  and  ponds,  but  with  little  timber,  except 
alonor  the  streams  and  on  some  of  the  hills  and  mountain  regions 
of  the  western  part,  where  forests  of  cedar,  mountain  juniper, 
oak,  etc.,  exist. 

The  luxuriant  growth  of  rich,  native  grasses  found  in  this  sec- 
tion renders  it  pre-eminently  a  stock-raising  country,  and  as  such 
it  is  unexcelled  by  any  other  portion  of  the  continent.  The  pre- 
cious metals  and  other  mineral  deposits  are  known  to  exist  in 
this  section  of  the  State,  and  it  is  believed  their  development  will 
be  rapid  when  railroads  shall  have  been  built  across  it. 

Northwestern  Texas  includes  not  only  the  mountainous  region 
comprised  in  Pecos,  Presidio  and  El  Paso  counties,  but  the  un- 
orcranized  region  known  as  the  Territory  of  Bexar,  and  Tom 
Green  county,  and  sixty-three  counties  north  of  and  east  of  these, 
extending  up  to  the  parallel  of  36°  30',  and  eastward  to  the  me- 
ridian of  99°  30'.  This  region,  a  part  of  which  is  known  as  the 
"  Pan-handle  of  Texas,"  has  an  area  of  more  than  90,000  square 
miles,  and  perhaps  one-third  of  it  belongs  to  the  Llano  Estacado, 
or  Staked  Plain.  It  is  not  well  watered,  and  portions  of  it  are 
not  watered  at  all  except  by  wells.  Its  rainfall  is  very  small,  and 
the  pasturage,  though  scanty,  is  nutritious  where  any  water  can 
be  obtained.  The  mountainous  portion  is  rich  in  minerals.  Sil- 
ver, lead,  copper  and  iron  are  found  there,  and  gold  probably 
will  be.  If,  as  is  proposed,  the  great  Staked  Plain  is  rendered 
habitable  by  water  supplied  from  artesian  wells,  this  will  be  an 
excellent  country  for  pasturage.  Flocks  and  herds  sufficient  to 
supply  rtie  world  could  be  raised  there. 

Geology  and  Muicralogy. — Texas  has  never  had  a  State  geo- 
logical survey;  it  has  been  once  or  twice  attempted,  but  has  soon 
failed  for  the  want  of  means  for  its  prosecution.  It  is  said  that 
the  new  constitution  of  the  State  prohibits  anything  of  the  kind — 
a  most  unwise  provision,  if  true,  as  no  State  in  the  Union  would 


GEOL OG  Y  AND   MINERAL  OC  Y.  1 1 2 5 

be  as  much  benefited  by  such  a  survey  as  Texas.  From  some 
rapid  and  superficial  geological  reconnoissances  of  the  State,  we 
glean  the  following  general  view  of  the  geology  and  mineralogy 
of  the  State. 

Mr.  N.  A.  Taylor,  a  Texan  geologist,  has  gathered  together  the 
sum  of  what  is  known  in  reijard  to  it,  though  acknowledeine  that 
extensive  districts,  like  that  from  Bandera  west  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  that  from  San  Antonio  southwest  to  the  Rio  Grande,  have 
not  been  explored  even  superficially,  and  that  even  the  formations 
which  approach  the  surface  are  entirely  unknown,  though  they 
are  conjectured  to  be  Tertiary: 

"The  coast-belt,  like  that  of  the  other  gulf  and  southern  Atlantic 
States,  is  alluvial,  though  somewhat  less  fertile  than  the  deposits 
of  the  Mississippi  delta  ;  it  is,  however,  well  adapted  to  corn, 
cotton,  sugar-cane  and  the  tropical  fruits. 

"  From  the  best  data  and  my  own  observations,  the  Tertiary 
formations  occupy  all  Eastern  Texas  as  high  as  Red  river,  and 
all  the  lower  portion  of  the  State  from  the  gulf  loo  to  150  miles, 
and  farther,  into  the  interior.  If  there  is  any  exception  to  this, 
it  is  in  the  remote  southwest,  which  I  have  not  visited.  Of  this 
great  Territory,  the  Pliocene,  or  newer  Tertiary,  occupies  the 
tide-water  region,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  Eastern  Texas 
above  tide-water.  All  this  region  is  low  and  level,  and  wonder- 
fully productive  when  well  drained  and  well  treated.  The 
Miocene,  or  middle  Tertiary,  appears  here  and  there  in  scattered 
patches  above  the  Pliocene,  and  is  quite  largely  developed  about 
Huntsville.  These  lands  are  largely  sandy,  and  usually  hilly  or 
broken.  From  the  melting  nature  of  the  soil  they  are  also  cut 
up  by  considerable  gullies  and  ravines.  Usually  productive,  but 
cannot  resist  drought.  Above  these  comes  the  Eocene,  or 
oldest  Tertiary,  which  occupies  a  larger  space.  These  lands  are 
rolling,  and  contain  much  very  graceful  and  beautiful  'scenery. 
The  waves  and  swells  rise  higher  and  higher  as  you  go  north 
and  west.  This  formation  has  a  very  small  percentage  of  poor 
land. 

"  There  are,  no  doubt,  here  and  there,  many  intrusions  on  a 
small  scale  of  older  strata  through  these  formations,  but  I  know  of 


1126  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

only  one  of  any  importance.  That  Is  at  the  place  called  Damon's 
Mound,  in  Brazoria,  where  several  acres  of  valuable  limestone 
rise  many  feet  above  the  Pliocene  which  surrounds  it.  This 
limestone  cannot  be  later  than  Eocene,  and  may  be  older.  It  is 
the  only  stone  I  have  seen  in  the  Pliocene  territory  of  Texas, 
and  some  day  it  will  be  very  valuable  for  quicklime. 

"Above  the  Eocene,  the  Cretaceous  formation  rises  like  a 
rampart  and  extends  north  and  west  a  great  distance — how  far 
it  is  not  certainly  known.  Many  say  that  it  goes  on  northward, 
with  occasional  interruptions,  until  it  reaches  the  plateau  of  the 
Rockv  Mountains,  includinor  the  Staked  Plains.  This  is  the  idea 
of  Professor  Buckley.  With  all  deference,  I  believe  it  is  not  so. 
I  believe  there  is  very  little  Cretaceous  after  reaching  the  great 
outburst  of  Plutonic  and  Metamorphic  rocks  which  extend 
through  Burnet,  Llano,  Mason  and  Menard  counties,  and  farther 
west  to  an  unknown  distance.  After  passing  this  primitive 
region,  the  country  assumes  outlines  totally  unlike  the  Cretaceous 
as  elsewhere  seen.  I  have  no  doubt,  indeed  I  know,  that  it 
appears  here  and  there  even  to  El  Paso,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  but 
the  general  formation  I  believe  to  be  Jurassic,  including  the 
Staked  Plains,  and  have  little  doubt  that  investigation  will  prove 
it  to  be  so. 

"Just  north  of  the  primitive  region  of  Llano,  etc.,  there  is  a 
large  development  of  Carboniferous,  extending  northeast  toward 
the  Indian  Territory,  and  embracing,  as  is  calculated,  30,000 
square  miles  of  coal-bearing  strata.  It  is  no  doubt  a  continua- 
tion of  the  Arkansas  or  Ozark  system.  The  Permian  formation 
here  and  there  crosses  this  coal  territory,  and  probably  flanks 
it  all  round.  The  Permian  is  also  undoubtedly  developed  largely 
farther  north  and  west.  Not  far  from  Fort  Concho  it  terminates, 
and  here,  closely  connected  with  it,  there  is  a  narrow  streak  of 
coal  strata,  in  which  an  excellent  coal  has  been  found.  As  in 
England,  so  in  Texas,  this  formation,  wherever  found,  seems  to 
indicate  unerringly  the  near  presence  of  coal.  I  believe  the 
Permian  may  be  found  almost  anywhere  near  the  foot  of  the 
Staked  Plains. 

"  Beyond  the  Pecos,  in  that  almost  unknown  region  below  the 


THE  MINERALS   OF   TEXAS.  112/ 

El  Paso  stage  route,  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  is  the  ruling 
geological  formation.  All  the  formations,  except  the  Tertiary, 
seem  to  have  been  thrown  together  in  one  vast  pile  of  ruin, 
penetrated  by  valleys  of  exquisite  beauty  and  fertility.  Here  we 
find  all  manner  of  Plutonic  eruptions,  frequently  capped  and 
flanked  by  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous  rocks.  Perhaps  basaltic 
rocks  predominate.  They  certainly  assume  some  very  immense 
forms,  sometimes  rising  into  perpendicular  cliffs  many  miles  long 
and  a  thousand  or  more  feet  high.  The  Permian  also  appears 
here,  filled  with  selenite  and  other  forms  of  gypsum.  This  is 
the  most  interesting  region  in  the  world  to  the  geologist, 

''Minerals. — If  we  are  filled  with  doubt  in  regard  to  the  eeo- 
locrical  formations  of  Texas,  we  are  much  more  so  in  resrard  to 
the  minerals  that  lie  hidden  in  her  strata.  As  reeards  the  Ter- 
tiaries,  they  contain  many  valuable  deposits  of  iron  ore  in  East- 
ern Texas,  some  of  which  have  been  a  little  worked  and  found 
to  yield  from  forty  to  sixty  per  cent,  of  metallic  iron.  These  ores 
are  the  brown  oxides  or  limonite.  The  forests  are  dense  in  this 
region,  and  charcoal  is  obtainable  at  a  nominal  price.  Lime- 
stones are  usually  within  easy  distance,  sufficient  to  supply  fluxes. 
These  ores  are  also  abundant  in  Robertson,  Limestone  and  other 
counties  of  Central  Texas,  but  have  received  no  attention.  The 
Eocene  also  contains  very  large  deposits  of  lignite,  some  of 
which,  particularly  that  found  in  Limestone  county,  is  a  superior 
variety  of  that  sort  of  coal.  It  would  prove  excellent  for  gas- 
making,  but  will  not  coke.  It  burns  furiously  in  a  grate,  but 
emits  an  unpleasant  odor  in  combustion,  which  goes  through  the 
whole  house  and  may  even  be  smelled  at  a  distance  outside. 
Som.e  of  these  layers  of  lignite  are  said  to  be  at  least  twelve 
feet  thick.  They  are  associated  with  brown  and  blue  shales, 
and  rather  soft  brown  sand-stone.  There  is  some  gypsum  in 
the  Eocene — notably  about  the  falls  of  the  Brazos,  in  P'alls 
county,  where  it  is  in  considerable  quantity.  It  is  pure  enough 
for  manufacturing  into  plaster  of  Paris,  and  there  is  none  better 
for  fertilizing.  West  of  Corpus  Christi  large  deposits  of  salt  are 
formed  annually  in  the  lagoons  near  the  gulf.  In  the  winter  these 
basins  are   filled  with  water  from  the  gulf,  which  evaporates  in 


I  128  OUR    WESIERN  EMPIRE. 

summer,  leavincf  the  clean  white  salt.  Enoiiijh  of  it  is  thus 
formed  here  every  year  to  salt  all  Texas.  During-  the  war  these 
deposits  supplied  a  large  portion  of  Texas  with  salt. 

"The  Cretaceous  contains  a  good  deal  of  gypsum,  and  lime- 
stone for  building  or  quicklime,  without  end.  About  two  miles 
from  Round  Rock,  on  the  International  railroad,  there  is  a  great 
quantity  of  gypsum,  quite  pure.  There  is  also  a  good  deal  of  it 
about  Mount  Bonnel,  near  Austin.  Both  of  these  points  are  so 
convenient  to  transportation  that  it  is  singular  that  some  one  has 
not  engaged  in  making  plaster  of  Paris.  Nearly  all  that  article 
used  in  Texas  comes  from  Newfoundland,  and  this  when  we  have 
it  just  as  good  and  in  great  abundance  right  at  our  own  doors. 
No  chalk  has  ever  been  found  in  the  Cretaceous  system  of  Texas, 
so  far  as  I  know. 

"  The  granitic  and  metamorphic  region,  running  through  Burnet, 
Llano,  Mason,  Menard,  etc.,  abounds  in  mineral  wealth.  There 
are  probably  no  larger  and  certainly  no  better  deposits  of  iron 
ore  in  the  world  than  those  of  Llano  county;  none  easier  to  get 
at.  These  ores  are  magnetic  and  specular,  and  often  appear  in 
immense  masses  resembling  solid  iron.  They  have  been  wrought 
to  a  very  small  extent  and  found  to  yield  from  seventy  to  eighty 
per  cent,  of  iron,  equal  to  the  best  in  the  world.  With  such 
immense  masses  of  iron  as  this,  Texas  ought  to  furnish  not  only 
her  own  railroad  iron,  but  also  ship  it  to  other  lands.  This  will 
be  done  in  time.  At  present  Austin  is  the  nearest  point  to  a 
railroad,  about  a  hundred  miles  off.  The  region  is  generally 
timbered,  furnishing  plenty  of  material  for  charcoal ;  some  coal 
has  also  been  discovered  in  this  region,  and  it  is  known  to  exist 
abundantly  in  Coleman  and  other  counties  not  far  off  There  is 
also  abundance  of  limestone.  Soapstone,  valuable  for  furnaces, 
also  abounds.  Some  copper,  silver,  and  even  gold,  have  been 
found  in  this  region,  but  not  yet,  I  believe,  in  paying  quantities. 
Its  great  mineral  wealth  is  doubtless  its  iron.  Marble  of  excellent 
quality  is  found  in  places  throughout  this  region.  Perhaps  the 
largest  deposit  of  it  is  at  the  Marble  Falls  of  the  Colorado,  where 
the  river  for  a  considerable  distance  cuts  its  way  through  walls 
and  mountains  of  solid   marble.     It  is  not  uncommon   in   this 


THE   MINERALS   CF  TEXAS.  II2q 

region  to  find  the  people  living-  in  huts  or  cabins  surrounded 
with  fences  built  of  the  finest  marble.  .  The  marble  is  of  various 
shades — some  pure  white,  some  variegated  with  red  and  blue 
markings,  and  some  black.  This  place  is  about  sixty  miles  above 
Austin,  and  the  marble  might  be  brought  down  the  river  in  flat- 
boats,  but  it  is  not. 

"In  the  same  region  there  are  numerous  salines,  issuing,  it  is 
said,  from  Silurian  rocks,  and  some  salt  of  a  very  fine  quality  is 
manufactured — enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people  around 
there.  This  whole  region  is  very  picturesque,  and  has  some  of 
the  loveliest  scenery  on  the  American  continent. 

"  Below  this  primitive  region,  lying  out  in  the  post-oaks  to  the 
southeast,  are  numerous  strange  boulders,  which  have  been  borne 
many  miles  from  their  native  beds  by  some  remarkable  occur- 
rence which  took  place  about  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous  era. 
Some  of  these  lost  rocks  are  many  tons  in  weight.  The  Jurassic 
and  Permian  beds  are  known  to  contain  great  deposits  of  copper, 
gypsum  and  salt.  Indeed,  the  largest  deposit  of  gypsum  known 
in  the  world  is  found  in  Northwest  Texas  alono-  Red  river,  and 
extending  a  great  distance  into  the  State.  The  gypsum  belt  is 
a  hundred  or  more  miles  in  width,  and  of  unknown  thickness. 
The  gypsum  is  of  all  sorts,  from  the  purest  alabaster  and  selenite 
to  the  common  massive  forms.  There  is  enough  of  it  to  supply 
the  demands  of  the  universe  for  centuries.  All  the  streams  that 
wander  through  this  great  bed  are  impregnated  with  this  mineral 
and  salt — some  to  such  a  deo^ree  that  even  the  animals  will  not 
drink  them.  The  Pecos  is  a  strange  compound,  and  one  of  the 
arms  of  the  Brazos  is  far  more  briny  than  the  ocean.  Yet  in  all 
this  region  there  are  springs  and  deep  circular  pits  of  pure  water. 
The  Permian,  in  Archer  and  several  other  counties,  is  heavily 
stored  with  copper. 

"In  regard  to  the  region  west  of  the  Pecos,  I  have  this  prophecy 
to  place  on  record — that  the  day  will  come  when  it  will  develop 
great  mineral  wealth.  We  have  every  reason  to  think  so.  No 
intelligent  man  has  ever  penetrated  that  region  without  being 
filled  with  this  conviction,  and  the  more  intelliofent  and  obscrvinor 
he  is  the  stronger  is  this  conviction  upon  him.     There  is  hardly 


jj,Q  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

a  doubt  that  the  geological  formation  there  is  but  a  continuation 
of  the  rich  mineral-bearing  system  of  Colorado,  Nevada  and 
Chihuahua.  The  rocks  appear  the  same  ;  they  contain  silver,  cop- 
per and  lead.  These  rich  metalliferous  rocks  run  in  great  systems, 
and  not  in  isolated  protrusions.  Thus  we  find  gold  in  the  great 
Appalachian  system  of  mountains,  reaching  out  thousands  of  miles; 
and  thus  we  find  gold  and  silver  in  the  great  Rocky  and  Andes 
RantT-e.  traversing  the  length  of  two  continents.  For  this  reason 
I  have  ever  entertained  a  lively  hope  that  much  silver  and  gold 
will  be  found  in  the  far  isolated  group  of  Llano,  etc.  The  moun- 
tains beyond  the  Pecos  fill  every  condition  for  the  expectation 
of  great  mineral  wealth.  Here  the  systems  of  Colorado  and  the 
Sierra  Rica,  of  Mexico,  meet  and  blend.  Being  so  rich  elsewhere, 
why  should  they  not  be  even  richer  where  they  meet  and  blend? 
I  have  no  question  that  they  wall  eventually  prove  so,  and  that 
those  now  utterly  lonely  mountains  will  be  filled  with  great  works 
and  the  busy  camps  of  the  miners.  Silver  will  be  the  principal 
metal,  though  copper  and  lead  will  abound." 

Forests  and  Vegetation. — Eastern  Texas,  east  of  the  Trinity 
river,  is  a  reeion  of  abundant  timber,  and  althouc^h  the  most 
densely  populated  portion  of  the  State,  full  one-half  of  its  surface 
is  still  covered  with  forests.  There  are  two  species  of  pine,  here 
known  as  the  "  long  straw"  and  "short  straw"  pine,  both  of  large 
size  and  producing  excellent  lumber,  while  the  long  straw  yields 
a  superior  quality  of  turpentine.  There  are  also  in  Eastern 
Texas  several  species  of  oak,  including  the  live-oak,  so  called,  an 
evero-reen  oak  which  differs  somewhat  from  the  live-oak  of 
Florida,  and  which  is  found  all  over  the  State ;  the  post-oak  and 
blackjack  ;  the  ash,  elm,  black  walnut,  butternut,  pecan,  box-elder 
and  pride  of  China ;  and  toward  the  coast,  the  magnolia  (here  a 
stately  tree),  the  cypress,  palmetto,  etc.  In  Northern  Texas 
there  are  two  immense  belts  of  woodland,  extending  from  the 
Red  river  southward,  called  the  "Lower"  and  "Upper  Cross 
Timbers."  They  are  each  about  forty  or  forty-five  miles  wide, 
and  extend  southward  from  150  to  200  miles;  the  first  com- 
mences in  Cooke  and  Grayson  counties,  along  the  Red  river, 
and  extends  to  McLennan  county ;  the  second,  which  is  smaller, 


FOREST  GROWTHS  IN  TEXAS. 


II3I 


occupies  parts  of  Wise,  Jack,  Palo  Piuto,  Hood  and  Eradi  coun- 
ties. Most  of  the  trees  in  these  forests  are  post-oak  and  black- 
jack oak,  and  they  stand  so  wide  apart  that  a  wagon  can  be 
driven  between  them  in  any  direction. 

Central  Texas  is  mainly  rolling-  prairie  ;  but  with  plenty  of 
timber,  generally  of  good  quality,  though  sometimes  cottonwood, 
buckeye,  black  gum  or  sweet  gum,  in  the  river  and  creek  bottoms. 
There  are  also  islands  of  forest  trees,  live-oak,  cypress  (which 
grows  on  the  hills  here),  post-oak  and  mesquite  scattered  through 
the  prairies.  The  coast  belt  has  no  forest  trees,  but  frequent 
chapparals,  composed  rnainly  of  the  different  species  of  cactus. 
This  region  has  also  in  spring  and  early  summer  rich  and  nutri- 
tious grasses,  and  a  profusion  of  brilliant  flowering  plants. 
Western  and  Northwestern  Texas  are  scantily  wooded,  though 
even  there  the  cypress,  the  live-oak  (more  rarely),  and  that  won- 
derful tree,  the  mesquite,  are  found.  The  Osage  orange  (bois 
d'arc)  and  the  pecan  tree  are  among  the  other  valuable  forest 
trees  of  Texas.  The  bois  d'arc  grows  in  almost  all  soils;  its  wood 
is  very  hard  and  durable,  and  its  thorns  and  rapid  growth  make  it 
excellent  for  hedges. 

The  other  shrubs  and  plants  most  common  in  Northwestern 
Texas  and  in  theTJano  Estacado  are  the  yucca  and  four  or  five 
genera  of  the  cactus,  among  which  are  the  prickly  pear,  the  melo- 
cactus,  the  mammelaria  and  several  species  of  cereus.  The  sage 
brush  is  not  so  abundant,  even  on  the  Llano,  as  in  New  Mexico 
and  Colorado.  The  mesquite  grass,  a  very  great  favorite  with 
catde,  is  the  best  of  the  pasturage  grasses  of  this  region. 

Zoology. — There  are  still  some  herds  of  buffalo  and  antelope 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  though  the  number  is  di- 
minishing every  year.  In  Western  Texas  the  mustang  or  wild 
horse  of  Mexico  still  feeds  in  large  troops  on  the  prairies ;  the 
gray  wolf,  more  ferocious  and  stronger  than  his  northern  con- 
gener, the  black  bear,  the  puma  or  cougar,  the  jaguar  or  Amer- 
ican tiger,  the  wild  cat  and  the  lynx,  are  found  in  the  wooded  and 
thinly  inhabited  districts  ;  while  deer,  peccaries,  raccoons,  opos- 
sums, foxes,  hares  and  squirrels  abound  in  the  woods. 

Among  the  feathered  tribes  are  found:  of  game  birds,  the  wild 


J  1,2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

turkey,  pheasant,  quail,  snipe,  curlew,  many  species  of  wild  ducks, 
brant  and   teal,  wild   geese,  swans,  and  a  great  variety  of  birds 
remarkable  for  sweetness  of  song  or  beauty  of  plumage;  and 
among  the   birds  of  prey,  the  king  vulture,  or  king  of  the   buz- 
zards, the   common    turkey  buzzard,  and  other  vultures,  eagles, 
hawks,   kites,    pelicans,  herons,   king-hshers,  flamingoes,  cranes, 
etc.    The  streams  abound  in  fish,  of  which  the  black  bass  and  the 
war-mouth  perch  are  the  best  edible  fresh-water  varieties,  while 
the  waters  of   the  bays  and  gulf  yield  immense  numbers  of  the 
salt-water  fish  common  to  all  the  Adantic  and  gulf  coasts.     The 
oysters  of  Galveston  bay  and  its  vicinity  are  considered  good  by 
epicures.      Alligators,  turdes,   etc.,  are    abundant  in  the  lower 
portion  of  the  rivers  and  bayous,  and  on  the  coast  are  seen,  though 
less  frequendy,  the  great  sea-turdes,  the  manatee,  octopus  and  the 
porpoise.     In  the  mountains  and  wooded  districts,  rattlesnakes, 
moccasin  snakes,  copperheads,  the  red-mouthed  adder  and  the 
milk  adder  are  sufficiently  numerous,  and  several  species  of  the 
black  snake  (our  American  boa)  and  great  numbers  of  harmless 
snakes   are    found   almost   everywhere.     The  gecko  and  other 
lizards,  among  them   the  chameleon,  horned  toads,  horned  frogs, 
salamanders,  etc.,  abound,  and  the  insect  tribes  are  both  numerous 
a'nd  formidable.     The  centipede,  and  on  the  lower  coast  a  small 
sand  scorpion,  the  large  jumping  spider,  horse  flies,  buffalo  gnats, 
chigoes  and  mosquitoes  are  all  more  or  less  troublesome  ;  but 
they  are  not  found  in  the  same  localities  nor  at  the  same  season 
of  the  year.    The  insects  injurious  to  vegetation  are  less  numerous 
and  destructive  than  in  any  other  States. 

Clunate. — The  climate  of  Texas  is  varied  from  semi-tropical  to 
moderately  temperate.  Snow  and  ice  are  seldom  seen  in  the 
central  portion,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  in  the  extreme  soudi.  In  the 
northern  part  one  or  two  snow-falls  during  the  winter,  of  from 
one  to  three  inches  in  depth,  are  usually  expected.  Occasionally 
a  much  heavier  fall  is  had,  and  ice  from  one  to  two  inches  in 
thickness  is  sometimes  made. 

In  the  northeastern  and  eastern  sections  of  the  State  the  mer- 
cury in  summer  rarely  rises  above  loo,  and  as  rarely  descends 
to  zero.     The   summers  are  long  and  the  heat  continuous,  but 


CLIMATE    OF   TEXAS.  U^^ 

not  as  intense  as  in  many  localities  farther  north.  The  winters 
are  generally  mild  and  for  the  most  part  pleasant.  On  the  coast, 
even  at  Brownsville,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  mer- 
cury rarely  or  never  reaches  ioo°,  and  as  rarely  falls  below  32° 
in  winter.     The  entire  range  of  the  year  is  not  over  66°. 

Alono-  the  whole  course  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and,  indeed,  eener- 
ally  in  Western  and  Northwestern  Texas,  the  climate  is  entirely 
different,  bearing  a  greater  resemblance  to  that  of  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico.  The  summer  temperature  rises  to  110°,  112°  or 
1 16°,  and  what  is  remarkable  attains  its  greatest  intensity  in  May, 
when  it  remains  above  100°  for  fifteen  or  twenty  days  together. 
In  winter  it  falls  to  about  20°  or  25°,  the  annual  range  being  from 
91°  to  96°.  The  rainfall  varies  as  much  as  the  temperature.  In 
Galveston  it  averages  more  than  50  inches;  in  Austin,  34.55  ; 
in  Denison,  about  31  inches;  while  west  of  the  looth  meridian 
it  gradually  diminishes  from  21.21  at  Brackettsville  to  8.99  at  El 
Paso.  From  the  reports  of  twenty-five  stations  of  the  Signal 
Service  Office  in  Texas,  and  reports  from  two  or  three  others 
from  private  sources,  we  have  selected  eight  points,  of  which  we 
give  temperature,  rainfall,  and,  in  two  of  them,  the  barometer. 
These  eight  points  represent  as  fairly  as  possible  the  meteorology 
of  all  parts  of  the  State.      (  See  pages  1 1  34,  1 1 35. ) 

Mining  and  Manufactiiri?ig  Inditstries. — There  can  be  no 
question  that  Texas  possesses  a  vast  amount  of  mineral  wealth, 
and  that  at  some  not  distant  day  the  mountain  districts  of 
Western  and  Northwestern  Texas  will  be  thoroughly  prospected, 
and  hundreds  of  mines  of  gold,  silver  and  copper  opened  and 
profitably  worked.  The  mines  of  coal,  of  rock  salt  and  of  lead, 
which  are  now  just  developing,  will  be  wrought  on  an  extensive 
scale,  and  the  soapstone,  marble,  slate  and  gypsum  will  be  largely 
exported.  The  whole  State  west  of  the  meridian  of  San  Antonio 
is  full  of  mineral  wealth.  But  at  present  there  is  a  lack  of  the 
enterprise  which  is  necessary  for  the  development  of  these  trea- 
sures. The  coal  mines  are  worked  to  a  considerable  extent,  be- 
cause the  railroads  need  and  will  have  the  coal,  and  the  salt 
mines  are  worked,  and  the  water  of  the  saline  springs  evaporated, 
because  there  is  an  importunate  and  constant  demand  for  salt  for 


1 134 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


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METEOROLOGY   OF   TEXAS. 


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J  J  ^5  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

daily  consumption.  The  manufacture  of  flour,  of  lumber,  of  ma- 
chinery, furniture,  carriages  and  wagons,  of  cotton  goods,  of 
packed  meats,  leather  and  leather  goods,  might  easily  be  ten-fold 
what  it  now  is  but  for  a  lack  of  enterprise  and  push  in  these  mat- 
ters. The  annual  product  of  mines  and  manufactories  in  the 
State  in  1870,  according  to  the  ninth  census,  was  $11,517,302. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  at  the  present  time,  including  the  large  de- 
velopment of  coal  mining,  copper  m.ining,  salt  works,  cotton  gins 
and  mills,  saw  mills,  etc.,  etc.,  it  is  not  less  than  $50,000,000.  Yet 
there  is  much  truth  in  the  words  of  the  editor  of  the  Galveston 
Daily  A^czvs,  in  December,  1879: 

"  The  great  want  of  Texas  is  manufacturing  industry.  With 
the  exception  of  her  (louring  mills,  cotton-seed  mills,  the  New 
Braunfels  woollen  mills,  and  three  or  four  foundries  and  work- 
shops— all  successful  testimonials,  however,  as  to  what  can  be 
accomplished  in  this  way — the  State  is  altogether  deficient  in 
manufactures.  Yet  there  is  plenty  of  opportunity  and  facility  in 
the  State  for  the  establishment  and  successful  operation  of  such 
in  a  variety  of  hues.  State  demand  is  ample,  and  the  means  are 
native  here,  awaiting  the  touch  of  enterprise  and  capital.  Texas, 
as  yet,  is  dependent  upon  the  outer  world  for  everything,  from 
ax-helves  to  farm-wagons,  from  the  hoe  to  the  steam-engine;  yet 
the  State  abounds  in  mineral  wealth,  and  the  timber  of  the  country 
is  profuse  in  the  best  of  varieties  and  boundless  in  extent.  With 
the  full  achievement  of  the  manufacturing  era  will  come  the  in- 
dustrial glory  of  Texas." 

AgricuUiwal  Productions. — In  other  parts  of  this  work  we  have 
devoted  much  attention  to  the  agricultural  productions  of  Texas, 
as  well  as  to  its  flocks  and  herds,  and  have  endeavored  to  show 
that  its  present  products,  large  as  they  may  be,  are  very  much 
less  than  they  might  be,  even  with  the  land  at  present  under  cul- 
ture, and  the  present  population,  if  there  were  greater  enterprise 
and  more  skilful  farming.  We  have  shown,  also,  that  she  has 
the  land  and  the  capacity  to  grow  all  the  cotton  necessary  for  the 
world's  consumption,  and  a  sufficiency  of  grain  to  feed  the  whole 
human  family,  as  well  as  flocks  and  herds  in  sufficient  number  to 
furnish  meat  for  every  person  on  the  globe;  yet  she  is  strangely 


AGRICULTURAL   PRODUCTS    OF   TEXAS. 


II37 


apathetic  to  her  grand  opportunities,  and  prefers  to  boast  of  her 
wealth  and  productions,  and  discourse  of  them  in  gHttering  gen- 
craHties,  rather  than  to  work  out  her  destiny  by  energetic  and 
skilfuHy  directed  labor.  Meanwhile  other  States,  with  not  one- 
fourth  of  her  area  or  natural  advantages,  are  rapidly  surpassing 
her  in  population,  wealth,  and  manufacturing  and  mining  devel- 
opment. The  climate,  pleasant  as  it  is,  may  have  something  to 
do  with  this  indisposition  to  vigorous  and  continued  exertion  ; 
and  the  former  prevalence  of  slavery  there  may  have  had  its  in- 
fluence;  but  until  this  apathetic  indolence  is  overcome,  the  State 
will  make  far  less  rapid  progress  than  she  dreams  of  making. 

The  latest  complete  statistics  of  agricultural  products  of  the 
State  are  for  1878  and  1879,  those  of  1880  being  simply  conjec- 
tural. There  has  been  undoubtedly  a  considerable  increase  in 
many  of  the  crops  in  the  last  year,  but  nothing  except  the  special 
investigation  made  by  the  census  office  will  account  for  it.  The 
following  table  gives  the  statistics  of  products  for  1878  and  1879:. 

Agriciiliiwal  Productions  of  Texas  in  1878  and  1S79. 


Products,  1S7S. 


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Indian  corn,  bii 58,396,000 

Wheat,   1)U 7,200,000 

Rye,  bu 54,000 

<^-*''ils,  I'U 5.531-500 


Potatoes,  bu. 
Hay,  tons. 


604,800 

127,200 

Cotton,  pounds !  497,3 10,000 

Totals 

Products,  1S79.  I 

Indian  corn,  bu '     29,198,000 


Wheat,  bu. 
Rye,  bu.  .  . . 
Oats,  bu.  .  .  . 
Potatoes,  Ini. 
Hay,  tons. 


3,454,200 
32,400 

3,962,500 
310,200 
1 3 1 ,000 


< 


Cotton,  pounds 338,625,000     I 


26 
16 
18 

2>1 
84 

1-59 
275 


13 
7.6 

12 

25 
47 
1.08 


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2,246,000 

450,000 

3,000 

149,500 

7,200 

So,ooo 
1,808,400 

4,744,100 

2,246,000 

454,500 

2,700 

158,500 

6,600 

121.296 

1,935,000 


Totals I I i     4,924,596 

72 


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$25,694,240 

6,192,000 

35^.880 
2,323.230 

59^.752 

1,240,200 
40,779,420 

$76,866,722 


$30,073,940 

3.972,330 

32,400 

2,456,750 

400,158 

1,524,840 

33.862,500 

$72,322,918 


11^8  ^^^     WESTER X  EMPIRE. 

Of  the  following  articles  the  entire  production  is  unknown,  but 
as  there  arc  no  large  tanneries  and  but  few  woollen  mills,  the 
exports  of  both  raw-hides  and  wool  must  cover  nearly  the  pro- 
duction.    This  is  partly  true  also  of  cotton  seed-cake  and  oil : 

Wool  exported,  14,568,920  pounds,  valued  at     .     .  $2,913,784 

Hides  exported,  28,104,065     "                "             .     .  2,810,406 

Cotton-seed  cake  and  oil, 506,063 

Of  the  next  three,  probably  the  export  is  less  than 

one-half  the  production  ;  lumber  and  shingles       .  1,349,691 

Sugar  and  molasses, 433,960 

Miscellaneous  products, 672,364 

$8,686,268 

Adding  to  these  the  live-stock  of  the  State,  January,  1879,  and 
January,  1880,  we  have  the  following  as  an  approximate  estimate 
of  the  entire  agricultural  and  grazing  product  of  the  State  : 


January,  1879. 


Animals. 


Horses 

Mules,  etc ,  . . . . 

Milch  cows 

Oxen  and  other  cattle. 

Sheep 

Swine 

Agricuhural  products  . 
Special  exports 


Number. 


Price. 


Value. 


918,000  522.40 
180,200:  40.23 
544,500 

4,800,000 

4,563,000 

•,957.ooo 


'4-53, 
9'S 
i.Boi 
2.91 


520,563,200 
7.249,446 
7,911,585 

43,920,000 
8,208,000 
5,694,870 

76,866,722 
8,686,258 


January,  18S0. 


Animals. 


Horses 

Mules  and  asses 

Milch  cows 

Oxen  and  other  cattle. 

Sheep 

Swine 

Agricultural  products. 
Special  c.vporls 


Number. 


$963,900 
191,012 
566,280 
4,464,000 
5,798.400 
1,917,860 


Price. 


^24. 63 

45.90 

13-85 

10.51 

2.13 

3.00 


Value. 


I 


523,811.940 

8,767,451 

7,832.978 

46,916,640 

11,072,592 

5.753,580 

72,^22,918 

8,686,258 


Total  agricultural  and  grazing  products.    5'79.'°o,c8il  Total  agricultural  and  grazing  products $185,164,357 


There  is,  in  the  vast  area  of  Texas,  much  arable  land,  and  some 
of  it,  especially  in  Eastern  and  Central  Texas,  is  of  the  first  qual- 
ity ;  that  of  the  coast  counties  is  inclined  to  be  sandy,  but  pro- 
duces excellent  crops  of  tropical  and  semi-tropical  fruits,  and 
sugar  and  rice.  But  a  very  large  portion  of  the  arable  lands 
are  of  the  second  or  third  qualit)',  and  ar(*  not  thoroughly  culti- 
vated. The  average  yield  of  cotton,  Indian  corn  and  wheat  per 
acre  is  conclusive  evidence  either  that  the  land  is  poor  or  the 
farming  very  slovenly.  There  are  farms  in  the  State,  and  those 
not  on  the  land  which  is  considered  of  the  highest  quality,  where 
the  cotton  crop  in  average  years  is  two  bales  (960  pounds)  to  the 
acre,  in  fields  of  many  hundred  acres;  and  others  where  the  corn 


THE    GRAZING   INTEREST  IN    TEXAS.  \  \  39 

crop  Is  forty  to  forty-five  bushels,  and  the  wheat  crop  twenty-five 
to  thirty  bushels.  These  are  not  extravagant  or  fancy  crops  ;  but 
they  prove  the  truth  of  the  old  Georgia  adage,  that  "it  is  as  much 
in  the  man  as  in  the  land." 

The  State  is  well  adapted  to  grazing,  and  even  the  northwest- 
ern region,  with  its  small  rainfall  and  its  few  streams,  often  dry, 
is  a  fair  grazing  country,  if  water  enough  can  be  found  for  the 
cattle  and  sheep.  Texas  has  the  largest  amount  of  live-stock  to 
be  found  in  any  one  State  or  Territory  in  the  Union  ;  but  even 
in  this  pursuit  the  carelessness  and  shiftlessness  of  her  stock- 
growers  prevent  her  from  making  as  good  a  showing  as  her 
situation  warrants.  The  cattle  of  Texas  are  very  largely  of  a 
comparatively  poor  breed ;  long-horned,  not  very  large,  and 
somewhat  unshapely,  not  inclined  to  take  on  flesh  rapidly,  and 
yet  wanting  in  the  qualities  for  good  milkers.  They  bring  in  the 
market  from  ^5  to  ^10  per  head  less  than  steers  of  the  same  age 
in  Colorado,  Kansas,  Wyoming  or  Montana,  and  the  larger 
stock-raisers,  with  few  exceptions,  take  no  pains  to  improve  the 
breed.  The  horses,  which  now  number  more  than  a  million,  are 
to  a  very  large  extent  mustangs  and  most  of  them  wild.  The 
mustang  is,  for  its  size,  the  most  vicious  horse  in  the  world. 
There  are  some  bronchos,  a  cross  between  some  of  the  better 
breeds  and  the  Indian  pony  ;  these  are  better  than  the  mustangs, 
but  are  not  very  valuable.  There  are,  of  course,  better  horses 
than  either  in  the  State,  and  a  few  of  the  more  wealthy  stock- 
raisers  are  making  efforts  to  introduce  horses  of  better  quality, 
but  with  indifferent  success. 

The  sheep  are  also  of  poor  quality — Mexican  sheep  which  will 
yield  only  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  wool 
at  a  shearing.  The  average  weight  of  the  fleeces  on  "King" 
Carlin's  sheep  ranche  is  three  and  a  half  pounds,  but  these  are 
nearly  all  of  improved  breeds,  and  the  wool  clip  is  regarded  as 
something  astonishing  in  Texas ;  while  in  Colorado,  Wyoming, 
Montana,  Oregon  and  Washington,  the  average  weight  is  from 
five  and  a  half  to  seven  pounds,  and  the  wool  is  of  much  better 
quality  and  higher  price.  The  same  indifference  appears  in  the 
rearing  of  swine.      The  average  Texas  hog  has  long  legs,  a 


jj.Q  OUR    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

humped  back,  a  sharp  snout,  can  run  Hke  a  hound,  and  clear  any 
fence  without  difficulty;  but  he  is  not  given  to  taking  on  fat,  and 
thouoh  his  hams  may  have  a  gamy  flavor,  he  excels  most  in  all 
those  points  which  neither  breeder,  butcher  nor  pork-packer 
re^T-ard  as  desirable  in  a  hog.  Of  course  such  swine  as  these 
are  not  very  profitable,  especially  when  the  adjacent,  but  much 
newer,  State  of  Kansas  has  attained  so  nearly  to  perfection  in 
raisino-  swine.  Of  course  there  are  farmers,  and  large  farmers, 
who  are  not  liable  to  these  criticisms  ;  men  who  endeavor  to  raise 
only  the  best  animals  ;  but  these  are  the  somewhat  rare  excep- 
tions to  the  eeneral  rule;  and  witli  a  most  admirable  country  and 
climate  for  rearing  stock,  it  has  come  to  pass,  that  the  average 
Texas  horse,  the  average  Texas  steer,  the  average  Texas  sheep, 
and  the  average  Texas  hog,  are  about  the  poorest  specimens  of 
those  animals  respectively,  to  be  found  in  all  "  Our  Western 
Empire,"  and  command  the  lowest  prices. 

There  is  no  eood  reason  for  this  either  in  the  soil,  the  climate 
or  the  location.  The  large  ranche-owner  may  say,  indeed,  that 
it  is  not  worth  his  while  to  take  any  more  pains,  or  put  himself 
to  any  more  trouble  to  raise  better  animals,  for  he  is.  becoming 
rich  as  fast  as  he  cares  to,  and  he  wouldn't  know  what  to  do 
with  more  money  if  he  had  it ;  but  this  is  a  very  poor  argument 
for  shifdessness  and  indolence.  No  man  lives,  or  should  live,  for 
himself  alone.  It  is  every  man's  duty  to  do  the  best  he  can  with 
the  property  which  comes  into  his  hands,  and  he  who  gives  the 
best  culture  possible  to  his  lands,  who  rears  the  best  animals,  or 
develops  most  fully  the  resources  of  his  estates,  is  not  only 
enriching  himself  thereby,  but  is  benefiting  his  neighbor  by  his 
enterprise  and  example,  and  brings  prosperity  and  wealth  to  his 
State,  by  duis  showing  its  capacity  for  future  growth  and  expan- 
sion. He  is  the  vState's  best  citizen  who  does  the  most  for  its 
material  and  intellectual  advancement. 

Railroads  and  Navigable  Waters. — Texas  has  over  400  miles 
of  coast  line  on  the  gulf,  though  its  harbors  are  not  of  the  first 
class.  Still  Galveston,  Indianola,  Corpus  Christi  and  Brazos  de 
Santiago  are  somewhat  important  ports,  and  have  a  foreign  com- 
merce of  about  ^23,000,000  annually,  and  a  much  larger  coasting 


COTTON    TRAIN.  Cu  1  ION    PRli-SS.  CAlll.K    ^lAMl'KUK.  \IKW    <)l'    (;a1.\  KS  1 1  )N    11AKW)R, 


ui'^jVc.-ioiTV    t 


RAILROADS  AND  NAVIGABLE    WATERS.  y\±\ 

trade.  With  the  exception  of  the  canal  and  bayou,  by  means  of 
which  Houston  has  water  communication  with  Galveston  and 
has  become  a  port  of  entry,  none  of  the  rivers  of  Texas  are 
navigable  for  any  considerable  distance.  The  editor  of  the 
Galveston  Daily  News,  in  the  issue  of  December  29th,  1879, 
described  the  progress  of  the  State  in  railroad  construction  since 
1865  as  follows : 

"At  the  close  of  the  war  in  1865  there  were  but  six  railroads 
In  Texas  that  had  track  laid  in  running  order,  viz. :  the  Buffalo 
Bayou,  Brazos  and  Colorado  Railroad,  from  Ilarrisburg  to 
Alleyton,  eighty  miles ;  the  Houston  and  Texas  Central  Rail- 
road, from  Houston  to  Millican,  eighty  miles;  the  Washino-ton 
County  Railroad  (now  the  Austin  division  of  the  Central),  from 
Hempstead  to  Brenham,  thirty  miles ;  the  Galveston,  Houston 
and  Hendejson  Railroad,  from  Galveston  to  Houston,  fifty  miles; 
the  Texas  and  New  Orleans  Railroad,  from  Houston  to  Liberty, 
forty  miles;  and  the  Columbia  and  Brazos  River  Railroad,  from 
Houston  to  Columbia,  fifty  miles — making  a  total  of  330  miles 
of  railroad  in  actual  operation  fifteen  years  ago.  The  Southern 
Pacific  Railroad  (now  the  Texas  and  Pacific)  was  under  operation 
from  Shreveport,  La.,  to  the  Texas  line,  but  at  that  period  had 
not  penetrated  the  State.  Now  there  are  twenty-six  different 
lines  of  railroad  In  actual  operation  within  the  State,  with  a  total 
mileage  In  running  order  of  2,556  miles,  showing  that  since  the 
•year  1865  no  less  than  2,226.  miles  of  railroad  have  been  con- 
structed and  placed  In  running  order.  Twenty  of  these  roads 
are  standard  frauo-e  and  six  are  narrow  ^rauee  railroads.  There 
are  few  States  In  the  Union  with  a  better  record  than  this.  It 
speaks  volumes  for  the  future  of  the  commonwealth  in  every 
direction  toward  progress  and  prosperity,  and  to  all  appearances 
the  next  few  years  will  witness  still  further  advances  in  the  impor- 
tant work  of  railroad  construction." 

During  the  year  1S80  considerable  progress  has  been  made 
in  railroad  construction,  and  still  more  in  railroad  consolidation 
In  the  State.  None  of  the  Texas  railroads  are  completed  west 
of  the  ninety-ninth  meridian,  though  the  Texas  Pacific  is,  we 
believe,  under  contract  to  El  Paso;  while  the  Southern  Pacific 


1 142 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


of  California  is  already  at  or  near  El  Paso,  and  is  heading  directly 
for  Galveston  by  as  nearly  as  possible  an  air-line  as  far  as  Austin, 
where  it  will  probably  join  the  Houston  and  Texas  Central.  The 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  is  also  at  or  near  El  Paso,  and 
is  supposed  to  have  a  terminus  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  in  view, 
but  whether  over  the  Southern  Pacific  line  or  not  is  as  yet  uncer- 
tain. The  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railway  and  the  St. 
Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  are  now  virtually  under  one 
control,  and  will  probably  form  some  connection  with  Western 
Texas.  Several  short  roads  and  connections  have  been  con- 
structed in  Eastern  Texas,  and  the  first  of  January,  i8Si,  will 
probably  find  about  3,000  miles  of  railroad  in  operation  in  the 
State,  with  another  thousand  in  prospect  by  January,  1882. 

Population  of  Texas. 


Year  of  Enumeration. 


i8o5. 

1834. 
1S36. 
1845. 
1850. 
i860. 
1870. 
1880. 


0 

1— •   'p^ 

«  rt 

. 

0    3 

OJ 

^    3- 

rt 

CVi 

»< 

7,000 

2 1 ,000 

52,670 

33.500 

150,000 

9 1 ,000 

212,592 

113,780 

604,215 

320,167 

818,579 

423.557 

1,510,000 

(A 
S 


19,170  30,000 
59.000 

98,812:  154.034 

284,0481  420,891 

395,022  564,700 


c 

d      • 

0    l> 

-a 

X  0 

k4 

0 

SIS 

'0 

m 

<U 

> 

ri 

^    rt 

fo 

Jl 

►— < 

5,000 

17,670 

397 

58,161 

355 

182,566 

403 

253.475 

724 

Year  of  Enu- 

m 

meration. 

. 

0 

(LI 

.60 

•  r-t 

u 

4. 

^ 

o 


I S06 0.02 

0.07 
0.19 

054 
0.77 

2.20 

3.02 
550 


1834 

1836 1 

1845 ' 

1850 1  194.433 

i860 5f'o,793 


1870. 
1880. 


756,168 


17,681 
43,422 
62,411 


O 

.2 


300 

150 

185 
41.70 

184.22 
36.46 
82.21 


■o-S 

• 

0  0 

0 

-5^ 

t 

CA! 

0 

"-  s 

— 

0  V 

(—1 

u-> 

10,583 

83,206 

18,476 

233.417 

221,703 

319.233 

Age 
and 

Male 

CD  vt5 

.5    rt     . 
■±    <U    -Ji 

•— 

0   >,- 

^  CO 

Of  \ 

21 

pvvai 

0  " 

3      1 

43,909 

52,666 

119,362 

I43.I5I 

158,765 

184,094 

POPULATION   OF   TEXAS.  I  14^ 

Populatio7i. — The  growth  of  Texas  has  been  more  rapid  than 
that  of  most  of  the  Southern  States,  though  less  so  than  that  of 
some  of  the  Northern  States,  The  preceding  table  gives  the  popu- 
lation of  the  State  at  different  periods,  and  other  particulars.  ' 

Of  this  population,  the  number  of  foreign  birth  has  never  been 
very  large.  The  Germans  have  some  colonies  in  New  Braunfels 
and  its  vicinity,  and  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  Irish, 
English,  French  and  Spanish,  a  few  Italians  and  many  Mexicans 
and  half-breeds  of  the  lower  classes,  and  some  Indians.  The  last 
two  classes  find  employment  as  cow-boys,  shepherds,  teamsters, 
etc.  But  there  has  been  for  the  past  thirty  years  and  more  a 
steady  stream  of  emigration  into  Texas  from  the  Southern,  Gulf 
and  Atlantic  States,  and,  since  the  war,  from  the  States  of  the 
Mississippi  valley — Illinois  furnishing,  perhaps,  the  largest  num- 
ber. The  people  are  brave,  free-hearted  and  hospitable,  and 
immigrants  are  made  welcome  there;  but  there  is  need  of  a  larger 
infusion  of  Northern  thrift,  enterprise  and  thoroughness.  The 
habits,  and  perhaps  some  of  the  vices  engendered  by  slavery,  have 
not  been  entirely  eradicated,  but  progress  is  made  every  year, 
and  eventually  this  vast  domain  will  be  developed  on  a  grand  scale 
by  the  efforts  of  the  generation  now  coming  upon  the  stage. 

Counties  and  Principal  Cities  and  Towns. — There  are  220 
counties  in  Texas,  of  which,  however,  only  154  are  as  yet  fully 
organized,  while  some  of  the  unoroanized  counties  are  vast  tracts 
as  yet  unpeopled,  and  some  of  them  are  designated  as  territo- 
ries rather  than  counties.  The  assessment  valuation  of  the  year 
1 877-1 878,  the  last  published,  seems  to  be  made  on  a  basis  of 
fifty  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  and  perhaps  on  sixty  per 
cent,  of  the  numbers  of  live-stock.     It  is  as  follows: 

Acres  of  land 76,480,450 

Miles  of  railroad i,7^^i 

Number  of  steamboats  and  other  vessels       ....  575 

Number  of  carriages  and  buggies 131,920 

Number  of  horses  and  mules 985,561 

Number  of  cattle 3>3i2, 356 

Number  of  asses S.371 

Number  of  sheep 2,883,372 

Number  of  goats 229,618 

Number  of  hogs 1,292,909 


11^  ol:r  ivESTERX  empire. 

The  total  value  of  all  property  assessed  was  $318,985,765.  A 
true  valuation  would  be  not  less  than  $450,000,000. 

Of  the  towns  and  cities,  Galveston,  the  commercial  capital  and 
chitf  port  of  entry,  is  the  largest.  It  has  a  very  poor  harbor,  the 
entrance  to  the  bay  being  obstructed  by  a  bar  nearly  four  miles 
across.  Its  population  according  to  the  census  of  1880  is  22,253. 
It  is  said  not  to  be  erowine,  though  it  has  a  sfood  back  country,  all 
of  Central  and  Eastern  Texas,  to  furnish  it  with  trade.  Houston, 
which  has  already  become  a  great  railroad  centre,  had  in  June, 
1880,  18,646;  and  San  Antonio,  which  is  called  the  capital  of 
Western  Texas,  has  a  large  trade  from  Northwestern  Texas,  as 
well  as  from  other  sections  of  the  State,  and  is  rich  in  historic 
interest,  had  at  the  same  date  20,561.  Austin,  the  capital  of  the 
State,  had  in  June,  1880,  10,960.  Waco  and  Dallas  are  of  about 
-the  same  size  as  Austin,  the  latter  having  10,358  and  the  former 
a  little  less  than  10,000.  Fort  Worth  has  not  quite  10,000  ;  Sher- 
man, about  8,000  or  9,000;  Denison,  Marshall,  Paris,  Jefferson, 
Corpus  Christi,  Brownsville,  Laredo,  Brenham,  Indianola,  and 
perhaps  one  or  two  other  towns,  have  5,000  or  more  inhabitants, 
and  there  may  be  a  dozen,  New  Braunfels,  the  chief  town  of  the 
German  colonists,  among  them,  which  range  between  3,000  and 
5,000. 

Education. — Public  school  education  in  Texas  has  not  been  well 
managed.  There  is,  indeed,  nominally,  provision  for  a  school 
fund,  which  may  eventually  become  large,  but  the  school  lands 
are  held  at  a  price  considerably  higher  than  other  lands  of  equal 
value,  and  the  State  and  railroads  have  so  much  land  to  sell  that 
the  school  lands  are  neoflected. 

Durine  the  late  civil  war,  the  school  fund  and  its  income  were 
diverted  to  other  purposes,  and  though  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  increase  the  amount  of  the  fund  since  the  war,  it  has  not  proved 
very  successful,  and  the  schools  have  been  much  hampered  by 
bad  legislation.  The  permanent  school  fund  on  September  i, 
1879,  was  stated  at  $3,300,581,  but  the  income  from  it,  which  con- 
stituted the  available  school  fund,  was  only  $132,883.  Tliree 
and  a  half  months  later,  viz.:  December  15,  1S79,  the  State 
Treasurer  reports  the  perniancnt  school  fund  of  the  State  as  only 


EDUCATION  IN   TEXAS.  1 1 45 

$1,154,400,  and  the  available  school  fund  as  ^102,409.  We  can- 
not explain  the  discrepancy.  Some  money  is  raised  for  schools 
by  taxation,  but  the  taxes  are  not  promptly  paid.  The  whole 
actual  expenditure  for  public  schools  does  not  probably  exceed 
$550,000  per  annum.  The  number  of  children  of  school  age  re- 
ported in  1S79  (eight  organized  and  all  the  unorganized  counties 
not  reporting)  was  224,720.  The  various  reports  in  regard  to 
public  school  education  are  so  conflicting  as  to  impair  confidence 
in  their  accuracy.  That  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Education  for  the  year  1878,  from  Secretary  Hollingsworth,  of  the 
State  Board  of  Education,  gives  the  following  figures,  which  do 
not  agree  with  any  others :  Counties  reporting,  137  (there  are 
154  organized  counties  in  the  State)  ;  youth  of  school  age  (eight 
to  fourteen),  194,353  (other  reports  for  the  same  year  give 
168,294  and  164,294);  whole  enrolment  in  public  schools,  146,- 
946;  non-attendants,  23,963  (these  figures  again  do  not  agree)  ; 
whole  number  of  illiterates  of  school  age,  61,123.  Whole  number 
of  organized  schools,  4,633,  of  which  905  are  for  colored  pupils  ; 
average  time  of  schools  in  days,  ZZ  days;  243  school-houses  built 
within  the  year,  at  a  cost  of  $54,267.  Whole  number  of  teachers 
reported,  4,330 — 303  less  than  the  number  of  schools.  Of  these 
2,895  were  white  males;  760  white  females;  562  colored  males, 
and  113  colored  females.  The  average  pay  of  all  male  teachers 
was  $42  per  month,  and  of  all  females,  %it^  per  month.  The  whole 
income  of  public  schools  was  stated  to  be  $859,484,  and  the  whole 
expenditure,  $747,534.  Per  contra,  it  is  stated  recently  that  the 
wages  of  the  teachers  are  sadly  in  arrears.  The  amount  of  the 
permanent  school  fund  in  1878  is  stated  to  have  been  $3,385,571, 
while  a'^  year  later  it  was  only  one-third  of  that  sum.  There  is 
certainly  room  for  Improvement.  Some  of  the  cities,  as  Houston, 
Dallas  and  San  Antonio,  have  good  schools.  The  only  normal 
schools  are  those  sustained  by  private  enterprise  or  by  religious 
associations. 

There  are  five  so-called  universities,  viz.:  Baylor,  Southw-estern, 
Trinity,  Waco  and  St.  Mary's;  and  four  colleges:  Austin,  Mans- 
field, Marvin  and  Salado.  Five  of  them  admit  young  women  on 
equal  terms  with  young  men  as  students.     None  of  these  insti- 


1 1^5  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

tutions  have  more  than  a  local  reputation.  These  and  the  Texas 
INIilitary  Institute  and  the  State  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College,  at  College  Station,  in  Brazos  county,  had  together  1,984 
students  in  the  preparatory  and  collegiate  departments. 

There  were  also  one  theological,  one  law  and  one  medical 
school,  and  institutions  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  for  the  blind, 
in  the  State. 

Lands  foj'  Ivwiigrants. — Texas  is  the  only  State  or  Territory 
of  "Our  Western  Empire"  in  which  the  United  States  govern- 
ment holds  no  land,  the  State  being  annexed  to  the  Union  as 
an  independent  republic,  and  retaining  its  unoccupied  lands  in 
its  own  possession.  We  have  given  in  Part  II.  of  this  work  a 
full  account  of  the  modes  of  procuring  lands  from  the  State,  and 
it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  repeat  them  here.      (See  page 

257-) 

Religious    Denominations. — The   census    returns  of   these  for 

1880  are  not  yet  available,  and  would  not  give  any  information 
in  regard  to  the  three  important  items  of  number  of  clergymen, 
ministers  or  priests,  the  number  of  communicants,  and  the  adhe- 
rent population,  if  they  were.  Our  latest  information  on  these 
points  is  that  of  1875,  as  exhibited  in  the  following  table: 


Denominations 


All  Denominations 

Baptists 

Christian  Connection  and  Disciples. 

Congregationalists 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church 

Jews 

Lutherans 

Methodist  Church  South 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

Methoriist,  African,  Zion,  etc 

Methodist,  Protestant 

Presbyterian,  Regular 

•  Presbyterian,  Cumberland 

Roman  Catholics 

Union,  and  minor  sects 


s 

t/: 

>. 

c 
OR 

IS 

(/I 

•■r. 

X:  CO 

c 
.0 

in 

CO 

a 

2 
0, 

ji'S 

"tt 

1? 

-ss 

a  . 

■It 

-c  0 

X.  2 

c  in 
00 

•5 

X.   " 

•J  ■- 

■X. 

w™ 

^.i 

._  E 

C 

t*^ 

0 

0 

0 

0  c 

c  0 

u 

C 

0 

■  g 

.    ^ 

X 

-^ 

0 

0  ^ 

0    1; 

-T3 

rt 

^ 

S5 

1,307 

167,850 

< 

220,510 

>■ 

2,050 

1,764 

839,250 

$1,979,600 

',047 

853 

593 

59.637 

298,000 

89,300 

447,500 

36 

29 

21 

2,816 

14,080 

5,too^ 

27,400 

8 

7 

7 

359 

1,600 

750 

20,000 

45 

38 

41 

2,612 

12,000 

11,400 

168,400 

5 

5 

5 

1,800 

3,30° 

1,500 

21,000 

45 

39 

22 

4,127 

18,000 

7,650 

75,250 

421 

386 

298 

43,000 

215,000 

89,200 

305,100 

163 

124 

98 

16,200 

81,000 

12,400 

87,600 

106 

83 

57 

17,000 

68,000 

8,300 

41,500 

35 

2=; 

17 

2,000 

8,000 

610 

12,500 

.38 

126 

88 

6,051 

30,250 

27,000 

239,000 

79 

67 

4> 

8,450 

42,250 

9,150 

93,000 

99 

86 

97 

103,000 

26,200 

401 ,000 

6 

6 

6 

1,200 

6,000 

650 

4,800 

Historical  Data. — The    following    memoranda   of   dates   and 
events  in  Texan   history  are  from  a  "Chronological  Compend 


HISTORICAL   NOTES   ON  TEXAS.  1 1 47 

of  Texas  History,"  prepared  for  "  Burke's  Texas  Almanac  for 
18S0,"  by  D.  W.  C.  Baker.  They  have  been  carefully  verified 
by  us : 

"Texas  is  supposed  to  have  its  name  from  an  Indian  village 
called  Texas  on  the  Neches  river.  Its  meaning  in  the  Indian 
language  is  fi'iend. 

"In  1685  a  French  cavalier  named  Robert  de  La  Salle,  with  a 
small  colony,  landed  at  Matagorda  bay  and  built  a  fortress,  which 
he  called  in  honor  of  the  King  of  France,  St.  Louis.  This  colony 
was  soon  exterminated  by  disease  and  the  hostility  of  the  In- 
dians ;  and  La  Salle  was  killed  by  one  of  his  own  mutinous  fol- 
lowers. 

"Spain  next  attempted  the  occupation  of  Texas,  and  in  1689  3. 
colony  was  landed  and  a  mission  was  built  near  the  spot  where 
four  years  previously  La  Salle  had  landed.  This  colony  was  soon 
broken  up  by  the  same  causes  as  the  former  one. 

"Between  the  years  1690  and  1720  the  Spanish  Roman  Catho- 
lics established  many  missions  and  fortresses  within  the  borders 
of  Texas.  Three  missions  were  built  and  occupied  by  monks 
and  friars,  and  by  soldiers  who  were  sent  to  defend  them. 

"After  many  vicissitudes  the  Spanish  missions  were  within  a 
century  from  their  establishment  one  after  another  abandoned, 
leaving-  throughout  the  State  crumblino-  ruins  of  massive  build- 
ings,  which  to  this  day  sufficiently  attest  the  self-sacrificing  de- 
votion and  labors  of  those  Christian  ambassadors  from  the  Old 
World. 

"The  fate  of  the  inmates  of  the  mission  of  San  Saba  was  one 
of  the  most  deplorable  recorded  in  history.  This  mission  was 
established  in  1734,  and  for  a  while  the  Indians  proved  friendly. 
In  1752  a  silver  mine  was  discovered  there,  which  drew  to  the 
place  a  number  of  adventurers.  Trouble  soon  arose  between 
these  and  the  savages,  who  in  their  rage  made  an  onslaught  on 
the  fortress,  and  slew  all  who  were  there,  not  one  escaping. 

"  Thus  the  efforts  of  France  and  Spain  to  effect  a  permanent 
occupation  of  Texas  failed. 

"  France  formally  abandoned  her  claims  in  1763,  and  in  1S21 
Mexico  threw  off  the  Spanish  yoke,  and  Spain  thereafter  ceased 


J  J  ^  8  OUR    WES  TERN  EMPIRE. 

to  press  her  claims  for  it.  Texas  thus  became  a  province  of 
Mexico  in  1S21.  At  that  time,  despite  the  blood  and  treasure 
which  had  been  expended  by  the  governments  of  the  old  world 
to  hold  Texas,  nothing  had  been  accomplished.  It  was  practically 
as  much  a  wilderness  in  182 1  as  when  La  Salle  set  foot  upon  its 
shores  in  1685,  the  white  population  being  only  3,000  in  the  whole 
Territory. 

"  But  the  time  had  now  come  when  the  Anglo-American  turned 
his  steps  hither,  and  history  has  yet  to  record  where  he  has  ever 
failed  of  his  undertaking.  The  permanent  colonization  of  Texas 
by  citizens  of  the  United  States  began  in  1821, 

"In  1821-22  Stephen  F.  Austin,  to  whom  justly  belongs  the 
title.  Father  of  Texas,  introduced  a  large  number  of  colonists,  and 
furnished  them  homes.  After  devoting  the  best  years  of  his  life 
to  the  accomplishment  of  his  darling  enterprise  of  establishing 
permanent  and  prosperous  colonies  in  Texas  ;  after  undergoing 
hardships  and  braving  dangers  such  as  few  men  have  ever  ex- 
perienced, he  was  stricken  down  with  disease  at  Columbia, 
Brazoria  county,  and  there  died,  December  25th,  1836,  in  the 
forty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  From  the  advent  of  Austin  until  1830 
the  American  population  of  Texas  continued  rapidly  to  increase, 
and  at  that  time  numbered  about  20,000. 

"Then  the  government  of  Mexico  became  alarmed  at  the  rapidly 
increasing  strength  and  influence  of  the  young  colony,  and  took 
steps  to  prevent  its  further  growth.  The  Dictator  of  Mexico, 
Bustamente,  issued  a  decree  suspending  all  existing  colony  con- 
tracts, and  forbidding  under  severe  penalty  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States  from  settling  in  Texas.  This  measure  did  not 
have  the  desired  effect,  and  the  tide  of  immiofration  continued  to 
pour  into  the  country. 

"In  1833  the  citizens  of  Texas,  in  the  proper  exercise  of  their, 
rights  as  freemen,  called  a  council  at  San  Felipe.  Of  this  council 
W.  II.  Wharton  was  president,  A  memorial  and  petition  was 
prepared,  setting  forth  in  calm  and  forcible  language  the  wants 
and  grievances  of  the  colonists,  and  praying  the  central  power 
at  Mexico  for  a  separate  State  organization.  This  memorial  was 
sent  to  Mexico  by  the  hands  of  Stephen  F.  Austin.     No  definite 


THE    TEXAN   WAR    OF  INDEPENDENCE.  jj^q 

response  was  given  to  this  petition,  and  Austin  was  thrown  into 
prison,  where  he  remained  many  months.  Thus  matters  re- 
mained until  1835,  when  the  colonists  becoming  fully  satisfied 
that  prompt  action  could  alone  protect  their  interests,  held 
primary  meetings  and  took  steps  to  secure  a  separate  govern- 
ment. Santa  Anna,  the  Dictator,  at  once  sent  laree  bodies  of 
soldiers  to  quell  the  revolutionary  spirit  which  now  showed 
itself. 

"  On  the  2d  of  October  the  opening  batde  of  the  Texas  revolu- 
tion was  fought  at  Gonzales. 

"On  the  8th  day  of  October,  1835,  ^  force  of  Texans  under  Cap- 
tain Collingsworth,  attacked  and  captured  the  fort  at  Goliad. 
On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  October  a  detachment  of  Texans 
under  Captains  Fannin  and  Bowie,  who  were  encamped  on  the 
bank  of  the  San  Antonio  river  near  the  Mission  of  Conception, 
was  surrounded  and  attacked  by  a  large  body  of  Mexicans.  A 
short  but  decisive  action  followed,  in  which  the  Mexicans  were 
completely  routed,  and  fled,  leaving  one  hundred  dead  upon  the 
field. 

"  On  the  3d  day  of  November,  i  S35,  a  general  consultation,  con- 
sisting of  delegates  of  the  colonists,  assembled  at  San  Felipe  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  provisional  government.  This  con- 
sultation elected  Henry  Smith  Provisional  Governor  of  Texas, 
and  adopted  a  declaration  setting  forth  that  Texas  no  longer 
ow^ed  allegiance  to"  the  nom.inal  Mexican  Republic. 

"On  the  26th  day  of  November,  1835,  a  skirmish  took  place 
near  San  Antonio,  called  the  grass  Jight,  in  which  the  Mexicans 
were  driven  to  their  entrenchments  with  a  loss  of  fifty  men. 

"On  the  5th  day  of  December,  1835,  the  forces  of  the  colonists 
In  two  divisions,  under  command  of  Col.  J.  \V.  Johnson  and  Col. 
Benj.  R.  Milam,  made  a  series  of  determined  assaults  upon  the 
city  of  San  Antonio,  which  was  occupied  by  a  large  force  of  the 
enemy.  After  a  number  of  sanguinary  battles,  in  which  great 
valor  was  displayed  on  both  sides,  the  Texan  forces  obtained 
complete  possession  of  the  city  on  the  loth  of  December,  and 
General  Cos,  with  eleven  hundred  soldiers  surrendered.  In  this 
affair  the  heroic  Milam  was  slain.  This  decisive  conquest  had 
the  effect  of  exciting-  much  enthusiasm  amonir  the  colonists. 

o  o 


jj-O  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"Santa  Anna  now  determined  to  crush  out  the  rebellion  in 
Texas  by  one  decisive  campaign,  and  in  January,  1S36,  he 
equipped  an  army  of  7,500  picked  men,  and  placing  himself  at 
their  head  he  marched  into  Texas. 

"  The  fortress  of  the  Alamo  was  then  garrisoned  by  a  force  of 
170  men,  commanded  by  Col.  \V.  R.  Travis.  They  were  soon 
surrounded  by  the  whole  Mexican  army  and  summoned  to  sur- 
render. This  being  refused,  a  furious  bombardment  was  com- 
menced, which  was  continued  from  the  25th  of  February  until 
the  6th  day  of  March,  1836.  On  the  morning  of  the  last  named 
day  the  besiegers  made  a  desperate  assault  upon  the  garrison. 
The  particulars  of  that  struggle  can  never  be  known.  Enough 
to  say  the  heroic  band,  exhausted  by  incessant  toil,  watchfulness 
and  privation,  were  at  length  destroyed.  Of  the  whole  number 
within  the  walls  of  the  fort  only  two  escaped,  a  woman  and  a 
child.  This  victory  cost  Santa  Anna  1,500  of  his  best  soldiers. 
Close  upon  the  heels  of  the  dreadful  massacre  at  the  Alamo 
came  another  equally  appalling. 

"  Col.  J.  W.  Fannin,  who  was  stationed  at  Goliad  with  a  garrison 
of  500  men,  was,  on  the  19th  day  of  March,  1836,  surrounded  by 
a  vastly  superior  force  of  the  enemy.  Notwithstanding  the 
Texans  were  almost  entirely  destitute  of  supplies  and  ammuni- 
tion, a  desperate  battle  was  fought,  in  which  after  inflicting  a  loss 
of  300  men  upon  the  enemy,  Col.  Fannin  was  compelled  to  sur- 
render, on  promise  of  honorable  treatment.  The  forces  thus 
capitulated  were,  in  violation  of  the  terms  of  surrender,  marched 
out  and  inhumanly  shot  on  the  27th  day  of  March,  1836. 

"  General  Sam  Houston,  who  had  been  appointed  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Texan  army,  now  fell  back  before  the  invader,  in 
order  to  draw  him  as  far  as  possible  from  his  base  of  supplies,  as 
well  as  to  recruit  his  little  army.  He  continued  his  retreat  until, 
on  the  20th  day  of  April,  he  formed  his  troops  in  line  of  battle  on 
the  banks  of  the  San  Jacinto  river. 

"The  Mexican  commander  eagerly  followed,  and  on  the  21st 
day  of  April,  1836,  was  fought  the  memorable  battle  of  San 
Jacinto.  This  decisive  encounter  resulted  in  the  total  rout  of 
the  Mexican  army  and  the  capture  of  Santa  Anna,  and  secured 
the  independence  of  Texas. 


THE   REPUBLIC   OF   TEXAS.  j  I  r  j 

"  On  the  2d  day  of  March,  1836,  a  convention  of  the  people  of 
Texas  at  Washington,  on  the  Brazos,  adopted  a  declaration  of 
independence  and  established  a  crovernment  ad  interim,  by  elect- 
intj  David  G.  Burnet  President. 

"The  population  of  Texas  now  increased  rapidly. 

"  The  first  newspaper  in  Texas  was  established  in  San  Felipe 
in  October,  1835,  by  Joseph  Baker  and  Gail  and  Thomas  H. 
Borden. 

"September,  1836.  General  Sam  Houston  and  M.  B.  Lamar 
elected  first  constitutional  President  and  Vice-President  of  the 
Republic. 

"October,  1836.  First  Congress  met  at  Columbia.  By  this 
body  wise  laws  were  enacted,  an  able  judiciary  established,  the 
army  organized,  and  the  people  put  in  possession  of  their  civil 
and  political  rights. 

"March,  1839.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  acknowl- 
edged the  independence  of  Texas. 

"October,  1839.  Seat  of  government  established  at  the  new 
city  of  Austin.  It  had  previously  been  first  at  San  Felipe,  next 
at  Washington,  next  at  Harrisburg,  next  at  Galveston,  next  at 
Velasco,  next  at  Columbia,  next  at  Houston.  In  1842  a  Mexican 
invasion  into  Western  Texas  induced  General  Houston  to-order 
the  removal  of  the  government  offices  to  Houston,  where  they 
remained  until  November  of  that  year,  when  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment was  removed  to  Washington.  In  1850,  and  again  in  1870, 
elections  were  held  by  which  the  capital  of  Texas  was  perma- 
nently fixed  at  Austin,  where  it  now  is. 

"In  September,  1838,  M.  B.  Lamar  and  David  G.  Burnet  were 
elected  President  and  Vice-President.  In  1837,  the  independence 
of  Texas  was  acknowledged  by  France,  and  in  1840  by  England, 
Holland  and  Belgium.  September,  1841,  General  Houston  and 
'  Edward  Burleson  were  elected  President  and  Vice-President. 
September,  1844,  Anson  Jones  was  elected  President,  and  K.  L. 
Anderson,  Vice-President. 

"In  February,  1845,  Texas  was  annexed  to  the  I'nited  States. 

"July,  1845,  fi''''t  State  Convention  met  at  Austin. 

"November,  1845,  Constitution  adopted. 


lie 2  OCR    WESTERN  EMriRE. 

"  From  1S53  to  1S56,  public  buildings  were  erected  at  Austin, 
the  debt  of  the  Republic  cancelled,  the  Asylum  founded,  criminal 
code  adopted,  permanent  school  fund  set  apart,  and  aid  given  to 
railroads. 

"In  1S59,  General  Sam  Houston  and  Edward  Clark  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor. 

"February,  1S61,  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed  by 
Texas  Convention. 

"March  iSth,  1861,  General  Houston  retired  from  office  to  his 
home  in  Huntsville,  where  he  died,  July,  1863. 

"August,  1861,  F.  R.  Lubbock  and  John  M.  Crockett  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor. 

"October,  1862,  Galveston  captured  by  Federal  troops. 

"January,  1863,  Galveston  retaken  by  Confederate  forces. 

"August,  1863,  Pendleton  Murrah  and  F.  S.  Stockdale  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor. 

"  In  1865,  A.  J,  Hamilton  was  appointed  by  the  President,  pro- 
visional Governor  of  Texas. 

"June  19th,  1865,  General  Granger  issued  a  general  order 
proclaiming  freedom  of  slaves  in  Texas. 

"  P'ebruary  loth,  1866,  first  reconstruction  convention  assem- 
bled at  Austin,  and  framed  constitution. 

"July,  1866,  J.  W.  Throckmorton  and  G.  W.  Jones  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor. 

"  March,  1867,  Texas  again  under  military  rule. 

"August,  1867,  E.  M.  Pease  appointed  provisional  Governor. 

"June,  1868,  second  reconstruction  convention  met  at  Austin 
and  framed  constitution. 

"November,  1869,  E.  J.  Davis  and  J.  W.  Flannagan  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor. 

"In  1870,  Senators  and  Representatives  from  Texas  again 
admitted  into  Congress. 

"December,  1873,  Richard  Coke  and  R.  B.  Hubbard  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Texas,  and  they 
were  re-elected  to  these  posidons  in  February,  1876. 

"  The  present  State  Constitution  was  framed  by  a  Convention 
which  assembled  at  Ausdn,  September  6th,  1 875.  Governor  Coke, 


ADVANTAGES   OF  SETTLEMENT  IN   TEXAS.  jj-, 

having  been  elected  United  States  Senator,  resigned  the  office 
of  Governor,  and  R.  B.  Hubbard  became  Governor  of  Texas, 
December  ist,  1876. 

"November,  1878,  O.  M.  Roberts  and  J.  D.  Sayers  were 
elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor,  which  positions  they 
now  hold. 

"At  the  first  election  for  President  of  Texas  in  1836  the  whole 
vote  cast  was  only  5,704;  in  1838  the  vote  was  7,247  ;  in  1840 
it  was  11,531  ;  in  1844  it  was  12,752;  in  1845  the  vote  for  Gov- 
ernor was  only  9,578,  because  many  neglected  to  attend  the  polls; 
in  1847  it  was  144/6;  in  1849  it  was  21,715;  in  1851  it  was 
28,309;  in  1853  it  was  36,152;  in  1855  it  was  45-339;  in  1857 
it  was  56,180;  in  1859  it  was  64,627;  in  i86r  it  dropped  to 
57,443  on  account  of  the  neglect  of  people  to  vote,  while  in  1863, 
when  most  of  the  voters  were  in  the  Confederate  army,  it  was 
only  31,037.  In  1866  it  rose  to  60,682  ;  in  1869  it  was  'j(),^']2, ; 
in  1873  it  was  128,361  ;  in  1876  it  was  198,137;  in  1878  it  was 
236,917  ;  in  1880  the  vote  for  President  was  22,^,^07 -' 

Conchtsion. — Land  is  so  cheap  in  Texas,  and  some  of  it  so 
good,  the  facilities  for  stock-raising,  as  well  as  for  farming,  are  so 
desirable,  the  climate  so  mild  and  healthful,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  State  is  now,  or  soon  will  be,  so  accessible  by  steamers  and 
railroads,  that  it  presents  great  advantages  to  immigrants. 
There  should  be  better  farming,  more  care  in  improving  live- 
stock of  all  kinds;  more  enterprise  in  engaging  in  manufacturing 
and  mining,  and  generally  less  brag  and  bluster  and  more 
industry,  thrift  and  hard  work.  The  public  schools  should  be 
elevated  and  improved,  and  the  laws  somewhat  more  rigidly 
enforced.  We  think  immigrants  from  our  Southern  States,  and 
from  Central  and  Southern  Europe,  will  be  more  welcome  and 
be  better  pleased  with  the  country  than  those  from  more  north- 
ern climates ;  but  in  many  respects  Texas  is  a  very  good  State 
for  immigrants. 
73 


II54 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

VTAE  TERRITORY, 

Utah  a  Peculiar  Territory — Its  Location,  Boundaries,  Area  and  Extent 
— Forests  and  Vegetation — Altitude  of  its  Mountains  and  Valleys — 
Zoology — Geology — Mineralogy — Topography  and  General  Features — 
The  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin — Cache,  San  Pete  and  Sevier  Valleys — 
The  Colorado  Basin,  East  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains — Climate — 
Meteorology  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  Camp  Douglas — Notes  on  the  Tem- 
perature, Rainfall,  etc.,  of  other  parts  of  the  Territory — Advan- 
tages OF  Utah  as  a  Sanitary  Resort — Diseases  for  which  its  Climate  is 
beneficial — Opinion  of  Eminent  Army  Surgeons  on  the  Subject — Soil 
AND  Agriculture — Irrigation  very  generally  Required — Immense  Crops 
where  it  is  practised — Non-irrigable  Lands  sometimes  productive  with 
Deep  Plowing — Timber — Yield  of  Cereal  and  other  Products — Fruit- 
Culture — Stock-Farming — Sheep-Farming — Evils  of  Migratory  Herds 
— Gov,  Emery's  Complaints  of  California  Flocks — Mines  and  Mining 
Products — Wide  Distribution  of  Gold,  Silver,  Lead,  Copper,  Iron, 
Coal,  Sulphur,  Soda,  Salt,  and  Borax — The  Mines  of  the  Precious 
Metals  in  the  Salt  Lake  Basin  very  rich  and  easily  accessible — Rail- 
roads— Objects  of  Interest — The ''Temple  of  Music  "  on  the  Colo- 
rado— Temples  on  the  Rio  Virgen — The  American  Fork  Canon — It  is 
called  the  '' Yosemite"  of  Utah — The  Great  Salt  Lake  Mineral  and 
Hot  Springs — Finances — Population-Table — The  Population  of  Utah 
peculiar — Its  early  Settlement  by  the  Mormons — Motives  which  led 
TO  THEIR  Migration — Mormonism  a  Religious  Oligarchy— Its  Despotic 
Rule — Irs  Crimes — Polygamy  its  Corner-Stone — Its  Defiance  of  the 
Government — Its  Propagandism — Religious  E  enominations — Education 
— Moral  and  Social  Condition — Counties  and  Principal  Towns — His- 
torical Data. 

Utah  is  a  peculiar  Territory ;  peculiar  in  its  situation,  half 
in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  basin,  and  half  in  the  equally  wild  and 
deeply  grooved  basin  of  the  Colorado  river;  singular  in  its  geol- 
ogy, its  minerals,  its  salt  and  fresh  water  lakes  and  rivers,  with 
no  outlet  beyond  its  walls  of  rock;  peculiar  in  its  deposits  of  the 
precious  metals  and  coal;  peculiar  in  its  deserts,  and  still  more 
peculiar  in  the  character,  religious,  political,  and  social,  of  the 
majority  of  its  inhabitants. 

It  is  one  of  the  central  Territories  of  the  middle  belt  of  States 


FORESTS  AND    VEGETATION.  UCC 

and  Territories  of  "Otir  Western  Empire."  It  is  bounded  wholly 
by  mathematico-geographical  lines,  lying  between  the  parallels 
of  ^^']°  and  42°  north  latitude,  and  109°  and  114°  west  longitude 
from  Greenwich.  Its  northern  boundaries  are  Idaho  and  Wyom- 
ing; its  eastern,  Wyoming  and  Colorado;  its  southern,  Arizona, 
and  its  western,  Nevada.  It  is  not  quite  a  square,  a  tract  which 
extends  from  the  41st  to  the  42d  parallel  and  from  the  iiith  to 
the  I  f4th  meridian  being  added  to  it  on  the  north  to  include 
Great  Salt  lake.  Bear  lake,  etc.,  and  to  make  a  part  of  its 
northern  boundary  coterminous  with  that  of  Idaho  and  Nevada. 
It  has  a  maximum  length  of  325  miles  by  a  breadth  of  300  ;  area 
84,476  square  miles,  or  54,064,640  acres. 

Forests  and  Veo-etation. — On  the  mountains  and  alono-  the 
water-courses  are  found  the  following  trees,  shrubs  and  vines,  to 
wit:  Cottonwood,  dwarf  birch,  willow,  quaking  aspen,  mountain 
maple,  box-elder,  scrub  cedar,  scrub  oak,  mountain  oak,  white, 
red,  yellow  and  pinon  pine,  white  spruce,  balsam-fir,  mountain 
mahogany,  common  elder,  dwarf  hawthorn,  sumac,  wild  hop,  wild 
rose,  dwarf  sunflower,  and  of  edible  berries,  service  berry,  bull- 
berry,  wild  cherry,  wild  currant,  etc.  Most  of  the  plants  belong 
to  the  compositccu,  cnicifcrcs,  legiuninosa;,  boi'aginacccr,  or  7'osa- 
cecB. 

Altitude  of  Mountains  and  Valleys. — It  is  intersected  from  north 
to  south  by  the  Wahsatch  mountains,  dividing  it  nearly  equally 
between  the  Great  Basin  and  the  basin  of  the  Rio  Colorado. 
The  altitude  of  the  surface  on  both  sides  of  this  mountain  range 
is  about  the  same,  the  valleys  4,000  to  6,000  feet  above  sea- 
level;  the  mountains,  6,000  to  13,000.  West  of  the  Wahsatch, 
the  drainage  is  into  lakes  and  sinks  which  have  no  outlet,  the 
largest  of  which  is  Great  Salt  lake,  with  an  elevation  of  4,260 
feet,  a  shore  line  of  350  miles,  and  an  area  of  3,000  to  4,000 
square  miles.  It  receives  the  Bear  and  Weber,  and  many 
smaller  streams,  and,  also,  the  discharge  from  Utah  lake 
through  the  River  Jordan.  The  latter  is  fresh  water,  about  ten 
by  thirty  miles  in  extent,  the  receptacle  of  American,  Provo,  and 
Spanish  rivers.  There  are  numerous  valleys,  the  lowest  of  them 
higher  than  the  average  summit  of  the  Alleghanies.     T'ollowing 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


II56 

are    the    ascertained   altitudes    of  representative   lakes,    rivers, 
springs,  valleys,  and  towns,  namely: 


Great  Sail  Lake. 

Utah  Lake 

Sevier  Lake 

Little  S-ilt  Lake, 
Bear  Lake, 
Bear  River, 
Bear  River, 
Weber  River, 
Weljer  River, 
Provo  River, 
I'rovo  River, 
San  Pitch  River, 
San  Pitch  River, 
Sevier  River, 
Sevier  River, 
Cache  Valley, 
Salt  Lake  City, 
Fort  Douglas, 
Bush  Valley, 


Paragoonah 

Lakctown 

Randolph 

Hampton's  Bridge.., 

Kamas 

Ogden 

Heber , 

Provo 

Mt.  Pleasant 

Gunnison 

Pangnilch 

Bridge 

Logan 

Signal  Office 

Near  Salt  Lake  City 
Tooele  County 


4,260 
4,500 
4,600 
6,220 
6,000 
6,440 
4.540 
6,300 
4,300 

5,574 
4,520 
6,090 

5,144 
6,270 

4,765 
4.550 
4,350 
4,800 
5,-00 


Skull  Valley, 

Deep  Creek, 

Nephi, 

Fillmore, 

Antelope  Springs, 

Beaver, 

Fort  Cameron, 

Wall  Wah  Springs, 

Buckhorn  Springs, 

Desert  Springs, 

Iron  City, 

Cedar  City, 

St.  George, 

Diamond, 

Strawberry  Valley, 

Rabbit  Valley, 

Kanab, 

Paria, 

Kanarra, 


Tooele  County 

Tooele  County 

Juab  County 

Millard   County.  .  .  . 
Millard   County.  .  . . 

Beaver  County 

Beaver  County 

Beaver  County 

Iron  County 

Iron  County 

Iron  County 

Iron  County 

Washington  County 

Tintic  Mines 

Wahsatch  County.  , 

Sevier  County 

Kane  County , 

Kane  County 

Rim  of  Basin 


4,S5o 
5,230 

4,927 
6,024 

5,f^5o 
6,050 
6,100 

5,450 
5,690 
5,S8o 
6,100 
5,726 
2.900 
6,370 
7,716 
6,S£o 
4.900 
4,562 
5,4-0 


Zoology. — Among  the  animals  are  the  coyote,  gray  wolf,  wol- 
verine, mountain  sheep,  buffalo  (now  extinct  in  Utah),  antelope, 
elk,  moose;  black-tailed,  white-tailed,  and  mule  deer;  grizzly, 
black,  and  cinnamon  bear ;  civet  cat,  striped  squirrel,  gopher, 
prairie-dog,  beaver,  porcupine,  badger,  skunk,  wild  cat,  lynx,  sage 
and  jack-rabbit  and  cottontail.  Birds  :  golden  and  bald  eagle 
and  osprey;  horned,  screech  and  burrowing  owl;  cluck;  pig- 
eon ;  sparrow,  sharp  shinned  and  gos-hawk  :  woodpecker,  raven, 
yellow-billed  magpie,  jay,  blackbird,  ground  robin,  song  sparrow; 
purple,  grass  and  Gambell's  finch  ;  lly-catcher,  wren,  water  ouzel, 
sky  lark,  English  snipe,  winter  yellow-legs,  spotted  sand  piper, 
great  blue  heron,  bittern,  stork,  swan,  pelican,  Peale's  egret, 
crround  dove,  red  shafted  flicker,  mallard  and  o-i*een-winored  teal, 
goose,  ptarmigan,  humming  bird,  mountain  quail,  sage  cock  and 
pine  hen.  Reptiles:  Rattle-snake,  water-snake,  harlequin-snake, 
and  lizards.  The  tarantula  and  scorpion  are  found,  but  are  not 
common. 

Geology. — The  greater  part  of  the  rock  of  the  interior  moun- 
tain area   is  a   series  of  conformable  stratified  beds,*^'  reaching 


*  Clarence  King's  Explanations  40th  parallel. 


GEOLOGY  OF  UTAH.  uejr 

from  the  early  Azoic  to  the  late  Jurassic.  In  the  latter  these 
beds  were  raised,  and  the  vSierras,  the  Wahsatch,  and  the  par- 
allel ranges  of  the  Great  Basin  were  the  consequence.  In  this 
upheaval  important  masses  of  granite  broke  through,  accompanied 
by  quartz,  porphyries,  felsite  rocks,  and  notably  sienitic  granite, 
with  some  granulite  and  gretsen  occasionally.  Then,  the  Pacific 
Ocean  on  the  west,  and  the  ocean  that  filled  the  Mississippi 
Basin  on  the  east,  laid  down  a  system  of  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary 
strata.  These  oudying  shore  beds,  subsequently  to  the  Miocene, 
were  themselves  raised  and  folded,  formincr  the  Pacific  Coast 
Range  and  the  chains  east  of  the  Wahsatch  ;  volcanic  rocks  ac- 
companying this  upheaval  as  granite  did  the  former  one.  Still 
later  a  final  series  of  disturbances  occurred,  but  these  last  had 
but  small  connection  with  the  resfion  under  consideration. 

There  is  a  general  parallelism  of  the  mountain  chains,  and  all 
the  structural  features  of  local  geology,  the  ranges,  strike  of 
great  areas  of  upturned  strata,  larger  outbursts  of  gigantic  rocks, 
etc.,  are  nearly  parallel  with  the  meridian.  So  the  precious 
metals  arrange  themselves  in  parallel  longitudinal  zones.  There 
is  a  zone  of  quicksilver,  tin,  and  chromic  iron  on  the  coast  ranges  ; 
one  of  copper  along  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierras ;  one  of  gold 
farther  up  the  Sierras,  the  gold  veins  and  resultant  placers  ex- 
tending far  into  Alaska  ;  one  of  silver,  with  comparatively  little 
base  metal,  along  the  east  base  of  the  Sierras,  stretching  into 
Mexico ;  silver  mines  with  complicated  associations  through 
Middle  Mexico,  Arizona,  Middle  Nevada,  and  Central  Idaho;  ar- 
gentiferous galena  through  New  Mexico,  Utah,  and  Western 
Montana;  and,  still  farther  east,  a  continuous  chain  of  gold  de- 
posits in  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  Wyoming  and  Montana.  The 
Jurassic  disturbances  in  all  probability  are  the  dating  point  of 
a  large  class  of  lodes  :  a,  those  wholly  enclosed  in  the  granites, 
and  b,  those  in  metamorphic  beds  of  the  series  extending  from 
the  Azoic  to  the  Jurassic.  To  this  period  may  be  referred  ihe 
ofold  veins  of  California,  those  of  the  Humboldt  mines,  and  ihose 
of  White  Pine,  all  of  class  b;  and  the  Reese  river  veins,  partly  a, 
and  pardy  b.  The  Colorado  lodes  are  somewhat  unique,  and  in 
general   belong   to   the  ancient   type.     To    the   Terliar)-  period 


Ijrg  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

may  be  definitely  assigned  the  mineral  veins  traversing  the  early 
volcanic  rock  ;  as  the  Comstock  Lode  and  veins  of  the  Owyhee 
District,  Idaho.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  metalliferous 
lodes  occur  in  the  stratified  metamorphic  rocks  or  the  ancient 
eruptive  rocks  of  the  Jurassic  upheaval ;  yet  very  important, 
and,  perhaps,  more  wonderfully  productive,  have  been  those 
silver  lodes  which  lie  wholly  in  the  recent  volcanic  formations. 

Mineralogy. — Utah  is  probably  the  richest  Territory  in  "Our 
Western  Empire "  in  its  deposits  of  gold  and  silver,  though 
Arizona,  Colorado,  Montana,  Nevada  and  California  might  be 
inclined  to  dispute  the  justice  of  her  claim.  The  region  south 
of  Great  Salt  Lake,  between  the  Jordan  river  and  the  Oquirrh 
Mountains,  and  the  whole  of  the  Oquirrh  range  on  both  sides,  is 
full  of  eold  and  silver  veins.  Next  south  of  these  comes  the  Tintic 
Silver  district,  and  as  we  proceed  south,  still  in  the  Great  Salt 
Lake  Basin,  the  whole  reo-ion  from  Sevier  lake  to  the  Arizona  line 
abounds  in  lodes  of  silver,  gold  and  copper,  with  occasional  beds 
of  coal,  iron  and  alum.  On  the  western  slope  of  the  Wahsatch 
Mountains,  which  forms  the  eastern  wall  of  the  basin,  there  are 
numerous  silver  mines,  and  they  extend  also  east  of  the  Wahsatch, 
especially  along  the  line  of  the  Uintah  Mountains.  But  those 
counties  in  the  Colorado  Basin  are  especially  rich  in  coal,  much 
of  it  adapted  to  smelting  purposes.  There  are  twelve  counties 
in  which  extensive* coal  lands  have  been  found.  The  iron  deposits 
of  all  varieties  are  of  enormous  extent  In  every  part  of  the  Terri- 
tory. Utah  could  produce  all  the  iron  and  steel  needed  In  the 
United  States  more  cheaply  than  any  other  section.  Sulphur 
exists  in  immense  beds.  Salt  abounds  everywhere.  Other 
minerals  are  copper,  lead,  manganese,  antimony,  chrome,  red 
and  white  ochre,  jet,  asphalt,  mineral  wax  and  mineral  waters. 
The  mines  of  antimony  in  Southern  Utah  are  said  by  Professor 
Newberry  to  be  richer  and  more  easily  worked  than  any  other 
in  America. 

Topography,  General  Fcatnres. — The  settled  part  of  Utah  lies 
alone  the  western  base  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains,  which   run 

O 

through  the  heart  of  the  Territory  from  north  to  south,  reaching 
their  greatest  aldtude  near  Salt  Lake  City  (where  they  abut  on 


TOPOGRAPHY— GENERAL   FEATURES.  ucq 

the  Uintah  Range  coming  from  the  east,  forming  the  cross-bar 
of  a  T),  and  ahiiost  losing  themselves  in  the  sandstone  plateau 
of  the  Rio  Colorado  in  the  souih.  Abreast  of  Salt  Lake  City 
the  Wahsatch  Range  is  lo^ooo  to  12,000  feet  in  altitude.  Here, 
within  a  small  area,  rise  the  Bear  and  Weber  rivers,  which  empty 
into  Salt  lake  ;  the  Provo,  which  empties  into  Utah  lake ;  and 
some  of  the  main  affluents  of  the  Green  river,  which,  with  the 
Grand,  become  the  Rio  Colorado,  lower  down.  It  is  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  heads  of  these  rivers  that  the  Emma,  the  Flagstaff, 
the  Vallejo,  the  Ontario,  McHenry  and  various  other  well-known 
mines  are  situated.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  Territory  lies  south 
of  the  Uintah  Range,  and  east  of  the  Wahsatch  Range  proper, 
and  is  drained  by  the  Green  and  Colorado  rivers  and  their 
tributaries.  Its  general  altitude  along  these  streams  is  between 
4,000  and  5,000  feet;  it  is  much  broken  by  mountains,  and  is  but 
partially  explored  and  not  settled  at  all.  It  contains  many  thou- 
sand square  miles  of  fine  grazing  country,  above  the  Grand  canon, 
with  more  or  less  arable  land,  and  no  one  yet  knows  what  min- 
eral treasures.  It  is  believed  that  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Railroad,  after  being  drawn  to  the  head  of  the  Arkansas  river 
by  the  mineral  attractions  of  Leadville,  will  find  an  easy  way 
throuo^h  this  re^jion,  enterinof  the  Great  Basin  via  some  of  the 
feasible  railroad  passes  of  the  Wahsatch.  A  wide  strip  of  the 
western  part  of  the  Territory  is  lake,  sink,  mountain  or  desert. 
The  inhabited  part  is  chiefly  a  narrow  belt,  watered  by  the 
streams  of  the  western  slope  of  the  Wahsatch  Range,  which  lose 
themselves  in  inland  lakes  or  basins.  The  largest  and  best  known 
of  these  is  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin. 

Great  Salt  Lake  Basin. — Including  the  valley  of  Bear  river  up 
to  the  Gates  on  the  north,  the  Utah  Basin,  on  the  south,  whose 
waters  are  discharged  into  Great  Salt  lake,  through  Jordan 
river,  it  is  200  miles  in  length  by  forty  or  fifty  in  width.  '\\\q. 
principal  streams  which  are  lost  in  Great  Salt  lake  are  the  Malad 
and  Bear,  the  latter  300  miles  long,  on  the  north  ;  Box  Inkier 
and  Willow  creeks,  Ogden  and  Weber  rivers  on  the  east ;  and 
City,  Mill  and  the  Cottonwood  creeks  and  the  river  Jordan  on 
the  south.     Into  Utah  lake  flow  the  American,  Provo  and  Spanish 


Il6o  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

forks,  though  they  are  not  forks  but  independent  mountain 
streams,  and  Salt  creek.  All  of  them  but  the  Malad  have  their 
sources  in  the  Wahsatch  Range,  which  collects  the  snows  in 
winter  that  (jive  them  life  and  beinor.  Where  they  emero-e  from 
their  canons,  settlements  have  been  made  on  them,  and  their 
waters  appropriated,  so  far  as  it  can  be  cheaply  done,  for  the 
purposes  of  irrigation,  and  in  some  cases,  of  furnishing  power 
for  mills.  Of  these  settlements,  the  largest  is  Salt  Lake  City, 
located  about  centrally  as  regards  the  length  of  the  entire  basin, 
at  the  base  of  the  Wahsatch  Range,  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  the 
southeast  shore  of  Salt  lake,  containing  a  population,  June,  1880, 
of  20,768.  The  city  is  supplied  with  water  by  City  creek.  It  is 
laid  out  with  broad  streets  and  sidewalks,  and  is  built  up  more 
or  less  for  two  miles  square,  shade  and  fruit  trees  largely  hiding 
the  buildings  in  the  summer  season.  It  has  ample  hotel  accom- 
modations, gas,  water  and  streetcars;  is  peaceful  and  orderly; 
is  connected  with  the  outside  world  and  adjacent  points  of  inter- 
est or  business  by  rail.  Enjoying  the  most  heakhy  and  agree- 
able climate  of  perhaps  any  large  town  in  the  United  States,  with 
street  cars  running  to  the  famous  Warm  Springs,  and  the  bath- 
ing shores  of  Salt  lake  but  a  half-hour's  ride  on  the  rail  distant; 
with  the  peaks  of  the  Wahsatch,  the  Oquirrh,  and  other  ranges 
ruffling  the  clouds  at  every  point  of  the  horizon  ;  with  picturesque 
mountain  canons  threaded  by  trout  streams  accessible  by  rail,  it 
is  one  of  the  most  attractive  places  of  summer  resort  for  tourists 
seeking  health  or  pleasure  in  all  the  world.  The  eastern  edge 
of  Salt. Lake  Basin  is  dotted  with  settlements,  and  is  highly  culti- 
vated wherever  water  can  be  o-ot  on  the  ofround.  There  are  the 
North  String,  Bear  River  City,  Corinne,  Brigham  City,  W^illard, 
North  Ogden,  Ogden,  Kaysville,  Farmington,  Centerville,  Bounti- 
ful, Salt  Lake  City,  the  Cotton  woods,  Sandy,  West  Jordan,  Dewey- 
ville,  Lehi,  American  Fork,  Pleasant  Grove,  Provo,  Springville, 
Spanish  Fork,  Salem,  Payson,  Santaquin,  Mona,  Nephi  and  Levan. 
Ogden,  at  the  intersection  of  the  east  and  west  and  north  and 
south  railroads,  is  the  town  next  in  importance  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
the  capital.  It  is  in  the  forks  of  Ogden  and  Weber  rivers,  is 
within  a  short  drive  of  fine  fishing  and  mountain  scenery,  and  is 


CACHE,   SAN  PETE  AND  SEVIER    VALLEYS.       .  ii(5i 

rapidly  improving.  The  Salt  Lake  Basin  at  large  has  an  altitude 
of  about  4,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  is  the  paradise  of  the 
farmer,  the  horticulturist,  and  the  grower  of  fruit.  Cutoff  from 
it  by  a  low  range,  now  surmounted  by  the  Utah  and  Northern 
Railway,  toward  the  northeast,  is  Cache  Valley. 

Cache,  San  Pete  and  Sevier  Valleys. — Cache  Valley  is  oval  in 
shape,  and  perhaps  ten  by  fifty  miles  in  extent,  watered  by  Logan 
and  Blacksmith  forks  of  Bear/iver,  and  by  the  latter  itself,  and 
sustaining  a  settlement  wherever  a  stream  breaks  out  of  the  en- 
closing mountains.  Logan  is  the  principal  town  of  Cache  Valley, 
and  thence  one  drives  eastward  through  Logan  Canon  forty  or 
fifty  miles  to  Bear  Lake  Valley,  Bear  river  here  flowing  toward 
the  north.  Farther  on  it  bends  to  the  west  and  southward,  and 
down  through  Cache  Valley,  finds  its  way  to  Salt  Lake.  Cache 
and  Bear  Lake  Valleys  have  a  score  of  towns  and  15,000  inhab- 
itants. To  the  southeast  of  Salt  Lake  Basin,  and  to  be  connected 
with  it  by  rail  through  Salt  Creek  or  Nephi  Canon,  this  season, 
lies  San  Pete  Valley,  called  the  granary  of  Utah,  surrounded  by 
mountains,  except  on  the  south,  where  the  San  Pitch  river  breaks 
throuQrh  into  the  Sevier,  and  sustaining  eioht  thriving  towns,  all 
Still  in  their  infancy,  though  founded  several  years  ago.  San  Pete 
and  Cache  Valleys  are  fine  grain-growing  sections,  but  having 
colder  winters  are  not  so  well  adapted  to  fruit-raising  as  the  Salt 
Lake  Basin.  Next  southward  is  the  Sevier  river,  which  has  its 
source  in  Fish  (Indian,  Panguitch)  lake,  near  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  the  Territory,  and  runs,  like  Bear  river,  a  long  way  north 
before  it  finds  a  way  out  of  the  mountains,  and  turning  to  the 
southwest  is  finally  lost  in  Sevier  lake.  IMost  of  the  streams  in 
the  southwest  lose  themselves  in  small  lakes  or  sinks,  that  is, 
such  as  rise  to  the  northward  of  the  divide  between  the  Great 
Basin  and  the  Rio  Colorado  country.  The  Sevier  River  \'alley 
is  occupied,  like  all  the  other  Utah  valleys  (and  there  are  many  in 
the  recesses  of  the  Wahsatch,  and  some  outlying  and  disconnected 
with  that  range,  although  of  minor  importance,  which  have  not 
been  particularly  noticed),  where  a  stream  breaks  out  of  the 
adjoining  mountains,  by  a  settlement;  but,  like  the  other  slreams, 
the  full  capacity  of  the  Sevier  river  for  irrigation  has  not  been 
called  into  requisition. 


J 1 62  •  <^^'^^'    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  western  third  of  the  Territory  from  end  to  end  is  an  alter- 
nation of  mountain,  desert,  sinl<;  and  lake,  with  a  few  oases  of 
arable  or  grazing  lands.  Great  Salt  lake  covers  an  area  of  3,000 
to  4,000  square  miles,  and  the  desert  west  of  it  a  still  larger  area. 
The  Sevier,  Preuss  and  Little  Salt  lakes,  all  together,  are  small, 
in  comparison.  Formerly  a  mighty  river  flowed  northward  from 
the  vicinity  of  Sevier  lake  to  the  westward  of  Great  Salt  lake, 
the  dry  bed  of  which,  nearly  a  mile  in  width,  must  be  crossed  in 
going  west  from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Deep  Creek.  Since  it  dried 
up,  hills  and  spurs  of  mountains  have  been  upheaved  in  its  course, 
but  the  old  channel  continues  on  its  way  up  hill  and  down,  and 
over  them  all.  Divided  off  from  Great  Salt  lake  by  a  sort  of 
causeway  800  feet  high  is  Rush  Valley,  containing  a  lake  cover- 
ing twenty  to  thirty  square  miles,  where  twenty  years  ago  there 
was  hay  land  and  a  military  reservation.  This,  as  well  as  the 
accompanying  filling  up  of  Great  Salt  lake,  shows  a  decided 
aqueous  increase  in  Salt  Lake  Basin  within  that  time.  Rush 
Valley  has  mining  and  agricultural  settlements,  but  much  more 
pastoral  than  arable  land ;  and  so  has  Skull  Valley,  to  the  west- 
ward. But  from  these  south  to  the  rim  of  the  Basin,  there  are 
only  occasional  habitable  spots,  and  they  are  due  to  springs. 
The  mountains  are  the  source  of  the  wealth  of  Utah,  present  and 
prospective,  which  consists  in  water  and  metals.  They  gather  the 
snows  in  winter  which  feed  the  streams  in  summer.  In  the 
northern  part  of  the  Territory  the  Wahsatch  Range  attains 
generally  a  high  altitude,  with  a  mass  in  proportion.  There  is  a 
large  accumulation  of  snow  in  winter,  and  the  streams  are  corre- 
spondingly large  and  numerous.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  Ter- 
ritory the  main  range  is  lower  and  less  massive  ;  the  average 
temperature  is  higher,  of  course;  there  is  less  snow,  smaller  and 
fewer  streams,  and  more  desert  in  proportion.  This  part  of  the 
Territory  is  not  rich  in  agricultural  resources.  The  isolated 
ranijes  in  the  Great  Basin  seldom  crivc  rise  to  streams  of  much 
magnitude,  and  the  intervening  valleys  partake  more  of  the 
desert  character.  But  all  the  mountains,  so  far  as  known,  are 
full  of  minerals,  and  there  is  generally  water  enough  for  the  pur- 
poses of  mining  and  reducing  them. 


CLIMATE    OF   UTAH.  I163 

The  region  east  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains  and  south  of  the 
Uintah  Range,  is  wholly  in  the  Colorado  Basin.  It  is  not  as  yet 
settled  to  any  considerable  extent,  but  the  deep  canons  of  the 
Grand,  Green,  San  Juan  and  Rio  Colorado,  which  traverse  it,  are 
full  of  wonders  and  terrors.  There  is  every  reason  to  believ^ 
that  the  mineral  wealth  of  this  region  is  fully  equal  to  that  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake  Basin,  and  unless  the  lack  of  water  shall  prevent 
their  successful  working,  the  whole  region  will,  a  few  years 
hence,  be  honeycombed  with  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  lead, 
copper,  iron  and  coal. 

Climate. — The  climate  of  a  mountainous  country  like  Utah 
will  vary  considerably  with  its  varying  altitudes  and  exposures. 
The  inhabited  parts  of  the  Territory  range,  in  general,  between 
4,300  and  6,300  feet  above  the  sea ;  but  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
population  is  settled  in  valleys  not  exceeding  4,500  feet  in  eleva- 
tion, and  probably  fifty  per  cent,  in  the  basin  of  Great  Salt  lake. 
In  these  lower  valleys  the  climate  is  mild  and  agreeable.  Its 
perpetual  charm  cannot  be  conveyed  by  meteorological  statistics. 
The  atmosphere  is  dry,  elastic,  transparent  and  bracing;  and  the 
temperature,  while  ranging  high  in  summer,  and  not  altogether 
exempt  from  the  fickleness  characteristic  of  the  climate  of  North 
America  in  general,  compares  favorably  in  respect  of  equability 
with  that  of  the  United  States  at  large,  and  especially  with  that 
of  Colorado  and  the  Territories  north  and  south  of  Utah.  Its 
range  upwards  is  less  than  that  of  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  to  say  nothing  of  that  of  Arizona  ;  while  in  the  other 
direction  there  is  no  comparison,  either  with  the  Eastern  States, 
intersected  by  the  same  isothermal,  or  with  Colorado,  Idaho  and 
Montana.  This  description  applies  mainly  to  Northern  and  Cen- 
tral Utah  within  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin.  Outside  that  Basin, 
across  the  Wahsatch  Mountains,  and  at  an  elevation  not  much 
greater,  at  Coalville,  for  example,  not  more  than  seven  or  eight 
miles  farther  north,  and  perhaps  thirty-five  miles  east,  the  difier- 
ence  of  climate  is  very  marked.  The  annual  mean  temperature 
at  Salt  Lake  City  is  51°  9';  at  Coalville,  48°  65';  the  spring  means 
at  the  two  places  are  51°  7'  and  45°  9';  the  summer  means  75° 
9'  and  69°  2';  the  autumn,  54°  8'  and  48°  9';  and  the  winter 
means,  32°  i'  and  21°  9'. 


II 64 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


In  Southern  Utah,  both  within  and  without  the   Basin,  the  cli- 
mate is  much  more  tropical,  approaching-  to  that  of  Arizona. 

Meteorology  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  Camp  Douglas. 


MONTHS. 


1S77. 


TEMPERATURE. 


January  . .  . 
February  .  , 
March  . .  . . 

April 

May 

June 

July 

.-Vugust.  .  .  , 
September. 
October..  . 
November. 
December. 


For  the  Year 


Mean. 

Max. 

1 

Min. 

0 

0 

0 

27.9 

50 

3 

337 

55 

15 

48.0 

73 

28 

48.6 

70 

30 

56.7 

83 

34 

65.9 

90 

43 

78.2 

98 

50 

76.3 

96 

53 

65.0 

90 

42 

51.0 

80 

25 

40.1 

60 

15 

31.7 

51 

8 

51-9 

98 

3 

Rne. 


47 
40 

45 
40 

49 
47 
48 

43 
48 

55 
45 
43 

95 


HUMIDITY. 

Per  Ct. 

Rainfall 
Inches. 

74-9 

.87 

75-3 

.38 

52.9 

2.93 

48.6 

2.14 

42.1 

3-49 

29.7 

.80 

24.1 

.02 

25.1 

.28 

3'-5 

.90 

41.0 

2i4I 

55-4 

1.02 

68.1 

I. II 

47-4 

16.35 

MEAN 
PRESSURE. 

B.'srometer 
Inches. 


30.071 
30.076 
29.S94 
29.834 
29.791 
29.927 
29.919 
29.971 

29-937 
29.971 

30.078 

30.039 


29.950 


MONTHS. 


1S78. 


January  

February  .  .  . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

.Vuj^u.st    .  .  . . 
September . . . 

October 

November . . . 
December . ,  . 

For  the  Year, 


TEMPERATURE 

HUMIDITY. 

MEAN 

PRESSURE. 

Mean. 

Max. 

Min. 

Rng. 

Per  Ct. 

Rainfall 
Inches. 

Barometer 
Inches. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

30.0 

52 

5 

47 

64.8 

1.07 

30.035 

32.8 

60 

20 

40 

66.2 

3-49 

29.882 

46.6 

73 

27 

46 

52.6 

2.54 

29.926 

49.8 

73 

30 

43 

43-4 

2.63 

29.817 

56.2 

83 

34 

49 

390 

2.50 

29.882 

69.4 

93 

45 

48 

307 

•35 

29-939 

77-7 

96 

52 

44 

26.2 

1.08 

29.900 

78.5 

97 

60 

37 

^  -1    »7 

.81 

29.956 

60.5 

92 

38 

54 

37-0 

3-15 

29-975 

48.5 

78 

22 

S^ 

44-5 

1-39 

30.055 

42.7 

68 

22 

46 

54-6 

•63 

30.0S1 

29.7 

56 
97 

8 

5 

48 

59-1 

.11 

30.091 

Si-9 

46 

45-9 

1975 

29.979 

We  have  no  meteorological  statistics  of  any  points  in  the  Ter- 
ritory, except  Salt  Lake  City  and  Camp  Douglas,  which  is  near 
it,  but  500  feet  higher.     The  above  tables   give   the    tempera- 


CLIMATE    OF  UTAH.  Il5r 

ture,  rainfall,  humidity  and  mean  barometrical  pressure  at  Salt 
Lake,  and  such  particulars  as  are  at  hand  concerning  Camp 
Douglas.  The  ladtude  of  Salt  Lake  City  is  41°  10';  die  longi- 
tude, 112°;  the  elevation,  4,362.25  feet. 

The  mean  air  pressure  '  at  Salt  Lake  City  is  25.63  inches; 
water  boils  at  204.3°.  The  prevailing  winds  are  from  the  north- 
northwest,  and  the  most  windy  months  are  March,  July,  Auo-ust 
and  September.  The  mean  velocity  of  the  winds  during  the 
entire  year  is  5^^  miles  an  hour.  On  the  ocean  it  is  18  miles; 
at  Liverpool  it  is  13;  at  Toronto,  9  ;  at  Philadelphia,  11.  The 
climate  of  Utah,  on  the  whole,  is  not  unlike  that  of  Northwestern 
Texas  and  New  Mexico,  and  is  agreeable  except  for  a  month  or 
so  in  winter,  and  then  the  temperature  seldom  falls  to  zero,  or 
snow  to  a  greater  depth  than  a  foot,  and  it  soon  melts  away,  al- 
though it  sometimes  affords  a  few  days'  sleighing.  The  spring 
opens  about  the  middle  of  March,  the  atmosphere  becomes  as 
clear  as  a  diamond,  deciduous  trees  burst  at  once  into  bloom,  and 
then  into  leaf,  while  the  bright  green  of  the  valleys  follows  the 
retiring  snow-line  steadily  up  the  mountain  slopes.  The  summer 
is  not  unpleasant  in  its  onset,  accompanied  as  it  is  by  refreshing 
breezes  and  full  streams  from  the  higher  melting  snow  banks. 
Springs  of  sweet  water,  fed  largely  from  the  surface,  bubble  forth 
everywhere.  But  as  the  season  advances  the  drought  increases, 
every  stirring  air,  near  or  far,  raises  a  cloud  of  alkaline  dust  until 
the  atmosphere  is  full  of  it.  Sometimes  a  shower  precipitates  it, 
but  there  are  more  dry  than  wet  storms.  The  springs  fail  or 
become  impregnated  with  mineral  salts,  and  the  streams  run  low 
or  dry  up.  Vegetation  dies  in  the  fierce  and  prolonged  heat  and 
drought,  if  not  artificially  watered.  Still,  from  the  rapid  radia- 
tion of  the  earth's  heat,  the  nights  are  always  agreeably  cool, 
and  the  heat  itself  seems  to  have  but  slight  debilitating  quality. 
The  presence  or  absence  of  the  sun  has  a  marked  effect  on  the 
temperature  from  the  great  transparency  of  the  air.  Let  his 
rays  be  cut  off,  even  in  July,  and  a  fire  is  pleasant ;  while,  if  they 
have  free  passage,  the  fires  are  allowed  to  go  out  even  in  January. 
October  ushers  in  a  different  state  of  things.  The  atmosphere 
clears  up  again  as  in  spring,  and  the  landscape  softens  with  the 


I  1 66  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

rich  browns,  russets  and  scarlets  of  the  dying-  vegetation,  which 
reaches  up  the  mountain  sides  to  their  summits  in  places; 
but  on  them  the  gorgeous  picture  is  soon  overlaid  by  the  first 
snows  of  approaching  winter.  The  fall  is  a  delightful  season,  and 
is  generally  drawn  out  nearly  to  the  end  of  the  year. 

We  have  been  more  particular  in  stating  the  peculiarities  of 
the  climate  of  Utah  because  it  is  just  now,  and  as  we  think  justly, 
recommended  for  its  sanitary  qualities  in  certain  diseases.  The 
following  summary  of  the  classes  and  forms  of  disease  in  which 
it  has  been  found  most  beneficial  has  the  authority  of  four  very 
eminent  army  surgeons — Surgeons  P.  Moffatt,  Charles  Smart, 
E.  P.  Vollum  and  ].  F.  Hamilton  ;  and  will,  we  believe,  be  found 
to  be  sustained  by  the  experience  of  most  of  those  who  have  gone 
thither  for  health.  It  is  important,  however,  that  health-seekers 
should  spend  as  much  of  every  day  as  possible  in  the  open  air. 

High  altitudes  and  areas  of  low  barometric  pressure  quicken 
the  respiration  and  circulation,  and  are  therefore  unfavorable  in 
cases  of  pulmonary  disease  that  are  far  advanced,  and  also  in 
heart  disease,  and  that  form  of  chronic  bronchitis  associated 
with  it.  The  other  forms  of  chronic  bronchitis,  chronic  pneumo- 
nia, and  phthisis,  are  the  diseases,  par  excellence,  upon  which 
such  localities  exercise  a  favorable  influence.  Consumption  does 
not  originate  here,  and  where  the  monthly  fluctuation  of  the  ther- 
mometer does  not  exceed  50°,  and  the  mean  monthly  tempera- 
ture is  at,  or,  within  limits,  above  50°,  and  the  humidity  is  under 
50  per  cent.,  a  residence  is  beneficial  to  consumptives,  if  com- 
menced early  enough.  The  best  treatment  known  for  consump- 
tion is  a  year  of  steady  daily  horseback  riding  in  a  mountainous 
country,  diet  of  corn  bread  and  bacon,  with  a  moderate  quantity 
of  whiskey."''  The  beneficial  influence  of  the  climate  on  asthma 
is  decided.  It  cannot  exist  here,  except  in  a  relieved  and  modi- 
fied condition.  Bronchitis  appears  in  a  mild  form  during  the  wet 
and  thawing  periods  of  spring  and  fall,  but  it  always  yields  to 
treatment.  Rheumatic  fevers  are  scattered  over  the  months 
without  reference  to  season  ;  but  very  few  cases  become  chronic. 

*  The  more  moderate  the  belter. — L.  P.  B. 


UTAH  AS  A   SANITARY  RESORT.  Ug-, 

The  intermlttents  are  imported,  and  the  tendency  in  them  is  to 
longer  intervals  and  ultimate  recovery.  A  remittent,  called 
"  Mountain  Fever,"  is  indigenous.  It  yields  readily  to  simple 
treatment  if  attended  to  in  time,  but  if  not  develops  into  a  modi- 
fied typhoid,  which  is  liable  to  prove  fatal.  Experience  in  the 
miners'  hospitals  at  Salt  Lake  City  shows  that  the  climatic  con- 
ditions are  very  favorable  to  recovery  from  severe  injuries.  The 
summer  heat  is  great,  but  not  debilitating,  and  the  dry  pure  air 
and  cool,  invigorating  nights,  enable  patients  to  sustain  the  shock 
of  surgical  operations  that  could  not  often  be  safely  attempted  in 
more  humid  climates.  Pyemia,  or  blood  poisoning,  the  frequent 
accompaniment  of  severe  injuries  and  of  surgery,  is  of  extremely 
rare  occurrence.  One  has  a  choice  of  altitude,  raneine  from 
4,300  to  7,000  feet  above  the  sea,  with  access  to  mineral  springs, 
hot  and  cold,  of  decidedly  efficacious  qualities  in  the  cure  of  many 
ills,  as  experience  has  amply  shown  ;  and  for  the  whole  of  Salt 
Lake  Basin,  the  softenincr  and  other  healthful  influences  of  at 
least  3,000  square  miles  of  salt  water,  giving  off  a  saline  air,  and 
affordino-  the  benefits  of  ocean  bathinor  without  its  discom'forts 
and  dano-ers.  The  waters  of  the  lake  are  so  dense  with  the  salt 
in  solution  that  it  is  impossible  to  sink  in  it,  and  at  the  same  time 
so  pleasant  that  the  bather  can  remain  in  the  water  all  day  with- 
out serious  inconvenience  or  injury. 

Teinperaiiire,  etc. ,  at  Camp  Douglas. 


MONTHS. 


I  '  '      Diurnal 

7  A.   M.    2   P.    M.   Q   P.    M.      ,-      ■       ■ 

I'  I  ''  variation. 


January 28 

February *. 23 

March 1  33 

April 38 

May 45 

June i  61 

July ,  68 

August j  65 

September 56 

October ^  41 

November ...,  38 

December 22 


00 

34 
47 
50 

55 

77 

«5 
80 

74 

56 

53 

51 


29 
24 
39 
41 
47 
65 

73 
69 

62 

45 
41 
24 


7 
II 

14 
12 
10 
16 

17 

15 
18 


Percentage 
of  Sick 


33- 60 

32-33 
36.42 

28. 74 
29.28 
2^86 

25-38 
20.00 
21.97 
38. 68 
40.50 


The  preceding  table  relates  to  Camp  Douglas,  which  is  on  an 


ii68 


OUR    VVESTER.Y  EM  TIRE. 


elevation  two  miles  east  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  500  feet  above  it, 
being  4,862  feet  above  the  sea.  This  table  gives  the  diurnal 
variation  of  temperature  at  7  a,  m.,  2  p.  m.  and  9  p.  m.  for  each 
month  of  the  year,  and  the'effect  of  this  variation  in  reducing  or 
increasing  the  percentage  of  the  sick  in  the  hospital  connected 
with  the  camp. 

The  mean  temperature  of  June  to  September  inclusive  at  2  p.  m. 
v/as  79°  ;  at  9  ?,  iM.  57'^ ;  difference  22°  ;  mean  percentage  of  sick 
for  these  months,24.63.  For  the  other  eight  months  the  mean  at 
2  P.  M.  was  47°  ;  at  9  p.  m.  36°  ;  difference  1 1°.  Mean  percentage 
of  sick  for  these  months,  32.93.  The  months  of  greatest  mean 
diurnal  variation  seem  to  be  the  healthiest  months.  Attention  is 
called  to  the  mean  temperature  of  the  four  warmest  months,  at 
9  o'clock  in  the  evening,  viz.,  57°  ;  a  night  temperature  which 
ensures  quiet  sleep. 

The  second  of  these  tables  shows  the  annual  mean,  maximum, 
minimum  and  range  of  temperature,  and  annual  rainfall  at  Camp 
Douglas  for  sixteen  years,  1 863-1 878. 


1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
186(5. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 

1873- 
1874. 

1875- 
1876. 

1877. 
1878. 


YEARS. 


Mean  for  16  years. 


TEMPERATURE. 


Mean. 


52-93 

52.22 

50.  II 

51-87 

52-7I 
50.66 

53-6i 
51.66 

53-09 
50.42 

49.26 

50.18 

51.26 

50.64 
51.00 

51-29 


5^-4: 


Max. 


103 

97 
100 

94 

95 
96 

97 
96 

104 

91 

98 

97 
95 
99 
98 
93 


97 


Min.  Range. 


7 

-4 
6 

9 
o 

5 
7 
4 
8 
o 

-3 
8 

9 
8 

5 
8 


RAINFALL. 


96 
lOI 

94 

85 

95 

91 
90 

92 

96 

91 

lOI 

89 
86 

91 
93 

85 


92 


Inches. 

7-47 
14.92 

15-51 
22. 29 

26. 14 

17-25 
2 2.  ■? 2 
20.96 
23. 12 
1S.12 

17-37 

19-55 
21.07 

18.31 

14.52 

17.86 


18.58 


AGRICULTURE  AND   IRRIGATION.  1 1 6^ 

Soil  mid  Agriadture. — There  were  surveyed  of  public  lands 
in  Utah,  down  to  June  30th,  1879,  according  to  the  Land  Office 
Report,  9,341,375  acres,  including  arable,  timbered,  coal  and 
mineral  lands.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  from  any  accessible  data 
what  proportion  is  arable  land.  Perhaps  an  estimate  that  one- 
fourth  or  about  2,350,000  could  be  cultivated  by  the  aid  of  irriga- 
tion, would  not  be  far  out  of  the  way. 

We  have  in  other  parts  of  this  book  discussed  fully  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  irrigation,  and  need  not  repeat  here 
what  has  been  already  said  elsewhere.  Irrigation  is  almost 
universally  required  in  Utah,  but  in  different  quantities  in  different 
localities,  and  it  is  usually  done  by  colonies  or  communities 
uniting  to  divert  part  or  the  whole  of  a  stream  from  its  natural 
channel  to  the  adjoining  land,  each  member  of  the  association 
there  having  his  proportional  right  to  the  use  of  the  water.  But 
few  of  the  standard  crops  of  Utah  ever  require  more  than  two 
or  three  waterings  to  perfect  them,  some  of  them,  especially  fall 
wheat,  seldom  needing  more  than  one.  Most  of  the  smaller 
streams  in  Utah,  that  could  easily  be  diverted  from  their  natural 
channels,  have  been  already  utilized ;  but  their  full  capacities  as 
irrigating  supplies,  which  can  only  be  exhausted  by  means  of 
dams,  reservoirs  and  canals  *of  considerable  importance,  have 
not  as  yet  been  called  into  requisition.  Irrigation  by  means  of 
artesian  wells  has  not  yet  been  seriously  attempted  in  the  Terri- 
tory, probably  because  the  necessity  for  it  has  not  been  seriously 
felt,  but  the  few  experiments  in  that  line  made  by  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  have  been  so  successful  as  to  encourage  a  resort 
to  it  hereafter.  Flowing  water  was  obtained  at  a  depth  of  less 
than  a  hundred  feet.  From  a  report  made  to  the  Legislature  in 
1S75  it  appears  that  one-third  of  the  land  under  cultivation  at 
that  time  in  the  Territory  required  no  irrigation  (this  propor- 
tion since  that  time  has  been  largely  increased,  it  having  been 
discovered  that,  by  deep  plowing,  lands  apparently  entirely  barren 
would  yield  twenty-five  to  thirty  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre 
without  irrigation  for  many  successive  years).  Of  the  lands  re- 
quiring irrigation,  one-fifth  only  needed  one  or  two  waterings ; 

74 


jj-Q  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

five-sevenths  required  from  three  to  four,  and  about  one-eighth 
from  four  to  ten. 

The  soil  of  Utah  is  partly  volcanic,  and  contains  elements  of 
fertility  which,  when  moisture  can  be  had,  cause  it  to  produce 
enormous  crops. 

Timber. — Utah  holds  an  intermediate  position,  with  respect  to 
its  supply  of  timber,  between  the  Atlantic  and  prairie  States. 
Its  arable  lands  are  not  interspersed  with  forests,  nor  yet  is  it 
without  an  adequate  supply  of  timber  within  its  own  limits  for 
building,  fencing,  mining  and  fuel.  The  valleys  or  plains  are 
destitute  of  forest  growth,  and  in  early  times  willow  brush  was 
resorted  to  for  fencing,  adobe  bricks  for  building,  and  sage  brush 
for  fuel.  But  the  mountains  are  generally  more  or  less  wooded, 
almost  wholly  widi  evergreens,  however.  The  best  trees  furnish 
lumber  not  technically  clear,  but  the  knots  are  held  so  fast  that 
they  are  no  real  detriment,  and  the  lumber  is  practically  clear. 
The  red  pine  and  black  balsam  indigenous  to  the  mountains 
make  a  fence  post  or  railroad  tie  that  will  last  ten  years.  The 
white  pine  is  not  so  good.  More  than  half  of  the  forest  growth  of 
the  Wahsatch  is  of  the  white  or  inferior  variety.  On  the  Oquirrh 
the  trees  are  chiefly  red  pine.  Scrub  cedar  and  pinon  pine  are 
quite  common  in  the  south  and  west.  They  are  of  little  value 
for  anything  but  posts,  ties  and  fuel.  In  1875  there  were  perhaps 
100  saw-miils  in  existence,  if  not  in  operation,  in  the  Territory. 
Ordinary  rough  building  and  fencing  lumber  ranges  in  price  from 
^20  to  <^2  5  a  thousand.  Flooring  and  finishing  lumber  is  im- 
ported, and  costs  about  $45  a  thousand.  Wood  is  obtained  from 
the  canons  for  fuel,  and  soft  coal  of  good  quality  can  be  had  for 
^8  to  $12  a  ton  in  all  Northern  Utah.  When  the  coal  deposits 
of  the  Territory  shall  have  been  developed  and  made  accessible 
by  railroads,  the  price  should  be  less  by  one-half,  for  there  is  an 
abundant  supply  and  it  is  widely  distributed. 

Products,  Yield. — All  of  the  products  of  the  same  latitude,  east 
or  west,  on  or  about  the  level  of  tide  water,  with  the  exception 
of  Indian  corn  (for  which  the  nights  are  too  cool),  are  grown  in 
Utah  with  great  success,  and  the  soil  and  climate  seem  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  wheat  and  fruit.    Following  are  statistics 


(( 

(S 

I  i 
tl 
ct 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS   OF   UTAH.  Ij-,! 

of  the  area  and  yield  of  various  crops  for  die  year  1S75,  on  die 
authority  of  a  legislative  commission  : 

Articles.  Acres.  Total  Yield.  Yield  per  Acre. 

Wheat 72,020  1,418,783  bushels.     20  bushels. 

Barley i3>847  359»527        "           25 

Oats 19,706  581,849        "          30 

Rye 447  8,987       "          20 

Corn •.     .  16,452  3i7>253        "           20 

Buckwheat 11  243        '*           22 

Peas Ij7oi  30,801        "           18 

Beans 127  3.176       "          25 

Potatoes 10,306  1,306,957       "  130 

Other  Roots Ij433  278,712        "  125 

Seeds 125  49,501  lbs.  396  lbs. 

Broom  Corn 200  713  tons.  T^y'i  tons. 

Sugar  Cane 1,432  103,164  gals.          72  gals. 

Meadow 81,788  112,529  tons.  i^  tons. 

Lucerne 3.587  13,189  tons.  3^  tons. 

Cotton 113  31,075  lbs.  275  lbs. 

Flax 5  1,250  lbs.  250  lbs.. 

Total  acres,  223,300.     Total  value  of  products,  about  $7,500,0005 

Of  tne  wheat  crop  of  1873,  100,000  bushels  were  exported. 
There  was  no  surplus  for  export  in  1874-75.  Of  the  crops  of 
1876-77,  50,000  to  60,000  bushels  were  exported.  There  was  a 
surplus  of  about  270,000  bushels  raised  in  1878,  one-half  of  which 
was  shipped  to  England  via  San  Francisco ;  the  rest  remains  in 
stock.  Probably  the  acreage  in  wheat  has  not  increased  much 
since  1875,  nor  the  hay  crop,  but  dry  farming  has.and  the  growth 
of  lucerne  has  doubled. 

Improved  lands  are  held  at  from  ^25  to  ^100  an  acre,  according 
to  locadon.  They  are  almost  all  adjacent  to  either  towns  or  mines, 
or  both.  There  are,  in  different  localities,  comparatively  large 
bodies  of  government  lands  unoccupied,  which  can  be  entered  at 
the  Salt  Lake  Land  Office  under  the  United  States  land  laws,  the 
same  as  in  other  States  and  Territories,  or  bought  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad  companies  at  low  rates,  and  on  easy  time  ;  although,  as 
a  eeneral  thine,  aericultural  settlement  and  improvement  in  Utah 
will  be  undertaken  to  better  advantage  by  colonies  than  by 
individuals.     The  construction  of  the  main  irrigating  canals  may 


Hy2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

usually  be  accomplished  by  plow  and  scraper,  each  adjoining 
land-owner  contributing  his  quota  of  the  expense,  and  having  a 
perpetual  right  to  the  water  at  the  additional  cost  for  repairs. 
Under  the  Desert  Land  Law,  each  person  joining  in  such  an 
enterprise  is  entitled  to  pre-empt  640  acres  of  land,  paying  one- 
fifth  down  and  the  rest  in  three  years,  on  condition  that  the 
enterprise  be  consummated  within  that  time. 

Fruit. — The  Salt  Lake  Basin  throughout  is  unsurpassed  in  the 
adaptation  of  its  soil  and  climate  to  the  growth  of  all  kinds  of 
fruit  common  to  the  latitude ;  in  the  south,  on  the  waters  of  the 
Rio  Colorado,  grape  culture  is  followed  with  great  success,  and 
wine-making  is  there  a  growing  industry ;  but  in  the  higher 
mountain  valleys,  as  well  as  in  Cache  and  San  Pete,  the  seasons 
are  too  short,  and  not  so  much  attendon  has  been  devoted  to  it. 
The  following  table  shows  the  area,  the  product,  and  the  yield 
per  acre,  of  fruits,  for  the  year  1875,  as  returned  and  published 
by  order  of  the  Legislature  : 

Fruit.  Acres.  Total  Yield.  Yield  per  Acre. 

Apples 3,935  358,277  bushels.       90  bushels. 

Pears 128  10,560        "  75 

Peaches 2,687  33o,535        "  120       " 

Plums 259  43.585        ''  165        " 

Apricots 305  44,160        "  145        " 

Cherries 62  4,661        "  75        " 

Grapes 544  3, 409. 200  lbs.         6,260  lbs. 

Total  acres,  7,920.     Value,  $1,028,616. 

No  finer,  thriftier  trees,  no  fairer,  better  flavored  fruit  is  pro- 
duced anywhere.  The  trees  are  extremely  bounteous  bearers, 
having  to  be  propped  up  to  enable  them  to  sustain  the  weight 
of  their  enormous  burdens.  The  fruit  market  in  Salt  Lake  City 
is  almost  perpetually  deriving  its  supply  from  California,  when 
native  fruits  and  berries  are  not  in  season.  This  applies,  too,  to 
many  kinds  of  vegetables,  cauliflower,  lettuce  and  asparagus.  The 
season  for  most  fruits,  berries  and  vegetables  begins  in  California 
a  month  or  six  weeks  in  advance  of  the  same  in  Utah,  and  pro- 
portionally lengthens  it.  The  extreme  southern  part  of  the 
Territory  is  adapted  to  the  production  of  many  semi-tropical  and 


FRUIT  AND   STOCK-FARMING.  I  173 

some  tropical  fruits,  but  not  much  has  been  done  in  that  Hne  as 
yet.  Cotton  is  grown  in  a  small  way,  for  use  in  the  making  of 
cloth.  Figs  and  almonds  have  also  been  tried  a  little.  The 
climate  is  not  greatly  different  from  that  of  Southern  California, 
where  oranges  and  many  tropical  fruits  do  as  well  as  anywhere 
in  the  world. 

Stock- Farming. — One  great  resource  of  Utah,  and  one  easily 
discounted,  so  to  speak,  is  the  very  extensive  stock  range. 
There  is  in  such  a  country  necessarily  a  great  deal  of  land  on 
the  foot-hill  slopes  and  river  terraces  which  cannot  be  artificially 
watered,  and  yet  is  not  cut  off  from  water.  The  native  grasses 
generally  are  possibly  not  as  good  as  the  buffalo  and  gramma 
grasses  of  the  plains  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  the  bunch 
grass,  wdiich  seems  to  be  indigenous  to  the  broken  and  elevated 
regions  between  the  Sierra  Madre  and  the  Sierra  Nevada,  is  un- 
surpassed in  excellence.  Throughout  this  interior  basin  millions 
of  acres  are  not  absolute  desert,  only  because  of  the  existence  of 
this  grass.  It  grows  in  bunches  in  apparently  the  most  barren 
places.  Early  in  the  season  it  cures,  standing,  retaining  all  its 
nutriment,  and  being  hard  to  cover  with  snow  beyond  the  reach 
of  stock.  Its  seed  is  pyriform,  and  has  remarkable  fattening 
properties.  In  the  high,  dry,  bracing  altitudes  of  the  interior, 
cattle  erow  and  fatten  on  much  less  than  on  the  sea-level,  and 
the  same  degree  of  either  heat  or  cold,  as  marked  by  the 
thermometer,  appears  to  affect  them  less.  The  grazing  lands 
of  Utah  are  almost  unlimited  ;  including  the  second  tables  of  the 
river  courses,  the  slopes  of  the  foot-hills  and  lesser  ranges  not 
too  far  from  water ;  the  shores  of  the  sinks  and  lakes,  and  the 
coves  and  valleys  of  the  mountains.  In  the  Salt  Lake  Basin, 
generally,  stock  winter  without  fodder;  farther  south,  they  not 
only  subsist,  but  thrive  on  the  range  the  year  round.  In  Cache, 
Bear  lake,  and  other  valleys  more  elevated,  they  require  more 
food  and  shelter ;  and  the  stock-grower  will  do  well  to  prepare  for 
occasional  cold  and  snowy  spells  in  all  the  northern  parts  of  the 
Territory.  There  is  ample  hay  ground  for  this.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances,  a  five-year-old  steer,  worth  ;^25,  can  be  turned 


J  174  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

out  at  a  cost  of  $5.     The  statistics  returned  of  stock  In  Utah  In 

1875: 

Stallions 108 

Mares        i,349 

Mules        4,727 

All  others,  not  horned 45 » 206 

Thoroughbred  horned  stock 510 

Graded                 "         "        3,511 

All  other               "         "        107,468 

Thoroughbred  sheep r5,620 

All  other  sheep 287,608 

Goats 304,806 

Graded  swine i,397 

Common  swine 26,540 

Total  value,  including  poultry  and  bees,  placed  at  about  $6,500,000. 

The  number  of  blooded  and  graded  animals  has  probably  in- 
creased 200  per  cent,  since  *i  875,  and  that  of  sheep  150  per  cent., 
while  the  strain  of  blood  in  all  sheep  has  been  so  improved  that 
double  the  wool  is  sheared  from  the  same  number.  Consider- 
able stock  is  kept  in  adjoining  Territories  by  residents  of  Utah. 
It  is  estimated  by  stock-growers  and  drivers  that  the  Territory 
turns  out  yearly  40,000  head  of  stock  from  one  to  five  years  old, 
averaging  in  value  ^15  a  head ;  a  total  of  ^600,000. 

SJiecp-Farming. — The  wool  clip  of  1875  was  returned  at  885,- 
000  pounds,  but  it  has  quite  doubled  since.  Mr.  James  Dunn, 
of  the  Provo  Woollen  Mills,  estimates  the  clip  of  1S77  at  1,200,- 
000  to  1,300,000  pounds;  for  1878,  at  1,600,000  to  1,700,000 
pounds.  Other  large  growers  and  dealers  concur  in  this  esti- 
mate. The  clip  of  1879  "^'^'^s  nearly  2,000,000  pounds,  and  that 
of  1880  over  2,500,000  pounds.  Of  the  clip  of  1878  about  1,250,- 
000  pounds  was  exported,  and  the  remainder,  say  400,000 
pounds,  was  used  by  the  Utah  mills.  Fleeces  average  about 
four  pounds  for  ewes,  six  for  wethers  ;  part  of  the  wool  ranges 
with  the  best  California  wools  as  to  quality,,  while  part  of  it  is  in- 
ferior. Utah  and  Montana  wools  are  considered  better  than  the 
wools  of  the  other  Territories.  Most  of  the  Utah  sheep  came 
from  New  Mexico  down  to  1870.  Since  then  ewes  have  been 
brought  in  from  California,  generally  fine-wooled  Spanish  Mer- 


STOCK-RAISING  AND   SHEEP-FARMING.  II75 

inos,  but  little  mixed ;  fine-wooled  bucks  from  Ohio,  and  lone- 
wooled  from  Canada.  The  same  strain  of  blood  in  sheep  does 
not  produce  quite  so  long  a  wool  as  in  the  East.  It  is  so  dry  and 
dusty,  the  grease  seems  to  absorb  the  alkali  and  mineral  dust, 
which  makes  it  harsher  and  more  britde.  But  since  the  large 
infusion  of  Merino  blood,  which  has  taken  place  in  late  years, 
there  has  been  a  marked  improvement  in  the  quality  of  Utah 
wool,  in  respect  of  length,  softness  and  fineness  of  fibre.  It  re- 
alizes to  the  grower,  here,  crude,  about  twenty  cents  a  pound. 

Mr.  Daniel  Davidson,  who  has  imported  ^^30,000  worth  of 
bucks  within  a  few  years,  has  a  flock  of  1 6,000  sheep,  from  which 
he  sheared  90,000  pounds  of  wool  in  1S78.  Among  other  large 
owners  are  the  Provo  Manufacturing  Company,  with  13,000; 
a  Mr.  Mclntyre,  with  9,000.  Mr.  Davidson  thinks  there  are 
550,000  sheep  in  the  Territory.  Castle  Valley,  near  the  corner 
post  of  Wahsatch,  San  Pete  and  Utah  counties,  is  a  great  sheep 
range,  several  large  flocks  being  kept  there.  They  are  worth 
about  $2.25  a  head  as  they  run,  do  not  require  feeding  in  winter, 
and  if  properly  attended  to,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  will 
yield  a'profit  of  forty  per  cent,  a  year  on  the  investment.  They 
are  beginning  to  be  bought  up  to  be  driven  away.  A  flock  of 
5,000,  costing  from  ^2  to  $2.50  each,  including  lambs,  was  picked 
up  and  taken  to  Montana  in  the  spring  of  1878.  By  the  time 
they  got  there  the  lambs  were  worth  as  much  as  the  sheep,  re- 
ducing the  price  in  reality  to  about  $1.50. 

Governor  Emery  says  on  this  subject: 

Another  serious  drawback  to  the  stock-growers  of  this  country 
are  immense  herds  of  sheep,  which  have  been  driven  into  the 
Territories  from  California.  LarLre  flocks  of  fifteen,  twentv  and 
thirty  thousand  sheep  not  unfrec^uently  make  their  appearance 
here  from  the  West.  It  is  not  so  much  the  grass  they  eat  that 
the  settlers  complain  of,  but  they  poison  and  kill  out  what  is 
known  here  as  the  buffalo  or  bunch-grass,  which  is  the  only 
grass  of  any  value  indigenous  to  this  soil.  Where  sheep  range 
for  one  season  there  is  left  a  barren  waste  upon  which  grass  will 
not  grow  for  several  years  after.  If  Congress  would  pass  some 
law  whereby  parties  can  acquire  rights  to  this  pasturage,  it  would 


IJ75  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

undoubtedly  be  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  government  as  well 
as  to  parties  engaged  in  stock  and  wool-growing. 

Mines  and  Mining  Products. — With  her  increasing  population, 
it  is  hardly  probable  that  Utah  will  produce  more  grains,  etc., 
than  sufficient  to  supply  the  home  demand  for  agricultural  pro- 
ducts. She  may  export  some  wheat,  but  she  will  import  more 
corn  ;  she  may  have  more  than  a  supply  of  some  fruits  and  root 
crops,  but  she  will  import  as  much  or  more  of  others. 

She  may  have  cattle,  sheep,  and  possibly  horses  and  mules  to 
export,  and  as  her  grazing  lands  become  developed,  there  may 
be  a  large  traffic  in  live-stock,  for  which  she  has  good  facilities. 

But  the  chief  attraction  which  Utah  possesses  for  immigrants 
is  its  mineral  wealth.  Looking  southward  from  one  of  the  sum- 
mits of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains,  just  above  their  junction  with 
the  Uintah  Range,  and  the  smoke  of  the  smelters  and  stamp 
mills  is  seen  in  the  clear  pure  air  for  a  hundred  miles,  and  on 
both  sides  of  the  Wahsatch ;  while  to  the  east  and  southeast  the 
mines  of  copper,  coal,  sulphur,  alum,  borax,  graphite  and  other 
minerals,  with  some  gold  and  silver,  are  found  in  great  abun- 
dance. 

There  is  not  a  county  in  the  Territory  where  mines  have  not 
been  located,  and  mining  districts  in  greater  or  lesser  number 
organized.  These  mining  districts  now  cover  over  1,200,000 
acres.  They  are,  perhaps,  most  nurnerous  in  Salt  Lake,  Utah, 
Juab,  Beaver,  Box  Elder,  Tooele,  Millard,  Pi-ute  and  Iron  coun- 
ties, but  Washington  county,  Weber,  Davis  and  Summit  are 
coming  into  prominence  either  for  their  silver  mines,  gold  placers, 
or  deposits  of  coal,  sulphur,  borax,  alum,  etc.  We  cannot  under- 
take to  name  all  these  mines  or  mining  districts ;  but  a  few  notes 
in  regard  to  some  of  the  most  prominent  of  them  will  be  interest- 
ing. Bingham  Cailon  and  its  chief  town,  Bingham  City,  is  about 
thirty  miles  southwest  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  is  a  rift  or  canon 
of  the  Oquirrh  Mountains,  through  which  a  small  muddy  creek 
flows  on  its  way  to  the  Jordan  river,  about  twelve  miles  south  of 
Salt  Lake  City.  It  has  had  strange  vicissitudes.  In  I.S59  rich 
gold  placers  were  found  there  by  General  Conner's  soldiers,  and 
were  extensively  worked  and  still  yield  fair  pay  for  working.     In 


MINES  AND   MINING  IN   UTAH.  nyy 

1869  extensive  beds  of  silver  lead  ore  were  discovered  and  mined 
with  decided  profit,  and  some  of  the  mines  are  still  profitably 
worked;  In  1876  it  was  discovered  that  the  disintegrated  rock 
which  had  been  thrown  aside  from  the  silver  mines  as  waste 
really  contained  from  ^19  to  ^25  of  gold  to  the  ton,  and  was  very 
easily  reduced,  and  as  this  paid  better  than  the  silver,  the  mining 
for  these  quartz-gold  ores  was  immediately  resumed.  Mean- 
while, however,  some  of  the  silver  mines  in  the  canon  had  been 
written  up  and  their  productiveness  eulogized,  and  one  of  these, 
the  Old  Telegraph,  which  was  really  worth  perhaps  from  ^700,000 
to  ^1,000,000,  was  sold  after  examination  to  a  French  company 
for  '^3,000,000.  The  mine  has  not  only  never  paid  a  dividend, 
but  is  run  either  at  a  loss  or  without  profit,  although  all  its  re- 
duction works  and  the  appointments  of  the  mine  are  of  the  first 
class.  It  was  another  Instance  in  which  silver  mines  in  Utah 
have  been  sold  to  European  capitalists  at  prices  far  beyond  their 
actual  value.  The  sales  of  the  Little  Emma,  Flagstaff  and 
McHenry,  all  Utah  mines,  are  still  fresh  in  the  public  memory, 
and  have  entailed  an  unwarranted  disgrace  upon  mining  proper- 
ties, especially  in  Utah.  The  Little  Cottonwood  Mines,  which 
included  the  Emma  and  Flagstaff,  are  now  developing  other 
mining  properties  there ;  but  the  frauds  connected  with  those 
mines  have  destroyed  confidence  in  them,  and  the  present  and 
prospective  yield  is  not  sufficient  to  restore  it.  The  Parley's 
Park  Mines,  in  the  vicinity  of  Park  City,  of  which  the  Ontario 
Mine  is  the  principal,  have  an  excellent  property,  though  in  their 
case  the  failure  of  the  McHenry  Mine  to  make  good  the  repre- 
sentations under  which  it  was  sold,  has  proved  a  serious  draw- 
back. The  mill  connected  with  this  mine  shipped  East,  monthly, 
in  1879,  from  ^135,000  to  $145,000,  and  new  mines  in  the 
vicinity  are  promising  well.  On  the  Oquirrh  Mountains  there 
is  also  the  Ophir  District,  which  has  the  Hidden  Treasure  and 
many  other  silver  mines  of  note ;  the  Stockton  Mines,  which 
have  already  yielded  largely  ;  and  the  Tintic  Silver  District,  the 
mines  in  which  carry  gold,  silver  and  copper.  In  Southern  and 
Southwestern  Utah,  within  the  Great  Basin  and  south  of  Sevier 
lake,  there  are  many  silver  mines  of  great  value,  and  which  are 


11^8  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

conducted  on  sound  business  principles.  In  diis  region  the 
mines  are  richer  as  we  proceed  toward  the  southern  boundary. 
In  the  Beaver  Lake  District  there  are  valuable  copper  mines,  and 
a  little  to  the  east  and  southeast  are  silver  mines  in  the  same 
district,  and  some  valuable  mines  in  the  Ohio  District.  A 
little  farther  south  are  the  Frisco  Silver  Mines,  to  which 
point  a  branch  of  the  Southern  Utah  Railway  is  running-. 
Among  these  mines,  the  Horn  Silver  Mine,  about  one  mile  from 
the  village  of  Frisco,  is  said  to  be  the  richest  silver  mine  in  the 
world.  Professor  J.  S.  Newberry,  who  visited  it  in  the  autumn 
of  1879,  and  examined  it  very  carefully,  estim.ated  that  there  was 
not  less  than  ^15,000,000  worth  of  ore  in  sight,  and  a  fair  pros- 
pect of  at  least  as  much  more  when  the  mine  was  fully  developed. 
This  ore  is  chlorides  and  horn  silver.  The  Carbonate  and 
Rattler  Mines,  and  the  Cave  Mine  in  the  same  vicinity,  are  car- 
bonates easily  reduced  and  very  rich  ;  the  last  named  carries 
considerable  gold  ;  as  do  the  Picacho  Mines.  Around  and  just 
below  Little  Salt  lake  are  the  Silver  Belt  and  the  Sumner  Minino- 
Districts,  and  in  the  same  vicinity  immense  coal  beds  and  exten- 
sive deposits  of  iron  and  alum.  Other  coal  measures  are  still 
farther  south,  and  in  the  extreme  southwest  is  the  Leeds  Silver 
Mining  District,  which  has  many  rich  mines ;  most  of  these  are 
chlorides  and  easily  reduced.  East  of  the  Leeds  District,  and  on 
and  near  the  Rio  Virgen,  is  the  Harrisburg  District,  in  which  are 
a  larcre  number  of  excellent  m.ines.  Amone  these  are  those  of 
Silver  Reef,  where  sandstone  beds  of  cretaceous  or  tertiary  age 
are  found  impregnated  with  silver,  either  native  or  in  chlorides. 
The  Stormont  Silver  Mining  Company  owns  several  mines  on 
Silver  Reef,  and  is  steadily  producing  from  ^5^40,000  to  ;p50,ooo 
of  bullion  per  month,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  increase  with  larger 
facilities  for  reduction.  No  smelting-  is  needed,  but  the  reduction 
is  effected  through  stamp-mills  and  wet  amalgamation.  Just  at 
the  boundary  of  Utah,  Arizona  and  Nevada  Is  the  Silver  Park  Dis- 
trict, where  the  argentiferous  deposit  is  an  enormous  but  irreg- 
ular vein  lying  in  the  contact  between  porphyry  and  limestone. 
Seme  of  the  ore  is  very  rich,  and  Professor  Newberry  says  that 
"  it  seenio  to  present  very  much  the  same  problems  as  the  great 


MINING   EAST  OF   THE    WAIISATCH  MOUNTAINS.  nyg 

veins  of  the  Shakspeare  District,  New  Mexico,  or  the  Ruby  Hill 
District,  Nevada;  that  is,  they  are  very  good  or  good  for  nothing, 
and  considerable  time  and  money  will  be  required  to  decide  which 
is  true. 

The  eastern  slope  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains  undoubtedly 
contains  both  silver  and  gold,  though,  whether  it  is  likely  to  be  of 
ores  which  will  prove  profitable  for  present  working,  is  a  question. 
The  Great  Colorado  Basin,  which  has  shown  itself  so  rich  in  the 
precious  metals  in  Colorado  and  Arizona,  is  probably  equally  rich 
here.  But  we  know  that  copper,  and  iron,  and  coal  are  not  only 
abundant  but  that  they  are  of  excellent  quality  and  easily 
worked.  The  coal  beds  of  Utah  contain  coal  of  good  quality, 
sufficient  to  supply  the  entire  region  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. It  is  bituminous  or  semi-bituminous  in  character,  and 
many  of  the  beds.  Professor  Newberry  says,  are  excellent  cok- 
ing coals.  Whether  it  is  a  lignite  of  the  Tertiary  formations,  or 
a  true  coal  of  the  Carboniferous  era,  does  not  seem  to  be  fully 
settled.  Possibly  the  deposits  of  the  north  are  of  a  later  geo- 
logic age  than  those  of  the  south.  Volcanic  action,  here  as  in 
New  Mexico,  may  have  wrouglit  some  changes  in  it.  The  iron 
is  of  all  varieties,  and  is  pronounced  by  skilful  iron  masters  equal 
in  quality  to  any  in  the  world,  and  the  quantity  is  vast  beyond 
conception.  Its  close  proximity  to  good  coking  coals  and  the 
excellent  fluxes  close  at  hand  insure  very  cheap  production  of 
the  best  qualities  of  iron,  and  already  several  large  furnaces  are 
at  work. 

Recently  antimony  has  been  discovered.  The  antimony  mines 
are  situated  200  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake,  and  on  the  headwaters 
of  the  Sevier  river.  The  mineral  occurs  as  a  bedded  or  sedi- 
mentary deposit,  in  interrupted  layers  from  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
to  two  feet  in  thickness.  Its  line  of  outcrop  forms  an  irregular 
contour,  which  follows  the  windings  of  the  cliffs.  The  quantity 
exposed  varies  greatly;  in  some  places  perhaps  a  thousand  tons 
could  be  obtained  immediately.  There  arc  large  deposits  of  sul- 
phur of  great  thickness,  which  are  worked.  Salt  is  produced 
from  the  waters  of  Great  Salt  Lake  and  other  lakes  in  con- 
siderable quantities  and  of  excellent  quality.     There  are   large 


Il3o  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

deposits  of  rock-salt  in  the  Territory.  Ozocerite,  asphalt,  jet  and 
other  minerals  are  known  to  exist  in  large  quantities.  Alum,  bo- 
rax, bicarbonate  of  soda  and  caustic  soda  can  also  be  produced 
pure  for  market,  with  very  little  trouble. 

Railroads. — There  are  now  in  operation  in  Utah  somewhat 
more  than  700  miles  of  railway,  all  of  it  except  the  small  portion 
of  the  Union  Pacific,  between  Evanston,  Wyoming,  and  Devil's 
Gate,  Utah,  being  within  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin.  All  the 
railroads  of  the  Territory  belong  to  the  Union  and  Central  Paci- 
fic system,  with  which  they  connect  at  Ogden.  Aside  from  the 
main  line  (the  Union  and  Central  Pacific)  they  consist  of:  The 
Utah  and  Northern  Railroad,  now  extending  from  Ogden  to 
Helena,  Montcma ;  the  Utah  Central,  from  Ogden  to  Salt  Lake 
City;  and  the  Utah  Southern,  a  continuation  of  the  last,  already 
constructed  to  the  Beaver  river,  with  branches  of  narrow  gauge 
to  Stockton,  to  Bingham  Canon,  to  Alta,  to  Deer  Creek,  to  Con- 
nelsville  and  the  coal  mines,  and  from  Beaver  river  to  Frisco. 
It  may  throw  out  another  branch  to  Pioche,  Nevada,  where  a 
short  line  running  eastward  has  already  been  constructed,  but  its 
eventual  destination  is  probably  to  a  union  with  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  at  some  point  in  Arizona,  or  in  California  west  of  the 
Rio  Colorado.  The  extensive  coal  lands  and  orrazinc:  lands  in  the 
Colorado  Basin  must  eventually  lead  to  the  crossing  of  the  Wah- 
satch  by  some  of  the  branches  of  the  Utah  Central  or  Southern, 
unless  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  or  the  Denver  South  Park 
and  Pacific,  both  of  which  are  building  rapidly  toward  Grand 
and  Green  rivers  in  Western  Colorado,  should  enter  Utah  from 
the  east,  and  thus  form  another  route  to  the  Pacific.  The  local 
business  on  these  Utah  roads  is  sufficient  to  make  them  profita- 
ble stock. 

Objects  of  Interest. — In  wild,  grand,  and  terrible  displays  of 
the  power  of  the  forces  of  nature,  Utah  is  perhaps  unsurpassed 
by  no  State  or  Territory  of  "  Our  Western  Empire."  The 
canons  of  the  Green  and  Grand  rivers  and  of  the  Rio  Colorado, 
which  they  unite  to  form,  as  well  as  those  of  the  San  Juan,  have 
been  most  graphically  described  by  Colonel  J.  W.  Powell  and 
other  writers  who  have  descended  these  rivers  for  a  part  or 


OBJECTS   OF  INTEREST.  1 1 8 1 

the  whole  of  their  course.  The  greater  part  of  the  main  stream 
of  the  Green  river,  more  than  a  hundred  miles  of  the  Grand  river, 
and  about  250  miles  of  the  course  of  the  Colorado,  including  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  canons  of  each,  are  within  the  bounds  of 
Utah,  and  east  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains.  Near  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  Territory  the  Monument  Canon  of  the  Colorado 
commences,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan  is  the  famous 
Temple  of  Music,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  of  the  results  of 
erosion  on  these  rocks.  But  it  is  not  the  Colorado  Basin  alone 
which  abounds  in  remarkable  natural  scenery.  The  Great  Inte- 
rior or  Salt  Lake  Basin  is  full  of  wonders.  Amone  these  are  the 
Temples  on  the  Rio  Virgen,  the  only  affluent  of  the  Colorado 
which  has  its  sources  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin;  while  the 
Little  Zion  Valley,  north  of  that  river,  is  remarkable  for  its  quiet 
beau  ty. 

Farther  north,  in  the  Great  Basin,  are  some  very  extraordinary 
combinations  of  caiion,  cataract,  valley  and  mountain  spires.  Of 
one  of  these — the  American  Fork  Canon  of  the  Wahsatch  Moun- 
tains, which  opens  upon  the  minor  Basin  of  Utah  lake,  and  has 
been  called  the  Yosemite  of  Utah — a  recent  writer  thus  speaks  : 

"  This  canon  is  noted  not  only  for  the  towering  altitude  of  its 
enclosing  walls,  but  for  the  picturesqueness  of  the  infinite  shapes, 
resembling  artificial  objects,  towers,  pinnacles  and  minarets 
chiefly,  into  which  the  elements  have  worn  them.  At  first  the 
formation  is  granite  and  the  cliffs  rise  to  a  lofty  height  almost 
vertically.  Then  conie  quartzite  or  rocks  of  looser  texture, 
conglomerates  and  sandstones ;  the  canon  opens  to  the  sky  and 
vou  enter  a  Ion  or  crallerv,  the  sides  of  which  recede  at  an  anele 
of  forty-five  degrees  to  a  dizzy  height,  profusely  set  with  these 
elemental  sculptures  in  endless  variety  of  size  and  pattern,  often 
stained  with  rich  colors.  *  Towers,  battlements,  shattered  castles, 
and  the  images  of  mighty  sentinels,'  says  one,  'exhibit  their  out- 
lines against  the  sky.  Rocks  twisted,  gnarled  and  distorted  ;  here 
a  mass  like  the  skeleton  of  some  colossal  tree  which  lijrhtninof 
had  wrenched  and  burnt  to  fixed  cinder;  there  another,  vast 
and  overhanging,  apparently  crumbling  and  threatening  to  fall 
in  ruin.    At  Deer  creek  the  caiion  proper  ceases,  the  road  has 


1 1 8  2  OCR    IVES  TERN  EMPIRE. 

climbed  out  of  it  2,500  feet  in  eight  miles.  This  is  the  main  resort 
of  pleasure  parties.  Since  the  railroad  was  taken  up,  its  bed  has 
become  a  wagon  road,  which  continues  to  Forest  City,  eight  miles 
above.  The  surroundings  are  still  mountainous,  but  there  are 
breaks  where  the  brooks  come  in,  grassy  hills,  aspens  and 
pines. 

"To  the  sublimity  of  the  canon  scenery  in  summer- an  inde- 
scribable beauty  is  added  in  the  autumn,  when  the  deciduous 
trees  and  shrubbery  on  a  thousand  slopes,  touched  by  the  frost, 
present  the  colors  of  a  rich  painting  and  meet  the  eye  wherever 
it  rests.  To  get  the  full  benefit  of  this,  one  must  go  up  and  up 
till  there  is  nothing  higher  to  climb.  In  winter  another  and  very 
different  phase  succeeds.  The  snows,  descending  for  days  and 
days  in  blinding  clouds,  bury  the  forests  and  fill  the  canon. 
Accumulating  to  a  great  depth  on  high  and  steep  acclivities,  they 
start  without  warning  and  bury  in  ruin  whatever  may  be  in  their 
track.  Hardly  a  year  passes  that  miners  and  teamsters,  wagons 
and  cabins  are  not  swept  away  and  buried  out  of  sight  for  months. 
The  avalanche  of  the  Wahsatch  is  quite  as  formidable  as  that  of 
the  Alps.  Probably  forty  feet  of  snow  falls  on  the  main  range 
every  winter.  Seven  miles  of  tramway  in  Little  Cottonwood 
Caiion  are  closely  and  strongly  shedded  for  defence  against  the 
awful  avalanche.     Even  this  is  not  always  effectual." 

The  Great  Salt  lake  itself  is  an  object  of  great  interest.  The 
remarkable  density  of  its  waters,  which  at  some  seasons  and 
particularly  in  times  of  great  drought,  is  so  strong  a  brine  as  to 
contain  two  pounds  of  salt  to  the  gallon  of  water,  its  islands 
which  contain  rich  deposits  of  silver  and  copper  and  abound  in 
game,  its  shores  covered  with  salt,  and  the  buoyancy  of  its  waters, 
in  which  one  cannot  sink,  all  excite  the  wonder  of  the  visitor. 

The  mineral  and  hot  springs,  which  abound  throughout  the 
Territdry,  are  worthy  of  notice.  The  hot  springs  near  Ogden 
are  a  favorite  resort  for  tourists. 

Finances. — "  The  finances  of  the  Territory,"  says  Governor 
Emery,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  October 
29th,  1879,  "are  in  a  most  satisfactory  condition.  There  is  no 
indebtedness  that  is   not   covered   by   uncollected   taxes.      The 


POPULATION  OF  UTAH. 


I183 


territorial  scrip,  which  three  or  four  years  since  was  worth  only 
forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  to-day  is  worth  ninety-eight  cents  on 
the  dollar.  There  is  assessed  annually  an  ad  valorem  tax  on  the 
taxable  property  In  the  Territory  of  Utah,  as  follows  :  three  mills 
on  the  dollar  for  territorial  purposes  ;  three  mills  on  the  dollar 
for  the  benefit  of  district  schools  ;  and  such  sum  as  the  county 
courts  of  the  several  counties  may  designate  for  county  purposes, 
not  to  exceed  three  mills  on  the  dollar," 

Pop2ilation. — The  growth  of  Utah  has  been  moderately  rapid, 
as  much  so  perhaps  as  could  be  expected  under  the  circum- 
stances. The  following  table  gives  the  particulars  of  it  so  far  as 
they  are  attainable  : 


c 

0 

- 

i 

C 

_o 
rt 

d 

CI 

1 

in 
1 

CO 

-a 

c 

"J 

f. 

c 

^ 

3 

rt 

u 
C 

•"« 

0 

«  « 

ui 

u 

B 

**3 

0 

•a 

/ 

0. 
0 

en  . 

<r*  en 

u 
2 

S 

a 

rt 

u 

0 

t,-t 

>, 

-•s 

fi^ 

> 

Oh 

0 
H 

i 

IS 

e 

C 

n 

a) 

_> 

15 

c 

60 

'I 
0 

5 
P 

0 
0 

n 
Ci5 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0  ^ 

0 

1 

1 

iSso 

11,380* 

6,046 

5,334 

11,330 

50 

9,326 

2,054 

0.05 

154  4,076 

2,560 

2,763 

>,535 

18(33 

40,273* 

20,255 

20,018 

40,125 

149 

27,519 

12,754    0.18 

255-0 

323  13.788 

6-744 

8,134 

4,520 

1870 

99,58it  44,124 

42,665 

86,044 

13,533 

56,084 

30,702     1.63 

147-25 

7-363  33,367 

14,603 

18,042 

10,147 

187s 

I40.ooot  66,125! 

63,875 

730,000 

10,000 

81,000 

49,000    1.75 

40.59 

30,79211 

1 

i88o 

M4.659t;74,47it 

69,436 

142,381 

1526? 

99,974 

43,933: 1-78 

10.62 

1 

1 

i 

The  population  of  Utah  Is  very  peculiar.  It  Is  the  only  one 
of  the  States  or  Territories  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  which 
was  settled  on  a  professedly  religious  basis.  The  Mormons  came 
here  when  the  country  was  a  howling  wilderness,  and  established 
themselves  as  a  religious  hierarchy,  and  their  plan  of  settlement 
from  the  first  contemplated  an  empire  as  well  as  a  faith.  They 
have  been  from  the  first  intolerant  of  any  government  except 
their  own,  of  any  immigrants  who  were  not  converts  to  their 
faith  ;  of  any  business  which  did  not  contribute  to  the  support  of 
Mormonism  ;  of  any  worship  which  did  not  recognize  the  supreme 
authority  of  their  leaders  ;  of  any  social  order  which  did  not  recog- 
nize polygamy  as  a  revealed  ordinance  of  God,  and  did  not  give 


*Tribal  Imlians  not  included.  +  Including  trib.-il  and  other  Indians.  {Sex  of  Indians  not  ascertained. 
II  Territorial  report— only  children  from  si.\  to  si.vtcen.  g  Including  204  negroes  and  mulattocs,  501  Chinese,  S04 
Indians  and  half-breeds  and  seventeen  E.ist  Indians  and  half-breed.s. 


Ilg.  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

free  rein  to  lust.     Their  power  was  for  many  years  so  absolute 
that  the   settlers,  who   professed  another   faith,  were  liable  to 
assassination  and  to  every  indignity  and  oppression.     Since  the 
mineral  wealth  of  the  Territory  was  discovered,  settlers  have 
been  pouring  in,  and  in  some  of  the  mining  camps,  especially  in 
Tooele  county,  the  "  Gentiles,"  as  the  Mormons  contemptuously 
call  them,  are  in  the  majority.     The  present  census  shows  that 
about  107,000  of  the  143,807  white  inhabitants  are  Mormons  and 
the  remainder  "  Gentiles  ;  "  a  decided  gain  since  1870,  when  there 
were   not  more  than  15,000  Gentiles  in  the  Territory.     But  the 
Mormons  are  artful  and  shrewd.      Knowing  that  their  polygamy 
and  other  offences  against  society  and  good  order  are  violations  of 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  they  are  yet  determined  to  hold 
on  to  them,  and  to  diffuse  them  in  other  States  and  Territories, 
and  with  an  aggressiveness  worthy  of  a  better  cause  they  are  plant- 
ing their  mission  towns  in  Idaho,  Nevada,  Montana,  Wyoming, 
Colorado  and  Arizona,  and  have  even  obtained  some  footing  in 
California.     In  Idaho  and  Nevada  they  claim  to  have  a  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  under  their  control.  They  send  their  missionaries 
to  England,  Wales,  Scotland,  Sweden,   Norway  and   Denmark, 
and  by  a  specious  and  plausible  presentation  of  some  of  their 
doctrines  (those  that  are  objectionable  being  kept  in  the  back- 
ground), and  of  their  country,  they  persuade  many  of  the  ignorant, 
excitable  and  superstitious  class  to  emigrate  to  Utah.    Once  here 
they  are  completely  under   the  control  of  the  leaders;  all  that 
they  have,  and  all  that  they  can  earn,  belongs  to  the  hierarchy,  and 
if  it  is  decided  that  they  must  go  to  the  most  unpromising  desert 
region  in   Nevada,  Arizona  or  Idaho,  and  aid   in  establishing  a 
new  town,  however  inconvenient  or  distressing  it  may  be  for 
them  to  break  up  their  homes,  there  is  no  alternative ;  they  must 
go,  or  death  and  eternal  destruction  will  be  their  portion.     If  it 
is  deemed  desirable  to  put  some  troublesome  or  inquisitive  Gen- 
tile out  of  the  way,  the  means  and  the  men  for  the  work  are 
speedily  found.     The  large  influx  of  "Gentiles"  to  the  mining 
camps  and  to  business  connected  with  the  railroads  and  mines  has 
modified  their  open  and  outspoken  opposition  to  non-Mormon 
immigration;  but  at  heart  they  are  as   much  opposed  to  this 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS.  I  iSr 

Immigration  as  ever,  and  more  to  the  United  States  government 
than  at  any  time  in  the  past.  At  the  same  time  they  are  very 
desirous  of  being  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  that  they 
may  legitimize  polygamy:  and  when  in  their  judgment  the  fitting 
time  has  come,  they  propose  to  secede,  taking  with  them  the  other 
States  and  Territories  they  have  won  over  to  their  views,  and 
start  a  polygamous  empire.  They  have  offered  their  vote  and 
support  to  whichever  of  the  two  great  parties  will  secure  their 
admission  into  the  Union  ;  but  their  practices  are  so  palpably  in 
violation  of  the  constitution,  that  their  admission  is  not  probable. 
Religious  Deno7)iinations. — The  non-Mormon  inhabitants  of 
Utah  are  of  all  religious  denominations,  or  of  none  ;  but  they 
have  a  great  abhorrence  both  of  polygamy  and  of  religious  des- 
podsm.  In  1878  there  were  167  Mormon  church  edifices,  and 
four  temples  built  and  in  course  of  construction  at  St.  George, 
Logan,  Manti  and  Salt  Lake  City,  by  the  Mormons.  They 
claimed  at  that  time  108,907  souls  as  belonging  to  their  church. 
Since  that  time  they  have  sent  out  about  10,000  to  other  States 
and  Territories,  and  have  received  about  8,000  immigrants  from 
abroad.  Mormonism  does  not  increase  by  conversions  at  home, 
but  by  the  immigration  of  converts  from  abroad.  At  the  same 
time  there  were  thirty-five  Protestant  congregations,  having 
twenty-two  church  edifices  and  twenty-eight  regular  pastors,  sus- 
taining as  a  part  of  their  work  twenty-five  mission  schools,  in 
twenty  towns,  wdth  an  enrolment  of  nearly  2,000  scholars.  Tl^e 
number  of  communicants  was  about  1,400,  and  of  adherent  pop- 
ulation about  8,000.  Their  church  property  amounted  to  about 
$250,000,  while  that  of  the  Mormons  exceeded  $3,200,000.  There 
has  been  some  improvement  in  these  particulars  within  the  past 
two  years.  The  number  of  Protestant  churches  now  exceeds 
forty,  the  number  of  communicants  is  more  than  2,500,  and  of 
adherent  population  about  13,000.  There  is  also  a  much  larger 
amount  of  church  property,  and  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
church  edifices  and  schools.  All  the  principal  I'rotestant  de- 
nominations have  churches  in  the  larger  towns  of  the  Territory, 
and  there  are  Roman  Catholic  churches  in  Salt  Lake  City  and 
Ogden,  and  perhaps  at  some  other  points. 
75 


I J  86  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Education. — Amoncf  the  Mormons  education  is  at  a  low  ebb. 
The  school  population  is  reckoned  only  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  sixteen,  and  of  this  scanty  enrolment  less  than  thirty-nine 
percent.,  or  only  about  13,000  to  15.000,  attended  school.  The 
whole  number  of  schools  in  1878  was  346  ;  the  time  the  schools 
were  taught  in  days,  137;  estimated  value  of  school  property, 
^382,1 1  2  ;  the  whole  number  of  public  school  teachers  was  489  ; 
pay  of  men,  $35  per  month;  of  women,  ^22  per  month.  The 
total  income  for  school  purposes  was  $1 13,413  ;  the  total  expen- 
diture, $113,193.  There  is  no  school  fund.  There  are,  as 
already  stated,  twenty-five  or  thirty  mission  schools  under  "Gen- 
tile" control,  which,  though  opposed  by  the  Mormon  leaders,  are 
prosperous,  and  afford  better  instruction  than  the  Mormon 
schools.  There  are  two  or  three  secondary  schools,  especially 
the  Salt  Lake  Academy  ("Gentile"),  in  Salt  Lake  City;  the 
Brio-ham  Youncr  Academy,  at  Provo,  and  two  smaller  institutions, 
one  at  Logan,  and  the  other  at  Salt  Lake  City — endowed  by 
Youne  with  lands.  These  are  all  Mormon.  The  so-called  Uni- 
versity  of  Deseret,  which  is  as  yet  only  a  preparatory  school  with 
a  normal  class,  is  also  Mormon. 

Morals  and  Social  Condition. — The  moral  condition  of  Utah  is 
very  low.  So  far  as  the  distinctive  Mormon  institution — polj'g- 
amy — is  concerned,  it  could  not  well  be  worse.  Licentiousness 
in  all  its  worst  forms,  is  openly  sustained  under  the  forms  of  po- 
lygamous marriage,  and  incest  of  the  grossest  character  is  not 
uncommon.  There  is,  among  the  Mormon  population,  nothing  of 
the  family  relation,  and  the  Mormon  youth,  the  boys,  especially, 
are  early  taught  the  most  atrocious  depravity.  This  condition  of 
things  has  exerted  in  many  instances  an  untoward  influence  upon 
the  "Gentile"  population.  No  man  should  emigrate  to  Utah  who 
has  not  his  moral  principles  firmly  fixed.  But  to  men  of  principle 
and  character  there  is  an  opportunity  of  accomplishing  much  good 
by  engaging  in  such  enterprises  as  will  aid  in  rescuing  this  rich 
and  valuable  Territory  from  the  control  of  the  most  depraved 
and  villanous  despotism  which  ever  prevailed  in  any  country,  in 
ancient  or  modern  times. 

Counties  and  Principal  Towns. — There  are  twenty-three  coun- 


COUNTIES  AND   PRINCIPAL    TOWNS. 


I  I  87 


ties  in  Utah,  The  assessed  vakiation  of  these  in  1877,  exclusive 
of  mines  and  mining  improvements,  neither  of  which  were  then 
taxed,  was  as  follows : 


Counties. 

Population, 

Ass'd  Value  of  I 

ibSo. 

1877. 

Salt  Lake 31,978 

58,171,820 

Weber 

.      13,597 

2,105,4-8 

Utah 

.      17,918 

2,083,904 

Box  Elder 

6,761 

1,827,580 

Cache 

.      12,561 

1,205,367 

Tooele 

4,497 

1,060,190 

Summit 

4,240 

868,536 

Davis 

5,026 

812,132 

San  Pete 

.     ",557 

664,072 

Washington 

4,235 

605,572 

Juab 

3,473 

459,296 

Iron 

4,013 

446,056 

Morgan 

.        1,783 

428,928 

Kane 

.       3,085 

343.944 

Beaver 

.       3,918 

410,320 

Millard 

3,727 

300,816 

Sevier 

5,138 

287,528 

Wahsatch    . 

2,927 

183,760 

Rich 

1,263 

168,940 

Pi-ute 

1,651 

119,512 

Emery 

556 

San  Juan     . 

204 

Uintah 

799 

Totals      , 

143.907* 

$22,553,600 

The  very  large  mining  interests  would  much  more  than  double 
these  assessed  values. 

Of  the  towns,  Salt  Lake  City  had  in  1S70  a  population  of 
12,854.  ^ts  population  in  June,  iSSo,  was  20,768.  It  is  the 
chief  seat  of  Mormonism,  has  the  Tabernacle  and  the  yet  uncom- 
pleted Temple,  and  many  other  attractive  public  and  private 
buildings.  Ogden,  on  the  Union  Pacific,  is  a  thriving  town 
of  5,000  or  6,000  inhabitants.     Provo,  Logan,  Ephraim  City,  St. 


*  Exclusive  of  iriiial  Indians. 


j_l88  OUR    WESTERN-  EMPIIiE. 

George,  Manti,  Iron  City,  Frisco,  Tooele,  Mount  Pleasant,  Silver 
Reef,  etc.,  are  towns  of  considerable  importance. 

Historical  Data. — Utah  derives  its  name  from  the  Utcs,  a  tribe 
of  Indians  who  were  its  original  inhabitants.  The  Mormons, 
driven  from  Illinois  and  Missouri,  emigrated  hither  in  1847  ^'^^ 
1848,  and  established  themselves  in  a  region  then  remote  from 
other  inhabitants.  The  title  of  this  region  passed  from  Mexico 
to  the  United  States  with  that  of  New  Mexico  and  California,  in 
1848,  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe- Hidalgo.  It  was  organized  as 
a  Territory  in  1S50  by  the  name  of  Utah;  but  the  Mormons  called 
it  "Deseret,"  and  in  1862  formed  a  Constitution,  and  demanded 
admission  into  the  Union  under  that  name.  This  was  refused, 
and  there  has  been  much  controversy,  and  sometimes  threatened 
violence  by  the  Mormons,  since  that  time.  In  1857  a  most  atro- 
cious massacre  of  a  large  party  of  emigrants  was  perpetrated 
under  Mormon  direction  at  Mountain  Meadow,  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  Territory.  Some  of  the  actors  in  that  massacre  were 
hung  for  it  in  1877.  Most  of  the  mining  enterprises  which  have 
brought  in  so  considerable  a  non-Mormon  population  have  been 
undertaken  since  1869. 


.31  ' 

X 


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a 


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f   UNI^-''*^' '      J 


V 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  WASHINGTON  TERRITORY. 


1 189 


CHAPTER   XX. 

WASHINGTON  TERRITORY. 

Situation  of  Washington  Territory — Boundaries — The  Boundary  Line 
AT  the  Northwest,  and  North — Its  Area — Length  and  Breadth — Com- 
parative Size — Topography  and  Divisions — Western  Washington — The 
PuGET  Sound  Basin — What  Puget  Sound  includes — The  Beauty,  Value, 
and  Lmportance  of  this  Great  Inland  Sea — The  Lowlands  and  the 
Mountain  Slopes  of  Western  Washington  —  Rivers  and  Harbors  of 
Western  Washington — Eastern  Washington — Its  Rivers— Its  Lakes — 
The  Great  Plains  of  the  Columbia — River  Valleys — Geology — Miner- 
alogy— Zoology — Climate  —  Meteorology  of  Western  Washington — 
Governor  Ferry's  Remarks  on  the  Mildness  of  the  Climate,  and  the 
Reasons  for  it — The  Climate  of  Eastern   Washington — The  Chinook 
Wind — Soil,  Vegetation,  and  Agricultural  Productions — The  Alluvial 
Farming   Lands — Table  Lands — Forest  Growths — Agricultural  Pro- 
ducts— Timber  and  Lumber — Soil  and  Productions  of  Eastern  Wash- 
ington— The  Yakima  County — Remarkably  Fat  Cattle — From  whence 
they   come — The  wonderful  Fertility  of  the  Soil — The   Mountain 
Slopes  and  Mountain  Tops  as  rich  as  the  Valleys — The  Immense  Yield 
OF  Wheat — Thirty-five  to  Fifty  Bushels  to  the  Acre — Exports — Pop- 
ulation-Table— Indian  Tribes  and  their  Reservations —Partial  Civil- 
ization  of   the   Indians — Their   Industry — Education— Counties  and 
Principal  Towns— Table  of  Population  and  Valuation  of  Counties — 
Chief  Towns — Religious  Denominations  and  Public  Morals— Historical 
Data— The  American  Title  to  Washington  and  Oregon— The  Arbitra- 
tion IN  regard  to  the  Islands  in  the  Gulf  of  Georgia — The   Early 
Settlers— Indian   War   in  1855 — Conclusion— Washington  Territory 
Desirable  for  Immigrants— The  best  Routes  thither— The  early  Com- 
pletion OF  the  Northern  Pacific  probable. 

Washington  Territory  is,  Avith  the  exception  of  Alaska, 
whicli  is  not  yet  organized,  the  extreme  northwestern  member  of 
"Our  Western  Empire,"  lying  between  the  parallels  of  45°  32' 
and  49°  north  latitude  ;  and  between  the  meridians  of  i  17°  and 
124°  28'  west  longitude  from  Greenwich.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
north  and  northwest  by  British  Columbia,  the  boundary  line  being 
a  zio--zao-  one  to  eive  Great  Britain  the  setdements  and  lands 
she  claimed.     Our  tide  ran  legitimately  along  the  49Lh  parallel 


jjQO  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

to  the  Pacific;  but  to  have  insisted  on  this  would  have  privcn  us 
the  greater  part  of  Vancouver  Island,  on  which  were  already  im- 
portant British  setdements.  The  line  was  finally  run,  not  with- 
out a  lone  and  tedious  arbitration,  through  the  centre  of  the  Strait 
of  Juan  de  Fuca,  the  Canal  de  Haro,  and  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  as 
far  as  to  the  49th  parallel.  From  the  centre  of  the  Gulf  of 
Georgia  to  the  west  line  of  Idaho,  the  northern  boundary  is 
along  the  49th  parallel.  The  eastern  boundary  is  the  Territory 
of  Idaho,  along  the  117th  meridian  to  Lewiston,  where  the  Snake 
river  makes  a  sudden  bend  southward,  when  that  river  becomes 
the  eastern  boundary  to  the  Oregon  line;  southward,  Oregon 
forms  its  limit,  the  line  running  along  the  46th  parallel  till  it 
reaches  the  Columbia  river  at  about  the  119th  meridian,  when 
the  Columbia  becomes  the  southern  boundary  to  the  Pacific;  on 
the  west,  it  is  washed  by  the  waves  of  the  Pacific  as  far  as  the 
Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca.  Its  length  from  north  to  south  ranges 
from  200  to  250  miles,  its  greatest  breadth  from  east  to  west  about 
360  miles.  It  is  smaller  than  most  of  the  Territories,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  States  of  "Our  Western  Empire,"  having  but  69,994 
square  miles,  or  44,796, 160  acres  ;  yet  this  area  is  one  and  a  half 
times  that  of  New  York  or  Pennsylvania. 

Topography  aud  Divisions. — The  Territory  is  popularly  divided 
into  Eastern  and  Western  Washington  by  the  Cascade  Range 
of  mountains,  which  trend  north-northeast  from  Oregon  in  a  very 
disorderly  fashion  from  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia  river  to  the 
line  of  British  Columbia,  following  for  most  of  the  distance  the 
west  bank  of  the  Columbia  river,  and  extending  in  parallel  ridges 
west-southwest  to  Puget  sound,  and  eastward  in  several  spurs 
north,  east-northeast,  and  east-southeast.  Almost  the  entire 
region  between  the  47th  and  the  49th  parallels  lying  between 
the  Columbia  river  and  Puget  sound  is  broken,  rolling  and 
mountainous,  though  the  mountains  are  not  high. 

Western  Washington,  the  part  of  the  Territory  first  settled, 
consists  of  a  valley  or  basin,  known  as  the  Puget  sound  basin, 
and  which  lies  between  two  ranges  of  mountains,  the  Cascade 
Mountains  on  the  east  and  the  Olympian  or  Coast  Range  on  the 
west.     The  Puget  sound   or  archipelago,  the   Mediterranean  of 


SAFETY  AND   BEAUTY  OF  PUGET  SOUND.  j  iqi 

the  Western  Continent,  as  it  is  often  called,  extends  from  the 
British  line  on  the  north  (the  Gulf  of  Georgia  penetrating  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  into  British  Columbia)  to  Olympia  on  the 
south.  It  includes  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  which  furnish  a 
broad  channel  into  the  Pacific,  the  Canal  de  Haro,  Washington 
Sound,  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  Bellingham  Bay,  Rosario  Strait, 
Admiralty  Inlet,  Hood's  Canal,  Lake  Washington,  several 
smaller  passes  and  inlets,  and  Anderson's  Bay,  the  latter  items 
and  some  others  going  to  make  up  the  smaller  Puget  sound. 
It  has  a  coast  line  in  the  Territory  of  1,594  "''iles,  and  its  area 
within  the  limits  of  the  Territory  is  over  2,000  square  miles.  More 
than  thirty-five  years  ago  Captain  (afterwards  Rear  Admiral) 
Wilkes,  who  had  been  engaged  on  a  protracted  voyage  of  ex- 
ploration of  the  Pacific  coast,  said  of  this  sound: 

"Nothing  can  exceed  the  beauty  of  these  waters  and  their 
safety.  Not  a  shoal  exists  within  the  Straits  of  Juan  de 
Fuca,  Admiralty  Inlet,  or  Mood's  Canal  that  can  in  any  way 
interrupt  their  navigation  by  a  74-gun  ship.  I  venture  nothing 
in  saying  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  that  possesses  waters 
equal  to  these.  They  coyer  an  area  of  about  2,000  square  miles. 
The  shores  of  all  these  inlets  and  bays  are  remarkably  bold  ;  so 
much  so  that  in  many  places  a  ship's  side  would  strike  the  shore 
before  the  keel  would  touch  the  ground.  The  country  by  which 
these  waters  are  surrounded  is  remarkably  salubrious,  and  offers 
every  advantage  for  the  accommodation  of  a  vast  commercial  and 
military  marine,  with  convenience  for  docks,  and  a  great  many 
sites  for  towns  and  cities,  at  all  times  well  supplied  with  water 
and  capable  of  being  well  provided  with  everything  by  the  sur- 
rounding country,  which  is  well  adapted  for  agriculture. 

"The  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca  are  ninety-five  mih-s  in  length, 
and  have  an  averaofe  width  of  eleven  miles.  At  the  entrance 
(eight  miles  in  width)  no  danger  exists,  and  it  may  be  safely  navi- 
gated tlirouofhout.  No  part  of  the  world  affords  finer  inland 
sounds,  or  a  greater  number  of  harbors,  than  are  found  within 
the  Straits  of  Juan  de  T^ica,  capable  of  receiving  the  largest 
class  of  vessels  and  without  a  damper  in  them  whicii  is  not  visi- 
ble.     PVom  the  rise  and   fall  of  the  tides    (eighteen  feet)  every 


JIQ2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

facility  is  offcrecl  for  the  erection  of  works  for  a  great  maritime 
nation.  The  country  also  affords  as  many  sites  for  water-power 
as  any  other." 

The  foothills  and  slopes  of  the  mountains  on  both  sides  are 
almost  wholly  covered  with  immense  forests  of  f;r  and  cedar, 
reaching  to  the  very  summits  of  the  mountains.  Flowing  down 
from  the  western  slope  of  the  Cascade  Range,  ten  rivers  empty 
into  Puget  sound,  viz.:  the  Nisqually,  Puyallup,  White,  Cedar, 
Snoqualmie,  Snohomish,  Stillaguamish,  Duwamish,  Skagit,  and 
Nooksakh,  affording  many  hundred  miles  of  inland  shore  line  for 
logging  purposes,  and  having  In  their  valleys  an  estimated  area 
of  two  thousand  square  miles  of  alluvial  agricultural  lands. 
Most  of  these  rivers  are  navio-able  for  steamers  of  liidit  draft, 
generally  as  far  up  as  the  alluvial  deposits  extend.  The  streams 
descending  eastward  from  the  Olympian  or  Coast  Range,  except 
the  Skokomlsh  and  the  Dungeness,  are  shorter  and  of  less 
importance.  The  mountains  approach  close  to  the  western  shores 
of  the  sound,  limiting  the  area  of  available  territory ;  but  their 
sides  are  covered  with  vast  forests  of  valuable  timber  already 
known  to  the  markets  of  the  world.  Between  the  Olympian  or 
Coast  Ranofe  and  the  Pacific  are  some  arable  lands,  but. the  soil 
is  not  so  rich,  though  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  timber. 
There  are  two  moderately  good  harbors  here — Gray's  Harbor, 
and  Shoal-water  bay,  extensive  and  partially  land-locked  bodies 
of  water,  but  in  respect  to  depth  and  facility  of  loading  and  un- 
loading bearing  no  comparison  to  the  magnificent  harbors  of 
Puget  sound.  The  Chehalis  is  the  principal  stream  flowing  into 
Gray's  Harbor ;  it  has  numerous  affluents.  The  Wlllopah  and 
some  smaller  streams  fall  into  Shoal-water  bay.  There  are 
numerous  small  rivers  flowing  into  the  Pacific  and  the  Straits  of 
Juan  de  P"uca.  The  other  streams  of  Western  Washington  are 
affluents  of  the  Columbia.  The  Cowlitz  and  Klikitat  are  the 
most  important.     All  of  Western  Washington  is  well  watered. 

Eastern  Washington  includes  all  that  part  of  the  Territory 
lying  east  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  and  consists  of  the  Great 
Plains  of  the  Columbia  river,  the  Great  Plateau  of  the  Spokane, 
and  numerous  valleys  or  river  bottoms,  as  of  the  Columbia,  Snake 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERALOGY.  I  I^^ 

river,  Walla-Walla,  Clarke's  fork,  the  Okinakanc,  Wenatchee  or 
Pisquouse,  Lake  Chclann,  the  Grand  Coulee,  or  Old  Bed  of  the 
Columbia,  the  Spokane,  Colville  and  Paloiise  rivers.  This  whole 
region  is  an  elevated  plateau,  with  a  rich  soil,  well  adapted  to  the 
culture  of  the  cereals,  and  one  of  the  f:nest  grazing  countries  in 
the  world. 

There  are  many  lakes  in  Washington,  some  of  them  of  con- 
siderable size  ;  Lake  Chelann  is  the  largest,  Ixit  Lakes  Kahchess, 
Washington  and  Whatcom  are  also  important  lakes. 

Geology. — The  shores  of  the  Pacific,  the  lower  valley  of  the 
Columbia,  and  the  great  valley  drained  by  Puget  sound,  are 
Tertiary  and  Quaternary ;  the  islands  west  of  the  Canal  de 
Haro  in  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  are  Cretaceous  ;  the  vicinity  of 
Bellingham  bay  is  Carboniferous;  the  Coast  Range  is  Eozoic : 
the  Cascade  Mountains  to  about  47°  40',  and  the  Great  Plains  of 
the  Columbia  river  in  Central  and  Eastern  Washington,  south  of 
the  Spokane  river,  are  volcanic  ;  Northern  Washington  is  Eozoic, 
except  two  narrow  and  small  outcrops  of  Silurian  age  in  the 
extreme  northeast,  one  east,  the  other  west  of  Clarke's  fork. 

Minei^alogy. — Washington  has  probably  some  deposits  of  the 
precious  metals  in  the  extensive  volcanic  regions  already  noticed, 
but  they  have  not  yet  been  developed  to  any  great  extent.  Gold 
has  been  found  in  the  northeast  near  the  Columbia  river.  There 
were  discoveries  of  placer  gold  made  in  1879,  on  the  Skagit 
river  in  Whatcom  county,  Western  Washington.  The  quartz 
lodes  near  the  Columbia  river,  in  Stevens  county,  yielded  in  1870 
about  ^300,000.  All  the  different  ores  of  iron  are  plentiful ;  but 
the  greatest  mineral  wealth  of  the  Territory  consists  in  its  exten- 
sive beds  of  excellent  coal.  The  coal  near  Bellingham  bay  and 
Lake  Whatcom,  in  Whatcom  county,  is  of  excellent  quality  and  is 
extensively  mined.  Much  of  it  is  sent  to  San  Francisco,  where 
it  is  in  o-reat  demand.  This  is  a  true  coal  from  the  coal  measures, 
and  is  bituminous  in  its  character.  There  is  also  a  very  good 
coal  (probably  lignite)  back  of  Seattle,  in  King  county,  near  Lake 
Washineton.  and  also  in  the  Coast  Rann^e.  This  coal  is  mostly 
bituminous,  but  it  is  claimed  that  deposits  of  anthracite  coal  have 
been  found  in  Puyallup  valley  and  on  the  Green  river.     This  is 


,jg.  OUR    WESTERN  EMriRE. 

possible,  as  this  is  within  the  Hmits  of  the  volcanic  region,  but  it 
is  probable  that  this  is  at  most  only  semi-anthracite. 

Zoology: — The  wild  animals  are  the  same  as  in  Oregon.  In 
the  northern  part  of  the  Territory  moose  are  found  in  consider- 
able numbers.  Elk  are  also  plenty.  The  cougar  or  panther  is 
large  and  fierce.  Game  is  abundant.  Salmon  are  found  in  great 
numbers,  not  only  in  the  Columbia  but  in  Puget  sound,  and 
some  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  it. 

Climate. — The  climate  of  Western  Washington  is  remarkably 
mild  and  temperate,  notwithstanding  its  high  latitude,  resembling, 
in  this  respect,  that  of  the  British  Isles,  and  demonstrating  the 
truth  of  the  law  laid  down  by  physical  geographers  that  the 
westetm  coast  of  a  continent  always  has  a  much  milder  and  more 
equable  temperature  than  the  eastern.  Governor  Ferry,  in  pre- 
senting, in  his  report  of  October,  1879,  ^o  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  the  meteorological  table  of  Fort  Blakeley,  which  we 
give  on  page  1 195,  makes  some  very  judicious  notes  and  explan- 
ations in  regard  to  it,  and  the  climate  of  Western  Washington, 
which  we  here  insert  in  full,  and  which  are  fully  corroborated 
by  the  corresponding  table  of  Olympia,  which  we  have  placed  by 
its  side.  One  point,  which  the  governor  has  omitted,  is  worthy 
of  notice,  viz.:  that  where  the  extreme  annual  range  of  the 
thermometer  does  not  exceed  from  64°  to  74°,  its  maximum  not 
being  over  95°  nor  its  minimum  less  than  19°  to  25°,  the  result- 
ing climate  is  as  agreeable,  healthful  and  productive  as  can  be 
desired.  The  rainfall  is  by  no  means  excessive,  but  exerts  a 
decided  influence  in  promoting  the  gigantic  growth  of  the 
timber,  which  crowns  the  mountain  slopes  and  extends  even  to 
the  summits  of  the  Cascade  and  Coast  Ranges. 

Governor  Ferry  says : 

"It  will  be  seen  that  the  lowest  temperature  during  this  period 
of  twenty-six  months  was  25°  above  zero,  in  January,  1879,  and 
the  next  lowest  26  +  °,  in  January,  1878.  The  highest  temperature 
in  1877  was  88°;  in  1S78,  94°;  and  in  1879,  86°.  The  highest 
monthly  average  was  6"/%°,  in  July,  1877.  and  the  lowest  ^0%°, 
in  January,  1878.  It  will  also  be  seen  that  the  annual  average 
rainfall  is  very  litde  greater  than  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 


CLIMATE   OF  WESTERN    WASHINGTON. 


I  195 


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1 196  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

States.  From  June,  1S77,  to  January,  1879,  a  period  of  nineteen 
months,  embracing  all  of  one  winter  and  half  of  another,  there 
was  no  snowfall,  and  in  January,  February  and  March,  1S79, 
only  7^  inches,  which  disappeared  almost  as  rapidly  as  it  fell. 
The  oreatest  rainfall  is  between  the  months  of  October  and  April, 
although,  during  this  period,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  cloudy  days 
are  very  little  in  excess  of  the  clear. 

"  The  climatic  phenomena  indicated  by  these  observations  are 
readily  accounted  for. 

"A  thermal  current,  known  as  the  Japan  Current,  having  its 
origin  at  the  equator,  near  the  one  hundred  and  thirtieth  degree 
of  east  longitude,  Greenwich,  flows  northwardly  to  the  Aleutian 
islands,  where  it  separates,  one  branch  flowing  eastwardly  along 
the  peninsula  of  Alaska,  and  then  southwardly  along  the  coast 
of  British  Columbia,  Washington  Territory  and  Oregon.  This 
thermal  stream,  with  its  concomitant  heated  atmospheric  current, 
striking  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  operates  powerfully  in 
mitigating  a  climate  which  otherwise  would  be  cold  and  rigorous 
in  the  extreme.  The  effect  of  these  currents  upon  the  western 
portion  of  this  Territory  is  the  same  as  the  effect  of  the  Gulf 
stream  upon  the  northwest  coast  of  Europe.  In  fact  the  climate 
and  natural  productions  of  England  are  essentially  the  same  as 
those  of  Western  Washington.  In  addition  to  this,  the  prevail- 
ing winds  in  the  winter  are  from  the  southwest.  These  warm 
atmospheric  currents,  coming  from  the  tropical  regions  of  the 
Pacific,  laden  with  moisture,  meeting  the  cooler  currents  from 
the  Coast  Range  and  Cascade  Mountains,  produce  the  winter 
rainfall.  These  southwest  winds  also  moderate  the  temperature 
during  the  winter. 

"The  prevailing  winds  during  the  summer  are  from  the  north- 
west, which  is  th(^  cause  of  the  dry,  cool  weather  during  that 
period.  There  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  climate  of 
Western  and  Eastern  Washington.  In  the  latter,  being  that 
portion  of  the  Territory  lying  east  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  the 
four  seasons  are  plainly  distinguishable.  I  am  unable  to  present 
meteorological  statistics  of  this  portion  of  the  Territory,  and  can 
only  say  that  the  temperature  is  lower  in  winter  and  higher  in 


SOIL   AND    VEGETATION  OF   WESTERN   WASHINGTON.        ngy 

summer,  and  that  the  rainfall  is  about  one-half  less,  than  on  Puget 
sound.  The  average  annual  temperature  is  reported  as  follows : 
spring,  52°,  summer,  73°,  autumn,  53°,  and  winter,  34°." 

The  summers  are  at  times  very  hot,  though  with  cool  nights 
generally.  A  part  of  the  winter  is  cold,  and  there  are  usually  a 
few  days  in  which  the  mercury  falls  to  zero,  or  below;  but  with 
(ew  exceptions  the  fall  of  snow  is  not  heavy.  The  rainfall  aver- 
ages from  twenty  to  twenty-two  inches  for  the  year. 

The  "  Cb.inook  winds,"  already  spoken  of  under  Montana, 
periodical  warm  breezes  from  the  southwest,  blow  up  the  channel 
of  the  Columbia  river,  through  the  fall  and  winter,  and  along  the 
foot-hills  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  and  in  a  few  hours  remove 
every  vestige  of  snow  in  their  path.  Their  influence  is  felt  all 
over  Eastern  Washington  and  Idaho  and  into  Montana. 

Soi/,  Vegetation  and  Agricultnral  Productions. — The  soil  of 
Western  Washington  is  of  various  qualities,  and  may  be  divided 
into  river  bottoms,  lands  along  the  sound,  table-lands  and  moun- 
tain slopes. 

The  alluvial  farming  lands  are  subject  to  overflow,  near  the 
sound,  but  not  usually  to  an  injurious  extent.  The  freshets  gen- 
erally occur  during  the  months  of  January  and  June,  and  rarely 
last  more  than  three  or  four  days.  The  soil  is  composed  of  clay, 
sand  and  orravel — detritus  washed  from  the  mountains — minorled 
with  decayed  vegetation,  the  rank  growth  of  centuries.  Under 
cultivation  it  is  quick,  light  and  friable,  and  yields  astonishing 
crops  of  hay,  grain,  hops,  fruits  and  vegetables.  These  lands  are 
mosdy  covered  with  vine-maple,  alder,  crab-apple  and  salal,  with 
an  occasional  fir,  spruce  or  cedar,  and  as  a  rule  are  confined  to 
narrow  valleys  and  limited,  detached  areas.  Being  covered  with 
this  deciduous  forest  growth,  they  are  not  like  prairie  lands, 
where  the  plow  can  be  started  as  soon  as  a  claim  is  staked  out — 
but  as  compared  with  the  more  heavily  timbered  uplands,  they 
are  easily  cleared — at  an  approximate  cost  of  ;f>io  to  $15  per  acre. 
The  wood  and  lumber  will  usually  pay  for  the  work  ;  and,  for 
farming  purposes,  the  settler  will  find  no  more  desirable  location 
west  of  the  Cascades. 

Between  these  bottoms  and  the  mountains  arc  lar-^e  areas  of 


1198 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


table-lands,  quite  level  or  gently  undulating  near  the  rivers; 
broken  and  rugged  toward  the  foot-hills.  The  soil  of  these  up- 
lands is  inferior  to  that  of  the  river  lands,  varying  from  sandy- 
loam  to  clay-loam  and  unproductive  gravel.  The  growths  here 
are  principally  fir  and  cedar,  with  some  hemlock,  maple,  \villow, 
cherry,  etc.  South  and  east  of  the  sound  is  a  district  where 
coarse  gravel  is  found,  with  occasional  granite  boulders,  extend- 
ing back  from  the  shore  from  ten  to  thirty  miles  in  streaks  and 
patches,  and  covering  perhaps  half  the  land.  In  the  intervals  the 
soil  is  a  strong,  brown  clay-loam  of  excellent  quality  for  farming. 
Owing  to  the  durability  of  the  fir  and  cedar,  and  the  difficulty  and 
expense  of  removing  their  stumps  from  the  ground,  it  will  be  a 
considerable  time  before  the  lands  now  covered  with  these  fir 
forests  will  be  cleared  and  devoted  to  agriculture — but  fortu- 
nately the  timber  is  worth  far  more  to  its  owners  and  to  the 
country  than  the  best  open  prairie  would  be.  Considering  the 
great  diversity  of  the  soil  and  the  wooded,  broken  character  of 
the  country,  West  Washington  is  likely  to  be  a  region  of  small 
farms,  devoted  to  a  variety  of  crops,  rather  than  to  growing  grain 
or  stock  on  a  large  scale. 

With  the  above  explanation  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  connection 
with  the  mild  climate,  the  productive  capacity  of  the  soil  of  the 
Puget  sound  region  is  great,  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality. 
The  small  grains  are  at  home  in  Washington  Territory.  The 
quality  and  yield  of  wheat  on  the  Pacific  slope  are  well  known  to 
be  good,  and  in  this  regard  Puget  sound  basin  is  no  exception  to 
the  rule.  Much  of  the  finest  portion  of  the  grain  that  reaches 
the  Eastern  market  as  "California  wheat"  is  grown  in  Washing- 
ton Territory  and  Northern  Oregon.  All  other  cereals  are 
grown  to  perfection;  oats  are  particularly  plump  and  heavy.  In- 
dian corn  (maize)  has  been  ripened  thirteen  years  in  succession 
in  one  locality,  and  as  many"  as  forty  bushels  to  the  acre  have 
been  raised,  but  this  is  exceptional,  and  as  a  rule  the  nights  are 
too  cool  for  the  ripening  of  this  crop.  Pork  is  usually  fattened 
upon  peas,  wheat  and  barley,  and  it  is  claimed  can  be  made  as 
cheaply  as  upon  corn  in  the  Western  States. 

Fruits  of  all  kinds,  except  the  peach  and  the  grape,  are  raised 


BEAVER   DAM  LANDS  AND    TIMBER.  1  yoo 

in  great  profusion,  and  are  remarkable  for  size  and  flavor.  Al- 
though California  fruit  is  justly  in  good  reputation,  Oregon  and 
Washington  apples  are  exported  to  San  Francisco,  where  they 
bring  an  advanced  price  on  account  of  their  excellence.  The 
potatoes  and  other  vegetables  grown  on  the  north  coast  are  also 
in  high  favor  in  the  San  Francisco  market. 

A  resident  of  Washington  Territory,  who  has  had  extraordi- 
nary facilities  for  acquiring  personal  knowledge  of  the  lands  there, 
says : 

"  The  agricultural  lands  of  the  Territory,  while  generally  con- 
fined to  the  river  bottoms,  are  not  entirely  so.  It  is  frequently 
found  that  even  on  the  sides,  and  sometimes  near  the  summit  of 
a  hill  or  mountain,  considerable  tracts  of  rich  beaver  dam  lands 
exist.  A  noticeable  instance  is  near  the  summit  of  the  immense 
hill  immediately  in  the  rear  of  Kalama.  The  river  bottoms  of 
the  Columbia  and  its  confluent  streams,  as  well  as  the  valley  of 
the  Cowlitz,  contain  large  tracts  of  lands  of  unexcelled  fertility. 
About  midway  between  Kalama  and  Tacoma  is  the  Chehalis 
Valley,  embracing,  with  its  confluents,  over  2,000  square  miles 
of  the  best  agricultural  lands  in  the  Territory.  This  valley  is  to 
Washineton  what  the  Willamette  is  to  Oreofon,  It  varies  in 
width  from  five  to  fifteen  miles,  and  extends  from  the  base  of  the 
Cascade  Range  to  Gray's  Harbor.  Large  quantities  of  rich  lands 
lie  in  the  bottoms  of  its  lower  tributaries.  Flowincr  into  Pucret 
sound  there  are  the  Cedar,  Nisqually  and  Puyallup  rivers,  on 
which  are  some  fine  arable  lands.  These  river  bottoms  are 
usually  sparsely  timbered  with  alder,  vine  maple,  crab  apple,  etc.. 
which  are  quickly  and  easily  cleared,  at  an  expense  ranging  from 
five  to  thirty  dollars  per  acre,  and  will  then  yield,  on  an  average, 
from  forty  to  sixty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  The  small  grains 
are  produced  most  abundantly,  with  a  larger  average  yield  than 
obtains  in  almost  any  other  locality  or  section  of  the  country,  and 
command  the  highest  market  price  at  home.  And  so  long  as  we 
have  the  large  non-producing  lumbering  population,  the  farmers' 
market  will  be  at  home." 

Timber. — At  present  the  leading  industry''  of  the  Puget  sound 
region  is  the  manufacture  and  shipment  of  timber.     This  timber 


1200  O^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

has  carried  its  own  fame  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  the  East 
Indies,  in  Egypt,  in  the  maritime  States  of  Europe,  in  South  Amer- 
ica, the  Pacific  Islands,  China  and  Japan,  the  fir  timber  of 
Washington  Territory  is  an  article  of  commerce. 

Washington  Territory,  west  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  covers 
an  area  of  about  20,000  square  miles  (exclusive  of  interior  waters), 
three-fourths  of  which  are  timbered  lands.  The  timber  consists 
of  yellow  fir,  cedar,  pine,  spruce,  hemlock,  oak,  maple,  cotton- 
wood,  ash,  dogwood,  alder  and  some  of  the  smaller  varieties. 
The  amount  of  the  fir  exceeds  all  the  other  varieties  combined, 
and  the  cedar  stands  second  in  quantity.  As  the  fir  exceeds  all 
other  varieties  in  quantity,  so  also  it  does  in  utility,  being  valu- 
able for  ship-building,  house-building,  fencing,  ^pars,  and  indeed 
almost  every  purpose  for  which  wood  is  used. 

The  quantity  of  all  kinds  of  lumber  produced  in  the  Territory, 
in  1875,  was  estimated  at  250,000,000  feet,  yalued  at  ^3,000,000, 
and  though  the  market  for  it  was  temporarily  depressed,  the 
demand  is  now  rapidly  increasing. 

The  size  of  the  fir  trees  and  the  number  growing  on  given 
areas  in  good  timber  districts  are  almost  incredible  to  those  who 
have  not  visited  the  north  Pacific  coast.  Trees  are  not  uncom- 
mon which  measure  300  feet  in  length,  two-thirds  of  the  distance 
being  free  from  limbs.  Pifty,  sixty,  and  sometimes  eighty  good 
timber  trees  grow  upon  an  acre  of  ground.  It  is  not  seldom  that 
200,000  feet  of  merchantable  fir  lumber  is  taken  from  a  single 
acre.  The  rule  with  Washington  lumbermen  has  been  to  work 
no  tract  of  (fir)  timber  producing  less  than  30,000  feet  per  acre. 

Akhouofh  lumberinir  has  been  carried  on  alonor  the  shores  of 
the  sound  for  twenty  years,  up  to  the  present  time  logs  have  sel- 
dom been  hauled  more  than  a  mile — to  the  estuaries  of  the  sound, 
or  some  convenient  stream  where  rafts  are  prepared  for  towing 
to  tlie  mills.  The  main  timber  region  of  the  sound  and  lower 
Columbia  has  not  yet  been  invaded  by  the  ax.  Many  rivers  and 
arms  of  the  sound  extend  into  the  very  heart  of  this  vast  Forest 
Preserve,  and  by  clearing  the  river  channels  of  drift  the  spring 
freshets  can  be  availed  of  to  run  out  the  locrs  to  the  mills  and 
the  lumber  to  market. 


ARABLE   LANDS   OF  EASTERN   WASHINGTON.  120 1 

The  regular  correspondent  of  the  San  Francisco  CJironicle^ 
writing  under  date  of  December  i8,  1879,  gives  the  following  in- 
teresting account  of  the  soil,  situation  and  productions  of  Eastern 
IVashington:  Eastern  Washington  Territory  is  probably  destined 
to  become  the  richest  and  most  renowned  wheat-growing  region 
in  the  world.  The  great  body  of  its  arable  land  is  the  southern 
portion,  known  locally  as  the  Walla-Walla,  Palouse  and  Yakima 
countries,  which  have  an  unbroken  area  more  than  150  miles 
square,  extending  from  the  foot-hills  of  the  Cascade  Mountains 
'eastward  to  the  Idaho  boundary  line,  and  from  the  Oregon  line 
northward  beyond  the  Great  Bend  of  the  Columbia  river.  But 
Eastern  W^ashington  in  its  entirety  is  distinctively  an  agricultural 
region  of  great  fertility  ;  for,  in  addition  to  its  vast  scope  of  rolling 
prairies  and  plains  in  the  southern  and  middle  sections,  there  are 
in  its  more  northerly  portion,  and  extending  as  far  as  to  the  British 
possessions,  numerous  rich  and  well-watered  valleys,  such  as  the 
Chemakane  and  Colville  Valleys,  the  latter  of  long-standing  fame. 
Eastern  Washington  has  been  described  as  the  "  valley  of  the 
Columbia  river  in  Washington  Territory,  lying  east  of  the  Cas- 
cade Mountains."  The  appropriateness  of  this  description  will 
readily  appear  by  an  examination  of  the  map,  showing  the  courses 
of  this  river  and  its  numerous  tributaries.  Here  the  climate  is 
most  favorable  to  health,  the  soil  yields  the  largest  average  re- 
turn  of  wheat,  drought  is  unknown,  the  crops  never  fail,  and  the 
ultimate  capacity  for  production  of  cereals  of  the  highest  grade 
has  been  estimated  by  good  judges  as  high  as  150,000,000 
bushels  per  annjum. 

The  Yakima  country  is  in  the  southern  central  portion  of  the 
Territory,  between  the  Cascade  Mountains  on  the  west  and  the 
Columbia  river  on  the  east,  and  embraces  the  northern  half  of 
Klickitat  and  all  of  Yakima  counties.  It  is  traversed  by  a  river 
of  the  same  name,  which,  rising  in  the  nordiern  central  portion 
of  the  Territory,  flows  southeastward,  and  empties  into  the 
Columbia  a  short  distance  from  Ainsworth,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Snake  river,  the  present  western  terminus  of  the  Pend  d'Oreille 
division  of* the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad.     The  fertility  of  the 

Yakima  country  is  declared  to  be  not  inferior  to  that  of  anv  other 

76 


J  202  0^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

part  of  this  great  wheat-field,  not  even  excepting  the  Walla-Walla 
valley,  farther  east.  The  projected  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  from  the  Columbia  river  at  Ainsworth,  across  the 
mountains  to  Pugct  sound  at  Tacoma,  passes  through  the  heart 
of  this  reeion  ;  and  the  construction  of  a  road  over  it  is  all  that 
is  needed  to  fill  up  the  country  speedily  with  a  teeming  popula- 
tion. It  is  yet  sparsely  settled,  but  new-comers  in  their  prairie- 
schooners  are  fast  encroaching  upon  its  unoccupied  lands.  Its 
climate  and  soil  are  admirably  adapted  for  stock-raising,  which 
is  the  chief  occupation  of  its  inhabitants.  The  food  for  cattle  is 
a  very  rich,  nutritious  bunch-grass,  almost  as  strong  as  grain, 
with  which  the  prairies  and  hills  are  covered  throughout  all 
seasons  of  the  year;  and  as  the  winters,  with  rare  exceptions, 
are  mild  and  dry,  there  is  no  need  of  housing  and  feeding  the 
cattle,  but  they  are  without  fear  suffered  to  roam  at  will  in  the 
winter  months,  and  grow  fat  on  this  remarkable  grass.  This 
bunch-grass  is  common  all  over  that  country,  covering  the  foot- 
hills and  plains  alike,  and  sometimes  even  reaching  to  the  moun- 
tain-tops. 

J.  Ross  Browne,  in  an  ofiicial  report,  says,  "  For  grazing,  these 
table-lands  and  side-hills  of  Eastern  Washington  cannot  be  ex- 
celled. They  are  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  native  bunch- 
grass,  of  nutritious  quality.  During  the  rains  of  spring  it  seems 
to  attain  its  growth;  and  through  the  dry  season  which  follows, 
it  stands  to  be  cured  into  the  best  of  hay,  preserving  its  strength 
and  esculent  properties  all  winter.  Stock  abandon  the  green 
grass  of  the  bottom-lands  to  feed  upon  it,  and  on  it  they  keep 
fat  the  year  round."  The  Yakima  country  produces  the  cattle 
for  supplying  the  market  on  Puget  sound  and  elsewhere  in 
Western  Washington,  as  well  as  in  British  Columbia,  whither 
they  are  driven  through  the  several  passes  in  the  mountains ; 
and  large  droves  of  exceptionally  fat  catde  go  annually  out  to 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  are  transported  to  Chicago. 
Such  is  the  great  value  of  this  region  for  stock-raising;  but,  as 
the  soil  is  of  a  character  and  productiveness  that  invite  the  change, 
the  catde-range  on  the  lowlands  must  give  way  befo're  the  more 
profitable  v^heat-field,  and  confine   itself  higher  up  on   the  foot- 


THE    WALLA-WALLA     VALLEY.  I203 

hills  and  mountain-sides.  To  the  limited  extent  to  which  the 
Yakima  country  has  gone  in  wheat-raising,  it  may  safely  chal- 
lenge the  best  record  of  Illinois,  Ohio,  or  any  of  the  other  East- 
ern or  Middle  States ;  for  it  has  performed  some  wonderful  feats, 
as  well  as  to  quality  and  size  of  grain,  as  to  the  amount  of  yield 
per  acre.  The  railroad  only  is  needed.  Even  thus  early  in  the 
agricultural  history  of  Eastern  Washington,  it  is  to  be  recorded 
that  the  last  crop  was  of  such  dimensions  as  to  defy  the  present 
facilities  for  moving  it  to  market ;  the  approach  of  cold  weather 
and  low  water  in  the  river,  finding  still  on  hand,  in  the  store- 
houses at  Wallula,  a  large  residue  of  20,000  tons — the  year's 
production,  there  to  remain  until  the  opening  of  sprino-.  This 
fact  is  a  very  persuasive  appeal  for  the  building  of  a  railroad  to 
Pugret  sound. 

Passing  eastward  from  the  Yakima  across  the  Columbia,  we 
enter  the  already  famous  Walla-Walla  Valley,  which  is  bounded 
on  the  south  and  east  by  the  Blue  Mountains,  and  on  the  west 
and  north  by  the  Columbia  and  Snake  rivers.  Its  area  runs  into 
millions  of  acres,  as  does  that  of  the  Palouse  country  to  the  north 
of  Snake  river,  watered  by  the  Palouse  river,  and  extending  far 
northward  to  the  Spokane.  The  Walla-Walla  and  Palouse  coun- 
tries are  being  rapidly  settled  by  people  from  all  parts  of  the 
United  States.  These  two  recrions  of  Southeastern  Washington 
do  not  materially  differ  in  their  general  character;  so  little,  in- 
deed, that  a  description  of  the  soil,  products,  and  climate  of  one, 
may  answer  for  all  three.  The  soil  is  of  an  appearance  likely  to 
surprise  the  average  wheat-grower,  being,  except  in  the  bottom- 
lands, a  very  light-colored  loam,  containing  an  unusually  laro-e 
percentage  of  the  alkalies  and  fixed  acids,  and  covering  prac- 
tically the  whole  of  Eastern  W^ashington  to  a  depth  of  from  one 
to  twenty  feet.  Near  the  base  of  the  mountains  it  is  mixed  with 
a  larger  proportion  of  clay,  which  renders  it  somewhat  darker  in 
appearance;  but  in  no  respect  does  it  resemble  the  black  soils 
of  the  Mississippi  valley.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  features 
of  this  country  is,  that  the  soil  on  the  tops  of  high  hills  yields  as 
many  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  as  does  that  of  the  lowlands 
or  prairies.     This   fact  is  sought  to  be  explained   by  the   theory, 


1204 


OUR    WESTER  A    EMPIRE. 


that  this  soil  on  both  hill  and  plain  was  once  the  bed  of  a  system 
of  lakes,  and  was  greatly  enriched  by  volcanic  ashes  blown  from 
the  Cascade  Range,  or.  thence  carried  by  the  streams  into  the 
lakes,  and  thus  widely  distributed  over  the  entire  basin,  including 
the  hills  in  question,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been  under 
water.  In  the  Walla-Walla  and  Palouse  countries,  towns  are 
springing  up  in  all  directions — mere  trading-camps  at  the  outset 
for  the  farmers  who  are  crowding  in*round  about ;  and  the  hurry 
and  flurry  of  settlement,  and  bustle  and  haste  of  preparation  for 
wheat-raising,  lends  to  some  of  the  settlements  an  appearance 
resembling  that  of  a  mining-camp  hastily  pitched  together,  with 
many  of  the  incidents  common  to  the  latter.  The  Palouse  coun- 
try is  traversed  about  through  its  centre  by  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad,  Pend  d'Oreille  division,  and  extends  from  the  Columbia 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Snake,  northeast  to  Spokane  falls,  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  To  Dr.  Bingham  is  credited  the  dis- 
covery that  this  was  valuable  agricultural  land.  Although  it  was 
subject  to  entry  at  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre,  no  one  thought 
it  worth  taking,  until  the  doctor  got  an  idea  to  experiment.  He 
planted  twelve  acres  in  alfalfa  ;  and,  to  the  amazement  of  himself 
and  neighbors,  it  grew  more  profusely  and  to  a  greater  height 
than  they  had  ever  before  known  it  to  grow.  Elated  at  this 
splendid  success  of  his  experiment,  he  at  once  set  about  procur- 
ing all  the  land  he  was  able  to  buy,  and  is  now  said  to  be  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  planters  in  the  northwest.  He  tried  wheat 
with  a  like  brilliant  result,  securing  an  average  yield  per  acre 
that  paid  for  the  land  over  and  over  again  ;  and  thus  suddenly 
the  good  people  of  that  region  were  awakened  to  the  astounding 
revelation  that  their  vast  expanse  of  country  known  as  the  Plains 
of  the  Columbia,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  of  Southeastern  Wash- 
ington, instead  of  being,  as  it  had  always  been  regarded,  an  almost 
useless  waste,  had  a  wealth-producing  capacity  far  exceeding  that 
of  all  the  eold  and  silver  mines  of  California  and  Nevada.  Im- 
mediately  scores  and  hundreds  of  people  jumped  into  the  business 
of  wheat-raising ;  and  the  fame  thereof  went  abroad,  starting 
westward  and  northward  large  numbers  of  farming  people,  some 
going   through    California   and   by  sea,  but  a  larger  proportion 


YIELD    OF  WHEAT  IN  WASHINGTON  TERKIIORY.  1205 

arriving  from  surrounding  Territories  in  their  prairie-schooners 
drawn  by  oxen.  The  experience  of  Dr.  Blalock  near  Walla- 
Walla  illustrates  what  may  be  done  in  the  way  of  farming  in 
Washington  Territory.  He  began  comparatively  poor  a  few 
years  back,  and  has  now  the  largest  farm  in  the  Territory.  Ide 
has  one  large  field  of  nearly  two  thousand  acres,  which  was  parti)' 
in  wheat  and  partly  in  barley  during  the  season  just  closed,  and 
the  average  yield  per  acre  is  reported  to  have  been  forty  bushels. 
At  the  last  harvest,  it  was  not  regarded  as  extraordinary  for 
particular  fields  to  yield  an  average  as  high  as  forty- five  and  fifty 
and  even  sixty  bushels  to  the  acre. 

Of  the  enormous  average  yield  of  wheat  on  these  "  Great 
Columbia  Plains,"  Mr.  Philip  Ritz,  for  fifteen  years  a  farmer  in 
the  Walla-Walla  valley,  wrote  in  1869:  'T  have  seen  large  fields 
of  wheat  average  fifty-six  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  weigh  sixty- 
two  pounds  per  bushel ;  and  have  seen  fields  which  yielded  forty 
to  fifty  bushels  per  acre  from  a  volunteer  crop;  that  is,  produced 
the  second  year  from  grains  scattered  out  during  harvest,  sprout- 
inof  duringr  the  fall  and  growino-  even  without  harrowincr."  Pen 
years  later,  in  the  autumn  of  1879,  the  same  gentleman  wrote: 
"We  are  just  about  finishing  our  harvest,  and  such  a  harvest  I 
am  sure  the  world  never  saw  before.  Our  '  Great  Columbia 
Plains,'  famous  for  her  magnificent  wheat  crops,  has  this  year 
outdone  herself  She  never  had  such  a  crop  before.  Our  small, 
sparsely  settled  country  has  this  year  about  two  uiillion  bushels 
of  surplus  wheat.  The  average  is  reckoned  by  the  best  judges 
at  from  thirty  to  forty  bushels  per  acre.  My  own  judgment  is 
that  the  whole  country  will  go  over  thirty-six  bushels  to  the 
acre.  A  great  many  large  fields  will  average  over  fifty,  and  a 
field  that  would  not  average  over  twenty-six  is  hardly  considered 
worth  cutting.  There  is  probably  no  country  in  the  world, 
climate  and  other  advantages  considered,  equal  to  this  for  grow- 
ing wheat."  In  October,  1879,  more  than  20,000  tons  of  wheat 
were  stored  at  Walla- Walla  and  vicinity  awaiting  shipment,  the 
facilities  for  transportation  on  the  Columbia  river  being  inadequate 
for  the  carriage  to  that  extent. 

A  large  part  of  this  production  was  not  on  new  lands,  but  on 


I206 


OUR     WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


lands  which  had  been  cultivated  with  the  same  crop  for  ten  or 
twelve  years.  The  crop  of  1880  was  still  larger,  and  its  net  cash 
value  to  the  farmers  of  Washington  Territory  is  reckoned  at  over 
$9,000,000. 

Exports. — In  addition  to  the  exports  of  wheat  already  referred 
to,  writes  Governor  Ferry  in  October,  1879,  there  have  also 
been  large  exports  of  other  cereals,  wool,  Hour,  and  live-stock 
from  Eastern  Washington.  Large  shipments  of  flour  have  been 
made  direct  from  WallaAValla  to  Liverpool,  From  the  lower 
counties  on  the  Columbia  river  there  have  also  been  exporta- 
tions  of  grain  and  canned  salmon;  of  the  latter,  160,000  cases, 
of  forty-eight  cans  each. 

From  Puget  sound  the  exports  have  been  lumber,  coal,  fish, 
grain,  potatoes,  wool,  hops,  hides,  barrels,  lime,  etc.  The  export 
of  coal  for  the  past  year  has  been  190,000  tons. 

The  lumbering  interests  are  somewhat  depressed  at  present, 
owing  to  a  falling  off  in  the  foreign  demand.  This  depression 
is  regarded  as  temporary  only. 

Alajiicfachcres  diV^y  of  course,  but  of  moderate  extent  in  so  new 
a  Territory,  and  with  as  yet  but  a  scanty  population.  The  prin- 
cipal is  lumber,  of  which  250,000,000  feet  or  more  are  produced 
annually.  There  are  many  flouring  mills,  establishments  for 
canning  and  barreling  salmon  and  other  fish,  barrel  factories, 
some  of  them  of  great  extent,  etc.,  etc.  The  production  of  man- 
ufactured goods  in  1880  was  about  $8,000,000. 

Population. — The  following  table  gives  the  population  of  Wash- 
ington Territory  at  different  periods : 


(/ 

> 

j: 

c.a" 

c 

^'i 

V 

■Cj: 

CUJu 

_o 

■■si 

S.^ 

fX 

1 

rt 
3 
0 

1? 

u 

c 

>v 

111  ni 

bi  —  (ii 

c  n  c 

rt 

E 

IT 

c 
1 86. 

"rt 
0 

(A 

•0  0 
0  -c 

> 

c 
.to 

0 

c 

0 
0 

rt 

PS 

re 

u 
V 

438 

0 

>  0 

6,166 

c 

N 
4.231 

I  ",594 

8.446 

3,i,.S      11,138 

4-6 

8,450 

3,144 

0.06 

2,279 

5,880 

187. 

37..32'* 

i4,99^t 

8,96st   22,195 

15.237 

189:1 

5,^.24 

0.34 

ic6.6i 

1.3'' 7 

7,^0  J 

7,835 

9.241 

7,902 

i8'8 

64,411* 

72,052* 

15.660 

16,028 

0.92 
1.03 

7?. 10 

.   .        .  . 

12,997 

it74 

11.86 

lob. 

b3,s88* 

45,977 

29.^43    67,349 

22,039 

59.259 

15,861 

1.2b 

24.1-6 

*  L'.cludlng  13,477  tribal  Indians  on  reservations  in  the  Territory. 
13.96,       " 

14,268       "  "  "  "  " 

14.268      "  "  "  "  " 


t  Sex  of  Indians  not  given. 


INDIAN   TRIBES.  j207 

The  population  of  the  Territory  is,  to  a  very  large  extent,  com- 
posed of  citizens  of  the  Eastern  States,  with  a  moderate  propor- 
tion of  sturdy  and  industrious  Scandinavians  and  Germans,  and 
some  English,  Irish,  Scotch  and  British-Americans. 

Indian  Tribes  and  their  Reservations. — There  were,  in  the 
autumn  of  1879,  14,268  tribal  Indians  in  Washington  Territory'. 
They  were  collected  on  seven  reservations,  under  as  many  dis- 
tinct agents,  and  belonged  to  forty-three  or  forty-four  bands  or 
sub-tribes,  many  of  them  of  most  unpronounceable  names.  All 
of  the  tribes  of  this  region  belong  to  the  Athabascan  family,  and 
their  languages  have,  for  the  most  part,  a  sharp  click,  which  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  most  of  the  other  tribes  of  the  West. 
There  was  a  severe  war  with  the  Indians  in  1855,  when  they  had 
nearly  double  their  present  numbers  ;  but  since  their  defeat  at 
that  time,  they  have  been  generally  very  quiet  and  friendly  to 
the  whites.  In  May,  1879,  the  non-treaty  Indians  in  Eastern 
Washington  were  removed  to  a  reservation  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Okinakane  river,  in  Stevens  county.  These  Indians  have 
made  crreater  advances  in  civilization  than  most  of  those  farther 
east.  Of  the  14,268,  11,763  wear  citizens'  dress;  1,548  families 
are  engaged  in  agriculture  ;  3,444  male  Indians  are  engaged  in 
other  civilized  pursuits ;  980  houses  are  occupied  by  Indians,  and 
of  these  houses  82  were  built  during  the  year;  510  of  their  chil- 
dren, 255  of  each  sex,  were  in  school  in  1879.  The  government 
spends  ^28,783  annually  for  their  education.  Of  the  adult  In- 
dians, 802  can  read.  They  have  18  church  edifices  and  1 1  mis- 
sionaries amonsf  them.  The  land  of  all  their  reservations  amounts 
to  3,933,504  acres,  of  which  1 45,662  is  reported  tillable,  and  nearly 
all  the  rest  good  grazing  land.  A  fair  proportion  of  them  are 
good  farmers.  Over  10,000  acres  are  cultivated,  and  they  raised, 
in  1879,  46,950  bushels  of  wheat;  3,080  bushels  of  corn  ;  16,265 
bushels  of  oats  and  barley  ;  36,810  bushels  of  vegetables  ;  3.1  79 
tons  of  hay  ;  and  they  own  23,213  horses  and  mules  (very  few  of 
the  latter)  ;  8,i78catde;  1,182  swine,  and  408  sheep.  A  fair  per- 
centage of  them  earn  from  one-half  to  the  whole  of  their  living  by 
civilized  pursuits. 

Education. — The  Territory  is  awake  to  the  advantages  of  public 


I2o8  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

school  education.  The  school  lands  have  not  as  yet  been  sold 
in  sufficient  amounts  to  afford  anything  more  than  a  nucleus  for  a 
school  fund,  but  a  bemnninor  has  been  made.  We  have  no  ofh- 
cial  reports  of  a  date  later  than  1877,  since  which  time  education 
as  well  as  population  has  made  a  great  advance  there.  At  that 
time  there  were  12,997  children  of  school  age,  of  whom  5,385 
were  enrolled  in  the  public  schools.  There  were  262  school- 
houses  and  school-rooms,  and  the  average  duration  of  the  schools 
in  days  w^as  130  days.  There  were  279  teachers  employed,  of 
whom  134  were  men  and  145  women.  The  average  monthly 
pay  of  the  men  was  1^40,  and  of  the  women  ^30.  The  amount 
received  and  expended  for  school  purposes  was  about  ^^50,000. 
There  were  graded  schools  in  the  principal  towns,  a  normal  de- 
partment in  Washington  University,  covering  two  years'  instruc- 
tion ;  and  schools  of  higher  instruction  at  Walla-Walla,  Seattle 
and  some  other  points.  The  University  of  W^ashington  Terri- 
tory, at  Seattle,  is  a  part  of  the  public  school  system,  and  is  aided 
by  the  Territorial  Legislature.  It  had,  in  1879,  eleven  instructors 
and  professors,  120  students,  and  four  courses  of  study.  It  has 
the  nucleus  of  a  library  and  museum,  and  an  appropriation  has 
been  made  for  necessary  apparatus.  The  Holy  Angels'  College, 
at  Vancouver,  in  this  Territory,  is  a  Roman  Catholic  institution, 
having,  in  1878,  four  professors  and  eighty-five  students,  and  a 
library  of  nearly  1,000  volumes. 

Counties  and  Pri7icipal  Towns. — Olympia,  the  capital,  has  about 
3,000  inhabitants;  Walla-Walla,  between  4,000  and  5,000;  Se- 
attle and  Steilacoom  nearly  as  many;  while  Port  Townsend, 
Vancouver,  Kalama,  Tacoma,  and  in  Eastern  Washington,  Ains- 
worth,  Wallula,  Palouse,  Spokane  Falls  and  Colville  are  thriving 
and  erowincr  towns. 

Relicioiis  Denominations  and  Public  Morals. — No  one  of  the 
States  and  Territories  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  has  a  better 
moral  and  religious  record  than  Washington  Territory.  Settled 
very  largely  by  the  best  people  from  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States,  its  churches  and  religious  institutions  have  more 
nearly  kept  pace  with  the  growth  and  progress  of  the  population 
than  those  of  any  other  part  of  the  West.     In  1875,  ^^i^^^  ^  P^P' 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS.  1200 

Illation  estimated  at  not  more  than  36,000,  there  were  94  church 
organizations,  72  church  edifices,  58  clergymen,  priests  or  minis- 
ters, 2,398  communicants,  and  21,465  adherent  population,  and 
church  property  valued  at  ^105,700.  Since  1875  the  population 
of  the  Territory  has  more  than  doubled,  and  from  the  character 
of  that  increase,  and  the  sacrifices  it  olories  in  makinij  to  establish 
religious  institutions  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  we  are 
warranted  in  believino-  that  the  churches  and  reliijious  denomi- 
nations  have  kept  pace  with  the  population  in  their  growth.  Of 
these  denominations  the  Methodists,  under  two  or  three  distinct 
organizations,  are  here,  as  in  most  of  the  States  and  Territories 
of  the  West,  the  most  numerous.  The  census  of  1870  recognized 
only  two,  viz. :  "  Methodists"  and  "  United  Brethren  in  Christ." 
It  may  be,  there  were  no  Southern  Methodist  churches  then,  but 
there  were  certainly  Protestant  and  probably  Primitive  Metho- 
dists there,  as  well  as  some  Albrights  or  Evangelical  Association 
Methodists  there  then  and  now.  Of  all  these,  the  present  num- 
ber cannot  be  less  than  68  churches,  with  about  50  church  edifices, 
about  38  ministers,  3,000  members,  and  at  least  1 5,000  adherents. 
Their  church  property  might  safely  be  reckoned  at  55^60,000.  The 
Catholics  were  next  in  1875,  and  may  be  now,  but  at  a  long  in- 
terval, with  possibly  32  congregations,  30  church  edifices,  and  the 
same  number  of  priests,  an  adherent  population  of  about  13,000, 
and  church  property  worth  ^35,000.  The  Baptists  and  the  Chris- 
tian Connection  come  next,  with  at  least  35  congregations,  per- 
haps 28  church  edifices,  and  about  the  same  number  of  ministers, 
a  combined  membership  of  about  1,100,  and  an  adherent  popu- 
lation of  over  6,000,  and  church  property  worth  about  $iS,ooo. 
After  these  come  in  their  order  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians, 
Concrreoationalists  and  five  or  six  smaller  denominations,  the 
whole  having  an  adherent  population  in  all  of  perhaps  10,000  or 
1 2,000.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  five-eighths  of  the  population  are 
nominally,  at  least,  the  adherents  of  some  religious  denomina- 
tion. 


I2IO 


OUR    IVES  TERN  EMPIRE. 


Population  and  Valuation  of  lVashi?igton  Territory  in  187S,  1S79  and  iSSo. 


POPULATION. 


Counties. 


187S. 


Columbia. . . 

Chehalis 

Clallam 

Clarke    

Cowlitz. .    .  . 

Island 

Jefferson .  . . . 
Klickitat   .. , 

King 

Kitsap   

Lewis 

Mason 

Pacific   .... 

Pierce 

San  Juan.   .. 
Skamania.  . . 
Snohomish 
Spokane. .  . . 

Stevens 

Thurston  . . 
Wakiakum  . 
Walla  Walla 
Whatcom  . . 
Whitman..  . 
Yakima  .. . 


Total. 


5,820 
720 
370 

4,208 

1,783 
600 

'.577 

» ,99? 

5,543 

I,  =  48 

1,8^6 

520 

1,411 

2,801 

700 

221 

1,042 


1S79. 


i88d. 


846 

2,971 

569 

5,7-1 
2,115 

3-7^ 
1,711 


50,511 


6,894 
8.8 
469 

4.-94 
1,810 

6j3 
1 .427 
2,898 
5,i83 
1,799 
2,095 

1.351 

3,051 
838 

495 
1,080 


2,601 

3,246 

504 

6,215 

2.331 

5,290 
1,912 


7. '03 
921 

638 

5.49-' 
2,063 
1 ,087 
1,712 
4,037 
6,910 

1,7.:,8 

2,600 

639 
1,645 

3,3'9 
948 
8  9 

1,387 
4,262 

1,245 
3,278 
i,5oo 
8,716 
3, '37 
7,oi4 
2,811 


VALUATION. 


1878. 


57,784 


75,120* 


J292,' 
132^ 
86p, 

1.52', 
750. 
391 
5'2 

2,242 

989 
57  • 
668 

364 
362 

i,7>6 

154 
117 
382 


918  00 
362  00 
173  oz, 
434  00 

2>jO  CO 

570  00 

'.25  00 

,804  00 

780  46 

:-'3  00 
,81;  7  00 

,138  CO 
38J  00 
797  00 

,268  00 
519  00 
219  00 


341 .632  00 
1,652,848  00 
144,428  50 
2,711,010  00 
fci 2,202  00 
819,142  00 
589,585  00 


1879. 


j3r4,o£i  00 
154,351  00 

924,100  CO 

1, 9. 8, -50  00 

968,170  00 

;  72,821  00 

468,191  00 

1  9  ,7.670  00 

1,044,673  00 

732,737  00 
743,571  00 
570,331  00 
379,258  00 
i,6£9,444  00 
162,147  00 
'43,7-3  00 
39-. 754  00 
484,3-6  CO 

i,627,i?4  00 
i;8,6  6  00 

2,971, £6j  00 
735,oj3  00 

1, 257,189  00 
811,932  00 


18,930,964  96  1  21,019,832  00 


Historical  Data. — The  region  about  Puget  sound  was  a  favorite 
resort  of  the  Indian  tribes  for  centuries.  Both  the  hunting  and 
fishing  were  such  as  to  render  the  regular  supply  of  food  easy 
and  certain.  In  1840  there  were  25,000  Indians  who  claimed 
Puo-et  sound  as  their  home.  The  number  in  the  whole  Territory 
is  now  but  a  little  more  than  half  as  many,  and  the  greater  part 
of  these  are  now  domiciled  along  the  upper  Columbia  river.  As 
we  have  already  said  under  Oregon,  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de 
Fuca  were  first  entered  by  a  Greek  navigator  of  that  name  in 
the  Spanish  service,  in  1592  ;  the  coast  was  revisited  in  1775  by 
Heceta,  a  Spanish  navigator,  and  in  1787  and  1788  two  English 
captains,  Berkeley  and  Meares,  successively  entered  the  straits, 
and  the  latter  revived  the  name  of  the  old  Greek  discoverer.  The 
priority  of  discovery  of  the  coast  and  the  straits  certainly  lay  with 
the  Spanish.  In  1789  an  American,  Captain  Robert  Gray,  in  the 
sloop  "Washington,"  discovered  and  entered  several  of  the 
smaller  bays  and  harbors  along  the  coast,  both  in  the  Straits  of 
San  Juan  de  Fuca  and  below;  and  in  1790  Captain  Kendrick,  in 


*  Tribal  Indians  not  included. 


HISTORICAL    DATA.  I2ii 

the  same  vessel,  passed  through  the  entire  length  of  the  Straits 
of  San  Juan  de  Fuca.  In  1791  Captain  Gray  returned  to  the 
coast,  and  discovered  and  explored  and  gave  his  name  to  Gray's 
Harbor.  It  was  in  this  same  year  also  that  he  discovered  and 
ascended  the  Columbia  river  about  thirty  miles.  In  1S05  Lewis 
and  Clarke  reached  and  explored  the  coast  from  the  land  side, 
having  crossed  the  continent  for  that  purpose.  Meanwhile  the 
title  of  the  United  States  to  the  whole  region  watered  by  the  Co- 
lumbia river  was  further  fortified  by  the  settlement  of  Astoria,  at 
the  mouth  of  that  river,  by  Mr.  J.  J.  Astor,  in  iSi  i,  and  the  title 
was  perfected  as  against  any  European  power  by  the  treaty  of 
Florida  with  Spain  in  1819,  which  expressly  ceded  to  the  United 
States  all  the  rights,  claims  and  pretensions  of  the  King  of  Spain 
to  any  Territory  north  of  the  forty-second  parallel  of  north  lati- 
tude. The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  attempted  to  take  possession 
of  it  betw'een  1825  and  1830,  and  from  1828  to  1841  it  was  held 
in  joint  occupancy  by  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  tide  of  either.  The  Ashburton  Treaty  of 
1845  finally  settled  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  the  Territory 
up  to  the  line  of  49°  north  latitude,  except  at  the  Straits  of  San 
Juan  de  Fuca  and  the  Gulf  of  Georgia.  It  was  understood  by 
that  treaty  that  the  American  title  took  to  the  middle  of  the  chan- 
nel of  those  waters  ;  but  as  there  were  several  channels  and  some 
valuable  islands  in  controversy,  the  matter  was  definitely  and 
finally  settled  by  arbitration  in  1873,  the  Emperor  of  Germany 
beino-  arbiter.  American  settlers  be^ran  to  come  into  the  Terri- 
tory  in  1845.  ^^  ^'^'^s  originally  a  part  of  Oregon  Territory,  but 
was  organized  as  a  separate  Territory  in  1853,  and  had  a  severe 
Indian  war  in  1855.  From  1859  to  1863  it  included  most  of 
Idaho  Territory,  but  since  that  time  it  has  had  its  present  bound- 
aries. 

Conchision. — It  may  be  inferred  from  our  sketch  of  Washing- 
ton Territory  that  we  regard  it  as  a  very  desirable  region  for 
immiirrants  who  desire  to  ent^a-j-e  in  farminor,  stock-raising,  the 
preparation  of  timber  or  lumber  for  the  market,  or  the  packing 
and  exportation  of  fish.  Its  mining  districts  are  not  yet  developed 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  justify  any  immigration  to  them,  but  for 


1 2 12  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  Other  pursuits,  and  for  many  of  the  trades,  there  is  certainly 
no  section  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  which  offers  greater 
opportunities  for  success  to  an  enterprising  and  energetic  man. 
As  to  the  best  route  thither  there  is  some  room  for  an  honest 
difference  of  opinion  now,  and  will  be  more  in  a  few  months. 
Probably  the  best  plan  now  is  to  take  passage  for  San  Francisco 
either  by  rail  or  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  From  San  F"rancisco 
a  steamer  may  be  taken  for  Portland,  Oregon,  and  if  by  the 
Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation  Company's  line,  and  it  is  desired 
to  go  to  Eastern  Washington  Territory  the  immigrant  can  pur- 
chase a  through  ticket  to  Walla- Walla,  or  to  any  point  on  the 
Pend  d'Oreille  division  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  or  to  the  termini 
of  the  narrow  eauofe  railroads  from  Ainsworth,  Walla -Walla  or 
Wallula.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  his  destination  is  to  any  point  in 
Western  Washington,  he  should  not  go  on  to  Portland,  Oregon, 
but  land  at  Kalama  some  forty  miles  nearer  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river,  and  take  the  Northern  Pacific  thence  to  Olympia, 
Tacoma  or  Wilkeson.  If  his  destination  is  to  Western  Wash- 
ington he  may,  if  he  chooses,  take  the  Puget  sound  steamer 
from  San  Francisco  and  land  at  Bellingham  bay,  Port  Townsend, 
Seattle,  Tacoma  or  Olympia.  These  routes  are  long  and  some- 
what wearisome,  but  safe  and  without  other  difficulties.  There 
will  soon  be  two  other  routes  available.  The  best  and  most 
direct  will  be  by  way  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  either  from  Duluth 
or  Chicago,  through  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana  and  Idaho, 
which  will  traverse  Eastern  Washington  diagonally  from  north- 
east to  southwest,  cross  by  one  branch  (the  Cascade  Mountain 
division)  from  Eastern  to  Western  Washington,  and  make  its 
terminus  at  Tacoma  on  Puget  sound,  while  the  Columbia  River 
division  will  follow  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia,  and  sending  a 
branch  to  Portland,  Oregon,  traverse  by  the  Pacific  division  the 
greater  part  of  Western  Washington.  More  than  one-half  of 
this  long  route  is  already  completed,  and  with  the  ample  funds 
they  have  at  command  this  company  will  probably  have  the  whole 
in  operation  by  the  spring  of  1883. 

The  other  route  by  the  Union  Pacific  and  Utah  and  Northern, 
in  connection  with  the  Oregonian  railway  (limited),  is  not  yet  fully 


SITUATION  OF   WYOMING    TERRITORY.  I213 

laid  out,  but  will  probably  penetrate  Southeastern  Washington, 

and  its   principal    connections  will    be   with    Portland,   Oregon. 

With  the  completion  of  these  lines  Washington  Territory  will 

be  as  easily  and  readily  accessible  as  Utah,  Nevada,  New  Mexico 

or  Arizona,   and  for  a  quiet   and    pleasant   home  much   more 
desirable. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

y^YOMim    TERRITORY. 

Situation — Boundaries — Length  and  Breadth — Form — Area — Topography 
— Mountains — Elevation  of  various  Points — Rivers,  Lakes,  etc. — Re- 
markable Character  of  its  Drainage — Its  Waters  Discharged  into  the 
Pacific  by  the  Columbia  River,  into  the  Gulf  of  California  by  the 
Colorado,  into  the  Salt  Lake  Basin  by  the  Bear  River,  into  the  Upper 
Missouri  by  the  Madison  and  Gallatin,  into  the  Middle  of  Missouri 
by  the  Yellowstone  and  Big  Cheyenne,  into  the  Lower  Missouri  by 
the  Niobrara  and  Platte,  and  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  all  these — 
Geology  and  Mineralogy— Coal — Petroleum — Gold  and  Silver — Other 
Metals — Mining  of  Precious  Metals  not  much  Developed — Marble  and 
other  Mineral  Products — Forests,  Soil  and  Vegetation — Zoology — 
Climate — Meteorology  of  Cheyenne — Agricultural  Productions  and 
Stock-raising — Manufactures  and  Mining — Mining  Products — Rail- 
ways, Existing  and  Projected — Population  and  its  Distribution — 
Education — Religious  Denominations — Counties — Area — Population  in 
1880,  AND  Valuation  in  1877 — Principal  Towns — Objects  of  Interest — 
The  Yellowstone  National  Park  made  a  Separate  Chapter — Historical 
Notes — Early  Spanish  Occupation  of  Wyoming — Discovery  of  Arastras 
and  Spanish  Buildings — Father  de  Smet — Captain  Bkidger — His  Occu- 
pation running  back  to  a  time  "  When  Laramie  Peak  hadn't  begun  to 
Grow" — Organization  of  the  Territory — Indian  Conflicts — The  Cus- 
ter Massacre — Advantages  of  Wyoming  for  certain  Classes  of  Immi- 
grants— Prospects  in  the  near  Future. 

Wyoming  is  one  of  the  central  Territories  of  "Our  Western 
Empire,"  both  in  its  position  on  an  east  and  west  line,  and  in  its 
relations  to  the  States  and  Territories  north  and  south  of  it.  It 
lies  between  the  41st  and  the  45th  parallels  of  north  latitude, 
and  between  the  104th  and  iiith  meridians  of  west  longitude 
from  Greenwich.     It  is  bounded  on   the   north  by  Montana,  on 


1 2 14  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  east  by  Dakota  and  Nebraska,  including  in  the  northeast  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  Black  Hills  region  ;  on  the  south  by 
Colorado  and  Utah ;  and  on  the  west  by  Utah,  Idaho  and 
Montana.  Its  length  from  east  to  west  is  335  miles,  its  width 
from  north  to  south  is  276  miles.  It  is  a  perfect  parallelogram, 
all  its  boundaries  being  astronomico-geographical  lines.  Its  area 
is  97,883  squares  miles,  or  62,645,1  20  acres,  of  which,  up  to  June, 
1879,  only  about  one-seventh  had  been  surveyed. 

Topography. — The  main  divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which, 
after  traversiuQf  Northwestern  Montana,  turned  suddenlv  south- 
westward  and  formed  the  southeast  boundary  of  Idaho,  separates 
again  into  two  chains  at  the  Yellowstone  park,  and  enters  Wyom- 
ing from  the  northwest  in  two  distinct  and  nearly  parallel  ranges, 
the  easternmost  being  known  as  the  Shoshone  range,  and  the 
westernmost  as  the  Wind  River  range.  Near  the  forty-third 
parallel,  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  a  somewhat  lower  range  from 
the  north-northeast,  meets  them  almost  at  a  right  angle,  and  from 
this  point  to  the  Colorado  line  both  ranges  break  into  a  number 
of  mountain  groups  extending  in  all  directions,  and  rendering  it 
difficult  to  define  which  has  the  best  right  to  the  name  of  the 
main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Among  the  groups  of  this 
confused  mountain  mass  may  be  named,  beside  the  Big  Horn 
range  already  mentioned,  the  Owl  Creek  Mountains,  a  spur  of 
the  Shoshone  range,  the  Rattlesnake  Mountains,  and  the  Laramie 
Mountains,  still  farther  east ;  the  Sweet- Water  and  the  Seminole 
Mountains,  which  seem  to  be  continuations  of  the  Wind  River 
range.  Near  the  forty-second  parallel  these  mountain  ranges 
subside  into  an  elevated  plateau  from  8,000  to  9,000  feet  above 
the  sea,  with  occasional  elevated  summits,  risinof  a^ain  to  higher 
elevations  on  either  side  of  the  North  Park  in  Colorado.  This 
elevated  plateau  extends  westward  and  southwestward  to  the 
foot-hills  of  the  Bear  River  range  on  the  west,  and  the  Uintah 
Mountains  on  the  south,  both  in  Utah  Territory.  In  the  south- 
east there  are  the  Medicine  Bow  Mountains,  and  some  isolated 
peaks,  like  Laramie  Peak,  Iron  Mountain,  the  Red  Buttes,  etc.; 
and  in  the  northwest  the  Heart  Mountains  and  the  isolated  peaks 
of  the  Yellowstone  Park.    In  the  northeast,  east  of  the  Big  Horn 


MOUNTAINS,    RIVERS  AND   LAKES.  121 5 

and  north  of  the  Laramie  Mountains,  there  is  an  extended  plateau 
of  4,000  to  7,000  feet  elevation,  rising  at  the  east  into  the  Black 
Hills,  and  in  the  northeast  and  north  to  the  Powder  River  rancre 
and  the  Wolf  Mountains. 

The  highest  elevation  in  the  Territory  is  probably  Snow's 
Peak,  in  the  Wind  River  Range,  which  is  reported  as  13,570 
feet;  the  next  is  Gilbert's  Peak,  13,250;  Cloud  Peak  probably 
exceeds  13,000;  and  Lake  Carpenter,  in  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains, is  11,000  feet  above  the  sea.  The  average  elevation  of 
Yellowstone  Park  is  7,403  feet.  The  highest  summit  in  the 
Wyoming  portion  of  the  Black  Hills  is  Harney's  Peak,  7,700 
feet,  while  Red  Buttes,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  Territory, 
is  7,336  feet,  and  Laramie  City,  7,123  feet.  Laramie  Peak  is 
10,000  feet  and  possibly  a  little  more. 

Rivers  and  Lakes. — No  State  or  Territory  of  "Our  Western 
Empire,"  or  of  the  United  States,  is  drained  by  streams  which 
find  their  way  to  such  widely  separated  seas,  as  Wyoming.  In 
the  northwest  and  west  the  Shoshone  lake  and  its  outlet  throuo-h 
Jackson  lake,  the  Gros  Ventres  creek,  and  the  John  Gray  river, 
are  all  tributaries  to  the  Lewis  fork  of  Snake  river,  itself  one  of 
the  constituents  of  the  Columbia  river,  and  these  waters  find 
their  way  to  the  Pacific  by  that  route.  In  the  southwest  Bear 
river  traverses  Uintah  county  for  fifty  miles,  and,  flowing  north- 
northwest  around  the  range  of  the  same  name,  turns  suddenly 
south  and  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Great  Salt  lake  of  the 
Utah  Basin.  Far  up  in  the  Wind  River  range  the  Green  river 
has  its  sources,  and  receiving  ten  or  a  dozen  affluents,  flows 
southward  throucjh  Northwestern  Colorado  and  Eastern  Utah  to 
its  junction  with  the  Grand  river,  with  which  it  forms  the  Rio 
Colorado  of  the  W^est,  and  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Gulf  of 
California.  In  the  northwest  of  the  Territory  we  find  the  Madi- 
son and  Gallatin,  two  of  the  sources  of  the  Missouri,  both  rising 
in  the  Yellowstone  National  Park;  the  Yellowstone  river,  the 
largest  tributary  of  the  Missouri,  rising  in  the  Wind  River  Moun- 
tains, and  traversing  Yellowstone  National  Park  and  the  Yellow- 
stone lake;  East  fork,  Clarke's  fork,  the  Big  Horn  river  and 
its  numerous  branches ;  the  Tongue  river,  the  Powder  river  and 


J2i6  OUK    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

its  tributaries,  all  afnucnts  of  the  Yellowstone  ;  while  the  Little 
Missouri,  the  North  fork  or  Belle  Fourche  river,  and  the  Big 
Cheyenne  with  its  forks  and  branches;  the  Eau  qui  Court  or 
Niobrara  and  the  North  fork  of  the  Platte  river,  which  traverses 
half  the  Territory,  are  all  affluents  of  the  Missouri  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  waterinc^  the  northern,  eastern  and 
southeastern  portions  of  the  Territory.  All  of  these  carry  their 
waters  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

There  arc  two  lakes  of  considerable  size,  Yellowstone  and 
Shoshone,  in  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  and  several  of 
somewhat  smaller  dimensions,  in  the  southern  and  central  por- 
tions of  the  Territory. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy. — The  crests,  and,  indeed,  the  bulk 
of  the  mountain  masses  of  all  the  ranges  of  the  Territory  are 
eozoic,  being  composed  mainly  of  red  feldspathic  granite  and 
syenite  and  gneiss,  while  the  lower  slopes  are  silurian,  forming 
narrow  belts  around  the  higher  mountain  slopes.  To  these  suc- 
ceed the  more  distinctly  fossiliferous  formations,  Devonian,  car- 
boniferous, triassic,  Jurassic  and  cretaceous  rocks,  succeeding 
each  other  in  regular  order.  Between  the  Big  Horn  and  Wind 
River  Ranges,  the  plateau  is  mainly  carboniferous,  triassic  and 
Jurassic,  with  a  small  tract  of  cretaceous  groups  in  the  centre. 
The  elevated  plains  are  mostly  cretaceous,  but  overlaid  with  ter- 
tiary sands,  gravel  and  drift,  with  occasionally  extensive  deposits 
of  llfrnite  or  brown  coal.  The  coal  beds  alone  and  near  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway,  near  Evanston,  at  Rockspring,  from  Point 
of  Rocks  to  Table  Rock,  at  Carbon  Station,  and,  indeed,  all  along 
that  road,  are  probably  lignite,  as  they  occur  in  tertiary  deposits, 
but  they  differ  in  appearance  and  quality  from  the  European  lig- 
nites, containing  from  fifty  to  seventy-six  per  cent,  of  fixed  carbon, 
and  are  equal  to  most  of  the  best  bituminous  coals  for  all  pur- 
poses of  combustion.  Some  of  them  are  true  coking  coals.  They 
are  used  not  only  on  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railways,  but 
in  the  villages  and  towns  on  the  line  of  those  roads  between 
Omaha  and  San  Francisco.  Recently  the  coal  of  Utah  and  Col- 
orado has  come  in  competition  with  them,  and  that  of  New  Mexico 
will  do   so.     The  consumption  of  Wyoming  coal   in   1S76  was 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERALOGY  OF   WYOMING.  12 17 

524,000  tons,  and  has  since  largely  increased.  But  if  these  coal 
beds  in  Southern  Wyoming  are  lignite,  there  is  undoubtedly  an 
abundance  of  true  coal,  from  the  coal  measures  of  the  carbonif- 
erous era,  on  the  North  fork  of  Platte  river,  above  and  below  Fort 
Fetterman,  at  the  head  waters,  and,  indeed,  along  the  whole  line 
of  Powder  river,  on  the  North  fork  or  Belle  Fourche  river,  and 
on  the  Bie  Cheyenne.  There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  it 
will  be  found  on  the  plateau  between  the  Wind  river  and  Big 
Horn  Mountains. 

At  numerous  points  throughout  the  Territory  there  have  been 
found  petroleum  springs,  and  wells  have  been  sunk  which  have 
proved  moderately  profitable.  These  springs  have  been  found 
on  the  Bear  river,  in  the  extreme  southwest  of  the  Territory,  at 
several  points  on  the  North  fork  of  Platte  river,  particularly  near 
South  Pass  City,  and  near  Fort  Casper,  and  on  the  branches  of 
the  Big  Cheyenne.  The  petroleum  springs,  near  South  Pass 
City,  are  said  to  yield  a  very  large  supply,  and  are  adding  mate- 
rially to  the  freight  receipts  of  the  Union  Pacific. 

The  precious  metals  are  found  at  many  points  in  the  Territor)', 
gold  predominating,  either  in  placers  or  in  quartz  veins  in  most 
cases,  though  in  a  few  instances  silver  and  gold  occur  together. 
On  Crow  creek,  twenty  miles  west  of  Cheyenne,  in  the  Seminole 
Mountains,  and  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains, 
and  at  some  other  points,  silver  (argentiferous  galena)  has  been 
discovered  in  pro.ximity  to  the  gold.  In  the  Bear  Lodge  Range, 
in  the  Black  Hills,  at  Inyan  Kara  and  other  points  in  that  region, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Laramie  Peak,  directly  north  of  the  North  Park 
in  Colorado,  in  the  Sweet  W^ater  Mountains,  on  the  Wind  river, 
and  at  the  sources  of  Crazy  Woman's  fork,  quartz  mines,  yielding 
fair  amounts  of  gold,  as  well  as  rich  placers,  have  been  found. 
Doubtless  these  deposits  are  not  as  rich  nor  as  actively  worked 
as  those  of  some  of  the  other  States  and  Territories  adjacent; 
for  all  of  the  mining  enterprises  of  W^yoming  have  been  but  lan- 
guidly pushed,  either  from  the  want  of  men,  of  means,  of  water, 
or  of  yield  sufficient  to  stimulate  active  enterprise.  The  whole 
gold  and  silver  production  of  Wyoming,  which  was  known  to 
have  been  deposited  in  the  mints  and  assay  offices  of  the  United 

77 


j^jg  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

States  from  the  first  discovery  of  gold  and  silver  there  to  June 
30,  1880,  was  but  $728,760.33.  Doubdess  considerable  amounts 
were  sent  through  other  States  and  Territories,  and  some  was 
not  deposited;  but  even  if  we  allow  as  much  more  for  these  con- 
tingencies, the  amount  would  be  but  litde  more  than  ^125,000 
per  year. 

Of  other  metals  and  minerals,  several  ores  of  iron,  particularly, 
haematite,  magnetic  oxide,  and  red  oxide  of  superior  quality,  occur 
in  immense  quantities.  The  red  oxide,  at  Rawlins'  Springs,  is 
used  for  making  a  mineral  paint  of  great  excellence.  Copper 
and  lead  are  found  in  paying  quantities,  but  are  not  as  yet  de- 
veloped. Near  Laramie  City  are  a  cluster  of  lakes  which  yield 
a  pure  sulphate  of  soda,  many  feet  in  thickness  ;  and  about  sixty 
miles  north  of  Rawlins  are  two  soda  lakes,  estimated  to  contain 
125,000  tons  of  carbonate  of  soda  of  great  purity.  There  are 
also  soda  springs  near  Fort  Bridger  and  at  other  points  in  the 
Territory. 

Sulphur  deposits  and  sulphurous  springs  occur  at  many  points. 
Wyoming  claims  that  she  has  the  finest  beds  of  statuary  marble 
in  the  United  States,  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Laramie,  and 
easily  accessible  by  w^ay  of  Cooper  Lake  Station,  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railway. 

Forests,  Soil  and  Vegetation. — The  explorations  of  Professor 
Hayden  and  his  party,  and  those  of  still  later  surveyors  and  ex- 
plorers, justify  the  estimate  that  there  are  not  less  than  6,000,000 
acres  of  arable  lands,  and  that  the  grazing  lands  are  not  far 
from  35,000,000  acres.  Most  of  the  arable  lands  require  irrigation 
for  successful  cultivation,  but  this  is  easily  obtainable  in  all  the 
lands  fit  for  cultivation  ;  and  under  its  influence,  even  the  alkaline 
and  sage  brush  lands  yield  bountiful  crops. 

The  grazing  lands  are  very  generally  covered  with  buffalo 
•rrass,  and  even  the  desert  lands  have  an  abundance  of  the  white 
sage  brush,  which,  after  it  is  touched  wnth  the  frost,  is  preferred 
by  cattle  to  almost  any  other  food.  The  mountains  are  clothed 
with  a  thick  growth  of  pine,  spruce  and  hemlock  trees,  of  large 
size ;  the  foot-hills  have  some  pine,  spruce,  aspen,  walnut,  elm, 
ash,  box-elder,  hackberry,  and  red  cedar  of  smaller  growth,  while 


ZOOLOGY  A.\D    CLIMATE.  I2ig 

the  river  bottoms  are  abundantly  supplied  with  two  species  of 
Cottonwood  and  thickets  of  willows.  There  are  considerable 
tracts  of  alkaline  lands  among  them.  The  United  States  Ex- 
ploring Expedition,  under  Professor  Idayden,  described  and 
named  195  species  of  plants,  many  of  them  peculiar  to  the 
Territory. 

Zoology, — The  wild  animals  of  Wyoming  are  :  the  grizzly  bear 
(not  very  common),  black  bear,  gray  wolf,  prairie  wolf,  or  coyote, 
badger,  wolverine,  otter,  fisher,  porcupine,  mink,  skunk,  little 
ermine,  buffalo,  elk  (more  abundant  in  Wyoming  and  Colorado 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  West),  mule,  or  black- tailed  deer,  the 
common  deer,  big  horn,  or  mountain  sheep,  prong  horn  antelope, 
the  Rocky  Mountain  goat,  or  goat  antelope,  four  species  of  hare 
or  rabbits,  four  of  squirrels,  two  of  prairie  dogs,  gopher,  muskrat, 
two  species  of  mouse,  etc.  In  all,  more  than  thirty  species  of 
mammals  have  been  described  in  the  Territory,  and  124  species 
of  birds,  including  twelve  or  thirteen  birds  of  prey;  many  game 
birds,  including  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  duck  and  teal  family,  six 
species  of  grouse,  ptarmigan,  etc.,  and  a  large  number  of  song 
birds ;  there  are  more  than  eighty  species  of  mollusks.  Reptiles 
are  not  numerous.  Trout  are  abundant  in  the  mountain  streams, 
and  other  fresh  water  food  fishes  are  plentiful. 

Climate. — The  average  mean  temperature  of  the  whole  Terri- 
tory is  about  44°  Fahrenheit.  In  the  mountains  it  is,  in  some  years 
as  low  as  36°,  while  on  the  plains  in  the  east  it  averages  45°  to 
46°,  and  in  the  Green  river  region,  in  the  southwest,  it  is  about 
42°.  The  summers  are,  for  the  most  part,  cool  and  comfortable, 
though  in  some  years  the  temperature  rises  to  103°  in  the  hottest 
part  of  the  day.  The  nights  are  cool.  The  cold  of  winter  is  at 
times  intense,  the  winds  and  snow  sweeping  over  the  vast  plains 
with  almost  irresistible  fury.  The  "blizzard"  is  a  painfully  fami- 
liar term  in  the  winter  months.  The  mercury  falls  from  15°  to 
25°  below  zero.  Stock  requires  to  be  sheltered  for  two  or  three 
months,  thoui^rh  stock-raisers  too  often  neirlect  this,  \.o  their  Lrreat 
loss.  The  annual  rainfall  ranges  from  8  to  13.5  inches,  and  it  is 
an  objection,  though  not  an  insuperable  one,  to  the  settlement  of 
the  Territory,  for  irrigation  can   be  resorted   to  at  less  expense 


I220 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


and  with  as  much  certainty  of  good  crops  resulting  as  in  any 
State  or  Territory  of  "Our  Western  Empire."  We  give  below 
the  meteorology  of  Cheyenne,  which  is  nearly  a  fair  average  of 
that  of  the  whole  Territory. 

Meteorology  of  Cheye^me,    Wyo7ning  Territory. 


Latitude,  41°  12'  north.    Longitude,  104°  42'.   Elevation  above  sea,  6,057.25  feet. 


Date. 

Months. 


1S77. 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November , 

December 

1878. 

January  

February 

March 

April    

May 

June 

Totals  for  year 

1878. 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

1879. 

January    

February  

March 

April 

May 

June , 

1  o.als  for  year 


Temperature. 


aj3 

E  ^ 


70.2 
67.9 
56.2 
40.0 
30.1 
28.9 


253 

'■9 


30 
38 
43 
47 
5» 


45.8 


u 

3 

I. 

tt 

a 

E 
u 

e 


96 

9' 

83 
77 
55 
64 


49 

58 
70 

71 

76 
86 


a 

E 

E 

3 

'5 


43 
44 

27 

3 


—  9 
6 

»3 

'9 
28 

35 


44.8 

96 

70.2 

92 

68.3 

9' 

524 

87 

42.4 

73 

36.7 

67 

20.0 

5b 

24  3 

6d 

3'o 

59 

39-3 

77 

44-3 

72 

56.3 

86 

64  I 

92 

44 
45 
23 

—  4 
2 

— 12 


—15 

—  6 

8 

22 

30 

32 


108 


48 
46 
64 
77 
65 
68 


75 
65 
69 
SO 
56 
60 


Barom- 

eter. 

i-a 

•J  c 

0  rt 

C    3 

>-  rt 

—  J 

H  O" 

S  c    • 

0  5  c 

■^.0  « 

,  —  > 

H-O.H 

u  a>  u 

•^ 

inches. 

i9<^39 

30.073 

29993 

29973 

29  942 

'9-953 

29.876 

1.9  7&0 

20  868 

29- 773 

299-7 

30.025 

92 


-IS      1107 

I 


29  933 


.049 
.094 
.023 
.976 
.998 
947 

896 

856 
9:7 
925 
947 
961 


Winds. 


P^ 


Q 
S. 

w. 
w. 
w. 
w. 


N.  W. 
N.W. 
N.W 
N.  VV. 
N.W. 
N.W. 


o 


6  621 
6,398 
6,654 
7.005 
3  97J 
7,155 


7,493 

10,024 

8,707 

4,857 
5,288 


N. 


29.971 


N.W. 


S. 
N,  W. 
N.  W. 

N.W. 
N.W. 

N.W. 


N  W. 

W. 
N.  W. 
,N.W.,&  W, 
S. 

w. 


88,153 


N.  W. 


Humidity. 


E.= 

< 


inches. 
0.43 
0.83 
2.02 
1.99 
0.17 
0-33 

0.08 

013 
1.16 
0.19 
4.46 
1. 71 


•47 


1-43 
2.50 
0.75 
0.04 
0.00 
0.19 


0.32 
0.20 
0.44 
1.66 

'■30 
0.07 

8.90 


■^  >.' 


•c  o 


'-'  a 

GO      I*— .:: 

3  J=      1  o  a 


I  o 


per  ct. 

3I-4 
36.8 

42.4 
61. 1 

64.9 
48.0 


■;2.T 

48.4 
58.9 
4«-9 
58.3 
57  9 

50.8 


52.1 
59.2 

5'-4 
46.6 

55-3 
65.9 


61.3 

52-5 
44.2 
52.1 
41.6 

33-4 

51-3 


Agricultural  Productions  and  Stock- Raising. — It  is  impossible 
to  give  any  very  definite  estimates  of  the  amount  of  agricultural 
productions  of  Wyoming  Territory,  until  the  census  report  on 
that  subject  is  made  public.  There  is  very  little  land  in  the  Ter- 
ritory which  at  the  present  time  will  produce  good  crops  without 
irrigation,  and  the  poorest  arable  lands  of  the  Territory  lie  along 


STOCK-RAISING   IN    WYOMING.  I  22  I 

the  route  of  the  Union  Pacific.  The  valleys  in  the  Big  Horn 
and  Wind  River  Mountains,  especially  the  rormer,.are  very  fertile 
and  easily  irrigated.  Probably  not  more  than  300,000  acres  of 
the  6,000,000  acres  of  fertile  lands  are  as  yet  under  cultivation,  per- 
haps even  less  than  that.  Good  crops  of  the  cereals,  except  In- 
dian corn  ;  potatoes  and  other  root  crops,  and  some  of  the  varieties 
of  sorcdium,  can  be  ijrown  here;  and  when  once  the  tide  of  devel- 
opment  begins,  Wyoming  w^ill  be  able  to  provide  breadstuffs  and 
vegetables  for  her  own  markets,  and  very  possibly  a  surplus  for 
the  oreneral  market. 

Her  hve-stock  production  is  more  encouraging.  More  than 
one-half  of  the  area  of  the  Territory  is  well  adapted  to  grazing, 
and  the  buffalo-erass  and  bunch-crrass  are  the  best  and  most 
nutritious  food  for  cattle  to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  continent. 
The  stock-growers  have  not  given  so  much  attention  as  they 
should  to  improving  the  breeds  of  their  catde  and  sheep,  pur- 
chasing Te.xas  cows  and  steers  and  fatteninor  them  for  market, 
thoueh  some  of  them  are  now  introducinc^  Durham.  Devon  and 
Holstein  bulls,  and  improving  their  poor  and  scrawny  Mexican 
sheep  by  an  infusion  of  the  best  Merino,  Southdown,  Cotswold 
or  Lincoln  blood  ;  but  a  large  majority  content  themselves  with 
raising  Texan  steers,  which,  at  four  years  old,  sell  for  $28,  when, 
at  an  expense  of  not  more  than  fifty  cents  per  head  more,  they 
mi'i^ht  raise  a  LTade  Devon  or  Durham  steer,  which  at  the  same 
age  would  bring  $45  ;  or,  if  they  are  sheep-farmers,  will  rear  the 
Mexican  sheep,  which  will  yield  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  and 
a  half  pounds  of  long,  coarse  wool,  when  they  might,  for  fifteen 
cents  a  head  more,  raise  a  grade  Cotswold  or  Merino,  which  would 
yield  from  five  to  seven  pounds  of  better  wool.  In  1877  a  careful 
examination  indicated  that  there  were  150,000  cattle  and  ioo,oco 
sheep  in  the  Territory.  General  Brisbin  thinks  that  in  1880 
there  were  about  250.000  cattle  and  over  200.C00  sheep  there. 
The.  catde  sent  to  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  from  Wyoming  in  1880 
brought  a  little  more  than  $2,000,000,  and  the  wool  about  $250,- 
000.  The  number  of  horses  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  several 
wealthy  stock-growers  have  gone  into  this  business  verj-  largely. 
There  are  probably  100,000  horses  and  mules  in   the  Territory. 


1222  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  Territory  is  less  favorable  for  swine-breeding,  and  diere  has 
not  been  much  done  in  that  line. 

Mamifachu'cs  and  Miimig. — Manufactures  are  yet  in  their  in- 
fancy in  the  Territory.  In  1870  the  products  of  manufactures 
were  stated  in  the  census  as  ^874,824.  In  1877  Mr.  Robert  E. 
Strahorn,  after  careful  inquiry,  estimated  the  amount  of  products  at 
^3,9 1 8, 1  20.  The  largest  items  were  machinery,  railroad  repairing, 
etc.,  which  amounted  to  ^1,429,420;  railroad  ties,  poles,  posts, 
etc.,  $455,360;  sawed  lumber,  $345,000;  sales  of  tanned  robes, 
hides  and  furs,  $295,000;  charcoal,  $240,000;  and  milled  quartz, 
$215,000;  and  blacksmithing,  $235,500;  in  all,  about  $3,200,000 
of  the  $3,900,000  in  manufactures,  requiring  very  little  skilled 
labor.  Some  branches  of  manufacture  have  been  largely  devel- 
oped since  1877,  and  the  amount  of  products  is  not  now  probably 
less  than  $4,500,000.  Mr.  Strahorn  estimated  the  mining  pro- 
duct in  1877  at  $2,911,000,  of  which  the  greater  part  was  coal. 
There  are  now  some  iron  mines  and  petroleum  wells,  which  had 
not  then  been  discovered  or  worked,  and  the  mining  product, 
though  there  has  been  some  falling  off  in  gold,  has  probably  in- 
creased in  all  to  about  $3,500,000. 

Railways. — The  Union  Pacific  Railway  traverses  the  southern 
part  of  this  Territory  from  east  to  west,  having  a  length  of  470 
miles  in  it.  .  There  is  no  other  railway  in  operation  in  the  Terri- 
tory except  five  or  six  miles  of  the  Colorado  Central,  extending 
from  Cheyenne  to  Denver..  Two  or  thrc(^  other  railways  have 
been  projected,  but  none  of  them  are  yet  built.  One  was  pro- 
posed to  the  Black  Hills  from  the  Union  Pacific;  but  if  it  is  ever 
built,  it  will  probably  start  from  Sidney,  Nebraska,  and  may  not 
enter  Wyoming  at  all.  Another  was  proposed  from  Point  of 
Rocks  or  Green  River  City  to  the  Yellowstone  Park,  but  this  has 
been  forestalled  by  the  construction  of  the  Utah  and  Northern 
Railroad,  which  now  proposes  to  build  a  branch  from  Market  lake 
or  some  other  point  in  that  vicinity  to  Shoshone  lake,  in  the 
Park,  and  in  that  case  will  not  enter  Wyoming.  Lasdy,  the 
Northern  Pacific  has  projected  a  branch  from  the  point  where  its 
Yellowstone  Division  crosses  the  Yellowstone  river,  to  follow  that 
river  up  to  Yellowstone  lake,  in  the  Park.  This  road  may  be 
built  before  the  close  of  the  present  year  (1881). 


POPULATION  AND   EDUCATION. 


1223 


Population. — The  following  table  gives  the  particulars  of  the 
population  of  Wyoming  in  1870  and  18S0,  the  only  years  in 
which  anything  like  an  enumeration  has  been  had : 

Population. 


i    - 

1         ci 

to 

>H 

^ 

cu 

c 

tJ 

CO 

3 

• 

aj 

to 

1) 

<u 

a 

Cens 

CJ 

0 

IS 

Coloi 

India 

1870 

11,518* 

7,219 

1,899 

5,605 

3,513 

8,726 

183 

2,466 

1880 

22,938t 

14,157 

6,637 

14,943 

5,845 

19,436 

299 

2,289 

CO 

>.  10 

OJ 

7?  00   d 

"-  ■* 

tJD  y  1-  £ 

>^ 

"i. 

>, 

atio  of 
1  crease. 

§    «    X 

B   1 
.t^  CO 

•^   w   ^    aJ 

u5 

10 

C 

in 

C 

"in 

C 

(U 

-5  ^^ 

<*-  tc  0 

<^    tiDj3 

0    N    d-O! 

itizen 

U 

u 

Q 

W  ►:::; 

•-H 

o<m 

o<S 

o<  sm 

^ 

1870 

143 

0.09 

602 

856 

6,056 

7,156 

5-297 

1880 

914 

o.iS 

99.8 

Editcation. — The  educational  statistics  of  Wyoming  are  not  so 
late  as  could  be  wished.  There  were  in  the  Territory  in  1S77, 
which  is  the  latest  report  which  we  have  been  able  to  obtain.  16 
school  buildings,  27  schools,  a  school  population  of  1,690  children, 
1,543  pupils  enrolled  in  the  schools;  the  amount  of  wages  paid 
to  teachers  was  ;^i8,i69;  the  value  of  school  property,  ^60,500. 
All  the  counties  had  surplus  school  funds,  and  some  of  them  were 
arranging  to  erect  new  buildings  and  make  other  improvements. 
There  are  good  schools  at  Cheyenne,  Laramie  and  one  or  two 
other  points.  There  are  no  collegiate  schools,  colleges  or  univer- 
sities in  the  Territory.  Provision  is  made  at  the  expense  of  the 
Territory  for  deaf  mutes  and  the  blind. 

Religious  DcnomijiatioJis. — There  were,  in  1875,  20  church 
orcfanizations,  17  church  edifices,  11  clerfrvmen,  ministers  or 
priests,  427  conimunicants,  3,570  adherent  population,  and  $^6,- 


*  Including  2,400  tribal  Indians.         f  Includiug  3,150  tribal  Indians. 


1224 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


500  of  church  property.  Among-  these  there  were  2  Baptist 
churches,  i  ordained  minister,  50  members,  300  adherent  popu- 
lation, and  ^,7, 000  church  property  ;  the  CongregationaHsts  had 
about  the  same  numbers  throughout.  There  were:  4  Episcopal 
churches,  with  3  church  edifices,  2  clergymen,  116  communicants, 
696  adherent  population,  and  ;^i  2,000  church  property.  The 
Methodists  had  just  about  the  same  numbers,  but  their  church 
property  was  not  estimated  at  more  than  ^9,000 ;  the  Presbyte- 
rians had  almost  the  same  figures,  and  ^i  2,000  of  church  property. 
The  Roman  Catholics  had  3  churches  and  10  stations,  2  priests, 
about  1,000  adherent  population,  and  ^10,000  of  church  prop- 
erty. There  were  two  or  three  of  the  minor  denominations,  with 
one  church  each.  Since  1875  these  numbers  have  materially  in- 
creased, but  we  cannot  give  exact  figures. 

Counties. — There  are  seven  counties.    The  following  table  gives 
the  names,  area,  population  and  assessed  valuation  of  each : 


Counties. 


Albany 

Carbon 

Crook 

Laramie.... 

Pease 

Sweetwater, 
Uintah 


in 


10,400 
22,080 

new 

i6,Soo 

new 

29.532 
17,064 


95.876 


o 
00 

00 


O 

Ph 


4,625 

3'438 

239 
6,409 

637 

2,561 

2,879 


20,788* 


.2 


>  CO 

^         M 


< 


$1,850,000 
1,900,000 

3,500,000 

i 
1,918,449 

800,000     I 


Pnncipal  Towns. — Cheyenne,  the  capital,  has  a  good  location 
and  good  trade.  The  population  probably  exceeds  4,000.  Lar- 
amie, fifty-six  miles  farther  west,  is  a  tfiriving  town  of  over  3,000 
inhabitants.  Rawlins  and  Evanston  have  each  over  1,000,  and 
Green  River  City,  Rock  Springs,  Hilliard,  South  Pass  and  At- 
lantic City  are  growing  towns. 


*  Without  tribal  Indians. 


HISTORICAL    NOTES    ON    WyOMlNG.  I22C 

Objects  of  Interest. — There  are  many  of  these  in  the  Territory, 
some  the  results  of  erosion,  others  of  volcanic  action,  and  others 
still  of  subterraneous  convulsions  and  chemical  action  in  the  crreat 

o 

laboratory  of  nature.  But  the  greatest  wonder  of  all — rather  the 
greatest  collection  of  wonders — the  Yellowstone  National  Park — 
deserves  and  shall  have  a  consideration  more  lull  than  can  be 
given  to  it  in  a  single  paragraph,  for  it  is  unrivalled  in  the  variety 
and  grandeur  of  its  attractions  by  an\'  other  known  tract  of  the 
earth's  surface.  But  before  proceeding  to  joortray  as  vividly  as 
we  may  this  wonderland  in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  we  must 
give  a  little  space  to  the  early  history  of  this  Territory  and  its 
natural  wonders. 

Historical  Notes. — Wyoming  Territory,  and  especially  the  Big 
Horn  region  and  the  country  about  Yellowstone  lake  and  the 
sources  of  the  Yellowstone,  was  probably  known  to  the  Spanish 
adventurers  of  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  centur)-.  That 
they  were  cut  off  by  the  Indians  some  time  between  1650  and 
1680  is  a  matter  of  tradition  among  the  Mexican  priests.  More 
than  a  century  later  (in  i78i),an  expedition,  accompanied  by 
Jesuit  missionaries,  set  out  for  this  region  from  Santa  Fe,  but  did 
not  return.  In  1866  the  remains  of  an  old  Spanish  arastra — a 
contrivance  for  crushing  quartz,  which  we  have  elsewhere  de- 
scribed— was  found  near  Lake  de  Smet,  in  the  Bio-  Horn  Moun- 
tains,  and  subsequently  other  Spanish  ruins  of  houses  and 
fortifications  were  found  in  the  same  vicinity.  The  more  recent 
discoveries  in  Wyoming  are  due  mainly  to  two  men.  Father  Peter 
John  de  Smet,  a  Jesuit  priest  and  missionary,  who  visited  and 
explored  much  of  the  Territory  in  183S  and  1839,  and  Captain 
James  Bridger,  who,  with  his  partner,  Vasquez,  built  a  trading 
fort  near  the  present  site  of  Fort  Laramie.  There  had  been, 
however,  a  fur-trading  post  established  in  that  vicinit)'  as  early 
as  1834,  and  rebuilt  by  the  American  Fur  Company  in  1836. 
Captain  Bridger  says,  with'the  Western  habit  of  humorous  exag- 
geration, that  he  was  there  when  Laramie  Peak  hadn't  begun  to 
grow,  and  was  a  hole  in  the  ground  (Laramie  Peak  being  now 
10,000  feet  above  the  sea),  but  he  probably  docs  not  much  ante- 
date 1839.     I'ort  Bridger  was  held  by  Messrs.  Bridger  and  V^as- 


1226  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

quez  till  1S54,  when  they  sold  it  to  the  Mormons,  who  burned  it 
in  1857,  but  it  was  rebuilt  by  the  United  States  in  1858.  Several 
forts  and  camps,  six  in  all,  have  since  been  built  for  the  protection 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  and  the  mining  settlements.  The 
Territory  was  oro-anized  by  Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  25, 
1868.  Its  growth  has  been  slow,  partly  because  the  Indians  were 
troublesome,  and  partly  because  the  land  was  not  as  easily  or 
successfully  cultivated  as  in  some  of  the  other  Territories.  There 
had  been  no  serious  fighting-  with  the  Indians  until  1876,  when 
the  Sioux,  in  the  extreme  northeast  of  the  Territory,  In  the  Black 
Hills,  attacked  General  Custer's  command  and  completely  de- 
stroyed it.  The  Sioux  have  since  been  expelled  from  the  Terri- 
tory, and  there  are  now  only  a  band  of  the  Eastern  Shoshones, 
numbering  1,250  and  partially  civilized,  and  a  smaller  band  of 
the  Northern  Arapahoes,  nunibering  900,  in  the  Territory.  These 
are  both  on  the  Shoshone  Reservation,  which  contains  1,520,000 
acres,  with  a  fair  proportion  of  tillable  land,  and  are  peaceable 
and  quiet. 

The  Territory  is  deserving  of  a  better  reputation  than  it  has 
had  in  the  past,  *and  will  be  found  desirable  for  those  who  are 
disposed  to  engage  in  stock-raising  or  the  breeding  of  horses ; 
while  parties  who  have  some  means  can  invest  them  very  profit- 
ably in  some  of  the  rich  valleys  of  ihe  Big  Horn  or  Wind  River 
Mountains,  and  with  a  moderate  irrigation  can  produce  abundant 
crops,  for  which  they  will  find  a  ready  home  market.  The  con- 
struction of  railways,  to  render  the  Yellowstone  National  Park 
readily  accessible,  will  not  only  call  many  thousands  to  Wy- 
oming, but  will  greatly  increase  the  demand  for  agricultural 
products,  W'hich  ought  to  be  supplied  by  Wyoming  farmers. 


BOUNDARIES   OF    YELLOWSTONE   PARK 


1227 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

TEE  YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK. 

Situation — Boundaries  and  Area — Irs  Recent  Discovery  and  Exploration 
— The  Act  of  Congress  setting  it  apart  as  a  National  Park — The  Park 
drained  into  the  Pacific  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — Its  Volcanic  Char- 
acter— Not  of  much  Value  as  an  Agricultural  Region — Inaccessible 
except  from  the  North  and  West — Eastern  Pari-  not  fully  Explored — 
No  Mineral  Wealth  yet  Discovered  except  in  the  Northeast  Corner — 
The  Approach  to  the  Park  at  the  Norih — The  Canon  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, outside  the  Park — Cinnadar  Mountain — ^"  The  Devil's  Slide  " — • 
Entrance  to  the  Park — Rapid  Review  of  the  Oijjects  to  be  Visited — 
Sepulchre  Mountain — Canon  of  Gardiner's  River — Mammoth  Hot 
Springs — Tower  Creek  and  Falls — The  Columns  and  Towers  of  Tower 
Creek  Canon — Mount  Washburn — The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellow- 
stone— Yellowstone  Lake — The  Lakes  of  theSouthern  Tour,  Heart, 
Lewis  and  Shoshone — The  Cross  Cut  which  avoids  these — The  Upper 
and  Lower, Geyser  Basins  of  the  Fire  Hole  or  Upper  Madison  River — 
The  Geyser  Basins  of  Gibbon's  Fork — The  Wonders  of  Beaver  Lake 
and  the  Obsidian  Cliffs — Return  to  Mammoth  Hor  Springs — Time  in 
which  the  Trip  can  be  made — The  Wonders  in  Detail — Mammoth  Hot 
Springs — Mr.  Strahorx's  Description— The  Route  to  Tower  Creek 
Falls  and  Canon — Hon.  N.  P.  Langford  and  Lieut.  Doane's  Eulogy  of 
THEM — The  Ascent  to  Mojni-  Washburn — Rev.  Dr.  Hovi's  Eloquent 
Picture  of  the  View  from  its  Summit — The  Descent  from  Mount  Wash- 
burn— The  Old  and  the  New  Trail — The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellow- 
stone— Its  Bed  Inaccessible  at  most  Points — The  Upper  and  Lower 
Falls  of  the  Yellowstone — The  L.\tter  at  the  Head  of  the  Grand 

•  Canon — Dr.  Hovi's  Eloquent  Description  of  the  Falls  and  the  Canon 
— The  Trail  to  Yellowstone  Lake — The  Lake  Itself — Irs  Shape  Com- 
pared to  the  Human  Hand — Professor  Raymond's  Criticism  of  the 
Comparison — The  Elevation  of  the  Lake — Professor  Hayden's  State- 
ment only  Correct  if  applied  to  Large  Lakes — Height  of  Colorado 
Lakes — The  Yellowstone  River  Flows  throu(;h  the  Lake — The  Lake 
NOT  ITS  Source — Affluents  of  the  Lake — Mineral  and  Hot  Spk!nc;s  on 
ITS  Banks — Irs  Waters  Generally  very  Vvkv.  and  Sweet — The  Trout 
iNFEsrED  wi III  Worms — BEAurv  of  the  Lake — Marshall's  Description 
— Strahorn's  Poetical  Picture — Professor  Rav.mond's  Eulogy — Rev.  Dr. 
Hoyt's  Pen  Portraiture  of  it — Moving  Forward — The  Upper  and  Lower 
Geyser  B.\sins — Explanations  in  regard  to  Gevseks — Those  of  Iceland 


1228  <^^'^^'     yVE STERN  EMPIRE. 

■IHE    ONLY    OTHERS    OF    NOTE    IN    THE    WORLD — CHARACTER    OF    THE    GeYSER 

Eruption — Old  and  Recent  Geysers — The  Upper  Geyser  Basin — Rev. 
Edwin  Stanley's  "Parade  of  ihe  Geysers  " — The  Geysers  not  all  in 
Action  at  once — Lieutenant  Barlow  on  the  Fan  and  Well  Geysers — 
The  Grotto — Mr.  Norton's  Description^Lieutenant  Doane  on  the 
Grand  Geyser — Professor  Raymond  on  the  Lower  Geyser  Basin — The 
Langs  or  Extinct  Geysers — Geyserdom  not  Paradise— Dr.  Hoyt's  De- 
scription of  the  Desolation — The  Geysers  and  Hot  Springs  of  Gib- 
con's  Fork — Beaver  Lake — The  Obsidian  Cliffs — Mountains  of  Glass — 
Review  of  the  whole — Accessibility  of  the  Park — Its  Future  Attrac- 
tions— Its  Quiet  and  Beautiful  Valleys  and  Glades — Distances  within 
the  Park. 

The  Yellowstone  National  Park  is  a  region  about  sixty-five 
miles  long-  by  fifty-five  miles  wide,  situated  mostly  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  Wyoming  Territory,  but  on  its  north  and  west  sides 
stretching  a  few  miles  into  the  adjacent  Territories  of  Montana 
and  Idaho.  It  covers  an  area  of  about  3,578  square  miles,  or 
2,298,920  acres,  having  an  extent  a  little  greater  than  that  of  the 
combined  States  of  Rhode  Island  and  Delaware.  In  this  reoion 
there  are  assembled  so  many  grand,  sublime  and  picturesque 
natural  objects,  and  such  a  variety  of  unique  and  marvellous 
phenomena,  that  when  an  account  of  some  of  the  most  remiarkable 
of  these  wonders  was  brought  before  Congress  in  the  report  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  under  Professor  Hayden, 
an  act  was  passed  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  both  Houses,  and 
approved  by  the  President,  March  i,  1872,  withdrawing  from 
sale  and  occupancy,  and  setting  apart  as  a  National  Park,  or 
perpetual  public  pleasure  ground,  for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of 
the  people,  the  area  above  described,  with  boundaries  designed 
to  include  the  chief  wonders  of  the  region,  and  described  as  fol- 
lows: "Commencing  at  the  junction  of  Gardiner's  river  with  the 
Yellowstone  river,  and  running  east  to  the  meridian  passing  ten 
miles  to  the  eastward  of  the  most  eastern  point  of  Yellowstone 
lake;  thence  south  along  said  meridian  to  the  parallel  of  latitude 
passing  ten  miles  south  of  the  most  southerly  point  of  Yellowstone 
lake;  thence  west  along  said  parallel  to  the  meridian  passing  fifteen 
miles  west  of  the  most  western  point  of  Madison  lake  ;  thence 
north  along  said  meridian  to  the  latitude  of  the  junction  of  the 


BOUNDARIES  FIXED  BY  CONGRESS.  1 229 

Yellowstone  and  Gardiner's  rivers  ;  thence  east  to  the  place  of 

be^inninof." 

The  region,  thus  bounded,  stretches  a  few  miles  east  of  the  me- 
ridian of  1 10°,  and  about  as  far  west  of  the  meridian  of  1 1 1°  west 
lonoitude  from  Greenwich,  and  a  few  miles  north  of  the  parallel 
of  45°,  and  not  quite  so  far  south  as  44°  north  latitude.  These 
boundaries  show  at  once  that  this  National  Park  is  not  like  the 
parks  of  Colorado,  which  are  strictly  natural  divisions  of  land, 
being  great  areas,  level  or  slightly  undulating,  enclosed  by  a  rim 
of  lofty  mountains,  whereas  the  boundaries  of  the  National  Park 
are  purely  artificial,  merely  referring  to  certain  natural  objects 
for  their  location. 

"Situated,"  says  Professor  William  I.  Marshall,  who  has 
made  this  great  wonderland  a  special  subject  of  study,  "along 
the  highest  part  of  that  great  culminating  area  of  North  America 
which  has  been  aptly  termed  'The  Crown  of  the  Continent,'  and 
from  which  pour  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  southeast, 
to  the  Gulf  of  California  on  the  southwest,  and  to  the  open  Pa- 
cific on  the  northwest,  the  mt^rhtiest  rivers  of  both  coasts  of 
the  continent,  the  Park  embraces  within  its  boundaries,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  country 
about  some  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Lewis  or  Snake  river,  the 
great  southerly  fork  of  the  Oregon  or  Columbia,  the  greatest 
river  of  the  Pacific  slope,  which  no  longer 

"  '  Hears  no  sound 

Save  its  own  dashing?;,' 

since  the  steamer's  wheels  now  vex  its  waters,  the  hum  of  varied 
industry  rises  from  its  fertile  valleys,  and  the  roar  of  the  railroad 
startles  the  echoes  along  its  dales.  Most  of  the  Park,  however, 
is  on  the  east  side  of  the  main  ran^e,  and  embraces  the  countrv 
about  the  headwaters  of  the  Madison  and  Gallatin  rivers,  which 
are  thu  middle  and  eastern  of  the  three  streams  which  unite  to 
form  the  Missouri  river,  and  much  of  the  upper  valley,  though 
not  the  extreme  headwaters  of  the  Yellowstone  river,  which  is  a 
stream  as  long  as  the  Rhine  or  the  Ohio,  far  surpasses  them  In 
the  sublimity  of  its  scenery,  and  is  the  greatest  tributar)-  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  Missouri  river. 


j^,Q  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"  Being  a  volcanic  region,  the  Park  (except  a  little  of  the  north- 
east corner  of  it,  where  silver  mines  exist)  is  valueless  for  mining 
purposes,  except  for  sulphur,  and  as  that  exists  in  unlimited  quan- 
tities at  points  nearer  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific,  notably 
at  a  point  forty  miles  southeast  of  Evanston,  the  extra  freight  on 
it  will  make  the   Park  deposit  economically  valueless.     As  the 
lowest  valleys  of  the  Park  are  more  than  6,000  and  most  of  them 
from  7,000  to  8,000  feet  above  the  sea,  its  altitude  and  latitude 
make  it  worthless  for  farming  purposes,  there  being  few  nights 
without  frosts.     Though  not  adapted  for  a  permanent  residence 
of  any  considerable  population,  the   Park,  with  its  opportunities 
for  sailing,  and  rowing,  and  fishing,  and  hunting,  with  the  grandest 
of  mountains  within  it  and  upon  its  borders,  and  the  purest  of  air 
ever  sweeping  over  it,  and  with  the  inducements  to  open  air  life 
and  exercise  offered  by  its  unique  and  enchanting  scenery,  is  pre- 
eminently fitted  for  a  public  pleasure  ground,  from  June  to  Oc- 
tober, and  especially  from  about  the  first  of  August  to  the  middle 
of  October.      Though  a  volcanic  region,  there  is  nowhere  in  the 
Park  any  opening  from  which  flame,  smoke,  ashes  or  lava  issues 
now,  or,  as  far  as  known,  has  issued  for  ages  past,  the  only  mani- 
festations of  the  volcanic  forces   now  being  limited   to  eruptions 
of  steam  and  hot  water ;  though  almost  everywhere  in  the  Park, 
and  outside  its  boundaries  in  many  directions,  are  vast  beds  and 
streams  of  ancient  lava,  showing  how  terrific  was  the  former  in- 
tensity of  the  volcanic  forces,  whose  declining  activity  now  only 
suffices   to    produce   steam   and   spout  boiling  water,  Instead,  as 
anciendy,  of  melting  down   into  indistinguishable  ruin   the  ada- 
mantine framework  of  the  continent,  and  spreading  it,  as  a  foam- 
ing torrent  of  fiery  devastation,  over  the  surface  of  mountains 
and  plains  for  an  area  of  scores  of  thousands  of  square  miles." 

The  Park  is  not  readily  accessible  from  Wyoming;  on  its  east- 
ern side  the  Wind  River  Range  presents  an  impassable  barrier 
of  lofty  walls  of  rock,  through  which  none  of  the  exploring  parties 
have  ever  been  able  to  find  a  practicable  pass  even  -for  pack 
animals;  on  the  southern  side  a  stage  road  extends  from  Green 
River  City  to  Camp  Brown,  a  distance  of  155  miles;  thence  a 
tolerable  waeon  road  exists  to  the  head  of  Wind  river,  a  distance 


UNlVfc-K^iTY  y 


I-ALLS  OF  TIIL  YtLi.uWbTuNL— ( (yt^'jvrj  oj  thd    Yeiloiasione). 


APPROACHES    TO    THE    PARK.  1 23 1 

of  1 10  miles  more;  but  from  thence  to  Yellowstone  lake,  a  dis- 
tance of  fifty  miles,  is  a  difficult  trail,  which  can  be  traversed  only 
on  foot  with  pack  animals  and  with  considerable  danger.  On 
the  west  side,  by  way  of  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railway,  from 
Ogden,  Utah,  stoppin^j  at  Pleasant  Valley,  there  is  a  wagon  road 
by  way  of  Red  Rock  and  Henry  lakes,  which  reaches  the  Upper 
Geyser  basin  by  about  sixty-five  miles  travel.  A  still  better 
route  is  that  by  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railway  to  the  vicinity 
of  Bozeman,  Montana,  from  thence  a  wagon  road  by  way  of 
Boteler's  Ranche,  only  about  thirteen  miles  distant  from  the  Park, 
with  a  eood  waofon  road  to  Gardiner's  river  and  the  mammoth 
Hot  Springs.  Before  the  close  of  the  present  year  (1881),  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  will  undoubtedly  be  completed  to  Fort 
Ellis  or  beyond,  and  probably  its  branch  to  the  Park,  so  that  this 
great  wonderland  will  then  be  for  the  first  time  easily  accessible 
by  the  shortest  and  swiftest  route. 

It  should  be  said  that  that  portion  of  the  Park  lying  east  of 
the  Yellowstone  river  and  lake  is  so  rough  and  mountainous  and 
possesses  so  few  attractions,  that  it  is  not  often  visited.  The 
lofty  mountain  chain  which  extends  from  the  southeastern  arm  of 
Yellowstone  lake  to  SlouHi  creek  and  the  Tower  creek  falls 
of  the  Yellowstone,  has  but  a  single  and  very  difiicult  pass 
over  it. 

The  elevated  plateau  enclosed  between  this  mountain  range 
and  the  Yellowstone  lake  and  river  affords  a  firte  pasture-ground 
for  the  elk,  black  buffalo,  deer,  bighorns  and  moose,  which,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Park,  are  so  ruthlessly  slaughtered  by  wanton 
tourists,  and  after  being  deprived  of  their  skins,  antlers,  or  horns, 
and  tongues,  are  left  to  be  the  prey  of  wolves,  panthers  and 
coyotes.  Amid  these  lofty  pasture-grounds  specimens  at  least 
of  our  great  game  animals  might  be  kept.  In  the  extreme  north- 
east corner  of  the  Park,  on  Clark's  fork  of  the  Yellowstone,  are 
some  mines  of  gold  and  perhaps  silver,  which  might  better  be 
ceded  to  the  miners  than  suffered  to  encroach  on  the  Park. 

The  attractive  features  of  the  Park  are  all  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Yellowstone  river,  and  west  of  the  east  or  southeast  shores  of 
the  Yellowstone  lake.    Approaching  the  Park  from  the  north,  from 


1232  O^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Bozeman  and  Boteler's  Ranche,  the  road  passes  first  along  what 
is  called  outside  the  Park  the  Upper  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone, 
a  narrow  passage  of  that  river  between  perpendicular,  rocky 
walls,  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet  in  height.  This  extends  for  about 
three  miles.  Ten  miles  farther  on,  Cinnabar  Mountain,  so  called 
from  its  surface  of  brilliant  red  clay  (the  color  being  due,  how- 
ever, to  red  ochre  and  not  to  cinnabar),  is  passed,  with  its  im- 
mense "  Devil's  Slide,"  a  huge  stone  trough,  which  extends  to  its 
summit,  with  smooth,  dark,  nearly  vertical  parallel  walls,  thirty 
feet  apart  and  200  feet  in  height.  A  short  distance  beyond  this 
we  enter  the  Park,  passing  between  Sepulchre  Mountain,  the 
northern  terminal  mountain  of  the  Upper  Madison  Range,  on 
the  right  hand,  looking  south,  and  the  caiion  of  Gardiner's  river, 
an  affluent  of  the  Yellowstone,  which  here  has  a  course  nearly 
west  by  south,  through  deeply  worn  banks.  Shortly  after  leaving 
Sepulchre  Mountain  we  come  to  a  terraced  hill,  quite  steep  and 
of  various  colors,  in  which  are  situated  the  Mammoth  Hot 
Springs,  whose  wonderful  forms  and  character  we  will  allow  an 
eye-witness  to  describe  presently.  Crossing  at  the  foot  of  these 
terraces  the  Gardiner  river  at  the  point  where  its  caiion  com- 
mences, we  ride  along  by  the  side  of  a  succession  of  cascades  of 
one  of  its  eastern  affluents,  and  striking  due  east,  at  a  distance 
of  twenty  miles,  reach  Barronette's  bridge  over  the  Yellowstone, 
and  a  little  above,  just  where  the  Yellowstone  emerges  from  its 
Grand  Canon,  Tower  creek  comes  in  from  the  west,  plunging 
down  156  feet,  and  within  the  next  two  hundred  yards  by  a  suc- 
cession of  rapids  leaping  into  a  dark  and  dismal  gorge,  260  feet 
in  depth.  Basaltic  tufa  cones  and  columns,  in  the  form  of  towers, 
turrets,  pinnacles  and  cathedrals,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  falls,  have 
suggested  its  name.  At  these  falls  the  Grand  Caiion  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, twenty  miles  in  length,  and  one  of  the  great  wonders  of  the 
Park,  terminates.  Southward  from  the  Tower  falls  commences  the 
long,  rolling,  and  somewhat  difficult  ascent  to  Mount  Washburn, 
the  Pisgah  of  the  Park,  from  the  summit  of  which  can  be  seen,  in 
near  or  distant  view,  all  its  glories.  Descending  from  the  moun- 
tain, the  trail  takes  us  again  to  the  Yellowstone  and  to  the  great 
falls  which  precede  its  plunge  into  the  Great  Caiion.     Reserving 


PRINCIPAL    OBJECTS   OF  INTEREST  IN  THE   PARK.  1233 

a  description  of  these  for  the  poetic  language  of  an  eye-witness, 
we  follow  the  course  of  the  river  to  Sulphur  Mountain,  with  its 
boiling  springs  of  sulphuretted  water,  then  four  miles  farther  to 
the  Mud  Volcano,  or  INIud  Geysers,  spouting  springs,  which 
throw  up  mal-odorous  mud  instead  of  water,  and  one  of  which, 
from  its  preternatural  activity,  is  named  "The  Devil's  Work- 
shop." Eight  miles  farther  on,  we  reach  the  northern  extremity 
of  the  beautiful  Yellowstone  lake,  at  the  point  where  the  Yellow- 
stone river  leaves  it.  This  lake,  the  surface  of  which  is  7,788 
feet  above  the  sea,  is  twenty-two  miles  in  its  greatest  length,  and 
about  fifteen  miles  in  width,  and  has  a  shore  line  of  more  than 
300  miles,  from  its  very  irregular  form.  There  are  a  number  of 
islands  in  it,  and  its  beauty  is  too  great  for  description.  To  com- 
prehend its  loveliness  several  days  should  be  spent  in  camping 
on  its  borders.  From  this  lake  we  may  take  either  of  two  trails, 
the  one  going  nearly  south,  past  the  Geysers  of  the  Y'ellow^stone 
lake,  on  the  east  side  of  the  great  divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  across  a  spur  of  that  divide  to  Heart  lake,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Sheridan,  where  there  are  other  geysers,  and  thence  by  a 
new  trail  w^cstward  past  Lewis  lake  and  Shoshone  lake,  where 
there  are  more  geysers  and  a  lake  four  feet  higher  than  the  Yel- 
lowstone, and  thence  northward  by  a  difficult  pass  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  Upper  Geyser  basin,  on  the  Upper  Madison 
river,  from  which  point  there  is  a  good  road  (the  Norris  road) 
to  the  Midway  Springs  and  the  Low^er  Geyser  basin,  on  the  Fire 
^ole  river.  Or,  we  may  go  from  the  geysers  on  the  Yellowstone 
lake  by  a  shorter  though  difficult  trail  direcdy  west  to  the  Upper 
Geyser  basin,  without  visiting  Heart,  Lewis  and  Shoshone  lakes. 
From  this  Upper  Geyser  basin  w-e  pass  by  the  Norris  road,  as  we 
have  said,  to  the  Midway  Springs,  the  Lower  Geyser  basin,  in 
the  Fire  Hole  river,  the  Gibbon's  Fire  Hole  basin  and  geysers  on 
the  Howard  road,  the  falls  and  canon  of  Gibbon's  fork,  the  Mon- 
ument Geyser  basin,  the  Norris  and  Fire  Hole  basins,  of  geysers 
and  craters  of  spent  volcanoes,  the  remarkable  formation  of  Pine 
and  Beaver  lakes,  the  Obsidian  or  volcanic  glass  cliffs,  and  the 
road  of  glass  over  them,  and  so  back  to  the  Mammoth  Hot 
Springs  at  the  entrance  to  the  Park. 
7S 


X2^4  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

We  have  purposely  avoided  in  this  mere  itinerar}' any  descrip- 
tion of  these  wonders,  that  we  might  do  them  better  justice  in 
the  vivid  portrayal  of  eye-witnesses.  The  tour  of  the  Park  thus 
described  covers  164  miles,  and  cannot  well  be  gone  over  in  less 
than  twelve  days. 

Turning  now  to  these  various  points  of  interest,  let  us  go  over 
them  in  detail,  using  the  descriptions  of  those  who  have  studied 
them  most  thoroughly,  and  been  most  deeply  impressed  with 
their  grandeur  and  beauty. 

Let  us  begin  with  a  description  of  the  Mammoth  Hot 
Springs  of  Gardiner  river,  from  the  facile  and  skilful  pen  of 
Robert  E.  Strahorn,  Esq. :  "  The  first  impression  of  these  Springs 
which  the  beholder  receives  is  that  of  a  snowy  mountain  beauti- 
fully terraced,  with  projections  extending  out  in  various  direc- 
tions, resembling  frozen  cascades,  as  though  the  high,  foam-crested 
waves,  in  their  rapid  descent  over  the  steep  and  rugged  declivity, 
were  suddenly  arrested  and  congealed  on  the  spot  in  ail  their 
native  beauty.  There  are  fifty  or  sixty  of  these  springs  of  greater 
and  smaller  dimensions,  extending  over  an  area  of  about  a  mile 
square  ;  though  there  are  remains  of  springs  of  the  same  kind  for 
miles  around,  and  mountains  of  the  same  deposit,  overgrown  with 
pine  trees,  perhaps  hundreds  of  years  old.  Most  of  the  water  is 
at  boilin^T  heat,  and  contains  in  solution  a  crreat  amount  of  lime, 
sulphur  and  magnesia,  with  some  soda,  alumina  and  other  sub- 
stances, which  are  slowly  deposited  in  every  conceivable  form 
and  shape  as  the  water  flows  along  in  its  course  down  the  moun- 
tain side. 

"On  each  level,  or  terrace,  there  is  a  large  central  spring,  which 
is  usually  surrounded  by  a  basin  of  several  feet  in  diameter,  and 
the  water,  after  leaving  the  main  basin  at  different  portions  of  thfe 
delicately-wrought  rim,  flows  down  the  declivity,  step  by  step, 
forming  hundreds  of  basins  and  reservoirs  of  every  size  and 
depth,  from  a  few  inches  to  six  or  eight  feet  in  diameter,  and 
from  one  inch  to  several  feet  in  depth,  their  margins  beautifully 
scalloped  with  a  finish  resembling  bead-work  of  exquisite  beauty. 
Underneath  the  sides  of  many  of  the  basins  are  beautifully  ar- 
ranged stalactites,  formed  by  the  dripping  of  the  water ;   and,  by 


MAMMOTH  HOT  SPRINGS— R.  E.  STRAHORN'S  DESCRIPTION.      1235 

dig-ging-  beneath  the  surface  at  places  where  the  springs  are  in- 
active, the  most  deHcate  and  charming  specimens  of  every  char- 
acter and  form  can  be  obtained — stalactites,  stalagmites,  grottos, 
etc.,  all  delicately  arranged  as  the  water  filtrates  through  the 
crevices  and  perforations  of  the  deposit.  It  is  a  scene  sublime  in 
itself,  to  see  the  entire  area,  with  its  numerous  and  terraced 
reservoirs,  and  millions  of  delicate  little  urns,  sparkling  with 
water  transparent  as  glass,  and  tinged  with  many  varieties  of 
coloring,  all  glistening  under  the  glare  of  a  noonday  sun. 

"  The  largest  spring  now  active,  situated  about  half  way  up  the 
mountain  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  main  terrace,  has  a  basin  about 
twenty-five  by  forty  feet  in  diameter,  in  the  centre  of  which  the 
water  boils  up  several  inches  above  the  surface,  and  is  so  trans- 
parent that  you  can,  by  approaching  the  margin,  look  down  into 
the  heated  depths  many  feet  below  the  surface.  The  sides  of  the 
cavern  are  ornamented  with  a  coral-like  formation  of  almost  every 
variety  of  shade,  with  a  fine,  silky  substance,  much  like  moss,  of 
a  bright  vegetable  green  spread  over  it  thinly,  which,  with  the 
slight  ebullition  of  the  water  keeping  it  in  constant  motion,  and 
the  blue  sky  reflected  in  the  transparent  depths,  gives  it  an  en- 
chanting beauty  far  beyond  the  skill  of  the  finest  artist.  Here 
all  the  hues  of  the  rainbow  are  seen  and  arranged  so  gorgeously 
that,  with  other  strange  views  by  which  one  is  surrounded,  you 
almost  imagine  yourself  in  some  fairy  region,  the  wonders  of 
which  bafi^e  all  attempts  of  pen  or  pencil  to  portray  them. 

"Besides  the  elegant  sculpturing  of  this  deposit,  imagine,  if 
you  can,  the  wonderful  variety  of  delicate  and  artistically  arranged 
colors  with  which  it  is  adorned.  The  mineral-charged  fluid  lays 
down  pavements  here  and  there  of  all  the  shades  of  red,  from 
bright  scarlet  to  rose  tint,  beautiful  layers  of  bright  sulphur-yellow, 
interspersed  with  tints  of  green,  all  elaborately  arranged  in  Na- 
ture's own  order. 

"At  the  foot  of  the  mountain  are. several  springs  whose  waters 
have  eff^ected  remarkable  cures  in  cases  of  chronic  rheumatism, 
eruptive  diseases,  etc.  The  medicinal  properties  of  each  fountain 
seem  to  be  different,  and  the  invalid  can  find  which  are  best 
adapted  to  his  or  her  own  case." 


1236  ^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

On  leaving  the  Hot  Springs  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  Park, 
the  favorite  course  is  that  leadinsf  eastward  to  the  Yellowstone 
Caiion.  The  route  passes  up  Gardiner's  river,  with  its  three 
falls,  through  a  pleasant  country,  twenty-two  miles,  to  Tower 
creek,  a  rapid,  snow-fed  brook,  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  wide,  and 
one  or  two  feet  deep,  which 'here  joins  the  Yellowstone.  Tower 
creek  rises  in  the  high  divide  between  the  valleys  of  the  Missouri 
and  Yellowstone,  and  flows  for  about  ten  miles  through  a  canon 
so  deep  and  gloomy  that  it  has  earned  the  appellation  of  the 
"  Devil's  Den."  About  two  hundred  yards  above  its  entrance 
into  the  Yellowstone,  the  stream  pours  over  an  abrupt  descent 
of  156  feet,  forming  one  of  the  most  beautiful  falls  to  be  found  in 
any  country.  These  falls  are  about  260  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  Yellowstone  at  the  junction,  and  are  surrounded  with  columns 
of  volcanic  breccia,  rising  fifty  feet  above  the  falls,  and  extending 
down  to  the  foot,  standing  like  gloomy  sentinels,  or  like  gigantic 
pillars,  at  the  entrance  of  some  grand  temple.  Of  these  columns 
the  late  Hon.  N.  P.  Langford,  the  first  superintendent  and  his- 
torian of  the  Park,  said:  "  Some  resemble  towers,  others  the  spires 
of  churches,  and  others  still  shoot  up  as  little  and  slender  as 
the  minarets  of  a  mosque.  Some  of  the  loftiest  of  these  forma- 
tions, standing  upon  the  very  brink  of  the  fall,  are  accessible  to 
an  expert  and  adventurous  climber.  The  position  attained  on 
one  of  these  narrow  summits,  amid  the  uproar  of  waters,  and  at 
a  height  of  260  feet  above  the  boiling  chasm,  as  the  writer  can 
affirm,  requires  a  steady  head  and  strong  nerves ;  yet  the  view 
which  rewards  the  temerity  of  the  exploit  is  full  of  compensa- 
tions." Below  the  fall  the  stream  descends  in  numerous  rapids 
with  frightful  velocity,  through  a  gloomy  gorge,  to  its  union  with 
the  Yellowstone.  Its  bed  is  filled  with  enormous  boulders, 
against  which  the  rushing  waters  break  with  great  fury.  Many 
of  the  capricious  formations  wrought  from  the  shale  excite  mer- 
riment as  well  as  wonder.  .Of  this  kind,  especially,  is  a  huge 
mass,  sixty  feet  in  height,  which,  from  its  supposed  resemblance 
to  the  proverbial  foot  of  his  Satanic  Majesty,  is  called  the  "Devil's 
Hoof."  The  scenery  of  mountain,  rock  and  forest  surrounding 
the  falls  is  very  beautiful.     The  name  of  "  Tower  Falls  "  was,  of 


TOWER   CREEK  FALLS— LANGFORD  AND  DOANE.  1237 

course,  suggested  by  some  of  the  most  conspicuous  features  of 
the  scenery.  The  sides  of  the  chasm  are  worn  into  caverns,  hned 
with  variously  tinted  mosses,  nourished  by  clouds  of  spray  which 
rise  from  the  cataract;  while  above  and  to  the  left,  a  spur  from 
the  great  plateau  rises  over  all  with  a  perpendicular  front  of  400 
feet. 

"Nothing,"  says  Lieutenant  Doane,  "can  be  more  cb.astoly 
beautiful  than  this  lovely  cascade,  hidden  away  in  the  dim  light 
of  overshadowing  rocks  and  woods,  its  very  voice  hushed  to  a 
low  murmur,  unheard  at  the  distance  of  a  few  hundred  yards. 
Thousands  might  pass  by  within  a  half  mile  and  not  dream  of  its 
existence  ;  but  once  seen,  it  passes  to  the  list  of  most  pleasant 
memories." 

A  fine  view  of  Tower  falls  can  be  had  from  an  easily  ascended 
cliff  above  them,  but  a  better  one,  a  prospect  that  is  simply  en- 
chanting, can  be  obtained  by  walking  down  to  the  mouth  of 
Tower  creek,  200  yards,  and  following  up  stream,  through  the 
beautiful  gateway,  to  their  foot.  Two  hundred  yards  above  the 
falls  is  a  finely  sheltered,  picturesque  camp,  with  grass,  wood  and 
water  abundant. 

From  Tower  creek  and  falls  we  have  a  choice  between  two 
routes,  one  leadinQf  alono-  the  western  bank  of  the  Yellowstone 
river,  and  overlooking  the  Grand  Canon  for  twenty  miles,  the 
other  ascending  by  a  long  and  wearisonie  climb  the  northern 
slope  of  Mount  Washburn,  10,388  feet  above  the  sea,  from  whose 
summit  all  the  points  of  interest  in  the  Park  can  be  discerned 
widi  a  good  field-glass  in  the  clear  and  transparent  summer  air. 
Most  visitors  prefer  this  ascent  first,  as  giving  them  a  more  com- 
prehensive idea  of  the  magnificence  of  the  Park.  W^e  will  follow 
their  example,  in  imagination  at  least,  and  will  allow  Rev.  Way- 
land  Hoyt,  D.  D.,  of  Brooklyn,  who  visited  the  Park  in  1S78  in 
General  Miles'  party,  to  describe  to  us  the  glorious  vision  :  ''' 

"Let  us  take  our  stand  for  a  little  now  upon  Mount  Wash- 
burn.    Its  rounded  crest  is  more  than  10,000  feet  above  the  level 

*  This  glowiiifj  picture  of  the  view  from  Mount  Washburn,  as  well  as  some  other  eloquent 
passages  farther  on,  are  copied,  by  the  kind  permission  of  the  aut'or,  from  an  adilress  on  the 
Yellowstone  Park,  which  Dr.  Iloyt  prepared  after  his  return,  but  which  is  as  yet  unpublished. 


,238  ^^'^'    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  the  sea,  and  perhaps  5,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  valley 
out  of  which  it  springs.  Its  smooth  slopes  are  easy  of  ascent. 
You  need  not  dismount  from  your  horse  to  gain  its  summit. 
Standing  there  you  look  down  upon  the  whole  grand  panorama, 
•as  does  that  eagle  yonder,  holding  himself  aloft  upon  almost  mo- 
tionless winofs.  I  doubt  if  there  is  another  view  at  once  so  ma- 
jestic  and  so  beautiful  in  the  whole  world.  Your  vision  darts 
through  the  spaces  for  i  50  miles  on  some  sides.  You  are  stand- 
ing upon  a  mountain  lifting  itself  out  of  a  vast  saucer-shaped 
depression.  Away  yonder,  where  the  sky  seems  to  meet  the 
earth,  on  every  side,  around  the  whole  circumference  of  your 
sight,  are  lines  and  ranges  of  snow-capped  peaks  shutting  your 
glances  in.  Yonder  shoots  upward  the  serrated  peak  of  Pilot 
Mountain,  in  the  Clark's  Fork  Range.  Joined  to  that,  sweep 
on  around  you,  in  the  dim  distance,  the  snowy  lines  of  the  Madison 
Range.  Yonder  join  hands  with  these  the  Stinking  Water  Moun- 
tains, and  so  on  and  on  and  around.  Do  you  see  that  sharp, 
pinnacle-pointed  mountain,  away  off  at  the  southwest,  shining,  in 
its  garments  of  white,  against  the  blue  of  the  summer  sky  ? — that 
is  Mount  Everts,  named  after  the  poor  lost  wanderer,  who  for 
thirty-seven  days  of  deadly  peril  and  starvation  sought  a  way  of 
escape  from  these  frowning  mountain  barriers,  which  shut  him 
in  so  remorselessly,  and  it  marks  the  divide  of  the  continent. 

"Take  now  a  closer  view  for  a  moment.  Mark  the  lower 
hills,  folded  in  their  thick  draperies  of  pine  and  spruce  like  dark 
green  velvet,  of  the  sottest  and  the  deepest ;  notice,  too,  those 
beautiful  park-like  spaces,  where  the  trees  refuse  to  grow,  and 
where  the  prairie  spreads  its  smooth  sward  freely  toward  the  sun- 
light. And — those  spots  of  steam,  breaking  into  the  vision  every 
now  and  then,  and  floating  off  like  the  whitest  clouds  that  ever 
graced  the  summer  sky — those  are  the  signals  of  the  geysers  at 
their  strange  duty,  yonder  in  the  geyser  basins,  thirty  miles  away. 
And — those  bits  of  silver,  flashinor  hither  and  thither  on  the  hill- 
sides  amid  the  dense  (j^reen  of  the  forests — these  are  waterfalls 
and  fragments  of  ice-glaciers,  which  for  ages  have  been  at  their 
duty  of  sculpturing  these  mountains,  and  have  not  yet  completed 
it.     And — that  lovely  deep  blue  sheet  of  water,  of  such  a  dainty 


APPROACH   TO    THE    GREAT  FALLS  AND    GRAND   CAJ^ON.       1230 

shape,  running-  its  arms  out  toward  the  hills,  and  bearing  on  its 
serene  bosom  emeralds  of  islands — that  is  the  sweetest  sheet  of 
water  in  the  world — that  is  the  Yellowstone  lake.  And — that 
exquisite  broad  sheen  of  silver,  winding  through  the  green  of 
the  trees  and  the  brown  of  the  prairie — that  is  the  Yellowstone 
river,  starting  on  its  wonderful  journey  to  the  Missouri,  and 
thence  downward  to  the  gulf,  between  six  and  seven  thousand 
miles  away.  But,  nearer  to  us,  almost  at  our  feet,  as  we  trace 
this  broad  line  of  silver,  the  eye  encounters  a  frightful  chasm,  as 
if  the  earth  had  suddenly  sunk  away,  and  into  its  gloomy  depths 
the  brightness  and  beauty  of  the  shining  river  leaps,  and  is 
thenceforward  lost  altocrether  to  the  view — that  is  the  tremendous 
canon  or  ororofe  of  the  Yellowstone." 

Contrary  to  the  Latin  adage,  ''Facilis  descciisns  Averni"  the 
descent  from  Mount  Washburn  to  the  Grand  Canon  of  the 
Yellowstone  is  one  of  considerable  difficulty  by  the  old  trail ;  but 
by  a  new  one  traced  by  Mr.  P.  W.  Norris,  the  present  superin- 
tendent of  the  Park,  it  is  much  easier.  The  old  trail,  more  than 
twenty  miles  in  length,  followed  the  Washburn  Range  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  river,  through  tangfled  forest  and 
along  rocky  and  precipitous  passes,  to  the  upper  and  lower  falls 
of  the  Yellowstone,  just  where  Cascade  creek  discharges  its 
waters  into  the  river.  This  is  above  the  Grand  Canon,  or,  rather, 
at  the  point  where  it  commences;  for  these  two  falls,  the  upper  of 
about  150  feet,  and  the  low^er  of  350  feet,  with  the  rapids  which 
follow,  constitute  a  part  of  the  tremendous  depth  to  which  the 
Grand  Canon  sinks,  and  which  it  maintains  to  the  point  of  emer- 
gence at  Tower  creek  falls,  twenty  miles  below.  At  one  or  two 
points  near  its  lower  terminus  daring  and  adventurous  spirits 
have  reached  the  floor  of  the  canon,  but  have  found  it  extremely 
perilous  and  difficult  to  clamber  out  of  it ;  they  describe  it  as 
having  its  full  share  of  disagreeable  sounds,  sights  and  smells, 
from  the  great  number  of  hot  springs  of  sulphur,  sulphate  oi  cop- 
per, alum,  etc.  The  water  is  warm  and  impregnated  with  a  vil- 
lanous  taste  of  alum  and  sulphur,  and  along  the  dark  margin  ol 
the  river  are  numerous  chemical  and  corrosive  springs,  some 
depositing  craters  of  calcareous  rock,  and  some  casting  up  vol- 


J240  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

umcs  of  mud  or  muddy  waters.  The  greater  part  of  the  Grand 
Canon,  however,  and  especially  its  upper  two-thirds,  had  always 
been  regarded  as  entin^ly  inaccessible,  till  the  summer  of  1S7S, 
when  Messrs.  Hoyt  and  Rouse,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  succeeded 
at  the  imminent  peril  of  their  lives,  in  descending  to  it,  a  litde 
below  the  Great  falls.  They  describe  it  as  fearfully  gloomy 
and  uncanny.  Rev.  Dr.  Hoyt  and  his  party  took  the  old  trail  and 
approached  tlie  river  at  the  mouth  of  Cascade  creek,  between 
the  upper  and  lower  or  Great  falls,  at  the  point  where  they  could 
look  down  into  the  Grand  Canon  at  the  place  of  its  greatest 
magnificence,  and  of  the  many  descriptions  of  this  great  wonder 
of  the  world,  that  which  he  h.as  given  may  jusdy  be  esteemed 
the  most  graphic  and  beautiful.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Well,  we  have  reached  Cascade  creek  at  last;  and  a  beautiful 
grove  of  trees,  beneath  whose  shade  sparkles  a  clear  stream, 
whose  waters  are  free  from  the  nauseous  taste  of  alkali,  furnishes 
a  delightful  place  in  which  to  camp.  Now — dismoundng  and 
seeing  that  your  horse  is  well  cared  for,  while  the  men  are  un- 
loading the  pack-mules  and  pitching  the  tents — walk  up  that 
trail,  winding  up  that  hillside  ;  follow  it  for  a  little  among  the 
solemn  pines,  and  then  pass  out  from  the  tree-shadows,  and  take 
your  stand  upon  that  jutting  rock — clinging  to  it  well  meanwhile, 
and  being  very  sure  of  your  footing,  for  your  head  will  surely  grow 
dizzy — and  there  opens  before  you  one  of  the  most  stupendous 
scenes  in  Nature — the  lower  falls  and  the  awful  canon  of 
THE  Yellowstone. 

"And  now,  where  shall  I  begin,  and  how  shall  I,  in  any  wise, 
describe  this  tremendous  sight — its'overpowering  grandeur,  and 
at  the  same  time  its  inexpressible  beauty? 

"Look  yonder — those  are  the  lower  falls  of  the  Yellowstone. 
They  are  not  the  grandest  in  the  world,  but  there  are  none  more 
beautiful.  There  is  not  the  breadth  and  dash  of  Niagara,  nor  is 
there  the  enormous  depth  of  leap  of  some  of  the  waterfalls 
of  the  Yosemite.  But  here  is  majesty  of  its  own  kind,  and 
beauty,  too.  On  either  side  are  vast  pinnacles  of  sculptured 
rock.  There,  where  the  rock  opens  for  the  river,  its  waters  are 
compressed  from  a  width  of  200   feet,  between  the  upper  and 


REV.  DR.  HOYT'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  GRAND  CA/?0N.       12 a  i 

lower  falls,  to  150  where  It  takes  the  plunge.  The  shelf  of  rock 
over  which  it  leaps  is  absolutely  level.  The  water  seems  to  wait 
a  moment  on  its  verge;  then  it  passes  with  a  single  bound  of  350 
feet  into  the  gorge  below.  It  is  a  sheer,  unbroken,  compact, 
shininor  mass  of  silver  foam. 

"  But  your  eyes  are  all  the  time  distracted  from  the  fall  itself, 
ofreat  and  beautiful  as  it  is,  to  its  marvellous  setting- — to  the  sur- 
prising,  overmastering  canon  into  which  the  river  leaps,  and 
through  which  it  flows,  dwindling  to  but  a  foamy  ribbon  there  in 
its  appalling  depths. 

"As  you  cling  here  to  this  jutting  rock,  the  falls  are  already 
many  hundred  feet  below  you.  The  falls  unroll  their  whiteness 
down  amid  the  canon  glooms.  Hold  firmly  on,  and  peer  over 
the  rock  to  which  you  cling  and  gaze  down  ;  that  apparently 
narrow  stream  is  the  large  river  flowing  nearly  2,000  feet  below 
you  ;  it  is  sheer  that  distance  ;  these  rocky  sides  are  almost  per- 
pendicular— indeed  in  many  places  the  boiling  springs  have 
gouged  them  out  so  as  to  leave  overhanging  clifls  and  tables  at 
the  top.  Take  a  stone  and  throw  it  over — you  must  wait  long 
before  you  hear  it  strike.  Nothing  more  awful  have  I  ever  seen 
than  the  yawning  of  that  chasm.  And  the  stillness,  solemn  as 
midnight,  profound  as  death!  The  water  dashing  there  as  in  a 
kind  of  agony  against  those  rocks,  you  cannot  hear.  The  mighty 
distance  lays  the  finger  of  its  silence  on  its  white  lips.  You  are 
oppressed  with  a  sense  of  danger.  It  is  as  though  the  vastness 
would  soon  force  you  from  the  rock  to  which  you  cling.  The 
silence,  the  sheer  depth,  the  gloom  burden  you.  It  is  a  relief  to 
feel  the  firm  earth  beneath  your  feet  again,  as  you  carefully  crawl 
back  from  your  perching  place. 

"  But  this  is  not  all,  nor  is  the  half  yet  told.  As  soon  as  vou 
can  stand  it,  go  out  on  that  jutting  rock  again,  and  mark  the 
sculpturingsof  God  upon  those  vast  and  solemn  walls.  By  dash 
of  wind  and  wave,  by  forces  of  the  frost,  by  file  of  snow  plunge 
and  glacier  and  mountain  torrent,  by  the  hot  breath  of  boiling 
springs,  those  walls  have  been  cut  into  the  most  various  and 
surprising  shapes.  ■  I  have  seen  the  middle  age  castles  along  the 
Rhine ;  there,  those  castles  arc  reproduced  exactly.     I  have  seen 


J  242  ^^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  soaring  summits  of  the  great  cathedral  spires,  in  the  country 
beyond  the  sea ;  there  they  stand  in  prototype,  only  loftier  and 
sublimer, 

"And  then,  of  course  and  almost  beyond  all  else,  you  are  fasci- 
nated by  the  magnificence  and  utter  opulence  of  color.  Those 
are  not  simply  gray  and  hoary  depths  and  reaches,  and  domes 
and  pinnacles  of  sullen  rock.  The  whole  gorge  flames.  It  is  as 
though  rainbows  had  fallen  out  of  the  sky  and  hung  themselves 
there  like  glorious  banners.  The  underlying  color  is  the  clearest 
yellow  ;  this  flushes  onward  into  orange.  Down  at  the  base  the 
deepest  mosses  unroll  their  draperies  of  the  most  vivid  green  ; 
browns,  sweet  and  soft,  do  their  blending ;  white  rocks  stand 
spectral ;  turrets  of  rock  shoot  up  as  crimson  as  though  they 
w^ere  drenched  through  with  blood.  It  is  a  wilderness  of  color. 
It  is  impossible  that  even  the  pencil  of  an  artist  tell  it.  What 
you  would  call,  accustomed  to  the  softer  tints  of  nature,  a  great 
exaggeration,  would  be  the  utmost  tameness  compared  with  the 
reality.  It  is  as  though  the  most  glorious  sunset  you  ever  saw 
had  been  caught  and  held  upon  that  resplendent,  awful  gorge  ! 

"Through  nearly  all  the  hours  of  that  afternoon,  until  the  sun- 
set shadows  came,  and  afterwards  amid  the  moonbeams,  I  waited 
there,  clinging  to  that  rock,  jutting  out  into  that  overpowering, 
gorgeous  chasm.  I  was  appalled  and  fascinated,  afraid  and  yet 
compelled  to  cling  there.     It  was  an  epoch  in  my  life." 

But  we  must  hasten  forward.  The  trail  above  the  upper  falls 
follows  closely  the  right  or  west  bank  of  the  Yellowstone  to  the 
Yellowstone  lake,  a  distance  of  eighteen  or  nineteen  miles.  On 
the  way  Sulphur  Mountain  is  passed  on  the  right,  and  the  Sulphur 
Hills  on  the  left,  east  of  the  river,  though  neither  of  them  are  more 
sulphurous  than  many  other  hills  and  mounds  in  the  Park.  Eleven 
miles  from  the  Great  Falls  is  the  Mud  Volcano,  ah  interesting 
though  somewhat  dirty  object.  Eight  miles  more  bring  the 
traveller  to  the  Yellowstone  lake,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sheets 
of  water  in  "Our  Western  Empire,"  and  hardly  surpassed  in 
beauty  by  any  lake  on  our  globe.  It  is  twenty-two  miles  in 
length,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen  in  breadth.  Its  shape  is  pecu- 
liar, several  long  peninsulas  extending  into  it  from  the  southern 


THE    YELLOWSTONE   LAKE.  J243 

shore,  so  that  it  has  been  compared  to  the  human  hand,  though 
as  Professor  R.  W.  Raymond  humorously  suggests,  "  the  imagi- 
native gentleman  who  first  discovered  this  resemblance  must 
have  thought  the  size  and  form  of  fingers  quite  insignificant,  pro- 
vided the  number  was  complete.  The  hand  in  question  is  aftlicted 
with  elephantiasis  in  the  thumb,  dropsy  in  the  little  finger,  hornet 
bites  on  the  third  finger,  and  the  last  stages  of  starvation  in 
the  other  two."  The  shore  line  of  the  lake  is  over  300  miles 
in  length ;  its  superficial  area  is  nearly  300  square  miles ;  its 
greatest  depth,  by  a  series  of  careful  soundings,  is  found  to  be 
300  feet.  Its  elevation  above  the  sea,  by  repeated  observations, 
has  been  ascertained  to  be  7,788  feet.  Professor  Hayden  very 
enthusiastically  declares  that  "only  four  lakes  are  known  to  have 
so  great  an  elevation  in  any  part  of  the  world,  up  to  this  time, 
namely,  Lakes  Titicaca,  in  Peru,  and  Uros,  in  Bolivia,  which  are 
respectively  12,874  and  12,359  feet  above  the  sea-level;  and 
Lakes  Manasasarowak  and  Rakastal,  in  Thibet,  Asia,  both  of 
which  lie  at  the  great  height  of  1 5,000  feet."  With  all  due  respect 
to  the  Professor,  we  think  that  this  statement  should  be  taken 
with  some  reservation  as  to  the  size  of  the  lakes ;  for  in  the  very 
article  from  his  pen  which  describes  the  Yellowstone  Park  and 
contains  this  sentence,  we  find  that  Shoshone  lake  has  an  eleva- 
tion of  7,870  feet  (Mr.  Norris'  report  of  1879  makes  this  7,792 
feet,  four  feet  higher  than  Yellowstone  lake),  and  Madison  lake, 
8,301  feet.  Both  these  are  in  the  Park,  and  though  smaller  than 
Yellowstone  lake,  they  are  entitled  to  be  called  lakes.  Moreover, 
we  find  in  "  Whitney's  Survey  of  Colorado  "  the  following  eleva- 
tions assigned  to  some  of  the  lakes  of  that  mountainous  State: 
Chicago  lakes,  11,500  feet;  Green,  10,000  feet;  Grand,  8,153 
feet;  Mary  or  Santa  Maria,  9,324  feet;  San  Miguel,  9,720  feet; 
Twin  lakes,  9.357  feet;  San  Cristoval,  9,000  feet;  and  Osborn's, 
8,821  feet.  Lake  Carpenter,  in  the  Bighorn  Mountains,  is  about 
1 1 ,000  feet. 

We  might  enumerate  some  others,  but  these  will  suffice.  They 
are  none  of  them  as  large  as  Yellowstone  lake,  tliough  all  of 
sufficient  size  to  be  properly  denominated  lakes.  One  other 
popular  notion,  which  is  often   repeated  in  the  descriptions  of 


J  2^4  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Yellowstone  National  Park,  may  as  well  be  corrected  In  this 
place :  the  Yellowstone  lake  is  in  no  sense  the  source  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone river.  That  river  rises  by  two  forks  at  least  forty-five 
or  fifty  miles  southeast  of  the  Yellowstone  lake,  one  afliuent 
havincr  its  source  in  a  small  lake  in  the  Shoshone  Mountains, 
presumably  higher  than  Yellowstone  lake,  and  the  other  in  the 
elevated  plateau  between  the  Shoshone  and  Wind  River  Moun- 
tains. One  of  these  sources  is  in  about  latitude  43°  45',  and  the 
other  in  about  43°  50'.  The  Yellowstone  river  fiows  through 
the  Yellowstone  lake,  just  as  the  Rhine  flows  through  Lake 
Geneva. 

But  let  us  return  to  our  lake  itself.  Situated  upon  the 
very  crown  of  the  continent,  the  lake  receives  but  few  tributa- 
ries of  any  considerable  size,  the  upper  Yellowstone  being  much 
the  largest,  and  Beaver  Dam  creek  and  Pelican  creek,  both  on 
the  eastern  side,  the  next  in  importance.  There  are,  in  all,  six- 
teen or  eighteen  small  streams  from  the  mountain  ranges,  on  the 
north,  east,  south  and  southwest  sides,  which  bring  to  the  lake 
their  tribute  from  the  snow-line  ;  several  of  these  affluents  are 
strongly  charged  with  sulphur,  alum  or  alkalies,  and  these  and 
the  springs  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  render  its  waters  near  the 
shore,  at  some  points,  turbid  and  unpleasant;  but  at  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  shore,  at  all  points,  and  at  the  very  brink  of  the 
lake  at  many,  the  water  is  clear,  pure  and  sweet.  It  abounds 
with  fish,  mainly  trout,  as  does  the  Yellowstone  above  the  Great 
falls;  but  it  is  a  most  remarkable  fact,  that  very  many  of  the 
trout,  both  in  the  lake  and  river,  above  the  falls,  are  infested  by 
an  intestinal  worm,  of  a  species  not  hitherto  known  as  a  parasite 
of  any  of  the  saluionidce.  In  some  cases  the  worms  eat  their  way 
out,  and  the  fish,  if  not  too  severely  injured,  recovers,  but  with 
deep  scars.  It  is  said  that  the  larger  fish  sometimes  have  from 
five  to  fifty  of  these  parasites,  and  that  their  presence  makes  the 
fish  very  voracious,  snapping  viciously  at  the  hook,  "which  is 
strange,"  as  Professor  Raymond  remarks,  "  when  one  considers 
that  they  have  already  more  bait  in  them  than  is  wholesome." 
Of  course,  not  all  the  trout  are  thus  infested,  and  usually  the 
visiting  parties,  after  rejecting  the  diseased  fish,  find  enough  that 


MESSRS.    MARSHALL    AND   STKAIIORN'S  VESCRiniOiY.         1245 

are  sound  to  supply  their  demand.  Below  the  Great  falls  the  fish 
are  not  diseased,  and  there  are  grayling  and  white  fish  in  almost 
as  orreat  numbers  as  the  trout. 

The  remarkable  beauty  of  the  lake  cannot  be  too  highly  ex- 
tolled. All  the  visitors  to  it  have  been  charmed  by  its  loveliness. 
Mr.  Marshall,  who  is  not  given  to  sentimental  writing,  says:  "It 
contains  several  beautiful  islands,  is  surrounded  by  some  of  the 
grandest  mountains  in  North  America,  and  is  of  so  irregular  a 
form  as  to  give  an  uncommon  beauty  alike  to  its  bold  bluff  shores 
and  its  stretches  of  sandy,  pebbly  beaches.  Its  waters,  pure  and 
cold,  in  places  300  feet  deep,  shine  with  the  rich  blue  of  the  open 
sea,  swarm  with  trout,  and  are  the  summer  home  of  countless 
swans,  white  pelicans,  geese,  brant,  snipe,  ducks,  cranes  and  other 
water  fowl,  while  its  shores,  sometimes  grassy,  but  generally 
clothed  with  dense  forests  of  pine,  spruce  and  fir,  furnish  coverts 
and  feeding  grounds  for  elk,  antelope,  black  and  white-tailed  deer, 
bears  and  mountain  sheep.  Scattered  along  the  shores  of  the 
lake,  and  on  the  mountain  slopes  which  overlook  it,  are  many 
clusters  of  hot  springs,  solfataras,  fumaroles  and  small  geysers. 
At  one  point  a  hot  spring,  boiling  up  in  the  edge  of  the  lake,  has 
deposited  the  mineral  carried  in  solution  by  its  waters,  and  built 
up  a  rocky  rim  about  itself,  so  that  wading  out  into  the  lake  you 
can  climb  on  the  rim  of  the  spring,  and  standing  there  can  catch 
trout  out  of  the  cold  water  of  die  lake,  and  without  detaching 
them  from  the  hook,  plunge  them  into  the  boiling  spring  and 
cook  them." 

The  more  poetic  Strahorn  thus  eulogizes  it  : 

"  In  the  early  part  of  the  day,  when  the  air  is  still  and  the  bright 
sunshine  falls  on  its  unruffled  surface,  its  bright  green  color, 
shading  to  a  delicate  ultramarine,  commands  the  admiration  of 
every  beholder.  Later  in  the  day,  when  the  mountain  winds 
come  down  from  their  icy  heights,  it  puts  on  an  aspect  more  in 
accordance  with  the  fierce  wilderness  around  it.  Its  shores  are 
paved  with  volcanic  rocks,  .sometimes  in  masses,  sometimes 
broken  and  worn  into  pebbles  of  trachyte,  obsidian,  chalcedony, 
cornelians,  agates  and  bits  of  agatized  wood;  and  again  ground 
to  obsidian  sand  sprinkled  with  cr)"stals  of  California  diamonds." 


1246  (^UR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

The  enthusiastic  Langford  *  says: 

"Secluded  amid  the  loftiest  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
possessing  strange  peculiarities  of  form  and  beauty,  this  watery 
solitude  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  objects  in  the  world.  Its 
southern  shore,  indented  with  long,  narrow  inlets,  not  unlike  the 
frequent  fiords  of  Iceland,  bears  testimony  to  the  awful  upheaval 
and  tremendous  force  of  the  elements  which  resulted  in  its  erec- 
tion. The  long  pine-crowned  promontories,  stretching  into  it 
from  the  base  of  the  hills,  lend  new  and  charming  features  to  an 
aquatic  scene  full  of  novelty  and  splendor.  Islands  of  emerald 
hue  dot  its  surface,  and  a  margin  of  sparkling  sand  forms  its  set- 
ting. The  winds,  compressed  in  their  passage  through  the  moun- 
tain eorees,  lash  it  into  a  sea  as  terrible  as  the  fretted  ocean, 
covering  it  with  foam.  But  now  it  lay  before  us  calm  and  un- 
ruffled, save  as  the  gentle  wavelets  broke  in  murmurs  along  the 
shore.  Water,  one  of  the  grandest  elements  of  scenery,  never 
seemed  so  beautiful  before." 

Besides  its  entrancing  shore  line,  the  lake  is  dotted  with  nu- 
merous islands,  which  lend  rare  beauty  by  their  luxuriant  vege- 
tation. Fish  abound  in  the  lake,  game  of  all  kinds  inhabit  the 
surrounding  forests,  and  the  placid  surface  of  the  water  and 
grassy  margins  render  this  mountain-locked  sheet  the  earthly 
paradise  for  myriads  of  water-fowl. 

Professor  Rossiter  W.  Raymond,  the  man  of  facts  and  figures, 
"with  no  nonsense  about  him,"  felt  himself  constrained  to  say: 

"  The  scene  presented  to  our  eyes  by  this  lake,  as  we  emerged 
from  the  thick  forests  on  the  western  side  and  trod  with  exulta- 
tion its  sandy  shore,  was,  indeed,  lovely.  The  broad  expanse  of 
shining  water,  the  wooded  banks  and  bosky  islands,  the  summits 
of  lofty  mountains  beyond  it  faintly  flushed  with  sunset,  the  deep 
sky,  and  the  perfect  solitude  and  silence,  combine  to  produce  a 
memorable  impression." 

We  add  a  paragraph  or  two  from  Rev.  Dr.  Hoyt's  eloquent 
address,  from  which  we  have  already  quoted  so  largely : 

"  From  a  eende  headland,  at  last  we  overlooked  the  lake.  It 
was    like  the   fairest  dream  which   ever  came  to  bless  the  un- 


*  Late  Superintendenl  of  the  Park. 


DR.   HOYT  ON   THE    YELLOWSTONE   LAKE.  1247 

troubled  slumbers  of  a  child.  How  still  it  was  !  What  silence 
reigned !  How  lovingly  it  laid  its  hush  upon  you  !  I  cannot  tell 
you  of  it  better  than  in  those  words  of  Scripture — '  for  they  rest 
from  their  labors.'  To  me  that  vision  must  henceforward  be  the 
best  illustration  of  the  unvexed,  transparent  sea  of  glass,  and  the 
rest  of  the  Beyond. 

"And  yet  it  was  not  a  stillness  and  a  rest  devoid  of  music  and 
of  motion.  You  could  hear  the  murmur  of  the  breezes  throug-h 
the  tree-tops  ;  you  could  see  where  they  roughened  the  lake's 
surface,  and  strewed  new  brightness  on  its  waters.  Fleets  of 
pelicans,  white-breasted  and  white-winged,  with  swans,  large  and 
inexpressibly  graceful,  sailed  majestically  out  upon  the  waves. 
Birds  sang  in  the  edges  of  the  groves;  eagles  and  wild  fowl  filled 
the  upper  air.  The  whole  scene  was  redolent  of  a  glad  and 
happy  life." 

But  we  must  move  forward,  or  our  exploration  will  occupy  too 
much  time  and  space.  As  it  is,  we  must  forego  any  tour  into  the  al- 
most wholly  unexplored  region  east  and  north  of  the  Yellowstone 
lake,  and  must  also  postpone  to  another  season  our  hoped-for  visit 
to  Heart,  Lewis,  Shoshone  and  Madison  lakes,  all  of  which  have 
small  geysers,  or,  rather,  spouting  springs,  on  their  banks.  Very 
fair  and  beautiful  are  these  lakes,  set  as  gems  in  the  rocky  and 
frowning  heights  of  the  "  Great  Divide,"  and  in  the  not  distant 
future  they  will  be  among  the  most  interesting  of  the  many 
attractions  of  the  Park;  but  until  they  are  rendered  more 
accessible  by  good,  or  at  least  passable,  roads,  we  must  neglect 
them. 

There  are  two  routes,  both  as  yet  only  trails,  from  the  Yellow- 
stone lake  and  river  westward  to  the  basins  of  the  Upper  Madison 
and  its  largest  branch,  the  Fire  Hole  river — the  home  of  the  gey- 
sers. The  southernmost  takes  us  from  the  eevsers  or  boilino- 
springs,  on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  over  two  arms  of  the  Great 
Rocky  Mountain  Divide  (which  here  takes  a  horseshoe  form, 
enclosing  Shoshone  lake),  direcdy  to  the  Upper  Geyser  basin, 
on  the  Upper  Madison  river.  This  trail  is  more  difficult,  and 
crosses  the  mountains  at  a  greater  elevation  than  the  other,  but 
it  is  shorter,  not  exceeding  fourteen  miles,  and  it  does  not  require 


1348  <^^^^    WESTERLY  EMPIRE. 

any  retracing;-  of  our  course.  The  northernmost  requires  a  return 
over  the  route  along  the  Yellowstone  river,  already  travelled  for 
about  fifteen  miles,  to  the  mouth  of  a  small  creek,  and  then  a 
journey  along  the  valley  of  that  creek  to  Mary's  lake,  the  source 
of  the  East  T'ork  of  Fire  Hole  river,  and  along  the  valley  of  that 
stream  to  the  Lower  Geyser  basin,  which  is  situated  at  the  Forks 
of  the  Fire  Hole  river.  This  trail  is  about  twenty-three  miles  in 
length,  and  involves  a  retracing  of  our  course  several  times — 
first,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  descent  of  the  Yellowstone  river 
from  the  lake  to  the  base  of  Sulphur  Mountain  ;  next,  a  journey 
to  the  Upper  Geyser  basin,  and  from  it  back  to  the  Lower 
basin.  We  will,  therefore,  take  the  southern  trail  in  our  imaginary 
journey. 

Before  attempting  a  description  of  the'wonders  of  these  and  the 
othergeyser  basins,  a  few  words  of  explanation  in  regard  to  geysers 
may  be  desirable.  From  our  childhood  we  have  all  been  familiar 
by  name  at  least  with  the  geysers  of  Iceland,  and  have  read  of  their 
performances  with  wonder.  There  have  been  reports  of  geysers 
in  other  countries,  and  in  other  portions  of  our  own  country; 
but  on  examination  all  the  reputed  geysers  of  California  and 
elsewhere  have  proved  to  be  on\y  fui7ia7'oles,  solfaiaras  or  boiling 
springs,  and  the  only  true  geysers  known  are  those  of  Iceland  and 
of  our  own  Yellowstone  National  Park ;  and  as  between  Iceland 
and  our  Park,  our  geysers  are  in  number  as  fifty  to  one  of  theirs; 
and  as  to  power  and  beauty  altogether  beyond  them.  "  Here," 
says  Mr.  William  I.  Marshall,  "are  more  geysers  than  in  all  the 
world  beside,  and  they  spout  columns  of  boiling-hot  water,  of 
sizes  varying  with  the  dimensions  of  their  orifices,  from  a  few 
inches  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  and  to  heights  ranging  all  the 
way  from  ten  or  fifteen  up  to  250  or  275  feet,  the  eruptions  being 
accompanied  by  a  constant  succession  of  miniature  earthquakes, 
by  a  terrible  noise  like  almost  continuous  underground  thunder, 
and  by  the  evolution  of  immense  masses  of  steam,  which  tower 
hundreds  of  feet  above  the  water.  The  subterranean  explosions, 
from  twenty  to  seventy  a  minute,  sounding  and  jarring  the 
ground  like  a  heavy  artillery  duel,  manifest  themselves  in  mighty 
pulsations  along  the  column,  shooting  it  upwards  and  outwards 


YELLOWSTONE  GEYSERS  TLIE  FINEST  IN  THE   WORLD.       1249 

in  jets,  rising  to  ever-varying  heights,  and  constantly  dividing  and 
subdividing,  and  shivering  into  milk-white  spray. 

"A  geyser  eruption  is  not  at  all  like  the  play  of  an  artificial 
fountain,  in  which  the  water  is  pushed  up  by  pressure  to  a  uniiorm 
height,  or  if  made  to  vary  must  do  so  with  a  regularity  which 
soon  becomes  wearisome,  but  is  like  a  cataract  of  crystal-clear, 
boiling-hot  water — not  falling  in  despair  of  resistance  to  gravity, 
but,  as  if  instinct  with  life,  leaping  towards  heaven,  shivering  up- 
wards (precisely  as  a  cataract  does  downwards)  into  rockets  of 
milk-white  spray,  each  as  it  ceases  to  rise  emitting  a  little  puff 
of  steam,  which  proclaims  what  was  the  force  which  lifted  it,  and 
which  now,  like  the  soul  deserting  the  body,  leaves  it,  no  longer 
able  to  triumph  over  gravity,  but,  unsupported,  to  fall  to  the 
steaming  mound  below  in  showers  of  shining  pearls  and  flashing 
diamonds,  while  the  central  portions  of  the  column  drop  down  in 
immense  volumes  that  strike  the  mound  with  a  roar  like  a  cata- 
ract, or  like  the  thunder  of  distant  surf  Every  instant  the 
column  is  changing  its  height  and  shape,  as  the  mighty  and  mys- 
terious forces  of  the  under  world,  shakino-  the  mountains  in  their 
struggles  for  freedom,  pulsate  along  it;  and  it  is  always  enveloped 
and  surmounted  by  vast  banks  and  lofty  pillars  of  steam,  ever 
swaying  with  the  wind,  constantly  assuming  fantastic  forms,  and 
crowned  and  fringed  with  rainbows.  These  indescribably  mag- 
nificent displays  occur  with  some  geysers  at  fixed  periods,  as  in 
the  case  of  Old  Faithful,  which  spouts  from  an  orifice  seven  feet 
long  by  two  feet  wide,  every  sixty-seven  minutes,  its  eruptions  last- 
ing from  four  to  six  minutes.  It  is  the  only  large  geyser  known 
in  the  world,  which  spouts  so  frequently  and  with  such  unfailing 
regularity;  whence  its  name.  In  more  than  one  hundred  erup- 
tions of  it,  which  I  witnessed  during  my  two  visits  to  the  Park  in 
1873  and  1875,  I  never  knew  it  to  be  more  than  three  minutes 
behind  its  appointed  time.  Most  of  the  great  geysers,  however, 
spout  at  very  irregular  intervals,  varying  from  three  or  four  hours 
to  several  days,  or  even  two  or  three  weeks,  their  eruptions  last- 
ing from  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  to  two  or  three  hours,  and 
sometimes  even  as  long  as  nine  hours. 

"  No  geyser  spouts  constantly,  though  some  of  the  small  ones 
79 


,250  ^^-^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

spout  most  of  the  time.  Between  eruptions,  some  pour  out  from 
their  beautifully  ornamented  craters  great  puffs  of  steam,  like  im- 
mense hig-h  pressure  engines,  little  jets  of  scalding  spray  being 
constantly  thrown  to  the  top  of  the  crater,  or  a  little  above  it, 
while  there  is  all  the  time  a  sound  of  fierce  boiling  below,  and  in 
others  the  hot  water  stands,  a  wonderfully  transparent  pool,  in 
vast  saucer-shaped  basins,  from  ten  to  seventy-five  feet  across, 
within  each  of  which  is  the  well  or  tube  from  which  the  eruption 
occurs,  at  which  the  water  slowly  boils.  No  language  can  ade- 
quately describe  the  gracefully  curved  and  scalloped  forms  in 
which  the  silicious  rock  deposits  on  the  bottoms  and  margins  of 
these  basins,  nor  the  beauty  of  the  countless  vivid  and  delicate 
colors  with  which  they  are  dyed. 

"Standing  or  lying  all  about  the  geyser  craters  and  hot  springs 
are  trees,  killed  by  the  hot  silicious  waters  or  by  their  mineral 
deposits.  Nothing  in  nature  can  be  more  spectral  than  these 
naked  trunks  of  trees,  stripped  of  bark  and  bare  of  branches,  and 
bleached  white  as  snow,  seeming  like  the  ghosts  of  the  groves 
and  forests  buried  beneath  these  mounds.  When  the  wood  falls 
in  the  immediate  line  of  overflow  of  spring  or  geyser,  the  hot 
water  soon  soaks  it  soft  and  petrifies  it.  Immense  quantities  of 
wood  may  be  seen  here  in  all  stages  of  petrifaction. 

"It  is  plain  that  while  the  amount  of  hot  spring  and  geyser 
action  in  the  Park  has  been  about  the  same  for  ages  past,  its  cen- 
tres of  activity  have  always  been,  and  are  now,  constantly 
changing.  Several  of  the  largest  geysers,  whose  age  we  do  not 
know,  are  plainly  of  very  recent  origin — notably  'Old  Faithful' 
and  the  'Castle' — since  high  up  on  the  mounds  of  each  are 
lying,  partially  imbedded  in  the  rock,  and  not  yet  wholly  petrified, 
tlie  trunks  of  large  pine  trees,  which,  had  they  been  there  very 
many  years,  must  have  been  completely  buried  by  the  rapid  de- 
posit of  the  rock,  while  alike  in  the  woods  and  in  the  open  ground 
are  numerous  extinct  craters,  and  many  others  which  are  plainly 
dying  out.  Two  of  the  greatest  among  the  geysers  of  the  Upper 
Geyser  basin  of  the  Fire  Hole  are  certainly  of  very  recent  origin, 
having  broken  out  between  the  autumn  of  1873  and  the  spring 
of  1874;  and  many  pulsating  and  boiling  springs,  which  do  not 
spout,  are  plainly  but  a  few  years  old. 


NUMBER    OF   THE    GEYSERS.  1 25  I 

"No  one  knows  how  many  geysers  and  hot  springs  there  are 
in  the  Park.  Dr.  Hayden  estimates  that  in  the  two  Fire  Hole 
River  Geyser  basins,  within  an  area  about  equal  to  that  of  an 
ordinary  township,  say  thirty-five  or  forty  square  miles,  there  are 
at  least  2,000,  and  in  the  whole  Park  there  are  supposed  to  be  at 
least  10,000  hot  springs,  steam  jets,  geysers  and  mud  springs. 
The  solfataras,  fumaroles  and  salses,  of  which  some  are  found 
scattered  through  the  geyser  basins,  but  most  of  which  are  in 
groups  here  and  there  outside  the  Geyser  basins,  especially  at 
Brimstone  Mountain,  on  the  summit  of  the  divide  between  the 
Yellowstone  and  Fire  Hole  Valleys;  at  numerous  points  about 
Yellowstone  lake,  on  Pelican  creek,  at  Crater  Hills,  and  at  Mud 
Volcanoes,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Yellowstone  river;  on  Alum 
creek,  along  the  Grand  Canon,  and  on  the  slopes  of  the  Sierra 
Shoshone  and  the  Elephant's  Back  Mountains,  follow  naturally 
in  our  catalogue  of  attractions.  These  from  thousands  of  vents, 
pour  out  sulphurous  hot  water,  or  steam  charged  with  sulphu- 
retted hydrogen  and  other  gases  commonly  emitted  from  volcanic 
craters,  or  boil  and  spout  mud,  slats-blue,  or  white,  or  pink,  or 
lavender,  or  blackish  green,  or  brown,  some  thin  as  mush,  some 
thick  as  hasty  pudding,  with  much  puffing  and  rumbling  and 
hissing  of  steam  escape-pipes,  and  often  with  much  trembling  of 
the  crround. 

"About  many  of  them  are  deposited  beautiful  Incrustations  of 
sulphur  and  silica,  of  a  light  buff-color,  or  solid  sheets  or  delicate 
feathery,  frost-like  crystals  of  bright  yellow  sulphur,  together  with 
alum  and  other  volcanic  products.  Some  of  the  larger  of  these 
sulphurous  steam  jets,  pouring  out  of  openings  several  feet  in 
diameter,  keep  up  a  continual  roar,  like  a  hoarse  fog-whistle; 
others,  night  and  day,  maintain  a  steady  series  of  explosions,  like 
distant  thunder,  from  twenty  to  fifty  peals  a  minute,  audible  for 
miles  around,  and  each  jarring  the  ground,  so  that  you  ma)',  in 
some  cases,  plainly  feel  it,  sitting  on  your  horse,  a  half  a  mile 
away  from  them. 

"Some  of  these,  also,  are  plainly  of  quite  recent  origin;  for, 
walking  about  among  them  at  Brimstone  Mountain,  where,  over 
many  acres,  the  vegetation  is  utterly  destroyed,  and  the  surface 


J2r2  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

of  the  earth  blasted  and  burned,  and  streaked  red,  and  yellow, 
and  white,  seems  a  mere  heap  of  ashes  mixed  with  sulphur, 
near  the  centre  of  the  great  area  of  desolation,  we  saw  the  pros- 
trate trunks  of  several  pine  trees  not  yet  entirely  destroyed  by 
the  corrosive,  stiflintr  vapors,  but  so  far  decayed  that  we  could 
kick  them  to  pieces  easily.  The  waters  of  this  cluster  flow 
towards  the  Yellowstone,  and  in  a  hollow  have  formed  a  minia- 
ture Dead  sea,  whose  steaming,  sulphurous,  heavy,  green  waves 
support  no  form  of  life,  and  beat  sullenly  on  a  shore  whose  deso- 
lation is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  luxurious,  grassy  slopes 
which  stretch  for  miles  to  the  east  towards  and  across  the 
Yellowstone," 

We  shall  not  attempt  in  this  place  any  explanation  of  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  geyser,  for  two  reasons :  one,  that  scientists  are 
not  agreed  in  their  views  of  it ;  the  only  thing  fully  ascertained 
in  regard  to  it  is  that  the  hot  water  (from  whatever  source  it  may 
be  derived)  passes  up  through  long  tubes  or  pipes  of  different 
diameters  ;  and  the  other,  that  their  explanations  are  too  ab- 
struse to  be  understood  by  the  masses,  even  if  (which  is  doubtful) 
they  understand  them  fully  themselves. 

Let  us,  then,  turn  to  a  contemplation  of  these  geysers,  and  espe- 
cially of  those  of  the  Upper  Geyser  Basin,  where,  though  some- 
what fewer  in  number  than  in  the  Lower  basin,  they  are  of  much 
greater  power  and  magnificence.  And,  first,  let  us  follow  Rev. 
Edwin  Stanley,  a  visitor  to  the  Park,  whose  "  Rambles  in  Won- 
derland "  gives  a  very  interesting  account  of  this  Upper  basin,  as 
he  marshals  the  geysers  in  a  grand  parade : 

"  Let  us  imagine  ourselves  for  once  standing  in  a  central  posi- 
tion, where  we  can  see  every  geyser  in  the  basin.  It  is  an  extra 
occasion,  and  they  are  all  out  on  parade,  and  all  playing  at  once. 
There  is  good  Old  Faithful,  always  ready  for  her  part,  doing  her 
best — the  two  by  five  feet  column  playing  to  a  height  of  150  feet 
- — perfect  in  all  the  elements  of  geyser  action.  Yonder  the  Bee- 
hive is  sending  up  its  graceful  column  200  feet  heavenward,  while 
the  Giantess  is  just  in  the  humor,  and  is  making  a  gorgeous  dis- 
play of  its,  say,  ten  feet  volume  to  an  altitude  of  250  feet.  In 
the  meantime  the  old  Castle  answers  the  summons,  and   putting 


"THE  PARADE    OF  THE    GEYSERSr  1 25 3 

on  its  strength  with  alarminor  detonations  is  belching  forth  a  gi- 
o-antic  volume  seventy  feet  above  its  crater  ;  while  over  there,  just 
above  the  Saw-mill,  which  is  rallying  all  its  force  to  the  exhibition, 
rustling  about  and  spurting  upward  its  six-inch  jet  with  as  much 
self-importance  as  if  it  were  the  only  geyser  in  the  basin,  we  see 
the  Grand,  by  a  more  than  ordinary  effort,  overtopping  all  the 
rest,  with  its  heaven-ascending,  graceful  volume,  300  feet  in  the 
air.  Just  below  here  the  Riverside,  the  Comet,  the  complicated 
and  fascinating  Fantail,  and  the  curiously-wrought  Grotto,  are 
all  chiming  in,  and  the  grand  old  Giant,  the  chief  of  the  basin,  not 
to  be  left  behind,  or  by  any  one  outdone,  is  towering  up  with  its 
six  feet  fountain,  swaying  in  the  bright  sunlight  at  an  elevation 
of  250  feet.  In  the  meantime  a  hundred  others  of  lesser  note, 
we  will  say,  are  answering  the  call  at  this  grand  exposition,  and 
coming  out  in  all  their  native  glory  and  surpassing  beauty.  Just 
listen  to  the  terrible,  awful  rumblings  and  deafening  thunders,  as 
if  the  very  earth  would  be  moved  from  its  foundation — the  thou- 
sand reports  of  rushing  waters  and  hissing  steam,  while  Pluto  is 
mustering  all  his  forces,  and  Hades  would  feign  disgorge  itself 
and  submerge  our  world.  But  then  look  upward  at  the  immense 
masses  of  rising  steam  ascending  higher  and  still  higher,  until 
lost  in  the  heavens  above;  while  every  column  is  tinseled  over 
with  a  robe  of  silver  decked  with  all  the  prismatic  colors,  and 
every  majestic  fountain  is  encircled  with  a  halo  of  gorgeous 
hues." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  geysers  are  never  all  in 
action  at  the  same  time.  Their  periods  of  activity  are  different 
at  different  times,  and  with  some  of  them  are  at  increasingly  long 
intervals,  and  probably  they  will  eventually  cease  to  act,  as  so 
many  others  have  done.  New  geysers  are  constantly  forming, 
and  may  take  the  places  of  the  silent  ones.  Some  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  the  number  are  so  uncertain  that  parties  have  re- 
mained at  the  basins  for  two  or  three  weeks  without  witnessing 
their  action,  and  again  perhaps  soon  after  they  have  sent  up  a 
magnificent  column  twice  or  thrice  in  twenty-four  hours.  One 
explorer,  Lieutenant  Barlow,  tells  us  that  near  the  edge  of  the 
basin,  where  the   river  makes  a  sharp  bend  to  the  southeast,  is 


,254  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

found  the  initial  geyser — a  small  steam  vent — on  the  right. 
Soon  on  either  side  of  the  river  are  seen  the  two  lively  geysers, 
called  the  "  Sentinels,"  because  of  their  nearness  to  the  crate  of 
the  great  geyser  basins.  The  one  on  the  left  is  in  constant  agi- 
tation, the  waters  revolving  horizontally  with  great  violence,  and 
occasionally  spouting  upward  to  the  height  of  twenty  feet,  the  lat- 
eral direction  being  fifty  feet.  Enormous  masses  of  steam  are 
ejected.  The  crater  of  this  is  three  feet  by  ten.  The  opposite 
Sentinel  is  not  so  constantly  active,  and  is  smaller.  About  250 
yards  from  the  gate  are  three  geysers  acting  in  concert.  When 
in  full  action  the  display  from  these  is  very  fine.  The  waters 
spread  out  in  the  shape  of  a  fan,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
have  been  named  the  Fan  Geysers.  One  hundred  yards  farther 
up  the  side  of  the  stream  is  found  a  double  geyser,  a  stream  from 
one  of  its  orifices  playing  to  the  height  of  eighty  or  ninety  feet, 
emittinof  larcfe  volumes  of  steam.  From  the  formation  of  its  crater 
it  was  named  the  Well  Geyser. 

Still  above  are  found  some  of  the  most  interestin^f  and  beau- 
tiful  geysers  of  the  whole  basin.  First  are  two  smaller  geysers 
near  a  large  spring  of  blue  water,  while  a  few  yards  beyond  are 
seen  the  w-alls  and  arches  of  the  Grotto.  This  is  an  exceedingly 
intricate  formation,  eight  feet  in  height  and  ninety  in  circumfer- 
ence. It  is  by  many  called  the  gem  of  all  the  geysers.  It  is 
absolutely  magnificent — a  sight  of  resplendent  beauty,  that  greets 
the  eyes  nowhere  outside  of  the  region  of  the  National  Park.  It 
is  simply  a  miniature  temple  of  alabaster  whiteness,  with  arches 
leading  to  some  interior  Holy  of  Holies,  whose  sacred  places 
may  never  be  profaned  by  eye  or  foot.  The  hard  calcareous 
formation  about  it  is  smooth,  and  bright  as  a  clean  swept  pave- 
ment. Several  columns  of  purest  white  rise  to  a  height  of  eight 
to  ten  feet,  supporting  a  roof  that  covers  the  entire  vent,  forming 
fantastic  arches  and  entrances,  out  of  which  the  water  is  ejected 
during  an  eruption  fifty  or  sixty  feet.  The  entire  surface  is 
composed  of  tlie  most  delicate  bead-work  imaginable,  white  as 
the  driven  snow,  massive  but  elaborately  elegant. and  so  peerlessly 
beautiful  tlu'it  the  hand  of  desecration  has  not  been  laid  upon  it, 
and  it  stands  without  Haw  or  break  in  all  its  primal  beauty — a 
grotto  of  pearls,  "  the  beautiful  princess  of  all  the  realm." 


THE    GIANT  AND    OLD   FAITHFUL    GEYSERS.  J255 

Proceeding  1 50  yards  farther,  and  passing  two  hot  springs,  a 
remarkable  group  of  geysers  is  discovered.  One  of  these  lias  a 
huge  crater,  five  feet  in  diameter,  shaped  something  Hke  the  base 
of  a  horn — one  side  broken  down — the  highest  point  being  fifteen 
feet  above  the  mound  on  which  it  stands.  This  proved  to  be  a 
tremendous  geyser,  which  has  been  called  the  Giant.  It  throws 
a  column  of  water  the  size  of  the  opening  to  the  measured  altitude 
of  130  feet,  and  continues  the  display  for  an  hour  and  a  half. 
The  amount  of  water  discharged  is  immense,  almost  equal  in 
quantity  to  that  in  the  river,  the  volume  of  which  during  the 
eruption  is  doubled.  But  one  eruption  of  this  geyser  was  ob- 
served. Another  large  crater  close  by  has  several  orifices,  and 
with  ten  small  jets  surrounding  it,  formed  probably  one  connect- 
ing system.  The  hill  built  up  by  this  group  covers  an  acre  of 
ground,  and  is  thirty  feet  in  height. 

Harry  J.  Norton,  Esq.,  formerly  of  Virginia  City,  made  the 
rounds  of  all  the  geysers,  and  describes  the  leading  ones  as  fol- 
lows:  "In  our  opinion,  there  is  no  geyser  in  the  entire  region 
that  is  so  richly  deserving  of  mention  as  our  ancient-looking, 
steadfast  friend.  Old  Faithful ;  for  its  operations  are  as  regular 
as  clock-work,  of  most  frequent  occurrence,  and  of  great  power. 
Standing  sentinel-like  on  the  upper  outskirts  of  the  valley,  at 
regular  intervals  of  sixty-seven  moments,  the  grim  old  vidette 
sounds  forth  his  'all's  well '  in  a  column  of  water  five  or  six  feet 
in  diameter,  throwing  it  skyward  to  a  distance  of  150  feet,  and 
holding  it  up  to  that  height  for  eight  or  ten  minutes'  duration. 
The  stream  is  nearly  vertical,  and  in  descending  the  water  forms 
a  glittering  shower  of  pearl-drops,  plashing  into  a  succession  of 
porcelain-lined  reservoirs  of  every  conceivable  shape  and  many- 
colored  tints.  The  mound  is  not  far  from  twenty  feet  in  height, 
and  gradually  slopes  down  to  the  south  in  regular  terraces  to  a 
neighboring  hot  spring.  One  of  the  artistic  reservoirs  nearest 
the  crater  is  half-filled  with  irregularly  shaped,  perfectly  polished 
white  pebbles,  which  must  have  been  thrown  out  at  the  different 
eruptions.  When  the  eruption  ceases  the  water  recedes,  and 
nothing  is  heard  but  the  occasional  escape  of  steam  until  another 
exhibition   occurs.       Old   Faithful  will  ever  be  the    favorite  of 


1256  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

tourists,  as  it  never  fails  in    regularly  giving    a    display  of   its 
powers. 

"Crossing  the  river,  and  proceeding  down  its  east  bank  an 
eighth  of  a  mile,  we  come  to  the  Beehive.  Early  in  the  afternoon 
an  eruption  took  place  without  a  moment's  warning.  The  column 
of  water  ejected  filled  the  full  size  of  the  crater,  and  shot  up  at 
least  200  feet.  So  nearly  vertically  does  the  stream  ascend  that 
on  a  calm  day  nine-tenths  of  the  volume  would  fall  directly  back 
into  the  aperture.  From  this  cause,  probably,  there  is  no  mound 
of  any  consequence  built  around  it.  At  the  time  we  witnessed 
its  action,  the  ascending  torrent  was  interposed  between  us  and 
a  bright,  shining  sun,  and  through  its  cloud  of  spray  there 
was  formed  a  rainbow  of  magnificent  proportions,  lending  the 
fountain  a  crowning  splendor  and  glory  that  it  could  not  other- 
wise possess. 

"To  the  right,  and  down  stream  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the 
Beehive,  is  the  Giantess,  with  a  crater  eighteen  by  twenty-five 
feet.  We  came  upon  it  during  one  of  its  lucid  intervals,  and 
looking  down  into  the  gaping  chasm  could  just  discern  the  water 
a  qreat  distance  below,  as  in  a  state  of  apparent  tranquillity. 
Presently,  however,  there  came  up  from  its  gloomy  depths  a 
dismal  groan,  quickly  followed  by  a  dense  volume  of  steam  and 
a  rumblinor  sound  beneath  our  feet,  as  of  terrific  underjiround 
thunder.  In  a  moment  more  the  seething  elements  below  were 
in  wildest  commotion.  The  rolling  and  clashing  of  waves,  the 
terrible  steam-clouds  rushincj  to  and  fro  under  the  frail  crust,  the 
thunder  of  the  raging  waters,  as,  lashed  into  fury  by  the  pur- 
suing steam,  they  sought  to  burst  apart  their  prison  wall  and 
escape — all  were  but  too  distinctly  heard  and  felt.  Spell-bound 
we  stood,  and,  with  enraptured  awe,  silently  awaited  the  result  of 
this  terrible  confusion.  Spasm  succeeded  spasm  ;  the  agitated 
flood  boiled  up  to  the  surface  of  the  crater,  and  with  a  deafening 
report  the  immense  body  of  water  was  hurled  into  the  air  over 
a  hundred  feet.  Like  some  gigantic  fountain  impelled  by  an 
engine  power  that  could  have  revolved  a  world,  the  boiling  jet 
continued  to  play  for  several  minutes.  Surrounding  this  majestic 
liquid  dome   is  a   circle  of  smaller  jets  issuing  from  the  same 


THE   FAN  AND    THE    GRAND    GEYSERS.  J2C7 

crater,  but  from  lesser  apertures  below,  giving  the  main  column 
the  appearance  of  a  fountain  within  a  fountain.  Playing  hither 
and  thither  in  the  mellow  sunlit  mist,  miniature  rainbows  were 
seen,  and  the  air  glistened  with  the  falling  water-beads  as  if  a 
shower  of  diamonds  were  being  poured  from  the  golden  gates 
of  the  Eternal  City. 

"Suddenly,  just  below  us  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  a 
vast  column  of  steam  burst  forth  and  ascended  several  hundred 
feet.  On  the  qid  vive  for  new  wonders,  we  hurried  over  a  slight 
knoll  in  that  direction,  and  arrived  just  in  time  to  witness  the  Fan 
Geyser  getting  up  steam  for  an  eruption.  It  requires  more  in- 
side machinery  to  operate  this  geyser  than  any  of  the  others.  In 
fact,  it  is  a  massive  natural  engine,  25  by  100  feet,  with  two  small 
valves,  two  escape  pipes,  and  at  the  extreme  upper  end  a  large 
smoke-stack — five  separate  and  distinct  craters.  When  we  ar- 
rived, we  could  hear  a  sound  as  of  cord-wood  beine  thrown  into 
a  mammoth  furnace.  This  continued  several  seconds,  ceased, 
and  was  followed  by  great  quantities  of  steam  from  the  smoke- 
stack ;  then  the  two  valves  opened,  shooting  out  swift,  hissing 
jets  of  steam.  The  next  moment  there  would  be  an  unearthly 
roar  from  the  double  craters  ;  both  would  fill,  and  from  each  aper- 
ture a  column  of  water  two  feet  in  diameter  shot  upward  over 
eighty  feet,  one  ascending  nearly  vertical,  and  the  other  at  an 
angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  thus  forming  the  '  fan.'  The 
eruption  would  continue  from  two  to  four  minutes,  then  the  flow 
cease  for  eight  or  ten  seconds,  and  then  the  entire  movement 
would  be  repeated.  These  repetitions  continued  for  about 
twenty-five  minutes,  then  ceased  altogether.  It  requires  no  great 
flight  of  fancy  to  see  in  diis  marvellous  natural  mechanism  a  vast 
engine  running  under  the  guidance  of  a  ghostly  eagineer,  and 
being  '  stoked '  from  Pluto's  wood-pile  by  a  thousand  goblin 
firemen." 

Near  the  middle  of  the  Upper  Geyser  basin  is  the  "Grand 
Geyser,"  the  most  remarkable  in  many  respects  in  the  world. 
Lieutenant  Doane,  U.  S.  A.,  who  spent  several  days  in  its  imme- 
diate vicinity  in  1877,  ^^us  describes  it:  "Opposite  camp,  on  the 
other   side  of   Inre    Hole  river,  is  a  hiMi  lcdo;e  of  stalagmite. 


1258  <^^'^'    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

sloping  from  the  base  of  the  mountain  down  to  the  river.  Nu- 
merous small  knolls  are  scattered  over  its  surface,  the  craters  of 
boiling  springs,  from  iiftcen  to  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter;  some 
of  these  throw  water  to  the  hc;ight  of  three  and  four  feet.  On 
the  summit  of  this  bank  of  rock  is  ike  grmid geyser  of  the  zvorld, 
a  well  in  the  strata,  twenty  by  twenty-five  feet  in  diametric  meas- 
urements (the  perceptible  elevation  of  the  rim  being  but  a  few 
inches),  and  when  quiet  having  a  visible  depth  of  100  feet.  The 
edge  of  the  basin  is  bounded  by  a  heavy  fringe  of  rock,  and  sta- 
lagmite in  solid  layers  is  deposited  by  the  overflowing  waters. 
When  an  eruption  is  about  to  occur,  the  basin  gradually  fills  with 
boiling  water  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface,  then  suddenly, 
with  heavy  concussions,  immense  clouds  of  steam  rise  to  the 
height  of  500  feet,  and  the  whole  great  body  of  water,  twenty  by 
twenty-five  feet,  ascends  in  one  gigantic  column  to  the  height  of 
ninety  feet;  from  the  apex  of  this  column  five  great  jets  shoot  up, 
radiating  slightly  from  each  other,  to  the  unparalleled  altitude  of 
250  feet  from  the  ground.  The  earth  trembles  under  the  de- 
scendincr  delu^Te  from  this  vast  fountain ;  a  thousand  hissinof 
sounds  are  heard  in  the  air;  rainbows  encircle  the  summits  of  the 
jets  with  a  halo  of  celestial  glory.  The  falling  water  plows  up 
and  bears  away  the  shelly  strata,  and  a  seething  flood  pours 
down  the  slope  and  into  the  river.  It  is  the  grandest,  the  most 
majestic,  and  most  terrible  fountain  in  the  world.  After  playing 
thus  for  twenty  minutes,  it  gradually  subsides,  the  water  lowers 
into  the  crater  out  of  sight,  the  steam  ceases  to  escape,  and  all  is 
quiet.  This  grand  geyser  played  three  times  in  the  afternoon, 
but  appears  to  be  irregular  in  its  periods,  as  we  did  not  see  it  in 
eruption  again  while  in  the  valley.  Its  waters  are  of  a  deep 
ultramarine- color,  clear  and  beautiful.  The  wavinor  to  and  fro 
of  the  iri^antic  fountain,  in  a  briijht  sunliirht,  when  its  jets  are  at 
their  highest,  affords  a  spectacle  of  wonder  of  which  any  descrip- 
tion can  give  but  a  feeble  idea.  Our  whole  party  were  wild  with 
enthusiasm  ;  many  declared  it  was  300  feet  in  height ;  but  I  have 
kept,  in  the  figures  as  set  down  above,  within  the  limits  of  abso- 
lute certainty." 

"In  some  of  the  elements  of  beauty  and   interest,"  says  Pro- 


rilE   LOWER    GEYSER   BASIN  AND  ITS  LAUGS.  i2c;o 

fessor  R.  W.  Raymond,  "the  Lower  Geyser  basin  is  superior  to 
its  more  startling  rival.  It  is  broader  and  more  easily  surveyed  as 
a  whole;  and  its  springs  are  more  numerous,  though  not  so  pow- 
erful. Nothing  can  be  lovelier  than  the  sight,  at  sunrise,  of  the 
white  steam-columns,  tinged  with  rosy  morning,  ascending 
against  the  background  of  the  dark  pine  woods  and  the  clear  sky 
above.  The  variety  in  form  and  character  of  these  springs  is 
quite  remarkable.  A  few  of  them  make  faint  deposits  of  sulphur, 
though  the  greater  number  appear  to  be  purely  silicious.  One 
very  large  basin  (forty  by  sixty  feet)  is  filled  with  the  most  beau- 
tiful slime,  varying  in  tint  from  white  to  pink,  which  blobs  and 
spits  away,  trying  to  boil,  like  a  heavy  theologian  forcing  a  laugh 

to  please  a  friend  in  spite  of  his  natural  specific  gravity 

The  laugs  ov  Q.yX\nQX  geysers  are  the  most  beautiful  objects  of  all. 
Around  their  borders  the  white  incrustations  form  quaint  ara- 
besques and  ornamental  bosses,  resembling  petrified  vegetable 
ofrowths.  The  sides  of  the  reservoir  are  corruo^ated  and  indented 
fancifully,  like  the  recesses  and  branching  passages  of  a  fairy 
cavern.  The  water  is  brightly  but  not  deeply  blue.  Over  its 
surface  curls  a  light  vapor;  through  its  crystal  clearness  one  may 
gaze,  apparently,  to  unfathomable  depths;  and,  seen  through 
this  wondrous  medium,  the  white  walls  seem  like  silver,  ribbed 
and  crusted  with  pearl.  When  the  sun  strikes  across  the  scene, 
the  last  touch  of  unexpected  beauty  is  added.  The  projected 
shadow  of  the  decorated  edge  reveals  by  contrast  new  glories  in 
the  depths;  every  ripple  on  the  surface  makes  marvellous  ])lay 
of  tint  and  shade  on  the  pearly  bottom.  One  half-expects  to 
see  a  lovely  naiad  emerge  with  floating  grace  from  her  fantasti- 
cally carven  covert,  and  gayly  kiss  her  snowy  hand  through  the 
blue  wave. 

"In  one  of  these  /aiiQs  the  whitened  skeleton  of  a  mountain  buf- 
falo  was  discovered.  By  whatever  accident  he  met  his  fate  there, 
no  king  or  saint  was  ever  more  magnificently  entombed.  Not 
the  shrine  of  St.  Antony  of  Padua  with  its  white  marbles  and 
its  silver  lamps,  is  so  resplendent  as  tliis  sepulchre  in  the  wilder- 
ness," 

Did  space  permit  we  might  give  a  score  of  other  testimonies 


I26o  ^'^'•^    WESTERN   EMPIRE. 

to  the  beauty  of  these  vast  and  exquisitely  sculptured  and  jew- 
eled cups  filled  to  the  brim  with  scalding  water,  yet  so  entran- 
cingly  beautiful  that  you  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  thrust  in 
your  hand  and  pluck  the  silver  flowers  and  gather  the  gleaming 
jewels — but  we  are  compelled  to  desist. 

Yet  Geyserdom  is  not  a  paradise.  "The  Geyser  basins  in 
themselves,"  says  Rev.  Dr.  Hoyt,  "are  very  ghasdy  places. 
Save  the  jeweled  cups,  and  the  upward  plunge  of  the  white 
water,  there  is  little  beauty  in  them  that  we  should  desire  them. 
Where  the  geysers  spurt  up  their  hot  and  hissing  waves,  and 
scatter  diem  about,  and  then  deposit  as  the  scattered  waters  cool, 
the  lime,  and  magnesia,  and  sulphur,  with  which  they  are  charged, 
nothing  green  can  grow.  The  aspect  is  that  of  a  desert,  except 
only  that  the  sand  instead  of  being  brown  is  white.  It  seems 
more  like  a  place  of  death  than  life — )'our  horse's  feet  are 
scalded  in  the  hot  streams — you  must  be  very  careful  where  you 
tread,  lest  the  thin  crust  break  beneath  you,  and  let  you  down 
into  the  boiling  pools,  and  sudden  death  below.  The  air  is 
stenchful  with  the  breath  of  noxious  gases.  Flowers  do  not 
bloom ;  grass  cannot  spread  its  greenness ;  trees,  if  they  come 
within  the  circle  of  the  geyser  action,  stand  bleached,  leafless, 
lifeless.     It  is  the  terrible  side  of  nature  which  you  see." 

Turning  our  faces  northward  we  follow  the  Firehole  or  Upper 
Madison  river  for  four  or  five  miles  from  the  Lower  Geyser  basin, 
till  at  a  point  opposite  a  forty  foot  fall  of  the  river  we  enter  upon 
the  New  Norris  road,  constructed  by  Superintendent  Norris 
in  1878,  which  leads  to  new  wonders  of  various  kinds.  The 
Gibbon's  fork  of  the  Firehole  or  Madison  river,  which  has  its 
soiirce  in  or  near  Beaver  lake,  in  the  upper  Madison  Range, 
from  its  source  to  its  mouth  abounds  in  geysers,  hot-springs,  and 
fumaroles.  These  are  not  only  found  on  its  banks,  in  its  canons, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  its  numerous  water-falls,  but  along  the 
slopes  of  the  mountains  adjacent  there  are  four  or  five  of  these 
Geyser  basins.  The  southernmost  of  these,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  fork  known  as  Gibbon's  Firehole  Basin,  is  on  the  Howard 
road.  Norris's  road  is  some  miles  east  of  this,  and  passes 
through  a  valley  till  it  strikes  Gibbon's  fork  just  at  the  foot  of  the 


GIBBON'S  FORK—FIREHOLE  BASIN.  I26I 

lono-  and  deep  canon  of  diat  river.  In  that  canon  and  on  a 
branch  or  creek  which  unites  with  it  there  are  numerous  water- 
falls from  eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  height.  The  canon  itself, 
thouo-h  not  so  deep  and  carrying  less  water  than  that  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone, is  full  of  romantic  beauty  and  wildness.  Along  its  bed 
and  near  it  are  pulsating  geyser  cones  of  both  yellow  and  crim- 
son, paint  springs,  and  rivulets  of  nearly  every  color,  geysers, 
throwing  their  jets,  some  at  least  loo  feet  at  angles  of  from  40° 
to  60°,  instead  of  vertically,  as  in  the  old  basins,  and  in  the  open 
basin  along  the  road,  beside  many  small  but  beautiful  geysers, 
is  a  large  crater  formed  so  recendy  that  many  pine  trees  in  and 
around  it  still  retain  their  seared  and  mud-laden  leaves. 

Ascendinor  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Gibbon,  we  find  at  its 
head,  upon  the  crest  of  the  western  mountain  spur,  which  rises 
nearly  vertically  full  1,000  feet  above  the  highest  point  of  the 
Canon  Walls,  a  geyser  basin  of  not  more  than  five  acres  in  ex- 
tent, which  is  one  of  the  most  beaudful  and  interesting  in  the 
park.  To  this  basin,  as  its  first  discoverer,  Mr.  Norris  has  given 
the  name  of  Monument  basin.  In  this  there  is  at  least  one  pow- 
erful and  active  geyser — a  hissing  fumarole  plainly  audible  for 
miles  ;  two  other  fumarole s,  one  tall  and  pulsating  like  the  exhaust 
pipe  of  a  huge  Corliss  engine,  and  the  other  with  the  orifice  and  ter- 
minal of  its  cone  horizontal  instead  of  vertical.  There  are  also 
twelve  pulsating  geyser  cones,  from  two  to  thirty  feet  in  height, 
and  similar  in  appearance  to  the  famous  Liberty  Cap.  A  part  of 
these  are  now  extinct  and  slowly  wearing  away.  Mingled  with 
these  are  numerous  hot  springs  and  spouting  geysers.  A  short 
distance  above  this  Monument  basin  we  come  to  another,  at  the 
upper  canon  of  the  Gibbon,  and  here  after  ascending  the  inevit- 
able water-fall  come  to  the.  Norris  and  Firehole  basins  of  the 
Norris  fork  of  the  Gibbon.  Here  is  a  beautiful  grassy  park,  and 
sunny  glades  five  or  six  miles  in  extent,  and  the  whole  dotted 
and  begirt  with  huge  boiling  springs,  sputtering  paint-pots,  spout- 
ing geysers,  and  several  extensive  craters,  with  some  active  gey- 
sers which  throw  up  their  waters  with  great  frequency  and  reg- 
ularity. One  of  these  has  been  named  "  the  Minute  Man." 
Three  miles  more  brin^f  the  traveller  to  Beaver  and   Pine  lakes, 


,262  Oi'R    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  former,  though  of  considerable  extent,  being  artificial  in  the 
sense  of  having  been  formed  by  a  succession  of  beavers'  dams. 
These  lakes  abound  with  feathered  game,  and  on  their  banks  are 
fumaroles  and  hot  springs  heavily  charged  with  alum. 

On  the  bank  of  Beaver  lake  there  is  a  wall  of  vertical  columns 
of  obsidian  or  volcanic  glass,  many  hundred  feet  in  height  and 
for  two  miles  in  length.  There  are  cliffs  of  impure  obsidian 
elsewhere  in  the  Park  and  in  this  and  other  countries,  but  no- 
where has  there  been  found  any  of  this  volcanic  glass  so  pure 
and  perfect  as  this,  or  in  such  vast  quantity.  The  columns  are  of 
black,  yellow,  mottled,  and  banded  obsidian,  but  as  regular  in  form 
as  the  basaltic  columns  of  the  Giant's  Causeway.  Great  masses 
of  this  volcanic  orlass  had  fallen  from  the  columns  and  formed 
a  barricade  some  250  or  300  feet  in  height,  at  an  angle  of  45°  to 
the  marijin  of  Beaver  lake.  Mr.  Norris  had  largre  fires  kindled  on 
this  sloping  barricade,  and  then,  suddenly  cooling  it  by  throwing 
cold  water  on  it,  broke  it  in  pieces  and  then  with  great  labor 
crushed  it  and  made  a  eood  wao-on  road  over  this  barricade  of 
glass. 

From  the  obsidian  cliffs  there  is  a  good  wagon  road  to  the 
Mammoth  Hot  Springs,  and  thence  to  the  northern  entrance  to 
the  Park.  We  have  thus  completed  our  tour  of  the  most  im- 
portant objects  of  interest  in  the  Park  at  the  present  time.  What 
new  wonders  will  be  brought  to  light  when  the  whole  region  east 
of  the  Yellowstone  river  and  lake  shall  be  thoroughly  explored, 
when  the  southern  portion,  now  almost  wholly  unknown,  shall 
have  been  carefully  investigated,  and  when  even  the  northwest 
portion,  drained  by  the  Gallatin  river,  shall  become  better 
known,  remains  for  other  and  future  travellers  and  tourists  to 
describe.  What  is  already  known,  stamps  it  as  the  most  remark- 
able region  on  the  globe. 

"This  whole  region."  says  Dr.  Hayden,  "was,  in  comparatively 
modern  eeoloofical  times,  the  scene  of  the  most  wonderful  vol- 
canic  activity  of  any  portion  of  our  country.  The  hot  springs 
and  geysers  represent  the  last  stages — the  vents  or  escape  pipes — 
of  these  remarkable  volcanic  manifestations  of  the  internal  forces. 
All  these  springs  are  adorned  with  decorations  more  beautiful  than 


ACCESS    TO    THE   PARK.  I -5, 

human  art  ever  conceived,  and  which  have  required  thousands 
of  years  for  the  cunning  hand  of  Nature  to  form."  "It  is  prob- 
able," he  remarks  elsewhere,  "  that  during-  the  Pliocene  period, 
the  entire  country,  drained  by  the  sources  of  the  Yellowstone  and 
the  Colorado,  was  the  scene  of  volcanic  activity  as  great  as  that 
of  any  portion  of  the  globe.  It  might  be  called  one  vast  crater, 
made  up  of  a  thousand  smaller  volcanic  vents  and  fissures,  out 
of  which  the  fluid  interior  of  the  earth,  fragments  of  rock  and 
volcanic  dust,  were  poured  in  unlimited  quantities.  Hundreds 
of  the  nuclei  or  cones  of  these  vents  are  now  remaining,  some 
of  them  rising  to  a  height  of  10,000  to  11,000  feet  above  the 
sea. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  access  to  the  Park  has  been  only 
by  long  and  difficult  journeys,  involving  too  great  fatigue  for  any 
but  the  most  robust,  and  almost  entirely  excluding,  by  its  very 
wearisomeness,  the  visits  of  the  gentler  sex.  Moreover,  the 
necessary  absence  of  any  considerable  hotel  accommodations,  or 
other  provisions  for  a  stay  of  at  least  ten  or  twelve  days  in  the 
Park,  and  the  frequent  presence  of  hostile  bands  of  Indians 
within  it,  have  prevented  any  very  large  influx  of  visitors  to  it. 
These  difficulties  are  now  almost  wholly  obviated.  The  Utah 
and  Northern  Railway  is  within  fifty  miles  of  Yellowstone  lake, 
and  swift  coaches  over  good  wagon  roads  traverse  the  remainder 
of  the  way.  Before  the  opening  of  the  next  season  (the  season 
is  from  the  middle  of  August  to  the  middle  of  October),  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  will  be  running  through  trains  from 
Chicago  and  St.  Paul  to  Fort  Ellis,  and  not  impossibly  to  the 
Park  itself.  The  hardships  of  the  -journey  will  all  be  gone,  and 
the  time  of  reaching  there  will  be  reduced  to  about  eight  days, 
and  the  expense  to  one-half  what  it  is  at  present.  The  Indians 
have  gone  for  good,  and  the  era  of  fast  coaches,  good  hotels, 
restaurants  and  bathincr-houses  is  comiuLT  on. 

The  impression  that  there  is  little  of  interest  in  the  Park  except 
the  phenomena  we  have  described  should  be  carefully  and  for- 
ever dispelled  from  the  minds  of  the  public.  "Few,  I  suppose," 
says  Mr.  William  I.  Marshall,  "  would  care  to  live  long  among 
spouting  geysers  and  boiling  springs,  or  even  upon  the  banks  of 


1264  ^^^    WESTERN-  EMPIRE. 

the  brilliantly  colored  Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone;  but 
these  cover  only  a  small  part,  probably  not  more  than  two  or 
three  per  cent.,  of  the  surface  of  the  Park,  which  embraces  3,578 
square  miles,  or  2,298,920  acres,  an  area  almost  one-half  as  large 
as  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and,  of  course,  extensive  enough 
to  contain  an  immense  variety  of  scenery.  There  are  scores  of 
miles  of  beautiful  valleys  traversed  by  rivers  of  the  purest  water, 
swarming  with  trout,  grayling  and  whitefish,  and  furnishing  the 
finest  huntincf-crrounds  for  ducks,  creese,  swans,  and  other  water- 
fowl.  These  valleys  are  generally  covered  with  fine  grass,  on 
which  numerous  antelopes  pasture,  while  the  greater  part  of  the 
mountains  which  bound  them  is  covered  with  the  forests  (inter- 
spersed with  those  great  grassy  slopes  which  are  so  marked  a 
feature  of  the  timbered  areas  of  the  Rocky  Mountains)  in  which 
those  fond  of  rifle-shootinof  can  find  elk  and  black-tailed  deer  and 
white-tailed  deer  and  mountain  sheep,  and  occasionally  a  band 
of  mountain  buffalo  and  other  larfje  o^ame.  There  are  countless 
quiet  nooks  where  one  can  camp  under  the  fragrant  pines,  besides 
green  meadows  gemmed  with  lovely  wild  flowers  and  watered 
by  bubbling  brooks,  across  which  the  beaver  still  builds  his  cun- 
ning dam,  and  beneath  whose  banks  and  in  whose  deep  pools  the 
dainty  little  speckled  brook-trout  watches  for  his  prey.  Not  only 
are  there  scores  of  grand  mountains  lifting  their  craggy  sides  and 
rugged  summits  (few  of  which  have  ever  felt  the  tread  of  civilized 
man)  far  up  among  the  clouds,  but  innumerable  sunny  glades  and 
shady  dells,  charming  bits  of  quiet,  picturesque  scenery,  where 
one  will  see  nothing  of  the  striking,  but  only  the  gently  beau- 
tiful. 

"  I  presume  the  head-quarters  for  tourists,  when  the  Park  shall 
be  made  a  little  more  accessible,  will  be  established  on  the  shores 
of  the  lovely  Yellowstone  lake,  which,  lying  at  an  altitude  of  y,TJ^ 
feet  above  the  sea,  or  1,500  higher  than  the  summit  of  Mount 
Washington,  in  New  Hampshire,  covers  300  square  miles  with 
cool,  clear  water,  which  in  places  is  300  feet  deep,  and  rolls  its 
waves,  of  as  deep  a  blue  as  the  open  sea,  on  300  miles  of  shore 
line,  now  of  loveliest  beauty,  and  now  of  wildest  grandeur.  With 
its  opportunities  for  rowing  and  sailing  and  fishing  and  hunting, 


YELLOWSTONE   PARK  FOR  A   SUMMER   HOME.  1265 

with  the  grandest  of  mountains  bordering  it  and  the  purest  of  air 
ever  sweeping  over  it,  and  with  the  inducements  to  open-air  Hfe 
offered  by  its  surroundings,  it  is  surely  destined  to  become  a  most 
dehghtful  summer  resort  for  those  who  love  nature,  and  who, 
when  they  wish  to  see  her  strangest  and  most  wonderful  phases, 
can  sail  or  ride  in  a  few  hours  to  the  spouting  geysers,  the  boil- 
ing springs,  the  stifling  solfataras,  the  roaring  mud  volcanoes,  the 
lofty  cataracts,  and  the  gorgeous  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone ;  and 
when  they  would  enjoy  her  quieter  and  more  subdued  aspects 
can  find  them  on  every  hand  in  endless  profusion.  Those  who 
travel  to  see  the  triumphs  of  industry  and  the  treasures  of  art, 
to  behold  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  era  or  splendor  of  modern  cities; 
those  who  wish  to  revive  historical  associations,  or  to  survey  the 
beauty  of  the  earth  as  affected  by  human  effort,  and  connected 
with  human  life,  will,  of  course,  go  to  the  old  world ;  but  there 
are  many,  and  the  number  seems  to  be  constantly  increasing, 
who,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  love  yearly  to  leave  behind  them 
the  bustle  of  towns  and  the  roar  of  cities,  the  vexations  of  business 
and  the  conventionalities  of  society,  and  live  face  to  face  with  na- 
ture, restinor  in  her  solitudes  or  communing  with  her  ceaseless 
health-giving  activities,  and  to  these  the  endless  features  of  the 

Park  will  offer  varied  attractions  and  constant  charms." 
80 


1266  O^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

ALASKA. 

Relation  of  Alaska  to  Our  Western  Empire — Another  Kamschatka — 
Absurdity  of  the  Stories  told  of  its  Present  or  Prospective  Produc- 
tiveness— Its  Furs,  Fisheries,  and  Timber,  somewhat  valuable — Pecu- 
liar Form  of  the  Territory — The  Bull's  Head  with  two  long  Horns — 
Its  three  Divisions,  Sitka,  Yukon,  and  the  Islands — Area — Population 
— Topography — Mountains — Rivers — The  Limits  and  Area  of  each  Di- 
vision— Geology — Volcanoes  and  Glaciers — Mineralogy — Coal — Me- 
tals— Minerals — Gold  and  Silver — Recent  Discoveries — Zoology — The 
Divisions  in  detail — The  Sitkan  Division — Its  Fur  Trade,  Fisheries, 
and  Timber — Its  Agricultural  Productions  confined  to  a  few  Vegeta- 
bles— 2.  The  Yukon  District  of  little  Value,  except  for  its  Fur 
Trade,  Whale  and  other  Fisheries  on  the  Coast — 3.  The  Island  District 
— Some  Arable  Land  on  the  larger  Islands,  and  a  possibility  of  fu- 
ture Dairy-farms  there,  though  at  too  great  Cost  for  muck  Profit — 
The  Capture  of  the  Fur  Seal  on  the  Pribyloff  Islands  the  principal 
Industry,  though  Fisheries  may  Increase — Detailed  Account  of  the 
Fisheries— The- Population,  Nationalities,  and  Character — The  Na- 
tives— Koloshian  Tribes — Kenaian  Tribes — The  Aleuts — The  Eskimo — 
Principal  Towns  and  Villages — Meteorology  of  Fort  St.  Michael's  and 
Unalashka — Objects  of  Interest  to  the  Tourist — Historical  Notes — 
Can  it  be  Commended  to  Immigrants? 

Alaska,  the  unorganized  Northwestern  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  bears  about  the  same  relation  to  "Our  Western  Empire" 
that  Eastern  Siberia  and  Kamschatka  do  to  the  Russian  Em- 
pire ;  it  is  remote  from  the  rest  of  the  Empire,  of  vast  territorial 
extent,  but  desolate  and  cold  to  the  last  degree,  and  can  never 
become  very  populous,  or  of  any  remarkable  economic  value, 
until  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  changes,  and  what  is  now  an  Arctic 
climate  becomes  torrid,  or  at  least  temperate. 

We  know  very  well  what  is  said  about  the  ameliorating  effect 
of  the  Kuro-Siwo  or  Japan  current  upon  the  climate  of  those 
high  ladtudes  ;  but  the  Gulf  stream,  a  similar  but  more  powerful 
current,  has  not  rendered  Iceland  a  paradise,  or  Novaya  Zemla 
a  fit  habitation  for  men,  though  both  are  in  quite  as  low  latitudes 


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ALASKA  NOT  A   PARADISE.  j  26/ 

as  most  of  Alaska.  We  hope  for  some  return  of  the  national 
outlay  from  the  fisheries,  the  fur  trade,  and  the  timber  of  Alaska. 
The  precious  metals  may  be  found  there — probably  they  will ; 
and  it  may  be  possible  on  some  favored  spots  to  raise  oats  and 
barley,  though  not,  to  any  extent,  wheat  or  corn  ;  but  in  a  climate 
which  is  "nine  months  winter  and  the  other  three  months  late  in 
the  fall"  how  can  either  mining  or  agriculture  be  expected  to  pros- 
per? As  to  the  absurd  prediction,  that  within  a  few  years  it  will 
become  the  principal  region  of  our  country  for  dairy  products,  it 
is  sufficient  to  say  that  Mr.  Walker  Blaine,  son  of  the  Senator, 
after  a  careful  exploration  of  Alaska  in  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1880,  wrote  to  the  New  York  Tribtmc  on  the  20th  of  June, 
1880,  that  there  was  not  a  single  cow  in  the  whole  of  Alaska. 
Even  the  ice,  which  is  always  abundant,  does  not  prove  profitable 
as  an  article  of  export,  the  manufacture  of  Ice  by  machinery  hav- 
ing been  so  far  perfected  that  it  can  be  produced  in  San  Fran- 
cisco as  cheaply  as  it  can  be  imported  from  Alaska.  No  ice  is 
now  exported  from  the  Territory. 

That  we  may  do  no  injustice  to  this  great  northwestern  land, 
let  us  proceed  to  say  what  can  justly  be  said  in  its  favor. 

Alaska  is  not,  as  is  supposed  by  those  who  have  given  but 
little  attention  to  the  subject,  a  vast  compact  tract  of  territory. 
It  has  been  not  inaptly  compared  to  the  head  and  horns  of  a 
Texas  bull — Yukon  district  forming  the  massive  head,  the  SItkan 
shore  and  archipelago  forming  one  horn,  and  the  Allaskan  penin- 
sula and  the  Aleutian  Islands  the  other.  The  tips  of  the  two 
horns  are  60°  of  longitude  or  3,000  miles  apart ;  and  from  the 
southernmost  of  the  Islands  of  the  Aleutian  group  to  Point  Bar- 
row in  the  Arctic  ocean,  the  northernmost  point  of  Yukon  is  a 
lltde  more  than  20°  of  latitude,  or  about  1,400  miles. 

The  area,  according  to  the  last  report  of  the  Land  Office,  is  5  'j'j,- 
390  square  miles,  or  369,529,600  acres.  The  shore  lines  around 
the  islands  and  peninsulas  are  roughly  estimated  at  25,000  miles, 
or  the  entire  circumference  of  the  globe.  The  entire  population 
of  this  Territory  at  the  time  of  its  acquisition  from  Russia  was 
said  to  be  about  29,000,  of  which  26,800  were  said  to  be  Indians 
and  the  remainder  Caucasians  and  Creoles.  It  has  not  materially 
increased  since. 


1268  <^^-^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Topography — Moimtaiiis. — The  Alaskan  range,  which  seems  to 
be  a  combination  of  the  Coast,  Cascade  and  Rocky  Mountain 
Chains,  passes  northwestward  through  British  Columbia  a  little 
east  of  the  Sitkan  Division  of  Alaska,  enters  the  Yukon  Division 
between  the  sixtieth  and  sixty-second  parallels,  and  keeping  a 
course  parallel  with  and  at  a  little  distance  from  the  left  bank  of 
the  Yukon  river,  extends  north  nearly  as  far  as  Fort  Yukon  in 
latitude  66°,  turns  sharply  south  and  forming  the  backbone  of  the 
Aliaskan  peninsula  and  the  Aleutian  islands,  each  of  which  is  a 
peak  and  generally  a  volcanic  peak  of  the  range,  till  finally  its 
summits  are  all  sunk  in  the  deepest  part  of  the  northern  Pacific 
ocean.  This  range  has  the  loftiest  peaks  in  North  America 
outside  of  Mexico.  Among  these  are  Mount  St.  Ellas,  19,500 
feet  in  height;  Mount  Cook,  16,000  feet;  Mount  Crillon,  15,900; 
Mount  Fairweather,  15,500;  while  of  the  partially  submerged 
volcanic  peaks,  Sheshaldin  is  9,000  feet  above  the  water ;  Una- 
lashka,  5,691  feet;  Atka,  4,852  feet;  Kyska,  3,700  feet;  while  poor 
Attn,  the  westernmost  of  the  group,  can  only  lift  its  head  3,084 
feet  above  the  deep  valley  of  the  Pacific. 

In  addition  to  the  Alaskan  range,  there  are  several  other 
mountain  ranges  of  less  elevation  :  amono-  them  are  the  Shakto- 
lik  and  Ulukuk  Hills,  near  Norton's  sound  ;  the  Yukon  and  Ro- 
manzoff  Hills,  north  of  the  Yukon  river  ;  the  Kayiuh  and  Nowika- 
kat  mountains  east  and  south  of  the  river,  and  a  low  range  of 
hills  borderinof  on  the  Arctic  coast. 

Rivers. — The  great  river  of  the  Territory  is  the  Yukon,  whose 
sources  are  in  the  Chippewayan  and  Alaskan  range,  in  British 
America.  It  Is  more  than  2,000  miles  in  length,  and  is  navigable, 
when  not  frozen  over,  for  1,500  miles.  The  delta  across  Its  five 
mouths  Is  seventy  miles  wide,  and  the  river  Itself  is  from  one  to 
five  miles  wide  for  the  first  1,000  miles  of  Its  course.  One  of  its 
largest  tributaries,  the  Porcupine  river,  has  most  of  Its  course 
above  the  Arctic  circle.  The  Tananah,  250  miles  In  length,  and 
the  Nowikakat,  112  miles,  are  also  tributaries  of  the  Yukon. 
The  Inland  river,  which  flows  Into  Kotzebue  sound,  and  the  Col- 
vllle,  which  discharges  Its  waters  Into  the  Arctic  ocean,  are  the 
only  other  rivers  north  of  the  Yukon.     South  of  It  are  the  Kons- 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ALASKA.  j26q 

koqulm,  about  600  miles  in  length,  the  Nushagak,  the  Sushitna, 
the  Atna  or  Copper  river,  and  in  the  Sitkan  division  the  Chilcat, 
the  Takou  and  the  Stickine.  The  last  is  about  250  miles  in 
lencTth, 

It  is  divided  by  natural  lines  into  three  grand  divisions,  varying 
each  from  the  other  in  natural  characteristics  and  value : 

1.  The  Sitkan  Division,  triangular  in  shape  with  the  latitudinal 
line  of  54°  40'  north  for  the  southern  boundary,  and  the  longitu- 
dinal line  of  141°  v^est  for  the  western,  and  on  the  north  and  east 
foliowinc^  the  summits  of  the  Coast  Ranore  of  mountains  between 
these  points,  with  a  proviso  that  this  strip  of  shore  shall  never 
exceed  ten  marine  leaofues  in  width. 

2.  The  Yukon  Division,  consisting  of  all  the  continent  west  of 
141°  as  far  north  as  the  Frozen  Ocean. 

3.  The  islands  not  included  in  the  Sitkan  Division,  comprising 
all  the  important  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  north  of  54°  40', 
from  Alaska  to  Kamschatka,  known  generally  as  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  and  also  the  Aliaskan  peninsula  and  the  Kodiak  or  Ka- 
diak  Islands,  east  of  that  peninsula,  and  the  Pribyloff  group,  which 
are  remarkable  for  the  vast  numbers  of  the  fur-seal  caught 
there. 

In  the  first  or  Sitkan  Division,  there  were  in  1867  about  800 
natives  and  some  800  whites  and  Creoles  ;  in  the  Yukon,  8,000 
natives,  and  100  whites  and  Creoles;  and  in  the  remainder  of 
Alaska,  the  Island  Districts,  17,300  nadves  and  1,300  whites  and 
Creoles. 

This  meagre  population  is  grouped  entirely  around  the  sea- 
board and  large  rivers.  A  glance  at  the  best  map  will  show  that 
of  the  interior  of  the  Yukon  District  geographers  know  very 
little.  What  rivers  and  lakes  are  traced  upon  the  maps  are  usu- 
ally located  upon  slight  and  inaccurate  informadon,  derived  from 
the  natives.  The  interior  of  the  islands  and  coasts  longest  peo- 
pled by  a  civilized  race  is  almost  altogedier  igiiola  terra.  The 
coast  line  of  Baranoff  Island,  on  which  Sitka  is  located,  is  well 
known  and  accurately  defined  upon  the  charts,  but  the  interior  is 
entirely  unexplored.  The  only  road  at  Sitka  runs  into  the  woods 
to  the  distance  of  a  mile,  and  then  stops  before  a  wall  of  dense 


1270  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

forest  and  undergrowth.  The  growth  of  stunted  trees  all  along 
the  shores  of  the  islands  and  main  land  of  the  Sitkan  Division  is 
so  thick  as  to  be  almost  impenetrable.  There  is  one  instance,  at 
least,  of  a  man's  having  given  an  entire  day  to  the  work  of  pene- 
trating inland,  and  at  the  end  of  his  labor  finding  himself  less 
than  a  mile  from  the  shore. 

Geology. — The  greater  part  of  this  vast  Territory  has  under- 
gone changes  from  volcanic  eruptions  which  have  completely 
altered  the  character  of  its  rocks.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
in  the  Sitkan  and  Aleutian  Divisions,  in  which  there  are  sixty-one 
volcanoes  which  have  been  active  within  1 50  years.  The  violence 
of  the  volcanic  action  seems  to  be  decreasing,  and  of  these  sixty- 
one  only  ten  are  now  in  a  condition  of  active  and  constant  erup- 
tion. There  are  also  very  many  extinct  volcanoes  in  the  Sitkan 
Division,  and  several  are  known  in  Yukon. 

The  immense  shore  line  and  the  mountain  slopes  are  crowded 
with  glaciers;  some  of  these  are  the  most  stupendous  in  the 
world.  One  of  these  is  described  as  fifty  miles  in  length,  and 
terminating  on  the  sea-coast  in  a  perpendicular  ice-wall  300  feet 
high  and  eight  miles  broad ;  another,  thirty-five  miles  above 
Wrangell,  on  the  Stickine  river,  is  said  to  be  forty  miles  long  at 
the  base,  four  or  five  miles  across,  and  variously  estimated  at 
from  500  to  1,000  feet  in  thickness. 

Mineral  Wealth. — Alaska  is  known  to  possess  coal  beds  of 
good  quality  and  of  great- extent.  Most  of  the  coal  beds  are  in 
the  tertiary,  and  are  properly  lignite,  though  of  the  best  quality. 
That  in  the  Sitkan  District  has  been  so  far  changed  by  volcanic 
action  that  it  is  in  some  places  a  semi-anthracite.  Petroleum  is 
said  to  have  been  found  of  excellent  quality  and  nearly  odorless 
near  the  Bay  of  Katmai  and  on  Copper  river. 

Copper,  native,  or  very  rich  copper  ores,  have  been  found  on 
Copper  river,  at  Kasa-an  bay,  at  Whale  bay,  below  Sitka,  and  in 
Kadiak  Island. 

Iron  exists  all  over  the  Territory,  and  graphite  in  several 
places.  There  is  bismuth  of  fine  quality  on  Vostovia  Mountain, 
and  gypsum,  kaolin,  marble,  and  the  more  common  of  the  pre- 
cious stones,  agate,  carnelian,  amethyst,  etc.,  are  sufficiently 
plentiful. 


GOLD-MINING.  1 27 1 

Gold  undoubtedly  exists  in  the  Territory,  and  probably  at  sev- 
eral points.  In  the  Sitkan  District  there  are  several  mines  which 
have  been  worked  to  some  extent  on  Baranoff  (or  Sitka)  Island; 
two  or  three  formerly  worked  on  the  streams  falling  into  Ste- 
phen's passage,  about  seventy-five  miles  north  of  Fort  Wrangell, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Stickine  river.     Mr.  Walker  Blaine  says  : 

"  The  orold  mines  of  the  Stickine  river  are  all  located  in  British 
Columbia,  and  as  the  stores  from  which  the  most  of  the  miners' 
supplies  are  furnished  are  upon  the  river,  the  business  is  diverted 
to  the  British  possessions.  Very  many  miners,  however,  winter  at 
Wrangell,  and  freight  bound  to  points  on  the  Stickine  river  is  at 
this  place  transferred  to  the  small  river  steamers.  Some  gold 
claims  have  been  located  near  Sitka,  and  specimens  of  ore  sent 
to  the  assay  office  at  Victoria  have  been  found  to  contain  a  fair 
quantity  of  the  precious  metal.  A  quartz  mill  was  erected  during 
1878,  and  it  was  intended  to  develop  one  of  the  mines,  but  the 
unpleasant  weather  and  short  days  of  winter  will  render  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  carry  on  operations  during  more  than  six 
months  of  the  year.  No  sufficient  amount  of  capital  has  as  yet 
been  invested,  nor  have  the  mines  been  sufficiently  worked  to 
determine  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Territory.  Many  who  have 
given  the  subject  great  attention  are  fully  convinced  that  valuable 
deposits  of  the  precious  metals  exist.  IVIr.  Francis,  now  and  for 
many  years  past  our  Consul  at  Victoria,  is  sanguine  in  the  belief 
that  considerable  quantities  of  gold  will  yet  be  mined,  and  his 
son,  who  was  until  recently  the  Deputy  Collector  at  Sitka,  speaks 
in  still  more  confident  terms  of  the  value  of  the  ore  beds." 

As  we  write  a  report  comes  from  Sitka,  dated  December  22, 
1880,  saying  that  about  two  months  previous  a  report  was  cir- 
culated that  gold  had  been  discovered  at  Tahon,  an  Indian  set- 
tlement on  the  river  of  the  same  name,  about  150  miles  north  of 
Sitka,  and  near  the  border  of  British  Columbia.  Further  reports 
only  increased  the  excitement,  and  when  specimens  of  the  ore 
were  brought  to  Sitka,  which  yielded  ;^200  of  pure  gold  to  300 
pounds  of  ore,  the  excitement  became  so  intense  that  the  people 
beean  to  miorate  thither  in  such  numbers  that  the  town  was 
almost  depopulated.     It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  these  mines 


12  72-  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

prove  as  rich  as  they  seem  to  promise.  If  they  do,  they  will  be 
profitable,  although  they  cannot  be  worked  more  than  four  or  five 
months  in  the  year.  The  Alaskan  Mountains  curve  southwestward 
in  the  District  of  Yukon,  and  extend  along  the  Aliaskan  peninsula 
and  through  the  Aleutian  Islands.  They  seem  to  be  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  Rocky,  Cascade  and  Coast  Ranges.  These  moun- 
tains, according  to  all  analogies,  should  contain  both  gold  and 
silver,  and  in  all  probability  they  do.  If  the  lodes  are  very  rich, 
it  may  pay  to  work  them,  though  the  expense  will  be  much 
greater  than  that  of  working  mines  farther  south. 

Zoology. — The  animals  of  Alaska  belong  rather  to  the  fauna 
of  the  Arctic  than  the  Temperate  Zone.  The  musk  ox  is  found 
in  Yukon  District,  and  the  reindeer,  though  of  a  different  species 
from  the  European.  The  polar  bear  frequents  the  shores  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  and  sometimes  ventures  as  far  south  as  Kotzebue 
sound.  The  elk  and  moose  are  seen,  though  rarely ;  the  Rocky 
Mountain  goat  and  sheep  (the  bighorn),  several  species  of  fox, 
the  mink,  beaver,  marten,  lynx,  otter,  sea-otter,  black  bear,  wol- 
verine, whistler,  ermine,  marmot,  skunk,  muskrat  and  wolf  Of 
amphibia,  the  seal,  sea-otter,  whale,  porpoise,  narwhal,  etc.,  are 
abundant.  Its  birds  are  largely  game  birds,  the  ptarmigan, 
grouse,  wild  geese,  teal,  ducks,  brant,  etc.,  at  certain  seasons,  and 
eagles,  fishhawks,  gulls,  the  great  owl,  etc.,  etc.  Of  the  fish  we 
speak  elsewhere. 

Let  us  now  take  up  the  divisions  in  detail,  and  endeavor  to 
ascertain  what  each  can  produce  with  profit.     And,  first,  of  the 

Sitkan  Division. — "  Here,"  says  Mr.  Blaine,  "  no  grass  has 
been  grown,  and  the  small  gardens  at  Sitka  and  Wrangell  pro- 
duce only  a  few  of  the  hardiest  vegetables.  So  great  is  the 
moisture  that  hay  cannot  readily  be  cured,  wheat  ripened,  nor 
potatoes  raised.  Even  cabbages  will  not  head.  While  our 
troops  were  in  the  Territory,  a  few  cattle  were  with  great  difficulty 
kept  in  the  District,  but  there  is  not  at  present  a  cow  in  the  whole 
military  Division  of  Alaska.  Beef  is  a  luxury  most  highly  prized, 
the  only  meat  being  an  occasional  haunch  of  venison,  and,  in  the 
proper  season,  small  game.  The  mountains  as  a  rule  descend 
abruptly  to  the  sea,  and  the  small  patches  of  level  land  are  few 


THE   SITKAN  DIVISION  OF  ALASKA.  1 273 

and  far  between.  In  a  word,  agriculturally  this  whole  district  is 
absolutely  worthless.  There  is  no  fodder  for  cattle,  and  the 
ground  under  the  most  careful  cultivation  vields  nothino-  but  the 
poorest  varieties  of  the  most  insignificant  vegetables.  The  hand 
of  man  can  do  little  to  add  to  the  value  of  the  Sitkan  Division. 

"The  Sitkan  Division  does,  however,  possess  a  great  abun- 
dance of  most  valuable  ship-timber.  The  wood,  known  as 
yellow  cedar,  and  sometimes  called  camphor-wood,  which  is  the 
most  durable  of  all  woods  for  purposes  of  ship-building,  is  found 
in  large  quantities,  and  the  Sitka  spruce,  inferior  to  this,  but  of 
very  great  value,  is  most  plentiful.  Logs  of  either  of  these  woods 
can  be  easily  procured  at  very  small  expense.  Lumber  has  been 
sawed  at  a  total  cost  of  three  dollars  per  thousand,  which  would 
easily  command  from  twelve  to  fifteen  dollars  in  San  Francisco. 
There  has  been  for  some  time  a  small  saw-mill  in  Sitka,  and 
another  has  recently  been  built  in  Klahwoch,  but  only  trifling 
quantities  of  lumber  have  as  yet  been  sawed  at  either  place. 
The  vast  tracts  of  timber  land  in  Oregon,  Washington  Territory 
and  Northern  California  will,  for  many  years,  supply  the  market 
of  the  Pacific  coast. 

"The  fur  trade  of  the  Sitkan  Division  is  at  present  the  most 
important  interest.  The  small  amount  of  business  now  trans- 
acted at  Sitka  is  entirely  dependent  upon  the  exchange  of  com- 
modities for  furs  and  peltries.  For  the  past  few  years  there  has 
not  been  a  sufficient  demand  for  furs  to  make  high  prices  or 
large  gains.  Fashion  has  frowned,  at  the  dictation,  perhaps,  of 
the  hard  times,  and  competition  among  traders  has  assisted  in 
reducing  the  profits.  All  the  merchants  profess  to  have  lost 
money,  and  it  is  the  general  opinion  that  none  have  made  any. 
The  fur-seal  is  not  found  in  the  waters  adjacent  to  Sitka,  but 
large  quantities  of  other  valuable  furs  are  brought  to  this  place 
and  to  Wrangell  by  the  Indians  and  accumulated  by  traders. 
Fur-trading  is  in  its  very  nature  little  suited  to  the  permanent 
prosperity  of  a  country.  It  demands  the  frontier  and  the  wilder- 
ness as  the  seat  of  operations,  and  is  perforce  killed,  as  a  country 
is  settled  and  its  resources  developed.  It  is  the  enemy  of  civili- 
zation, and  the  more  profitable  it  is,  the  sooner  does  it  come  to 


1274  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

an  end.  Year  by  year,  as  the  circle  of  population  widens,  the 
trappers  are  driven  farther  to  the  north.  Astoria,  for  years  the 
centre  of  the  trade,  long  ago  yielded  its  supremacy,  and  to-day 
no  furs  are  sold  in4;hat  market  at  first  hand.  A  large  part  of  the 
world's  supply  must  henceforth  come  from  Alaska.  She  has  no 
rival  on  this  continent,  and  in  the  most  important  branches  no 
formidable  competitor  on  the  globe. 

"The  fisheries  of  the  Sitkan  waters  will  perhaps  ultimately 
prove  the  most  valuable  resource.  They  have,  however,  until 
very  recently  been  of  but  little  practical  value.  A  few  barrels  of 
salted  fish  have  been  annually  exported,  and  the  inhabitants  have 
to  a  large  extent  sustained  life  on  the  products  of  the  sea. 
Within  the  past  two  years  two  salmon  canneries  have  been  built, 
and  quite  a  large  amount  of  money  invested  in  this  enterprise, 
but  lack  of  information  does  not  permit  me  to  say  whether  the 
venture  has  proved  successful. 

"It  was  said  in  support  of  the  Alaskan  purchase  that  all  the  ice 
of  the  Pacific  coast  was  imported  from  that  Territory ;  but  the 
value  of  the  export  was  never  in  a  single  year  more  than  ^30,000, 
and  the  successful  introduction  of  machinery  for  the  production 
of  ice  artificially  has  caused  the  business  to  rapidly  decline  and 
disappear.  No  ice  is  now  exported  from  any  portion  of  the 
Territory." 

2.  The  Yukon  District. — Of  this  resrion  the  massive  head  of 
the  bull,  whose  left  horn,  the  Sitkan  Division,  we  have  just  been 
considering,  it  has  been  the  fashion  with  some  writers  to  speak  in 
the  most  glowing  terms.  It  was  "  the  garden  of  Alaska."  Here 
wheat  and  all  the  other  cereals  except  corn,  and  all  the  tubers  and 
vegetables  required  in  the  market  gardens  or  the  markets  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  could  be  raised  in  the  greatest  profusion.  In  the 
hot,  short  summer,  everything,  it  was  said,  grew  so  rapidly  that  a 
vast  population  could  be  sustained  here.  The  later  commis- 
sioners and  explorers  do  not  corroborate  these  glowing  accounts. 
"The  second  division,  called  the  Yukon,"  says  Mr.  Walker  Blaine, 
"has  been  less  explored  than  either  of  the  others.  There  were 
formerly  a  few  Russian  posts  in  the  Territory,  but  these  have  now 
been  abandoned.     At  Cook's  Inlet,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sutchino 


THE    YUKON  DISTRICT  OF  ALASKA.  127^ 

river,  and  at  many  points  on  the  Yukon  river,  sufficient  grass  is 
found  to  afford  the  best  of  fodder  for  cattle,  and  wild  berries  and 
smaller  fruits  flourish  in  abundance.  The  ranore  of  the  thermom- 
eter  at  a  distance  from  the  sea-coast  is  far  greater  than  in  Sitka, 
or  near  the  sea-line,  and  the  summers  are  so  warm  as  to  produce 
the  most  luxuriant  vegetation.  On  the  Yukon  river  the  sun  has 
been  known  in  the  month  of  July  to  burst  a  spirit  thermometer, 
graduated  up  to  120°,  and  the  winters  are  Arctic  in  severity. 
There  is  no  trouble  in  curing  hay  at  these  points,  and  there  is 
said  to  be  sfood  orrazinof  land  for  cattle.  It  will  of  course  be  ne- 
cessary  to  shelter  the  herds  during  more  than  half  of  the  year, 
and  fattening  for  market  will  not  therefore  be  profitable.  Fruit- 
trees  will  not  flourish,  and  while  some  experiments  have  been 
made  with  barley  and  oats,  which  are  said  to  have  been  satisfac- 
tory, not  a  grain  of  wheat  has  ever  been  brought  to  maturity. 
South  of  the  Alaskan  Range,  save  at  Cook's  Inlet  and  on  the 
peninsulas,  there  is  no  good  land,  and  north  of  the  mountains 
only  persistent  and  careful  cultivation  will  enable  the  farmers  to 
reap  satisfactory  results.  The  only  evidence  which  we  have  as 
to  the  land  is  from  experiments  made  by  the  Russians  and  the 
scientific  officers  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company. 
They  are  both  very  unsatisfactory,  especially  those  of  the  former, 
as  they  were  intrusted  to  Indians,  who,  being  utterly  ignorant  of 
agriculture  and  cattle-breeding,  conducted  them  most  unskilfully. 
There  are  also  said  to  be  valuable  coal-beds,  but  as  no  examina- 
tion was  ever  made  by  competent  geologists,  this  cannot  be 
safely  affirmed.  Undoubtedly  there  is  considerable  free  copper 
in  the  district,  as  the  natives  formerly  employed  this  metal  in  the 
manufacture  of  wagons  and  domestic  articles,  but  its  location  is 
at  present  unknown.  Fur  animals  abound,  especially  those  liv- 
ing upon  the  land.  Fort  St.  Michael  was  formerly  one  of  the 
chief  trading  posts  of  the  Russians,  and  many  of  the  fox  and 
beaver  skins  now  sent  from  the  north  Pacific  are  trapped  upon 
the  Yukon.  Good  timber  is  also  found  in  many  portions  of 
the  division,  but  it  is  not  so  accessible  nor  so  valuable  for  ship- 
building as  that  about  Sitka.  Fish  of  all  kinds,  especially  cod  and 
halibut,  are  very  abundant  at  Cook's  Inlet  and  along  the  entire 
coast. 


1276 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


3.  The  Island  District,  which  Includes  the  AHaskan  peninsula, 
the  large  Island  of  Kadiak  and  the  group  of  islands  which  surround 
it,  the  Aleutian  Archipelago,  comprising  the  three  groups  of  the 
Fox,  the  Andreanowsky,  and  the  Blijnie  or  Rat  Islands,  the  whole 
constituting  the  right  horn  of  th^  bull ;  and  with  these  the  Priby- 
lofT  group  (the  home  of  the  fur  seal),  Nounivak,  Lawrence,  and 
the  St.  Matthew  group,  come  next  in  review.  "  These  islands," 
says  Mr.  Blaine,  "are  the  most  valuable  portion  of  our  Russian 
purchase.  The  island  of  Kadiak  and  others  of  the  Aleutian  group 
contain  very  good  arable  land.  The  cattle  distributed  by  the 
Russian  Commercial  Company  succeeded  here  far  better  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  Territory.  There  is  good  pasture  land, 
and  hay  can  be  made  with  greater  ease  than  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river.  There  is  also  an  encouraging  report  that  a 
good  variety  of  potatoes  can  be  grown,  although  '  the  tubers  are 
said  to  be  small.'  There  is  not  much  timber  of  good  quality 
upon  these  islands,  but  the  fisheries  are  of  very  great  value. 
The  Aleuts,  who  are  the  chief  native  race,  are  by  nature  the 
most  honest  people  in  the  world.  On  the  islands  where  there 
are  no  forests,  driftwood  furnishes  the  principal  supply  of  fuel, 
and  it  is  said  that  the  unwritten  law  with  reference  to  the  riohts 
of  property  is  so  strong  that,  should  an  Indian  discover  a  log  of 
wood  which  it  is  not  then  convenient  for  him  to  carry  away,  he 
may,  by  carrying  it  above  high-water  mark  and  placing  it  at 
riofht  ancjles  to  the  line  of  the  beach,  leave  it  with  full  assurance 
that  it  will  not  be  disturbed  until  his  convenience  warrants  the 
removal. 

"The  chief  sources  of  our  revenue  from  Alaska  are  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Pribyloff  Islands.  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  two  of 
the  group,  now  furnish  almost  all  of  the  seal-skins  used  in  the 
world.  These  islands  abound  with  seal,  and  being  the  property 
of  the  United  States,  are  leased  by  the  government  to  the  Alaska 
Fur  Company.  The  number  of  seals  killed  each  year  is  limited 
by  law  to  100,000,  and  for  these  a  royalty  of  two  dollars  each 
is  paid.  If  the  law  restricting  the  number  of  seals  annually  killed 
is  strictly  enforced,  this  industry  will  for  many  years  furnish  the 
chief  part  of  the  revenue  from  Alaska,  and  constitute  the  most 
valuable  product  of  the  Territory." 


FISHERIES   OF  ALASKA.  ^^'J'J 

A  correspondent  of  the  Portland  Oregonian,  writing-  from  Sitka 
in  the  summer  of  1880,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  fish- 
eries: 

"Alaska  is  destined  to  supply  the  world  with  fish.  Its  waters 
abound  in  halibut,  herring,  cod,  and  salmon;  indeed  there  is  hardly 
a  species  of  which  representatives  cannot  be  found.  While 
those  above  named  exist  here  in  endless  profusion,  flounders, 
black  bass,  rock-cod,  trout,  and  the  delicious  eulocous,  with  other 
varieties,  appear  in  vast  schools,  supplying  the  natives  with 
abundant  food  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

'AtKlowak,  sixty  miles  from  Fort  Wrangell,  the  North  Pacific 
trading  and  packing  company  have  a  large  fishery  in  operation, 
where  during  the  present  year  especial  attention  has  been  paid 
to  herring.  The  catch  this  spring  was  very  successful,  the  fish 
being  in  prime  condition,  and  not  only  larger  in  size  but  of  better 
flavor  than  ever  before  sent  to  market.  170  barrels  were  sent 
to  Portland  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  the  fish  to  dealers, 
and  if  desired  ten  times  that  amount  could  have  been  secured. 

"  Five  miles  from  the  town  of  Sitka  the  firm  of  Cuttinof  &  Co. 
have  a  large  cannery  erected  where  thousands  of  salmon  are 
put  up  every  year  to  meet  the  demand  made  for  Alaska  salmon 
from  the  Eastern  markets.  While  the  salmon  from  these  waters 
have  not  the  gustable  richness,  and  lack  the  savory  flavor  of 
Columbia  river  salmon,  there  are  many  that  prefer  the  Alaskan 
species,  particularly  in  the  Eastern  States  and  foreign  countries. 
This  may  be,  perhaps,  accounted  for,  in  part,  for  the  reason  that 
Columbia  river  salmon  labels  find  their  way  on  thousands  of  cans 
of  what  is  purported  to  be  the  genuine  article,  while  in  fact  their 
contents  are  dosf-fish.  The  establishment  of  Messrs.  Cuttinof  & 
Co.  is  complete  in  every  detail,  and  is  under  the  superintendency 
of  Mr.  A.  Hunter.  A  large  number  of  white  men  and  Indians 
find  steady  employment  at  the  cannery  during  the  summer,  and 
it  is  remarkable  to  witness  the  proficiency  attained  by  some  of 
the  Indian  boys  in  making  cans.  Some  idea  of  the  extensive 
business  of  this  establishment  may  be  had  by  the  shipments  made, 
and  this  year  the  superintendent  will  send  40,000  cases  of  fish 
to  San  Francisco  and  the  Eastern  markets. 


1278  ^^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"The  catching'  of  cod-fish  in  Alaskan  waters  is  becoming  yearly 
a  more  prosperous  pursuit,  and  this  season  Mr.  James  Haley,  of 
Fort  Wrangell,  secured  a  schooner-load  of  cod  at  the  Knout-Znu 
bank,  in  Chatham  straits.  He  found  the  bank  swarming  with 
fish,  but  the  Indians  of  that  locality,  the  Knout-znous,  are  '  hiyu 
sullux,'  over  the  coming  of  white  men  in  their  waters,  refusing  to 
allow  the  men  to  fish,  performing  that  work  themselves  and 
charging  one  cent  for  each  and  every  fish  caught.  In  this  way 
a  full  load  was  secured,  which  is  now  in  process  of  curation  at 
Wrangell.  A  ready  market  for  the  fish  is  found  at  home  for 
supplying  the  mining  camps,  the  entire  cargo  being  readily  dis- 
posed of  at  $100  a  ton,  delivered  at  WrangelH  The  Alaska 
cod,  when  once  fairly  introduced  to  Oregon  and  California  mar- 
kets, will  rapidly  become  a  favorite  with  all  lovers  of  that  fish, 
and  in  time  supplant  the  eastern-caught  fish." 

Popidation,  its  Nationalities  and  Character.— ^ o.  have  already 
stated  the  probable  number  of  the  population,  though  as  no  cen- 
sus has  been  taken,  it  is  impossible  to  fix  it  accurately.  Of  the 
2,200  whites  and  Creoles  reported  in  1867  nearly  one-half  were 
half-breeds  with  Indian  mothers.  The  number  of  whites  and 
Creoles  has  increased,  perhaps,  500  since  that  time ;  but  the  in- 
crease has  been  almost  wholly  in  the  half-breeds.  The  native 
tribes  were  divided  by  General  Halleck's  report  of  1869  into  four 
groups — I.  The  Koloshian  tribes,  which  occupy  the  Sitkan  Divi- 
sion, and  extend  as  far  as  the  Atna  or  Copper  river.  These 
tribes,  which  have  been  variously  estimated  at  from  800  to  15,000 
(the  latter  estimate,  however,  including  the  coast  Indians  of 
Northwestern  British  Columbia),  are  those  with  which  our  people 
have  been  brought  most  in  contact.  They  are,  like  the  other 
Indian  tribes  of  this  coast,  of  the  Athabascan  family,  and  origi- 
nally probably  of  Mongolian  or  Northern  Tartar  stock.  They 
arc  as  a  rule  more  intelligent  and  possess  more  mechanical  skill 
than  the  Dakota  or  Sioux  family,  but  are  more  superstitious 
and  idolatrous,  and  quite  as  low  morally  as  any  of  the  Indian 
tribes.  Some  of  these  tribes  have  been  hostile  to  the  whites,  and 
have  murdered  the  crews  of  vessels,  but  they  are  now  generally 
peaceful,  except  when  they  are  intoxicated.     They  distil  a  fiery 


PRINCIPAL    TOWNS  AND    VILLAGES.  1270 

and  wretched  rum,  which  they  call  "  Hoochinoo,"  from  refuse 
molasses  brought  there  by  some  of  the  ships,  and  become  very 
fiendish  and  violent  under  its  influence.  Missionaries  are  now 
laboring  among  them,  and  a  considerable  number  have  been 
converted. 

2.  The  Kcnaian  Tribes,  who  occupy  the  whole  of  the  Yukon 
Division  south  of  the  Yukon  river.  They  are  more  numerous 
than  the  preceding,  ranging  from  15,000  to  20,000.  They  are 
said  to  be  peaceful,  quiet  and  well  disposed,  though  there  is  not 
much  known  of  them. 

3.  The  Aleuts.  These  are  the  Indians  of  the  islands  and  the 
Aliaskan  peninsula.  They  strongly  resemble  the  Eskimo,  and 
are  industrious,  honest,  peaceable  and  ready  for  instruction. 

4.  The  Eskimo,  who  inhabit  the  region  north  of  the  Yukon 
river.  These,  like  their  fellows  of  Greenland  and  the  eastern 
coast,  are  very  industrious,  patient  and  hospitable.  General 
Halleck  estimated  their  number  at  about  20,000.  Later  writers 
think  there  are  not  more  than  5,000. 

Want  of  Lazvs  and  a  Legal  Government. — There  is  to-day  no 
legal  government  in  Alaska,  and  only  two  laws  in  force  in  the 
Territory,  one  the  revenue  law  for  the  collection  of  customs  and 
the  prevention  of  smuggling,  and  the  other  a  law  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  liquor  into  the  Territory.  There  are  no  efficient 
means  of  enforcing  even  these  laws.  There  is  no  provision  for 
arresting  or  punishing  a  murderer,  highway  robber  or  pirate.  A 
few  simple  laws  would  be  sufficient,  but  though  the  attention  of 
Congress  has  been  repeatedly  called  to  the  matter  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  nothing  has  been  done. 

Principal  Towns  and  Villages. — In  the  Sitkan  Division,  Sitka, 
the  present  capital  of  the  Territory,  and  Fort  Wrangell,  are  the 
only  important  settlements.  They  have  about  1,300  and  800 
inhabitants  respectively.  In  the  Island  Division,  St.  Paul's,  on 
Kacliak  Island,  the  former  capital  under  the  Russians,  and  Una- 
lashka,  the  refitting  station  and  trading  post  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company,  are  small  villages.  In  the  Yukon  District, 
Fort  St.  Michael's  and  Cook's  Inlet  are  the  only  places  of  any 
importance. 


i28o 


OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


We  have  given  some  notes  of  the  cHmate  of  Sitka.  Perhaps 
a  few  items  from  the  Signal  Service  reports  in  relation  to  a  sta- 
tion at  Fort  St.  Michael's,  in  Yukon,  and  Unalashka  Island,  in  the 
Aleutian  Archipelago,  may  be  worth  noting: 


FORT  ST.  MICHAEL'S,  Yukon  District,  Alaska. 
Latitude  63°  48'. 
Longitude  161°  o'. 
Elevation  30  feet. 


Year 

AND 

Months. 


1878. 
Year 

J"iy 

August  . . . 
September 
October  . . 
November 
December 

1879. 
January . . 
February . 

March 

April 

May 

June 


Temperature. 

Hum 

dity. 

u 

3 

3 

li 

a 
E 

E 

2 

3 
2 

>. 

H 

H 

y 

y 
0. 

-0 

S 

E 

r-i 

E 

E 
3 

3 

H 

^ 

ffi 

c 

S 

M 

c 

v2 

c 

1=5 

^ 

0 

rt 

PS 

S 

0 

0 

0 

in. 

per  ct. 

73 

—31 

104 

21.9 

15.6. 

S7.2 

7  J 

3t> 

37 

52.1 

3.4« 

77.2 

66 

42 

24 

52-4 

2.l6 

83.3 

58 

26 

32 

46.0 

2.29 

89.4 

41 

10 

3' 

29.1 

0.66 

87.4 

32 

— 12 

44 

15.6 

0.9s 

89.9 

45 

—31 

7& 

16.6 

1.86 

90.0 

43 

— 21 

64 

149 

1.89 

99-3 

30 

—30 

60 

3-5 

0.07 

91. 1 

40 

— 20 

60 

13.6 

0.15 

83.7 

37 

— 20 

57 

19.0 

0.42 

87.0 

53 

—  2 

55 

31-5 

0.30 

85.4 

64 

32 

32 

4t>-3 

1.40 

Barometer. 


inches. 

29-734 
29.778 
29.695 
29.707 
29.659 
29.278 
29.763 

29.642 
30.179 
29.751 
29.677 
29-945 


UNALASHKA  ISLAND,  Alaska. 
Latitude  53°  25'. 
Longitude  166°  49'. 
Elevation  ab.  20  feet. 


Temperature. 


a. 
E 


45 

48. 
44 
49 
52 


36 
26 


20 

7 

15 
21 


Pi 


27 
26 

28. 
37 
34 
31 


E 


48.0 
40.8 

33-5 
35-1 

34 

29.2 

32.2 


Humidity. 


8mon. 
30-74 


2.55 

3-97 

3-7S 

10.02 

2.88 

1-35 
3.26 

2-93 


-a 

E 

3 

X 


S6,o 
92.0 
80.0 
85.0 

84-5 
84.0 
80.9 
82.3 


T/ie  Attractions  of  Alaska  to  the  summer  tourist  are  very  great. 
At  Sitka  and  its  vicinity  the  midsummer  night  is  almost  as  attrac- 
tiv^e  as  at  Tromsoe  or  the  North  Cape,  At  Kotzebue  sound  it 
is  quite  as  beautiful.  Later  in  the  season  the  brilliant  aurora 
borealis,   or    Northern    lights,   are  of  unsurpassed   beauty  and 


magnincence. 


Mr.  Blaine  thus  describes  the  voyage  from  Nanaimo,  the  last 
port  of  British  Columbia,  to  Sitka :  l^ 

"The  picturesque  parts  of  the  voyage  are  found  between  Na- 
naimo and  Sitka.  The  steamer  sweeps  through  a  narrow  strait 
guarded  on  either  hand  by  snow-capped  mountains,  and  so  nar- 
row that  despite  all  your  knowledge  of  perspective  it  seems  as 
if  the  shores  meet  as  you  look  up  the  channel  from  the  bow  of 


C4iV  ALASKA    BE    COMMENDED    TO    EMM IG RANTS?  128 1 

the  sliip.  On  either  side  mountains,  green  at  the  base  and  white 
at  the  summit,  overhang  the  water.  A  patch  of  marble  cropping 
through  the  trees  forms  an  occasional  and  welcome  spot  of  color 
in  the  monotonous  green,  and  the  ripple  of  a  cascade  agreeably 
breaks  the  stillness  which  everywhere  reigns  supreme.  For  days 
not  a  living  thing  is  seen  ;  no  animal  upon  the  land,  no  Indian  on 
the  water,  no  bird  in  the  air.  The  waves,  washed  by  the  wheel 
against  the  shore,  tremble  into  silence;  the  hills  which  echoed  the 
whistle  sullenly  grow  calm  once  more,  and  you  seem  shut  in  by 
the  forces  of  nature,  and  in  the  power  of  the  genii  of  sea  and 
strand.  There  is  apathy  everywhere,  activity  nowhere.  High 
up  in  the  sky  the  sun  rolls  lazily  along,  completing  the  task  in 
twenty  hours  which  elsewhere  he  accomplishes  in  fourteen.  The 
nights  glitter  with  weird  light.  The  sunset  is  reflected  by  the 
sunrise.  The  west  yet  glimmers  with  the  streaks  of  day,  while  in 
the  east  jocund  morn  stands  tiptoe  on  the  misty  mountain-top.. 
At  10  at  night  the  finest  print  is  read  with  ease,  and  at  3  in  the 
morning  the  sun  streaming  into  the  state  room  wakens  you  from, 
sleep." 

We  can  hardly  commend  Alaska  as  a  favorable  point  for  emi- 
grants, unless  it  be  those  hardy  Norsemen  whose  constant 
encounters  with  the  Arctic  climate  have  rendered  them  proof 
against  its  hardships  ;  but  development,  though  slow  in  coming, 
will  yet  surely  reach  this  far-off  land  of  ice.  There  will  probably 
be  no  great  change  in  the  climate.  Neither  wheat  nor  dairy 
products  will  be  exported  in  any  large  quantity,  but  the  seal  and 
sea-otter  furs,  and  the  furs  and  pelts  of  land  animals,  will  increase 
in  value  and  perhaps  in  numbers  ;  the  magnificent  forests  will 
supplement  the  fast  diminishing  timber  product  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  the  fisheries  will  furnish  abundant  and  Healthful  food 
to  millions  who  to-day  hardly  know  that  Alaska  exists.  Then 
there  will  be  a  place  there  for  the  hardy  and  adventurous  emi- 
grant, and  his  toil  will  be  rewarded. 
81 


PART  IV. 

THE   LANDS    OUTSIDE    OF  "OUR   WESTERN   EMPIRE." 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  NORTHWESTERN  PROVINCES  OF  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 

I.  British  Columbia — Boundaries — Area — Islands — Soil  of  Islands  and 
Coast — Soil  and  Surface  of  the  Interior— Mountains — Rivers- — Geol- 
ogy AND  Mineralogy — Coal — Gold,  Silver,  etc. — Fisheries — Timber — 
Fur-Trade — Population — Indians — Chief  Towns — II.  The  Northwest 
Territories — Extent — Recent  Division — Lakes — Rivers — Mountains — 
Soil — Climate  Warmer  than  Manitoba — Wild  Animals  and  Game  Plenty 
— Rivers  and  Lakes  Stocked  with  Fish — Population — Indians — Reli- 
gion— III.  Keewatin — The  New  Territory — Not  much  known  of  it — IV. 
Manitoba — Its  Territory  too  Small — No  Good  Reason  for  this — Its 
Boundaries — Its  Rivers — The  Province  nearly  a  Dead  Level — Climate 
— Rainfall — Meteorology  of  Fort  Garry — Agriculture — Conflicting 
Accounts — Report  of  an  "  English  Farmer  " — Reply  of  "a  Canadian" 
— Climate  very  Severe  in  Winter — Mr.  Vernon  Smith's  Description  of 
the  Rivers  and  Lakes  and  their  Future  Usefulness — Earl  Dufferin's 
Description — Mr.  Vernon  Smith  on  the  Crops — Later  Statistics  not 
available — Transportation — The  Canadian  Pacific — Its  Present  Con- 
dition and  Prospects — Religion — Education,  etc. — Principal  Towns — 
Historical  Notes — The  Red  River  Settlement — Pembina — Assiniboia — 
Riel's  Revolution — The  rapid  growth  of  the  Province  since  it  became 
A  Part  of  the  Dominion. 

I.  British  Columbia. — This  is  the  most  western  province  of 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  lyinq;  between  the  48th  and  the  60th 
parallels  of  north  latitude,  and  the  114th  and  the  139th  meridians 
of  longitude  west  from  Greenwich.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  Arctic  portion  of  the  Northwest  7^erritory  ;  on  the  east  by 

the  same  ;  on, the  south  by  the  United  States  (the  Territories  of 

(1282) 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  BRITISH  COLUMBIA.  1283 

Washington,  Idaho  and  a  small  part  of  Montana)  ;  on  the  west 
by  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Territory  of  Alaska.  Its  area  is 
variously  stated  at  from  220,000  to  293,000  square  miles.  It  in- 
cludes several  important  islands,  as  well  as  many  smaller  ones. 
The  largest  of  these,  Vancouver  Island,  was  itself  at  one  time  a 
separate  province.  Among  the  other  important  islands  are  those 
of  the  Queen  Charlotte  group,  which  contain  mines  of  excellent 
anthracite  coal.  The  whole  coast  forms  an  archipelago,  which  is 
continued  along- the  Sitkan  Division  of  Alaska.  There  is  a  com- 
plete  sheltered  waterway,  navigable  for  the  largest  steamers, 
between  these  islands  and  the  coast,  and  many  of  the  rivers  of 
the  province  have  extensive  estuaries  or  fiords,  called  by  the 
inhabitants  "  canals,"  which  penetrate  far  into  the  interior,  walled 
in  by  lofty  and  often  perpendicular  cliffs. 

The  soil  of  the  islands  and  of  the  lands  near  the  sea  is  very 
good,  and  the  climate  mild,  though  rainy.  In  the  interior,  the 
surface  is  extremely  rugged  and  barren,  and  the  climate  severe. 
The  main  chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  forms  the  eastern 
boundary  between  this  and  the  Northwestern  Territory,  while  the 
Cascade  and  Coast  Ranges,  which  unite  farther  north,  here  form 
separate  chains  of  mountains.  There  are  several  elevated  sum- 
mits, ranging  from  10,000  to  13,000  or  14,000  feet,  but  none 
approaching  very  near  to  the  Alaskan  peaks.  The  rivers  are 
numerous,  and  some  of  them  of  great  size.  The  Columbia  river 
and  its  affluents,  the  Okinakane  and  the  Kootanie,  drain  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  province,  the  former  flowing  through 
several  small  lakes  in  its  course  ;  the  Frazer  river,  rising  from 
two  sources,  one  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  other  in  the 
Cascade  Range,  drains  the  central  portion  of  the  province,  and 
discharofes  its  waters  into  the  Gulf  of  Georcria.  On  the  west  side 
of  the  province,  a  half-dozen  considerable  streams,  among  which 
are  the  Salmon,  the  Simpson  and  the  Stickine,  find  their  way 
from  the  Cascade  Range  into  the  Archipelago.  In  the  north, 
two  important  tributaries  of  the  Mackenzie  river  traverse  the 
valleys  between  the  mountains,  and  one  of  them  crosses  the 
Rocky  Mountains  by  a  low-lying  pass  from  west  to  east.  In  the 
northeast  the  Finley  branch  of  the  Peace  river,  which  falls   into 


1284  ^^'^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

the  Athabasca  lake,  has  Its  source  in  the  Cascade  Mountains,  and 
crosses  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  another  pass  near  the  56th  par- 
allel. There  are  numerous  lakes  In  the  province.  The  best 
harbor  is  at  Esqulmault.  Vancouver  Island  and  the  coast  along 
the  Gulf  of  Georgia  would  be  a  good  wheat  country  If  the  rains 
were  not  so  profuse.  Oats  and  barley  do  better,  and  the  root 
crops  are  very  good.  North  of  this  Island  there  is  much  fine 
grazing  land.  The  fisheries  on  the  coast  are  very  Important. 
Cod,  haddock,  herring,  halibut,  salmon  trout,  sturgeon,  anchovies, 
and.  above  all,  salmon,  are  very  abundant.  There  are  many 
gold  mines  on  the  FVazer,  Salmon,  Simpson  and  Stickine  rivers, 
and  the  yield  Is  large.  Silver,  copper,  zinc,  and  quicksilver  are 
also  mined  to  some  extent.  There  is  coal  on  the  mainland,  but 
not  of  as  good  quality  as  that  on  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands. 
Marble  of  great  excellence  Is  found  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
province.  There  Is  an  abundance  of  good  timber.  This  province 
and  Alaska  are  now,  and  are  likely  to  be  for  many  years  to  come, 
the  chief  scats  of  the  fur  trade. 

The  population  of  British  Columbia  in  1S71  was:  whites,  14,- 
043  ;  Indians  and  Creoles,  about  36,000.  The  Indians  have  not 
increased  materially  In  the  last  decade,  but  the  white  population 
now  probably  exceeds  25,000.  The  capital  Is  Victoria,  in  the 
southeastern  point  of  Vancouver  Island.  New  Westminster  Is 
the  next  town  in  size,  and  is  the  see  of  an  English  bishop. 
There  are  a  number  of  f:Drts,  but  few  other  towns  of  considerable 
size.  The  province  has  a  lieutenant-governor,  and  is  repre- 
sented in  the  Dominion  Parliament  by  three  senators  and  six 
representatives. 

II.  The  NortJnuesicrn  Territories. — This  has  been  until  re- 
cently the  titular  designation  of  all  that  part  of  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  which  lay  north  of  the  United  States  and  west  of  the 
province  of  Ontario  and  Hudson's  bay,  except  the  provinces  of 
British  Columbia  and  Manitoba.  The  Parliament  of  1S80,  how- 
ever, made  some  changes  which  restrict  the  extent  of  this  vast 
and  almost  unknown  domain.  It  still  retains  more  than  2,000,000 
of  square  miles;  but  while  It  extends  from  the  49th  parallel  to 
the  Arctic  Ocean,  Its  eastern  limit  Is  found  in  the  chain  of  lakes 


THE   NORTHWESTERN   TERRITORIES.  1 285 

which  mark  the  rim  of  the  Hudson  Bay  basin — Lake  Winnipeg, 
Lake  Nelson,  Deer  lake,  Lake  Wollaston,  etc.  All  the  land 
east  of  Manitoba  and  Lake  Winnipeg-,  to  the  boundaries  of  On- 
tario (which  have  been  considerably  extended  westward  and 
northwestward),  are  comprised  in  the  new  and  as  yet  not  fully 
organized  province  of  Keewatin,  or  Kewaydin. 

This  vast  Territory  of  the  Northwest  is  but  little  known  except 
by  the  hunter  and  trapper.  It  is  a  land  of  great  lakes  and 
mighty  rivers.  Between  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  the  Great  Arctic  Plain  and  the  rim  of  the  Great  Hudson  Bay 
basin  stretches  the  Low  Central  Plain,  which  extends  from  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  at  the  broad  delta  of  the  Mackenzie  river,  south- 
ward through  all  the  long  valley  of  that  river,  the  Slave  river  and 
lake,  the  Athabasca,  the  Peace,  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  Red 
river,  with  all  the  lakes  in  their  course,  to  the  head  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  in  Minnesota  (which  are  not  two  miles  distant  from 
those  of  the  Red  river),  and  thence  down  the  Mississippi  Valley 
to  the  cjulf.  Nowhere  else  in  the  world  is  there  such  a  continu- 
ous  valley  through  the  whole  length  of  a  continent.  The  soil 
of  these  river  valleys  is  very  good,  even  up  to  the  limit  where  the 
cold  season  is  too  protracted  for  most  agricultural  products. 
There  are  great  tracts,  called  barrens,  and  which  deserve  the 
name,  where  hardy  lichens  and  mosses  form  the  only  vegetation ; 
but  the  valleys  of  the  Saskatchewan,  the  Peace  river,  the  Atha- 
basca and  the  Nelson,  have  a  good  soil,  and  a  climate  said  to  be 
better  than  that  of  Manitoba^'  or  Northern  Minnesota.  In  this 
valley,  as  far  north  as  Peace  river  and  Athabasca  lake,  it  is 
asserted  that  one-half  the  prairie  land  is  arable,  and  most  of  this 
is  suitable  for  wheat-growing,  or  at  least  for  the  cultivation  of 
some  of  the  cereals.  Along  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky  or  Chlp- 
pewayan  Mountains  the  soil  Is  not  so  good,  and  the  water  has  a 
tendency  to  be  alkaline.  The  northern  portion,  and,  indeed, 
nearly  the  whole  of  this  vast  Territory,  has  been  the  favorite 
huntlncf-^round  of  the   Indians,  the   French  voyaoeurs,  and   the 

*  Batilcfoicl,  in  latitude  53°,  700  miles  northwest  of  Winnipeg,  has  a  climate  averajjing 
seven  (.Icqrecs  warmer  than  that  city,  and  the  whole  north  Saskatchewan  Valley  is  materially 
warmer  than  Manitoba. 


J 286  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Scotch  traders  and  trappers.  It  is,  with  the  provinces  and  Terri-- 
tories  west  of  it,  the  main  dependence  of  the  civiHzed  world  for 
furs.  Buffalo,  beavers,  sables,  martens,  wolves,  foxes,  bears,  otter, 
fishers,  etc.,  are  very  numerous,  and  the  uttermost  diligence  of 
the  hunters  and  trappers  does  not  materially  diminish  their  num- 
bers. The  musk  ox,  the  polar  bear,  and  the  blue  and  Arctic  foxes 
are  found  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  river  and  along 
the  coasts  and  islands  of  the  Arctic  Archipelago.  Deer  are 
abundant  in  the  south  and  west,  and  the  elk  and  moose  are  often 
seen.  Geese,  ducks,  swans,  ptarmigans  and  various  kinds  of 
grouse  are  found  in  great  quantities  on  and  near  the  numerous 
lakes.     The  lakes  and  streams  are  well  stocked  with  fish. 

The  population  until  1871  was  mainly  Indian,  with  a  small 
number  of  Canadian-French  voyageurs,  Scotch,  Irish  and  Ameri- 
can trappers  and  hunters,  and  some  half-breeds.  Within  the  last 
decade,  however,  the  immigration  to  Manitoba  has  very  largely 
migrated  from  that  province  to  the  better  and  dryer  lands  along 
the  Qui  Appelle,  or  Assiniboine,  and  the  Saskatchewan  rivers,  and 
the  land  has  been  found  well  adapted  to  wheat  culture,  and  the 
climate  more  favorable  than  that  of  Manitoba.  The  white  popu- 
lation of  the  southern  part  of  the  Territory  has  thus  largely  in- 
creased. It  was  computed  in  1871  that  there  were  about  67,000 
Indians  in  the  Territory,  and  not  over  1,000  whites.  There  may 
be  now  10,000  whites  in  the  Territory. 

The  completion  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  through  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Territory  within  a  few  years  will  probably 
greatly  accelerate  its  growth.  Battleford  is  the  capital,  though 
until  very  recently  the  lieutenant-governor  and  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  resided  at  Winnipeg,  in  Manitoba.  It  is  not  represented 
in  the  Dominion  Parliament. 

III.  Keewatin,  or  Kewaydin. — Of  this  new  and  unorganized 
Territory  there  is  little  to  be  said.  It  is  almost  wholly  in  the 
basin  of  Hudson's  bay,  and  its  numerous  lakes  and  rivers  all 
drain,  direcdy  or  indirecdy,  into  that  bay.  Its  southern  boundary 
under  the  report  of  the  commissioners  is  not  lower  than  52° 
of  latitude,  and  this  in  that  longitude  insures  for  it  a  rigorous 
climate.     The  Canadian  almanacs  state  its  area  as  about  500,000 


RESTRICTED   AREA    OF  MANITOBA.  1 287 

square  miles,  of  which  not  more  than  30,000  are  fit  for  culture. 
It  is  probably  a  good  country  for  hunters  and  trappers.  We  have 
no  means  of  ascertaining  its  population,  though  we  know  it  to  be 
mostly  Indians  and  trappers;'''  but  the  census  of  the  whole  Do- 
minion will  be  taken  during  the  present  year  (1881).  If  there  is 
mineral  wealth  in  this  Territory,  it  is  as  yet  undiscovered. 

IV.  Manitoba. — This  province  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  was 
organized,  with  its  present  boundaries,  in  1871.  The  circum- 
stances attending  its  organization  probably  had  much  to  do  widi 
its  somewhat  restricted  area.  That  in  a  region  where  it  was  as 
easy  to  carve  out  a  territory  or  province  of  75,000  or  100,000 
square  miles  as  of  any  less  extent,  and  still  leave  immense  tracts 
of  unorganized  territory,  it  does  seem  surprising  that  the  founders 
of  the  province  should  have  contented  themselves  with  an  area 
of  only  14,340  square  miles,  less  than  one-third  of  that  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  only  one-sixth  of  that  of  Minnesota,  its  nearest 
neicjhbor  on  the  south.  And  this  wonder  is  heightened  when  we 
find  that  its  present  limits  exclude  almost  the  whole  of  the  two 
great  lakes,  Winnipeg  and  Manitoba,  as  well  as  the  large  rivers, 
whose  valleys  are  so  fertile,  and  whose  lands  are  so  much  more 
desirable  than  those  included  within  its  boundaries.  The  first 
requisites  for  a  new  Territory  are :  that  it  shall  have  an  abun- 
dance of  good,  arable  land,  with  large,  navigable  rivers,  if  possible ; 
a  climate  not  too  moist,  even  if  it  is  somewhat  cold ;  and  good 
grazing  lands  and  timber,  as  well  as  a  large  farming  area.  All 
of  these  Manitoba  might  easily  have  had  by  extending  its  boun- 
daries northward  and  westward.  Manitoba  is  bounded  on  the 
north  and  west  by  the  Northwest  Territory;  on  the  east  by  Kee- 
watin,  or  Kewaydin,  which  interposes  a  narrow  tract  between  it 
and  Ontario  ;  and  on  the  south  by  the  State  of  Minnesota  and  the 
Territory  of  Dakota,  or,  as  it  will  speedily  be  called,  the  Terri- 
tory of  Pembina.  It  lies  between  the  paralleJs  of  49°  and  50°  30' 
north  latitude,  and  between  the  meridians  of  96°  and  99°  west 
longitude  from  Greenwich.  Its  area,  as  already  stated,  is  14,340 
square  miles,  or  9,177,600  acres.-{- 

*Whitaker's  Almanac  for  1881  estimates  the  population  at  about  10,000. 

f  An  official  statement  in  Whitaker's  Almanac  for  18S1  gives  the  area  as  13,923  square  miles. 


1288  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Surface,  Soil,  and  Gcolooy. — The  province  lies  almost  entirely 
in  the  valley  of  the  Red  river,  and  is  nearly  a  dead  level,  though 
rising  very  gently  toward  the  south.  Lake  Winnipeg,  on  its 
northern  boundary,  is  a  little  more  than  loo  feet  lower  than  the 
Red  river  where  it  enters  the  province  on  the  southern  boun- 
dary ;  the  surface  of  the  lake  being  628  feet  above  the  sea  ;  Fort 
Garry,  which  is  at  some  height  above  the  river  banks,  724  feet, 
while  the  Red  river  at  Emerson  is  about  760  feet.  So  level 
is  the  area  around  Winnipeg  that  it  is  often  overflowed  by  the 
Red  river  when  it  is  swollen  by  the  melting  of  the  winter  snows. 
West  of  the  river,  the  streams  have  cut  their  way  through  the 
yielding  soil  and  flow  in  deep  troughs,  or,  as  they  are  called  in 
the  provincial  Canadian  voyageur's  French,  coulees,  a  corruption 
of  coulisses.  The  roads,  in  the  spring  and  autumn  especially,  are 
miry  and  wretched,  and  animals,  carnages,  and  w^agons  are  fre- 
quently stuck  in  the  mire. 

Most  of  the  country  where  not  cultivated  Is  covered  with  tall, 
coarse  grass.  There  is  a  sufficiency  of  timber  in  the  province 
for  all  immediate  wants,  and  the  banks  of  the  lakes  and  rivers 
outside  of  the  province  are  heavily  wooded.  The  soil  is  alluvial, 
this  whole  remon  havingr  once  been  the  bed  of  a  ereat  lake. 
The  floods  in  the  lower  Red  river  may  make  the  soil  richer,  but 
they  interfere  at  times  very  seriously  with  the  crops  and  with  the 
comfort  of  the  setders.  East  of  the  Red  river,  there  is  more 
forest  than  west  of  it,  and  the  land  is  not  quite  so  uniformly  level. 
There  are,  however,  extensive  marshes. 

The  climate  is  remarkably  healthful,  but  the  winters  are  very 
severe.  The  rainfall  is  slighdy  greater  than  at  Pembina,  Dakota, 
on  the  southern  border,  and  with  the  humid  atmosphere  from  tlie 
adjacent  lakes,  is  amply  sufficient.  We  give  on  page  1289  the 
reports  of  the  Canadian  Signal  Service  of  the  temperature  at  Fort 
Garry,  Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  and  as  the  Canadian  authorities  do 
not  report  the  rainfall,  we  have  added  that  at  Pembina,  which 
is  only  a  little  less  than  that  of  P^ort  Garry. 

Ao-ricultiwe  and  Agricidtural  Productions. — There  is  hardly 
any  inhabited  region  of  the  globe  about  which  so  many  conflict- 
ing statements  have  been  made,  as  Manitoba.     These  contradic- 


TEMPERATURE   AT  FCKT   GARRY. 


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1290  ^^'^^'    ll''^'S2'£A'jV  EMPIRE. 

tions  concern  Its  climate,  its  soil,  its  farm  products  and  its  graz- 
ing lands,  and  live-stock.  Here  are  some  brief  specimens  from 
two  Manitoban  farmers,  one  signing  himself  "an  English  farmer," 
the  other  "a  Canadian."     "The  English  farmer"  says: 

"In  my  opinion  a  good  farming  country  should  possess  the 
following  essentials — viz.,  good  soil,  a  regular  succession  of  sea- 
sons and  a  climate  that  will  admit  of  outdoor  work  being  per- 
formed during  at  least  eight  or  nine  months  in  each  year."  He 
admits  that  the  land  in  Manitoba  is  much  of  it  eood,  but  com- 
plains  that  most  of  that  which  is  worth  anything  is  either  "half- 
breed  reserve,"  or  bought  up  by  speculators;  and  says  that  if 
settlers  want  free-grant  land  worth  working,  they  will  have  to  go 
beyond  Manitoba  into  the  Northwest  Territory  to  get  it.  Hav- 
ing obtained  this,  he  says,  the  list  of  advantages  becomes  ex- 
hausted, for  good  land  is  absolutely  all  that  the  Canadian  North- 
west can  give  the  settler. 

"  In  the  next  essential,  the  regular  succession  of  the  seasons, 
those  who  come  here  are  woefully  disappointed — there  being 
only  one  season  that  you  can  reckon  upon  with  any  degree  of 
certainty,  and  that  is  a  winter  extending  over  more  than  half  the 
year,  and  surpassing  in  its  frequency  of  storms  and  intensity  of 
cold  any  region  yet  discovered  outside  of  the  Arctic  Circle.  It 
is  a  w^inter  that  Europeans  can  form  no  adequate  conception  of, 
exceeding  in  its  severity  even  the  cold  of  Iceland.  This  is  no 
random  assertion,  as  the  following  will  show : — At  the  latter  end 
of  last  winter  I  was  transacting  some  business  with  an  Icelander, 
who  has  been  living  in  Manitoba  for  the  last  five  years,  and  in 
the  course  of  conversation  I  asked  him  if  it  was  much  colder  in 
Iceland  than  it  was  in  Manitoba?  With  a  look  of  minoled  aston- 
ishment  and  amusement  he  said  : — '  What !  colder  in  Iceland  ? 
Oh,  dear,  no  !  We  not  haf  so  mooch  steady  cold  in  Iceland  as  we 
haf  here  in  Manitoba.'  So  if  any  who  happen  to  read  this  letter 
are  desirous  of  coming  to  a  country  colder  than  Iceland  let  them 
by  all  means  pack  up  and  start  off  at  once,  so  as  to  be  in  time  for 
the  beginning  of  the  'beautiful  winter,'  which  will  soon  be  upon 
us.*    But  if  any  such  be  heads  of  families,  I  vy^ould  urge  upon  them 

*This  complaint  of  the  severity  of  the  winter  climate  seems  to  be  well  founded.     Rev.  H.  J. 


AN  "ENGLISH  FARMER'S"    COMPLAINTS   OF   MANITOBA.      120 1 

to  spend  one  winter  here  themselves  before  bringing  the  wife  and 
Httle  ones,  or,  like  some  of  us  who  are  here  now,  they  may  have 
to  regret  with  a  lifelong  sorrow  the  folly  of  bringing  delicate  or- 
ganizations to  suffer  the  rigors  of  a  winter  such  as  only  hardy 
men  could  hope  to  endure.  It  is  not  only  humanity  that  suffers 
during  the  winter,  but  the  horses  and  cattle  get  into  a  miserable 
condition  through  the  intense  cold  and  poor  food.  The  hand- 
books for  emigrants  describe  in  glowing  terms  '  the  beautiful 
meadows,  the  vast  fields  of  rich  prairie  hay.'  I  have  been  here 
since  June,  1879,  and  have  travelled  during  that  time  over  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  Manitoba  and  for  some  distance  into  the 
Northwest  Territory,  and  have  not  yet  met  with  anything  that  I 
could  call  good  hay.  There  is  an  abundance  of  hay  here,  but  it 
is  very  inferior ;  it  is  a  long,  coarse  grass,  dry  and  tasteless,  hav- 
ing none  of  the  sweet  aroma  that  good  hay  always  gives  out. 
It  is  also  sadly  wanting  in  nutritive  properties,  but  what  it  is 
deficient  here  may  be  made  up  in  bulk,  as  there  is  an  abundance 
of  it,  such  as  it  is.  Any  one  who  has  had  an  opportunity  of  test- 
ing his  teeth  upon  Manitoba  beef  can  easily  understand  that  the 
food  must  be  coarse  indeed  to  produce  such  hard,  dry,  almost 
tasteless  meat. 

"Sheep-farming,  sheep-breeding,  and  wool-growing,  are  also 
urged  upon  the  settler  as  being  the  most  profitable  branches  of 
industry  the  settler  with  capital  can  engage  in.  Estimates  are 
made  and  long  calculations  are  worked  out  proving  beyond  a 
doubt  that  there  is  a  fortune  in  it.  What  is  the  truth  in  relation 
to  this  matter?  Just  this.  Several  attempts  have  been  made  in 
this  direction,  but  the  result  has  been  pretty  much  the  same  in 
every  instance  that  I  have  heard  of — either  complete  failure  or 
a  success  that  was  very  little  better.  I  have  seen  three  flocks  of 
sheep  since  I  came  here,  and  of  all  the  ragged,  scabby,  attenu- 
ated embodiments  of  sheep-life  they  were  the  worst.  I  have  seen 
sheep  trying  to  bite  a  living  off  a  hillside   in   Spain  where  there 

Vandyke,  Jr.,  who  visited  Manitoba  in  the  autumn  of  1879,  found  very  conclusive  evidence  of  it. 
The  table  of  the  Signal  Service,  page  1289,  indicates  a  very  severe  winter  climate  and  a  brief 
but  hot  summer.  Think  of  a  climate  where  the  thermometer  sinks  below  zero  (and  more  than 
43°  below)  for  five  successive  months,  where  the  mean  temperature  is  34°5,  and  the  annual  range 
138=.  '» 


I2Q2  O^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

was  scarce  grass  enough  for  a  half-grown  rabbit.  I  have  watched 
the  Httle  Welsh  mountain  sheep  browsing  upon  the  nourishing 
refuse  of  a  slate  quarry.  Yet  any  of  these  would  have  stood 
forth  as  veritable  Southdowns  compared  with  the  sheep  I  have 
seen  in  Manitoba.  And  then  the  quality  of  the  mutton!  Imagine 
the  flavor  of  'seven-day  veal'  combined  with  the  firmness  of  fif- 
teen-year-old male  mutton  and  you  have  it  exactly.  Some  will 
wonder  why  this  should  be  the  case.  The  reasons  are  simple, 
but  yet  they  are  such  as  cannot  be  easily  overcome.  In  the  first 
place  the  prairie  grass  is  too  coarse  for  sheep.  In  the  next  place 
there  is  a  fatal  enemy  to  sheep  here  in  the  form  of  a  weed  called 
'wild  barley.'  It  seems  to  be  growing  all  over  the  prairie.  The 
seed  of  this  weed  is  scarcely  a  fourth  the  size  of  a  barleycorn, 
and  it  is  armed  with  a  hard,  sharp  spear.  This  goes  into  the 
sheep  and  the  point  breaking  remains  in  the  skin,  causing  contin- 
uous irritation  and  pain  quite  sufficient  to  prevent  sheep  from 
ever  thriving  where  such  a  pest  prevails. 

"Another  difficulty  that  the  settlers  in  Manitoba  and  the  North- 
west will  have  to  contend  with  is  alkali.  It  is  present  in  such 
large  quantities  throughout  the  soil  that  the  water  everywhere 
is  impregnated  with  it.  To  such  an  extent  does  this  prevail  in 
some  places  tliat  I  have  frequently  known  settlers  have  to  dig 
five  or  six  wells  before  they  could  get  one  sufficiently  free  from 
alkali  to  admit  of  its  being  used.  This  bad  water  is,  I  feel  cer- 
tain, the  principal  cause  of  the  death  of  such  a  large  proportion 
(eight  out  of  every  ten)  of  the  horses  that  are  brought  into  Man- 
itoba from  Ontario  and  elsewhere,  within  eighteen  months  of 
their  arrival.  In  fact  I  know  of  one  family,  father  and  sons,  who 
brought  fourteen  horses  with  them  from  Ontario,  and  in  two 
years  there  was  only  one  alive  out  of  the  fourteen.  These  are 
matters  that  should  certainly  be  made  known  among  intending 
emigrants. 

"When  the  three  seasons — i.  c,  the  spring,  summer,  and  au- 
tumn— are  squeezed  into  some  four  or  five  months  at  the  most, 
the  thoughtful  mind  will  easily  realize  that  this  alone  is  sufficient 
to  prevent  Manitoba  from  ever  being  a  good  farming  country ; 
for  you  must  bear  in  mind  that  wathin  this  four  or  five  months  the 


LENGTH  OF  THE    COLD   SEASON.  1203 

whole  of  the  farm  work  for  the  year  has  to  be  completed. 
Breaking  the  sod,  backsetting-,  sowing,  planting,  fencing,  haying, 
harvesting,  well-digging,  house-building,  besides  a  long  list  of 
other  jobs  that  cannot  possibly  be  done  while  land  and  water  lie 
in  the  icy  grip  of  winter.  All  these  have  to  be  done  in  the  brief 
interval  occurring  between  the  beginning  of  June  and  the  middle 
or  end  of  October.  Take  the  last  spring  as  an  instance  of  the 
wonderful  adaptation  of  this  country  for  farming.  May  was 
nearly  gone  before  spring  was  really  come,  and  for  a  fortnight 
or  three  weeks  after  the  surface  of  the  ground  had  thawed  the' 
whole  country  was  so  saturated  that,  except  in  a  few  instances 
where  the  land  lay  high,  it  was  quite  impossible  either  to  plough 
or  sow,  and  the  result  was  that  by  the  end  of  seed-time  the  ma- 
jority of  the  farmers  of  Manitoba  had  put  in  only  one-half  the 
number  of  acres  of  wheat  and  oats  they  had  intended  doing. 
The  consequence  of  this  will  be  that  our  farmers,  who  are  heavily 
indebted  to  the  machine  agents  for  implements  of  various  kinds 
bought  on  time,  will  be  unable  to  meet  their  notes,  and  will 
either  have  a  visit  from  the  sheriff  or  will  be  forced  to  get  cash 
from  the  money-lenders  at  from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,,  or 
by  giving  a  mortgage  on  their  property  tliey  may  get  the  money 
at  twelve  percent.,  and  this  I  am  assured  is  already  the  condition 
of  more  than  half  the  farmers  of  Manitoba.  This  state  of  things 
is  not  at  all  surprising  when  we  consider  that  the  resources  of 
the  country  are  limited  to  the  production  of  wheat,  oats,  pota- 
toes and  beets." 

As  a  means  of  health  and  enjoyment  for  the  family,  as  well  as 
a  source  of  profit  to  the  farmer,  fruit  culture,  where  practicable, 
is  really  a  necessity.  The  Clerk  of  the  Legislative  Assembly, 
Mr.  Thomas  Spence,  in  a  book  for  emigrants  entitled  "  Prairie 
Lands  of  Canada,"  asserts  "  that  there  is  no  reason  why  every 
farm  may  not  have  its  orchard  in  this  as  in  other  parts  of  the 
Dominion." 

The  "English  farmer"  replies,  "If  Manitoba  is  so  well  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  fruit,  how  is  it  that  at  the  Provincial  Agri- 
cultural Exhibition,  held  at  Portage  la  Prairie  in  October,  1879, 
the    whole    display  of  Manitoba-grown   fruit  amounted   to   two 


J  204  ^^^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

plates  of  crab  apples  almost  as  large  as  walnuts — having  a  smell 
and  taste  that  would  give  anyone  the  idea  tliat  they  were  grown 
in  a  bed  of  iron  filings  and  watered  with  vinegar? 

"The  o-eneral  testimony  of  those  I  have  met,  who  have  been  here 
five,  six,  and  seven  years,  is  that  'scarcely  any  of  the  fruit-trees 
planted  here  outlive  the  second  winter.'  This  is  no  hearsay,  but 
the  testimony  of  men  thoroughly  conversant  with  fruit  culture, 
who  have  tried  over  and  over  again  to  grow  apples,  pears, 
peaches,  etc.,  but  always  with  the  same  results — failure  and  dis- 
appointment. I  met  with  a  nursery  agent  here  last  spring,  who 
told  me  that  he  had  sold  several  thousand  fruit  trees  of  various 
kinds  during  his  trip  through  Manitoba,  but  he  rather  thought 
he  should  not  come  again,  for  from  what  he  saw  and  heard  of 
the  winter  he  should  not  expect  to  find  any  of  the  trees  alive 
next  year.  So  the  settler  in  Manitoba  will  save  time  and  money 
by  leaving  the  fruit  trees  alone,  as  an  orchard  here  is  totally  out 
of  the  question." 

Per  contra,  a  "Canadian"  says,  of  the  climate: 

"As  to  Manitoba  it  possesses  a  climate  exactly  the  same  as 
Minnesota,  at  Moorehead,  or  Dakota, at  Fargo.  The  winters  are 
known  to  be  severe,  that  is,  as  the  thermometer  shows;  but  they 
are  probably  less  trying  than  the  more  humid  winters  on  the 
seaboard.  The  snowfall  is  very  light,  not  m.ore  than  a  foot  and 
a  half.  The  horses  of  the  country  graze  out  all  winter;  and 
sometimes,  after  having  been  turned  out  in  the  fall,  return  in  the 
spring  with  Increased  numbers,  from  the  mares  having  foaled. 
They  paw  the  light,  mealy  snow  off  the  grass  and  find  plenty  of 
nutritious  food." 

Of  the  lands,  he  says,  "They  are  contiguous  to  those  of  Minne- 
sota and  Dakota,  and  the  same,  being  only  separated  by  an  as- 
tronomical line.  If  there  is  any  difference  in  as  far  as  the  lands 
themselves  are  concerned,  it  is  that  the  farther  you  proceed  down 
the  Red  river  of  the  North,  say  from  the  point  of  Moorehead  or 
Fargo,  the  nearer  you  get  to  what  was  undoubtedly  in  previous 
geologic  ages  the  centre  of  the  great  lake  which  at  one  time 
covered  the  whole  of  this  territory,  and  the  deeper  you  find  the 
alluvium  resting  on  a  lacustrine  clay  formation.     This  fact  gives 


THE   MANITOBAN  MARSHY  LANDS    VERY  VALUABLE. 


1295 


the  advantao-e  to  Manitoba,  althou^rh  it  is  undoubted  that  the 
banks  of  the  river  above  the  boundarv  line  are  of  the  same  for- 
mation.  This  deep  alluvium,  held  by  a  closely  retentive  clay 
sub-soil,  has  been  enriched  by  ashes  from  fires,  decaying-  vegeta- 
tion and  the  droppings  by  animals  and  birds,  for  ages,  until  it 
has  naturally  become  the  richest  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and 
especially  adapted  to  the  growth  of  wheat.  It  would  be  folly 
for  anybody  to  attempt  to  deny  this  fact,  so  well  known  to  thou- 
sands and  suscepdble  of  such  easy  proof. 

"The  countr}'  is,  however,  quite  new,  and  English  farmers  may 
find  many  things  which  are  both  new  and  strange  to  them;  for 
instance,  the  roads  are  of  the  most  primitive  kind,  and  in  the 
early  spring,  when  the  snow  and  frost  go  away,  before  the  sur- 
face dries,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  drive  over  them  as  it  is  over  the 
roads  of  the  Central  Park,  New  York.  But  as  the  season  ad- 
vances they  do  dry,  and  then  the  roads  become  as  smooth  and 
hard  as  anv  in  the  world.  All  this  is  fullv  stated  in  the  eov- 
ernment  pamphlets  referred  to,  and  the  very  clearest  and  fullest 
warnino^s  are  o-iven  to  emisfrants  as  to  the  kind  of  difficulties 
they  may  have  to  encounter.  A  section  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  100  miles  west  of  Winnipeg,  will  be  completed  this 
fall;  and  this  will  open  up  very  great  facilities  for  settlers  along 
its  line. 

"  There  are  undoubtedly  many  marshes  in  the  province  of  Man- 
itoba, and  these  are  very  fully  set  forth  in  the  government  pam- 
phlets and  maps.  But  they  are  all  susceptible  of  very  easy 
drainage ;  and  large  drainage  operations  are  now  being  carried 
on  by  the  provincial  government,  under  an  arrangement  with  the 
Dominion  government.  Your  correspondent  says  that  these  can- 
not be  drained  because  the  rivers  arc  too  near  the  level  of  the 
prairies.  A  difference  of  four  feet  is  given.  It  is  folly  to  make 
such  an  assertion  as  this  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the  Red 
river  and  the  Assiniboine  have  cut  their  winding  ways  very  deep 
below  the  level  of  the  prairies,  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  at  the 
very  least,  and  there  are  everywhere  natural  coulies  entering 
these  rivers,  making  the  task  of  drainage  very  easy  and  inexpen- 
sive, while  the  land  so  drained  will  become  the  most  valuable  in 
the  province  and  naturally  the  richest  in  the  world. 


I2q6  <^^'^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

"As  to  the  government  land  regulations,  it  is  perhaps  not  of 
very  much  interest  to  discuss  these  at  length  in  your  columns ; 
but  in  view  of  the  reference  your  correspondent  has  made  to 
them,  perhaps  you  will  permit  me  to  say  that  they  are  the  same 
as  those  of  the  United  States  government,  with  the  exception 
that  the  fees  are  a  little  less.  Any  man  can  get  a  homestead  of 
1 60  acres  free  on  any  unoccupied  surveyed  government  lands  on 
condition  of  three  years  settlement,  and  he  can  pre-empt  160 
acres  more.  The  lands  granted  for  railway  purposes  are  sold  in 
the  same  way  as  in  the  United  States.  The  government  lands 
open  for  free  settlement  are  divided  in  alternate  sections  with 
the  railway  lands.  The  '  eighty  acre  '  restriction,  to  which  your 
correspondent  refers,  was  done  away  with  about  a  year  ago." 

It  seems,  however,  that  there  is  some  ground  of  complaint 
even  now,  in  regard  to  land  grants  in  Manitoba,  and  the  migra- 
tion of  some  laree  bands  of  Mennonites  across  the  line  to  Minne- 
sota  and  Dakota  on  this  account  the  last  year  would  indicate  that 
there  had  been  some  favoritism,  at  least. 

The  descriptions  of  the  region  north  and  west  of  Manitoba  by 
Mr.  Vernon  Smith  in  the  "  Nineteenth  Century,"  and  by  Lord 
Dufferin,  at  Winnipeg,  are  very  eloquent,  and  though  perhaps  a 
little  overstated  are  worthy  of  quotation  here : 

'Tn  the  very  centre  of  this  great  Dominion  of  Canada,  equi- 
distant from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  mid- 
way in  the  other  direction  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  lies 
the  low  depression  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  300  miles  long,  fifty  to 
sixty  miles  wide — the  future  Black  Sea  of  Canada.  Its  shape  is 
roughly  a  parallelogram  lying  north  and  south ;  at  three  of  its 
four  corners  it  receives  the  waters  of  a  large  river;  the  main  trunk 
of  a  hundred  smaller  ones.  At  the  remaining  northeast  angle  a 
fourth  and  larger  river — the  Dardanelles  of  the  system — conveys 
the  accumulated  waters  of  nearly  a  million  square  miles  into 
Hudson's  bay.  This  Lake  Winnipeg  receives  the  drainage  of 
the  future  wheat-field  of  the  world.  The  Red  River  of  the  North, 
with  its  affluents,  the  Assiniboine,  the  Ouiappelle,  the  Red  Lake 
river,  the  Souris  and  a  score  of  others,  discharge  their  waters  into 
it  throuo;h  the  Lrrass- covered  deltas  at  the  southwest  anoxic.     At 


EARL  DUFFERIN  ON  WINNIPEG  LAKE  AND  ITS  RIVERS.       1397 

the  southeast,  and  only  twenty-five  miles  distant  along  the  shores 
of  the  lake,  the  large,  impetuous  river,  which  gives  its  name  to 
the  fresh-water  sea  into  which  it  rushes,  pours  its  wild  majestic 
flood  from  the  Lawrentian  highlands,  which  separate  the  waters  of 
Lake  Superior  and  the  affluents  of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  those 
that  seek  Lake  Winnipeg.  In  Lord  Dufferin's  speech  at  the  capital 
of  Manitoba,  he  describes  so  felicitously  this  noble  river  that  any 
more  meagre  description  than  his  appears  almost  presumptuous. 
After  describing  the  route  of  the  traveller  from  Lake  Superior 
up  the  Kamanistaguia,  over  the  height  of  land,  down  the  beautiful 
Rainy  river  into  the  lovely  Lake  of  the  Woods — 

"  '  For  the  last  eighty  miles  of  his  voyage  (he  says)  he  will  be 
consoled  by  sailing  through  a  succession  of  land-locked  channels, 
the  beauty  of  whose  scenery,  while  it  resembles,  certainly  excels 
the  far-famed  Thousand  Islands  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  From  this 
lacustrine  Paradise  of  sylvan  beauty  we  are  able  at  once  to  trans- 
fer our  friend  to  the  Winnipeg,  a  river  whose  existence  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  continent  is  in  itself  one  of  nature's  most  de- 
lightful miracles,  so  beautiful  and  varied  are  its  rocky  banks,  its 
tufted  islands;  so  broad,  so  deep,  so  fervid  is  the  volume  of  its 
waters,  the  extent  of  their  lake-like  expansions  and  the  tremeor 
dous  power  of  their  rapids.' 

"The  Winnipeg,  in  its  short  but  picturesque  course  of  1 25  miles 
from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  falls  500  feet,  and  though  not  navi- 
gable, in  consequence,  for  steamers,  was  for  over  two  centuries 
the  route  by  which  all  the  trade  of  the  interior  continent  was  con- 
ducted by  the  great  fur  companies  from  and  to  their  depots  at 
Mackinaw  and  Montreal.  The  Lake  of  the  Woods  itself  is  a 
noble  expanse  of  water,  and  with  its  2,000  islands  offers  some 
lovely  places  for  settlement.  At  the  outlet  to  the  river  an  Ice- 
landic colony  has  been  lately  formed,  and  its  Indian  name  of 
Keewatin  has  been  attached  now  to  the  whole  province,  which 
covers  the  area  between  the  old  province  of  Ontario  and  Mani- 
toba, the  pioneer  of  the  new  western  provinces. 

"  This  (the  Winnipeg)  is  the  body  of  water  that  falls  into 
the  southeastern  angle  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  Passing  now  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  same  inland  reservoir,  the  mouths  of  the 

S2 


1298  (^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

two  rivers  being"  diag-onally  across  the  lake,  about  275  miles 
apart,  we  find  another  great  river — the  Danube  of  North  Amer- 
ica— stretching  its  long  twofold  channel,  each  1,000  miles  in 
leng-th,  to  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  the  West.  This 
is  the  Saskatchewan,  whose  two  arms  or  branches,  rising  not  very 
far  asunder  in  the  great  backbone  of  the  continent,  gradually  di- 
verge until  the  distance  between  them  is  over  300  miles,  and  then 
converging  up,  finally  join  at  a  point  ^^2)  miles  from  the  source 
of  the  north  branch,  and  810  by  the  south  branch,  from  whence 
the  united  stream  runs  282  miles  to  its  debouchure  in  Lake  Win- 
nipeg, making  the  total  length  from  the  lake  1,054  miles  by  one 
branch,  and  1,092  by  the  other,  to  their  sources  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  Both  these  rivers  run  their  whole  length  throueh  the 
prairie  land  of  the  Northwest,  and  it  is  from  isolated  settlements 
on  these  rivers,  such  as  Prince  Albert  and  Carlton,  that  the  largest 
returns  of  agricultural  yields  have  been  received.  Both  rivers  are 
navigable  throughout,  excepting  the  three  and  a  half  miles  near 
the  mouth,  where  the  river  passes  over  rapids  and  falls  of  a  total 
height  of  forty-four  feet  into  the  lake.  Last  year  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  constructed  a  tramway  four  miles  long  to  overcome 
these  obstructions,  and  they  also  placed  a  steamer,  the  '  North- 
cote,'  at  the  head  of  this  tramway,  which  during  the  season  made 
five  double  trips  from  the  Grand  Rapids  to  Carlton,  550  miles, 
and  one  trip  up  to  Edmonton,  over  1,000  miles  from  the  lake, 
along  the  north  branch. 

"  Last  season  a  second  steamer  was  placed  on  the  river,  and 
during  the  year  the  navigation  of  both  branches  was  thoroughly 
tested.  The  two  Saskatchewan s  drain  what  is  especially  known 
as  the  '  fertile  belt,'  containing  not  less  than  90,000,000  acres  of 
as  fine  wheat  land  as  can  be  found  in  any  country. 

"Such  are  the  three  main  rivers  that  pour  their  accumulated 
waters  into  Lake  Winnipeg,  all  of  them  of  a  size  and  capacity 
which  in  Europe  would  class  them  as  first-class  rivers.  Their 
united  length,  with  their  most  important  afiluents,  is  not  less  than 
10,000  miles,  of  which,  certainly,  4,000  are  available  for  steam 
navigation.  The  outlet  of  this  magnificent  and  comprehensive 
water  system  is  the  large  but  little  known  Nelson,  which,  issuing 


CAN   OCEAN  STEAMERS  ASCEND    THE  NELSON?  1209 

from  the  northeast  angle  of  the  lake,  discharges  its  surplus  waters 
into  Hudson's  bay.  This  river — broad,  deep,  first-class  in  every 
respect — may  have  probably  an  important  bearing  on  the  future 
prospects  of  this  northern  section  of  America.  Lake  Winnipeg- 
is  700  feet  above  the  ocean  level;  as  far  as  known  the  Nelson  has 
neither  rock,  nor  shoal,  nor  excessive  rapid  to  interfere  with  its 
navigation  by  properly  constructed  steamers.  Its  even  gradual 
slope  of  twenty  inches  to  the  mile  is  not  more  than  is  constantly 
and  safely  worked  on  other  American  rivers.  The  Upper  Mis- 
souri and  Yellowstone,  with  far  worse  water  to  contend  with,  were 
constantly  navigated  in  1877  by  twenty-seven  steamers;  whilst 
the  old  Danube  at  its  Iron  Gate  has  water  quite  as  strong  to 
contend  with,  and  not  half  the  breadth  and  depth  of  water  for  a 
vessel  to  pick  her  way  in.  The  question  remains  to  be  solved 
whether  this  river  is  really  available  or  not  for  ocean  steamers  to 
work  through  to  the  lake  above,  and,  if  not,  whether  the  lake 
steamers  can  be  trusted  to  brincj  their  carcjoes  down  with  a  cer- 
tainty  of  being  able  to  reascend  again.  The  outlet  of  Nelson 
river  is  a  harbor,  a  mile  wide,  and  with  any  depth  of  water.  It  is 
called  Port  Nelson,  and  not  very  far  from  it  is  the  old  York  Fac- 
tory, for  a  long  time  the  head-quarters  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, and  from  which,  for  the  last  200  years,  from  two  to  five 
vessels  have  annually  sailed  for  England,  and  not  unfrequently 
under  the  convoy  of  a  man-of-war.  Port  Nelson,  although  situ- 
ated in  ninety-three  degrees  of  west  longitude,  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  continent,  is  eighty  miles  nearer  to  Liverpool  than  New 
York  is.  For  four  certainly,  probably  five  months  in  the  year, 
it  is  as  clear  of  ice  as  any  other  of  the  North  Atlantic  ports. 
There  is  no  question  about  its  accessibility  for  ordinary  ocean 
steamers  from  June  to  October,  and  it  only  remains  to  be  proved 
whether  these  same  vessels  cannot  force  their  way  up  the  great 
Nelson  river  and  load  their  cargoes  directly  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Saskatchewan,  the  Red  river  or  the  Winnipeg,  in  the  ver)-  centre 
and  heart  of  this  great  wheat-field  of  the  Northwest,  where  200,- 
000,000  acres  now  await  the  advent  of  the  farmer  to  be  rapidly 
brought  into  cultivation. 

"  Mr.  Vernon  .Smith    says  of  the  yield  of  cereal    and    root 


j^OO  ^^'^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

crops  in  this  Northwestern  region,  not  confining  his  statements, 
it  will  be  observed,  to  Manitoba :  The  fact  established  by  clima- 
tologists,  that  the  cultivated  plants  yield  the  greatest  products 
near  the  northernmost  limit  at  which  they  grow,  is  fully  illustrated 
in  the  productions  of  the  Canadian  Territories;  and  the  returns 
from  Prince  Albert  and  other  new  settlements  on  the  Saskatche- 
wan show  a  yield  of  40  bushels  of  spring  wheat  to  the  acre, 
averaging  63  pounds  to  the  bushel,  whilst  one  exceptional  field 
showed  68  pounds  to  the  bushel,  and  another  lot  of  2,000  bushels 
weighed  66  pounds,  producing  respectively  46  and  42}^  pounds 
of  dressed  flour  to  the  bushel  of  wheat.  In  southern  latitudes 
the  warm  spring  develops  the  juices  of  the  plants  too  rapidly. 
They  run  into  stalk  and  leaf,  to  the  detriment  of  the  seed.  Corn 
maize,  for  example,  in  the  West  Indies  runs  often  thirty  feet  high, 
but  it  produces  only  a  few  grains  at  the  bottom  of  a  spongy  cob 
too  coarse  for  human  food. 

"  Whatever  be  the  cause,  the  ascertained  results  in  this  new 
Northwest  seem  to  prove  that  its  soil  possesses  unusually  pro- 
lific powers.  In  1S77  carefully  prepared  reports  were  made  by 
thirty-four  different  settlements,  and  although  lessened  in  many 
cases  by  circumstances  local  and  exceptional — as,  for  instance,  a 
series  of  very  heavy  rain-storms  which  caught  the  wheat  just  as 
it  was  ripening — the  yields  per  acre  \yere  :  Of  wheat,  from  25  to 
35  bushels,  with  an  average  of  32^  ;  barley,  from  40  to  50,  aver- 
age 42 j^  ;  oats,  40  to  60,  average  51  ;  peas  average  32}^,  pota- 
toes 229,  and  turnips  662  bushels  to  the  acre.  Individual  cases 
were  enumerated  of  100  bushels  of  oats  per  acre,  barley  as  high 
as  60  bushels,  and  weighing  from  50  to  55  pounds  to  the 
bushel.  Potatoes  have  yielded  as  high  as  600  bushels  to  the 
acre,  and  of  a  quality  unsurpassed,  as  are  all  the  root  crops. 
Turnips  have  yielded  1,000  bushels  to  the  acre,  700  being  com- 
mon, whilst  cabbage,  cauliflower  and  celery  grow  to  an  enormous 
size,  and  of  excellent  quality  and  flavor." 

We  regret  that  we  are  unable  to  procure  later  statistics  of  the 
crops  of  the  Northwestern  wheat  region.  The  earlier  crops  on 
these  northern  alluvial  prairies  are  generally  much  larger  than 
later  ones.     But  for  s^Dring  wheat  and  some  of  the  other  cereals 


THE    CANADIAN  PACIFIC  I^AILIVAY.  j^qj- 

there  is  probably  no  more  prolific  region  than  the  Red  River 
Valley  and  the  Saskatchewan  country. 

Transpoi'tation. — As  yet  the  larger  part  of  the  grain  product 
of  Manitoba  finds  a  market  by  way  of  the  railway  which  connects 
Winnipeg  with  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  then  carries  it  either  to 
Duluth  or  Chicago.  What  may  be  its  route  when  the  Canadian 
Pacific  is  completed  to  the  Saskatchewan  country,  or  when  the 
ocean  steamers  shall  ascend  the  Nelson  from  Hudson's  bay  to 
Lake  Winnipeg,  cannot  now  be  predicted. 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  demands  a  notice  as  one  of  the 
five  great  trunk  lines  now  constructed  or  in  process  of  construc- 
tion to  the  Pacific  coast.  It  has  been  for  some  years  in  progress, 
but  has  been  embarrassed  by  the  lack  of  means  and  efficient  gov- 
ernment aid.  It  is  now  taken  up  by  an  association  of  English 
and  American  capitalists,  the  Dominion  government  rendering 
liberal  assistance  by  land  grants,  subsidies,  and  the  gift  to  the 
company  of  the  portions  of  the  road  already  completed.  The 
chief  points  of  the  compact  are  alleged  to  be  : 

The  total  length  of  the  projected  system  is  to  be  2,200  miles, 
of  which  it  may  be  said  that  600  miles  are  either  completed  or 
under  construction.  The  government,  it  is  announced,  are  pre- 
pared to  grant  a  subsidy  of  ^20,000,000  in  cash,  payment  to  be 
spread  over  the  period  of  ten  years,  assumed  to  be  necessary  for 
the  construction  of  the  line,  an  amount  equal  to  ^10,000  per 
mile,  or  about  one-third  of  the  estimated  cost.  A  further  grant 
will  be  made  of  35,000,000  acres  of  land,  to  be  located  in  alter- 
nate sections  along  the  route,  as  w^as  done  in  the  case  of  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  companies.  The  600  miles  under  con- 
struction will  be  handed  over  to  the  company  without  cost. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty-two  miles  more  were  placed  under 
contract  before  the  new  company  took  charge  of  it.  The  total 
cost  is  estimated  at  ^64,750,000.  A  submarine  telegraph  from 
Vancouver's  Island  to  Yeddo,  Japan,  is  also  projected  as  a  part  of 
this  system  of  communication. 

Religion,  Education,  etc, — Manitoba  has  a  large  Roman  Cath- 
olic population,  that  religious  system  having  been  long  ago  estab- 
lished here  by  the  missionaries  among  the  Indians.     A  Roman 


1302  OUK    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Catholic  archbishop  has  his  see  at  St.  Boniface.  There  is  also  an 
Anglican  bishop,  whose  see  is  at  Fort  Garry.  The  board  of  edu- 
cation is  composed  of  equal  numbers  of  Catholic  and  Protestant 
members.  Separate  schools  are  established,  and  are  maintained 
partly  by  fees  and  assessments  and  partly  by  a  provincial  grant. 
St.  John's  College  (Anglican)  and  St.  Boniface's  (Roman  Cath- 
olic) were  incorporated  in  1872.  There  is  a  very  considerable 
Scotch-Presbyterian  element  in  the  population,  and  Methodists, 
Baptists,  Congregationalists  and  Mennonites  are  also  represented 
in  the  province. 

Principal  Taions. — Winnipeg,  the  capital,  has  grown  up  around 
Fort  Garry  within  the  past  decade.  It  is  reported  as  having  about 
1 2,000  inhabitants,  and  has  considerable  business  and  enterprise. 
St.  Boniface,  Selkirk,  Shelley,  Emerson,  Arnaud  and  Dufrost  are 


ofrowmor  towns. 


Historical  Notes. — Manitoba  is  the  northern  part  of  the  region 
purchased  by  Thomas  Douglas,  Earl  of  Selkirk,  in  18 10,  from  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He  planted  here  the  famous  "  Red 
River  Settlement,"  called  also  "Pembina,"  and  later  "Assiniboia." 
The  first  settlers  here  were  Scotch  Highlanders.  In  18 15  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Canadians,  of  English,  Scotch  and  French 
descent,  and  some  half-breed  Indians,  joined  the  colony.  When, 
some  years  later,  the  United  States  boundary  line  was  run 
through,  it  was  found  that  the  greater  part  of  the  colony  was 
south  of  that  line,  and  especially  that  what  are  now  Pembina, 
Dakota,  and  St.  Vincent,  Minnesota,  were  peopled  by  these 
colonists. 

Meanwhile  the  population  did  not  increase  rapidly,  owing  to 
the  attacks  of  the  Northwest  Company,  then  hostile  to  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  the  severity  of  the  winters,  and  repeated 
destructive  visitations  of  grasshoppers,  which  destroyed  their 
crops.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company  at  length  took  possession  of 
so  much  of  the  colony  as  remained  north  of  the  boundary,  and 
established  a  local  government,  with  the  title  of  "The  Council 
of  Assiniboia,"  which  continued  to  administer  the  government 
till  March,  1871.  In  1869  and  1870  there  was  a  movement  to 
transfer   the    authority  to  the    Dominion  of   Canada,  then  just 


THE    CLASSES    IVIIO   PREFER  NOT  TO    GO    WEST.  I303 

organized.  This  was  opposed  by  the  French  Canadians  and 
half-breeds,  and  under  a  Canadian-French  leader,  Louis  Riel, 
they  organized  an  armed  resistance,  took  possession  of  the  treas- 
ury, and  imprisoned  many  of  their  opponents.  In  July,  1870,  an 
armed  force  from  Canada  appeared  in  the  province,  captured  the 
insurgent  leaders,  and  gave -opportunity  for  an  elective  govern- 
ment, which  soon  united  with  the  Dominion,  and  is  represented 
in  the  Dominion  Parliament.  The  growth  of  the  province  since 
that  time  has  been  rapid. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EOMES  FOR  IMMIGRANTS  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  SLOPE. 

Why  many  Immigrants  do  not  like  to  go  to  the  West — Views  of  many  of 
OUR  OWN  People  on  the  Subject — Are  there  not  Homes  for  these  on 
THE  Atlantic  Slope? — Advantages  of  the  East — Wisconsin  and  Michi- 
gan— Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois — Tennessee — Maine,  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont — Massachusetts  and  Connecticut — Northern  New  York 
— Long  Island — Advantages  of  New  System  of  Ensilage  here  and  in 
New  Jersey — New  Jersey — The  Southern  Counties — West  Virginia 
— North  Carolina — East  Tennessee — Northern  Georgia — Florida — 
Conclusion. 

While  we  have  given  a  full  and  fair  description  of  the  advan- 
tao-es  which  the  West  offers  to  the  intending  immiofrant,  and  have 
demonstrated  its  superiority  to  any  other  portion  of  the  globe 
which  is  now  inviting  immigration,  we  are  not  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  there  are  very  many  of  the  nearly  600,000  immigrants 
who  have  landed  on  our  shores  during  the  past  year  to  whom  the 
continuation  of  their  journey  to  the  far  West  is  either  a  very  great 
hardship  or  an  impossibility.  They  have  friends  in  the  Eastern 
States,  who  are  comfortably  situated,  and  who  desire  to  have 
them  near  them;  or  they  are  somewhat  advanced  in  life  and  have 
but  scanty  means,  which  would  be  entirely  exhausted  on  reaching 
the  West ;  or  they  have  children  or  grandchildren  whose  homes 
are  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  and  to  whom  they  would  be  again 
united ;  or  they  are  not  in  robust  health,  and  the  Western  lands 


1.504  <^UR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

seem  so  far,  the  climate  so  unlike  that  to  which  they  have  been 
accustomed,  and  all  the  little  comforts  of  an  old  civilization  have 
become  so  indispensable  to  them,  that  they  dread,  as  those  ad- 
vanced in  life  always  do,  the  privations  to  which  they  will  be  ex- 
posed. These  things  did  not  seem  so  real  and  formidable  when 
they  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  they  do  now;  and 
if  they  persist  in  going  West,  these  matters  will  grow  more  and 
more  distasteful  to  them,  till  they  develop  into  a  genuine  home- 
sickness and  serious  discontent. 

There  are  also  very  large  numbers  of  our  Eastern  people  who, 
after  all,  make  up  the  larger  part  of  the  emigration  to  the  West, 
who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  while  they  do  not  care  particu- 
larly about  going  to  the  West,  prefer  some  change,  and  for  many 
reasons  would  be  better  satisfied  with  an  Eastern  than  a  W^estern 
location.  Their  friends  and  acquaintance  are  here.  They  can 
find  here  good  schools  and  churches,  the  land  is  all  broken,  ready 
for  their  crops,  and  there  is  a  home  market,  readily  accessible, 
where  they  can  sell  at  fair  prices  all  they  have  to  sell,  and  buy  at 
a  reasonable  rate  all  they  need  to  buy. 

It  is  from  these  classes  that  we  oftenest  hear  the  inquiry:  "Is 
there  not  some  region  east  of  the  Mississippi  w^here,  all  things 
being  taken  into  the  account,  a  man  or  a  family  can  live  as  well 
and  make  as  much  money  as  in  the  West,  and  at  the  same  time 
avoid  the  hardships,  inconveniences  and  discomforts  of  a  life  on 
the  frontier?  " 

We  answer:  That  depends  upon  several  considerations; 
money  is  not  made  quite  as  rapidly  in  agricultural  and  pastoral 
pursuits  in  the  East  as  in  the  West,  because  a  larger  capital  is 
required  for  extensive  operations,  and  it  is  more  difficult  to  pro- 
cure the  necessary  quantity  of  land;  but  with  the  same  resolute 
will,  there  is  nothing  impossible  (as  Kossuth  says)  to  him  who 
wills  ;  and  the  achievement  of  a  great  fortune  is  not  a  task  which 
is  more  impossible  to  a  resolute  spirit  at  the  East  than  at  the 
West.  It  is  also  to  be  considered  that  many  men  are  not  ambi- 
tious to  accumulate  large  fortunes,  if  to  do  this  they  must  forego 
all  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of  society  for  a  considerable  time. 
To  them  a  competence  is  the  extent  of  their  ambition,  and  with 


DESIRABLE   LOCATIONS    ON  THE  ATLANTIC  SLOPE.  i^q^ 

it,  If  they  can  have  friends,  society  and  abundant  advantages  of 
intellectual  and  moral  culture,  they  are  as  happy  as  men  well  can 
be  in  this  life. 

To  these  classes  we  have  to  say :  You  \\'\\\  find  a  larger  meas- 
ure of  enjoyment  east  of  the  Mississippi  than  you  would  west  of 
it.  There  is  the  same  choice  of  occupations  here  as  at  the  West. 
Land  is  not  quite  so  low,  generally,  but  on  the  other  hand  you 
avoid  the  long  and  expensive  journey  to  the  West.  The  agri- 
cultural production,  under  favorable  circumstances,  does  not 
differ  materially ;  but  there  prices  are  low  and  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation to  a  better  and  higher  market  is  very  heavy,  while  here 
you  have  a  market  almost  at  your  doors,  and  that  one  which 
pays  the  highest  price  for  produce.  If  there  is  a  difference,  as 
there  certainly  is  in  some  sections,  the  Eastern  climate  is  healthier, 
neither  the  heat  nor  the  cold  so  oppressive,  the  rainfall  sufficient 
to  prevent  any  apprehension  of  a  drought,  the  insect  pests  much 
less  formidable,  and  the  danger  from  malarial  fevers  less  serious. 
The  intensity  of  the  cold  of  winter  is  greater  in  the  northern  tier 
of  States  and  Territories  of  the  West  than  in  the  middle  Atlantic 
States,  and  the  heat  of  the  Southwestern  States  and  Territories 
in  summer  has  no  parallel  in  the  East. 

"  But  where,"  it  may  be  asked,  "are  these  lands  which  are  so 
desirable?"  It  is,  we  answer,  hardly  possible  to  go  amiss  of 
them.  Wisconsin  and  MicJiigan  are  as  trul)'  States  for  immi- 
grants as  Iowa  and  Minnesota;  more  so  than  Missouri.  North- 
ern Wisconsin  and  the  Northern  Peninsula  of  Michigan  have,  it 
is  true,  a  severe  winter  climate,  though  not  more  so  than  North- 
ern Minnesota  or  Dakota,  and  In  general  the  winter  mean 
temperature  is  not  lower  than  that  of  Iowa.  In  both  States  there 
are  good  lands,  yielding  with  proper  culture  as  large  crops  of 
wheat;  barley,  oats,  and,  in  ordinary  seasons,  Indian  corn,  and  as 
many  bushels  of  the  root  crops  as  the  trans-Mississippi  States. 
In  both  these  States  there  are  extensive  grazing  lands,  and  both 
stock-raising  and  dairy-farming  are  already  conducted  on  an  ex- 
tensive scale.  Both  States  are  rich  In  minerals ;  gold  and  silver 
are  found  In  moderate  quantities ;  but  copper,  zinc,  iron  and  lead 
abound,  and  so  nearly  pure  as  to  be  easily  reduced;  while  the 


1306  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

rarer  metals  are  found  in  ample  quantities.  Coal  is  less  abun- 
dant as  yet,  but  the  immense  forests  furnish  not  only  vast  amounts 
of  timber  and  lumber,  but  all  the  fuel  which  will  be  required  for 
many  years.  Those  who  prefer  the  isolation  of  a  new  country 
can  find  homes  here  reasonably  free  from  neighbors,  while  their 
crops  can  be  speedily  conveyed  to  market  at  a  very  moderate^ 
cost. 

Ohio,  India7ia  and  Illmois  have  now  no  desirable  eovernment 
lands  for  sale,  but  there  are  valuable  State  lands  (school  and 
swamp  lands),  and  Illinois  especially  has  yet  some  excellent  rail- 
road lands  which  can  be  purchased  at  moderate  prices.  A 
skilful  farmer,  buying  his  land  low,  can  always  be  sure  of  making 
his  farm  pay  in  either  of  these  States.  There  are  also  extensive 
coal  and  iron  mines  in  all  three. 

Portions  of  Kent2Lcky  are  desirable  for  immigrants,  but  both 
Middle  and  Eastern  Tennessee  are  more  so.  The  soil  is  not  as 
rich  as  in  some  of  the  Western  States,  but  there  is  a  close  clay 
sub-soil,  and  the  land  retains  and  is  permanendy  benefited  by 
manures,  and  under  their  influence  yields  liberal  crops.  There 
is  much  heavy  timber,  and  most  of  the  land  has  to  be  cleared  before 
cultivation.  Hitherto  niuch  of  this  region,  especially  the  Cum- 
berland Plateau  of  Middle  Tennessee,  has  been  inaccessible  to 
markets ;  but  now  railroads  have  been  built,  and  several  colonies 
have  established  themselves  there.  One  of  these,  sent  out  under 
the  direction  of  an  associadon  of  which  Thomas  Huehes,  M.  P., 
("Tom  Brown  at  Rugby")  is  President,  have  founded  a  colony 
called  Rugby,  and  are  making  very  fair  progress  in  developing 
the  region,  for  the  time  which  has  elapsed  since  their  colonial 
enterprise  was  commenced.  The  English  members  of  the  colony 
are  satisfied  that  they  can  accumulate  property  much  faster  than 
they  could  have  done  in  England. 

East  Tennessee  has  not  a  rich  soil,  but  its  mineral  wealth  is 
very  great,  especially  in  coal  and  iron  of  the  best  quality.  There 
are  also  some  gold  and  silver  ores,  though  the  mining  for  them 
is  only  moderately  profitable.  These  mineral  deposits  exist 
throughout  the  region  occupied  by. the  Appalachian  chain  of 
mountains,  and  render  West  Virginia,  Wcstemi  N'orth  and  Sotiih 


LONG   ISLAND   AS  A   HOME   FOR   LVMIG RANTS.  j-q/ 

Carolina,  and  Northern  Georgia  and  Alabama  desirable  localities 
for  those  who  desire  to  engage  in  mining,  or  who  prefer  to  prose- 
cute the  timber  or  lumber  trade.  But  while  the  principal  deposits 
of  gold  and  silver  are  found  in  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina 
and  Northern  Georfjia,  West  Vircrinia  and  East  Tennessee  have 
*the  most  inexhaustible  resources  in  coal,  iron  and  lime  in  close 
proximity  to  each  other  and  to  the  railways ;  and  the  best  salt 
springs  and  petroleum  springs  and  wells  in  the  country,  with 
laree  tracts  of  black  walnut  and  other  hard-wood  timber.  When 
cleared,  the  lands  with  proper  tillage  yield  good  crops,  and  will 
continue  to  do  so  permanently. 

East  of  the  Alleghany  or  Appalachian  range  there  are  many 
desirable  localities.  In  Maine  the  Scandinavians,  Finns  and 
Northern  Russians  will  find  a  climate  much  like  their  own,  an 
abundance  of  timber,  and  land  which,  with  good  farming,  will  yield 
fair  crops..  The  other  New  England  States  have  many  old  farms 
which  are  capable  of  becoming  profitable  under  intelligent  cultiva- 
tion. There  are  here  also  opportunities  for  employment  for  me- 
chanics and  operatives  in  manufactories.  In  Northern  New  York 
the  vast  area  known  as  the  "  North  Woods,"  "  John  Brown's 
Tract,"  "The  Adirondacks,"  etc.,  offers  some  desirable  lands  to 
an  industrious  farmer.  The  country  is  well  watered,  and  its 
numerous  lakes  abound  in  fish  and  its  forests  in  deer  and  other 
game.  With  the  completion  of  some  projected  roads,  it  will  be 
easily  accessible. 

But  the  best  reo-ion  for  immiofrants  in  the  State  of  New 
York  is  on  Long  Island,  and  mainly  in  Suffolk  county.  It  seems 
almost  incredible  that  600,000  acres  of  land,  lying  between  thirty- 
five  and  ninety  miles  from  New  York  city,  the  best  and  most 
inexhaustible  market  in  the  world,  with  a  good  soil,  a  very 
healthful  climate,  well  watered,  and  having  a  sufiicient  but  not 
excessive  annual  rainfall,  should,  from  the  apathy  of  its  owners 
lie  unimproved,  and  be  at  the  present  time  for  sale  at  from  five  to 
fifteen  dollars  per  acre.  And  the  wonder  is  all  the  greater,  when 
we  find  that  a  railroad  passes  through  the  whole  length  of  this 
tract,  with  several  branches,  and  that  no  part  of  it  is  more  than 
twelve  miles  from  the  railroad,  and  much  of  it  within  from  one  to 


I^oS  ^^'^    WESTEK.V  EMPIRE. 

five  miles  of  it,  and  that  this  railroad  is  now  offering  every  facility 
to  farmers  to  transport  their  produce  to  market,  and  to  bring 
from  the  city  the  needed  fertilizers.  The  shores  of  the  island 
abound  in  the  best  qualities  of  edible  fish,  oysters,  clams,  mussels, 
scollops,  lobsters,  crabs,  etc.,  and  the  .game-birds  and  four-footed 
game  of  the  whole  region  are  abundant.  On  the  island  are  forty 
factories  for  the  production  of  oil  from  the  menhaden,  and  the 
fish-scrap,  or  guano,  one  of  the  best  fertilizers  known,  is  now 
sent  away  from  the  island,  because  there  is  little  or  no  demand 
for  it  there.  This  apathetic  condition  is  now  passing  away  and 
the  Lono^  Island  farms  are  in  demand. 

The  land  can  be  cleared  at  from  five  to  ten  dollars  per  acre, 
some  of  the  timber  being  large  enough  for  building  purposes  or 
for  railroad  ties.  It  will  yield  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five 
bushels  of  wheat,  or  from  twenty  to  twenty-eight  bushels  of  rye, 
to  the  acre,  from  250  to  350  bushels  of  potatoes  of  the  best 
quality,  and  with  good  cultivation  and  fair  manuring,  the  whole 
region  can  be  transformed  into  market  gardens,  fruit  orchards, 
and  strawberry,  blackberry  and  raspberry  lands  of  the  greatest 
productiveness,  and  for  all  these  products  there  is  an  unfailing 
demand,  at  the  highest  prices,  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  and 
the  cities  adjacent. 

This  is  a  very  paradise  for  the  market-gardener.  The  great 
cities  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Jersey  City  and  Newark,  and  the 
smaller  cities  and  towns  of  Hoboken,  Bergen,  Bayonne,  Long 
Island  City,  Yonkers,  Garden  City,  Breslau,  Hempstead,  Flush- 
ing, Jamaica  and  Huntington — having  together  a  population  of 
two  and  a  half  millions — are  all  largely  dependent  upon  this  re- 
gion for  market-garden  produce.  The  great  summer  resorts  of 
Coney  Island,  Rockaway  Beach,  Long  Beach,  Fire  Island,  Mon- 
tauk,  etc.,  all  on  Long  Island,  which  are  visited  by  more  than 
two  millions  of  people  every  season,  furnish  additional  markets 
for  all  the  fruits,  vegetables  and  root  crops  which  can  be  raised. 

The  new  system  of  Ensilage  is  destined  to  work  wonders  on 
these  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey  lands.*     By  its  use  and  the 

*  Ensilage  is  the  name  given  to  a  preparation  of  frreen  forage  plants  for  winter  feetlin;^.     The 
plants  may  be  corn  (the  taller  and  larger  growing  varieties  preferred),  cut  when  it  is  "  in  the  silk;" 


A'EW  JERSEY  AS  A   HOME  FOR   IMMIGRANTS.  1309 

soiling  of  the  cattle  in  summer  a  farmer  can  keep  a  dairy  nerd  of 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  cows  on  a  farm  of  fifty  acres,  and 
raise  in  addition  at  least  $2,500  or  $3,000  worth  of  market 
vegetables  and  small  fruits,  while  in  the  West,  on  the  old  system, 
he  would  require  at  least  640  acres  for  the  same  purpose.  At 
the  same  time,  the  large  amount  of  manure  produced  will  enable 
him  to  keep  his  whole  farm  in  the  highest  condition  for  produc- 
tiveness. The  system  is  very  simple,  and  not  beyond  the  means 
of  even  the  poor  emigrant;  for  the  returns  are  so  speedy  that  the 
cost  of  the  necessary  structures  can  be  paid  for  from  the  milk 
receipts  of  the  first  year. 

The  island  affords  also  great  opportunities  for  successful  manu- 
facturing. The  great  city  of  Brooklyn,  at  its  western  extremity, 
has  more  than  $250,000,000  invested  in  manufacturing,  and  there 
is  now  rapid  progress  in  the  establishment  of  manufactories  in 
the  counties  of  Oueens  and  Suffolk. 

The  climate  of  Long  Island  is  healthful  and  mild,  the  mean 
annual  temperature  being  50*^  and  the  extremes  98°  or  rarely 
100°,  and  zero,  or  at  lowest — 5°.  The  cool  sea-breezes  moderate 
the  summer  heat  and  mitis^ate  the  winter's  cold. 

Another  region  which  possesses  exceptional  advantages  for 
fruit-culture  and  market-gardening  and  dairy-farming  is  SoiUJiern 
New  Jersey.  The  Secretary  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor 
and  Industry  of  New  Jersey  furnishes  us  the  following  interesting 
facts  relative  to  this  refrion. 

There  are  more  than  a  million  acres  of  uncleared  lands  in  the 
eight  southern  counties  of  New  Jersey,  which  can  be  purchased 
at  from  five  to  twenty  dollars  per  acre.  They  have  been  held 
by  large  proprietors,  and  most  of  them  have  their  titles  direct 
from  the  "Lords  Proprietors,"  Penn,  Fenwick,  Byllinge  and 
others,  who  received  their  grants  from  Charles  II.     These  great 

Alfalfa,  Hungarian  grass,  Egyptian  rice  corn,  pearl  millet  or  sorghum.  Either  should  be  sowed 
very  thick  and  cut  up  at  the  roots,  chopped  up,  cars  and  all,  into  jneces  an  inch  and  a  half  in 
length  and  then  placed  in  a  close  pit  with  cemented  walls  and  floor,  trami^led  down  well  till  the 
pit  (which  is  called  a  silo)  is  well  filled,  when  it  is  covered  with  six  inches  of  straw;  and  upon 
this  are  laid  heavy  planks,  jointed  or  tongued  and  grooved,  and  heavy  weights  put  upon  tlie  top 
either  of  stone  or  grain.  It  keeps  perfectly  and  is  fed  through  the  winter,  rendering  any  use  of 
hay  unnecessary. 


1 2 10  OUR    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

estates  are  now  broken  up,  and  the  use  of  anthracite  and  other 
coals  for  the  furnaces  and  glass-works,  and  for  fuel,  has  rendered 
their  former  business  less  productive. 

The  soil  of  these  lands  is  good,  a  light  loam,  but  easily  culti- 
vated ;  it  can  be  readily  fertilized  by  the  use  of  marl,  which  is 
abundant  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  and  is  worth  from  ;^i  to  $1.75 
per  ton ;  lime,  which  is  worth  from  twelve  to  fifteen  cents  a 
bushel ;  or  fish  guano,  which  is  a  very  powerful  manure,  worth 
from  ^15  to  $18  per  ton.  It  will  produce  almost  any  crop  which 
you  may  desire  to  cultivate,  and  fields  fine  crops  of  the  cereals 
and  Indian  corn  (thirty  to  sixty  bushels  of  the  latter),  root  crops, 
melons,  market-garden  vegetables  of  excellent  quality,  fruit  of 
great  excellence,  and  all  the  small  fruits.  Railroads  traverse  all 
these  counties,  and  both  New  York  and  Philadelphia  furnish  ex- 
cellent markets. 

The  climate  is  very  mild,  the  mean  annual  range  of  the  ther- 
mometer being  only  43 3^°,  the  mean  average  being  about  51°, 
and  the  extremes  being  about  90°  and  15°  Fahrenheit. 

The  rainfall  is  about  forty-eight  inches.  Ploughing  can  be 
done  every  month  in  the  year.  The  culture  of  the  grape  is  a 
favorite  industry,  and  the  grape  attains  great  perfection  from  the 
long  season  without  frost.  The  region  is  remarkably  healthy  and 
free  from  all  malarious  influences.  It  is  especially  commended 
for  sufferers  from  pulmonary  complaints. 

Here  are  glass-works,  silk  factories,  iron  mines,  artificial-stone 
works,  iron  furnaces,  and  a  great  variety  of  other  manufacturing 
and  mininof  industries. 

There  are  desirable  lands  at  moderate  prices  also  in  Central 
Pennsylvania,  Northern  Maryland,  and  large  tracts  of  some  of 
the  best  lands  the  sun  shines  on,,  though  now  exhausted  by  the 
slovenly  farming  of  the  period  before  the  war,  in  Virginia, 
These  lands  can  be  easily  reclaimed,  and  can  be  bought  at 
reasonable  prices. 

The  lands  in  Eastern  North  Carolina,  though  fertile,  are  very 
often  subject  to  malarial  fevers.  Where  they  can  be  freed  from 
these  by  drainage  or  the  extensive  planting  of  the  Eucalyptus, 
there  are  no  better  farminor  lands  on  the  Adantic  coast. 


CONCL  US  ION.  J  ^  J  I 

Florida  has  received  more  emigrants  and  setders  from  the 
North  than  any  other  Southern  State.  Its  fine  cHmate,  which 
has  had  quite  as  much  reputation  as  it  deserves  for  the  relief  of 
pulmonary  diseases,  its  orange  culture,  and  its  fine  hunting  and 
fishing,  have  been  its  great  attracdons.  The  cultivation  of  the 
orange  has  been  greatly  developed,  and  is  profitable  to  those  who 
can  wait  for  the  maturity  of  the  orange  groves.  They  should 
not  be  permitted  to  bear  a  full  crop  till  they  are  ten  years  old, 
and  from  the  tenth  to  the  thirtieth  year  they  are  very  profitable. 
At  long  intervals,  however,  a  severe  frost  destroys  the  fruit,  and 
kills  or  blights  many  of  the  trees.  The  present  winter  (1880- 
1881)  has  been  most  destructive  to  the  crop.  Some  parts  of  the 
peninsula  are  subject  to  malarial  diseases. 

■  I  hear  the  Iread  of  pioneers 

Of  nations  yet  to  be; 
The  first  low  wash  of  waves,  where  soon 

Shall  roll  a  human  sea. 
1  hear  tlie  far-off  voyager's  horn; 

I  see  the  Yankee's  trail — 
His  foot  on  every  mountain-pass, 

On  every  stream  his  sail. 

Behind  the  scared  squaw's  birch  canoe, 

The  steamer  smokes  and  raves, 
And  city  lots  are  staked  for  sale 

Above  old  Indian  graves. 

The  rudiments  of  empire  here 

Are  plastic  yet  and  warm  ; 
The  chaos  of  a  mighty  world 

Is  rounding  into  form  !  — J.  G.  WlIITTIER. 

Our  task  is  done,  our  work  completed.  For  the  first  time 
since  we  became  a  nation  has  an  attempt  been  made  to  portray 
with  accuracy  and  completeness  of  detail,  the  region  beyond  the 
Ivlississippi.  We  have  sought  to  show  its  vast  extent,  its  mineral 
wealth,  its  varied  climate,  the  bountiful  production  of  its  fields  of 
golden  grain,  the  flocks  and  herds  on  its  myriad  hills  and  moun- 
tain slopes,  its  rapid  progress  in  civilization  and  material  devel- 
opment, the  manner  of  men  who  are  occup)ing  this  vast  empire 
of  the  future,  their  advance  in  population,  organization,  education, 
morals   and    religion.     We  have  shown  the   phenomena  which 


j^j2  ^^'^^    WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

make  this  Western  Empire  the  wonderland,  not  alone  of  the 
globe,  as  it  is  to-day,  but  of  all  the  ages ;  we  have  uncovered  the 
graves  of  the  geologic  races  of  animals,  and  described  the  mon- 
sters of  the  ages  before  there  were  any  measurements  of  tinie  ; 
and  we  have  searched  the  leaves  of  unwritten  history  to  learn 
something  of  the  races  who  reared,  ages  ago,  the  temples  and 
shrines,  the  fortresses  and  towers,  which  are  now  without  record 
or  inhabitant. 

And  not  content  with  this,  but  looking  forward  to  that  not  dis- 
tant future,  when  this  continent,  from  the  Arctic  sea  to  the  Mexi- 
can gulf,  and  from  Atlantic's  surf-beat  to  the  pulsating  waves  of 
the  Pacific,  shall  all  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  mightiest  and 
grandest  of  empires ;  we  have  briefly  sketched  the  provinces  of 
the  Frozen  Zone,  and  the  western  portion  of  that  Dominion  to 
the  north  of  us,  to  whom  we  stretch  forth  the  hand  of  welcome ; 
and  yet  more  briefly,  have  noticed  the  advantages  which  still 
attract  immigrants  to  our  Atlantic  States. 

The  efforts  of  the  railroad  companies,  State  boards  and  emi- 
gration societies  to  picture  each  State  and  Territory  with  which 
they  were  connected  as  an  earthly  paradise,  and  the  unwarranta- 
ble depreciation  of  the  lands  of  other  organizations,  in  which  they 
and  others  have  indulged,  have  been  alike  foreign  to  our  purpose  ;■ 
and  having  nothing  but  the  truth  to  utter,  we  have  sought  to 
"nothing  extenuate,  nor  set  down  aught  in  malice." 

That  this  fair  land  may  develop  far  more  rapidly  than  it  has 
done  in  the  past,  in  wealth,  intelligence  and  virtue,  is  our  most 
earnest  wish  and  prayer ;  and  then  shall  we  rejoice  to  realize  the 
truth  of  the  just  uttered  prediction  of  the  genial  and  witty 
Holmes: 

"  I   see  the  living  tide  roll  on ; 

It  crowns  with  flaming  towers 
The  icy  cape  of  Labrador, 

The  Spaniard's  land  of  flowers. 
It  streams  beyond  the  sjjlintered  ridge 

That  parts  the  Northern  showers ; 
From  Eastern  rock  to  sunset  wave. 

The  continent  is  ours  !  " 


THE    END. 


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